Announcing the winners of The Big Bank Theory Awards 2024

The Big Bank Theory Awards by Tearsheet are our premier awards program recognizing and celebrating innovation in banking and embedded finance.

With this awards program, Tearsheet brings together industry leaders, innovative startups, and key incumbent players in the field to acknowledge the companies shaping the future of banking and embedded finance.

We’re pleased to announce the winners of this year’s TBBT Awards.

The 2024 winners of Tearsheet’s TBBT Awards

Best Overall Embedded Finance Platform: J.P. Morgan Payments

J.P. Morgan Payments payments processes nearly $10 trillion payments daily. In March 2024, it introduced an enhanced suite of embedded finance solutions to provide clients with a broader spectrum of payment capabilities to grow their ecosystem to meet growing customer demand for more control and customization.

J.P. Morgan Payments provides the underlying rails for the embedded finance suite of solutions, with the capability to embed the functionality through widgets or APIs to fit the needs of platforms and marketplaces. For example, iconic department store chain Macy’s used J.P. Morgan Payments’ embedded finance capabilities to streamline its payment processes, improve efficiency, and enhance the overall customer experience — resulting in improved customer satisfaction and increased revenue.

Best New Embedded Finance Platform: Newline by Fifth Third

Newline by Fifth Third is an API platform that enables enterprises to launch payment, card, and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third launched Newline shortly after it acquired the embedded payments startup Rize Money. Newline provides bank-grade oversight and compliance to the fintech products it supports.

The Newline dashboard supports non-technical operations and finance roles within client organizations such as the office of the CFO and treasurer. In its first year since launching, Newline has evolved bank technology and embedded payments, combining the best in fintech innovation with a trusted banking relationship. Clients include Stripe, Brex, ADP, Nuvei, and AngelList.

Best New Embedded Finance Product (for platforms): Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Bank has created a suite of embedded finance products to meet customers where and when they want their banking solutions. Its embedded finance offering includes Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for  our supply chain financing clients that streamline the product distribution cycle from supporting manufacturers (OEMs) and dealers in financing inventory to facilitating retail financing, with real-time information and transaction processing.

With the Manufacturer API, OEMs/ Distributors can check credit limits, submit/manage order requests, process invoices, and automate receivables. And using the Dealer API, dealers/resellers can load and manage inventory. Wells Fargo is now live with many clients and delivering system-to-system connections across manufacturers, dealers, and retail lenders, transforming processes that once took days into now just seconds. 

Best Card Issuing Platform: CorServ

CorServ’s credit card issuing program enables client banks to offer branded credit cards to both business and consumer customers. Client Banks own the interchange, loan interest and fee income but with a shared Sponsor Bank to support network sponsorship, risk, compliance and servicing functions.

CorServ’s issuer processor provides financial institutions with the tools and infrastructure needed to issue cards, manage cardholder accounts, authorize transactions and ensure secure payments for their customers. Financial institutions have seen increased customer loyalty and retention after implementing CorServ’s turnkey credit card issuing program.

Best New Product: SoFi

SoFi at Work recently launched a new Student Loan Verification (SLV) service in response to Congressional approval of SECURE 2.0, which allows employers to match employees’ student loan payments with contributions toward retirement plans.

SLV simplifies the process of linking, matching employer retirement contributions to employee student loan repayments. SoFi at Work partners with leading financial groups and some of the industry’s leading recordkeepers, like T. Rowe Price, to administer its SLV service. SoFi at Work has partnered with a number of notable corporations to offer this new benefit to their employees, including Chipotle and Kimley-Horn.

Best Banking App: Alkami

48% of millennials having abandoned a digital banking task due to frustration, a seamless experience is crucial. Alkami addresses this need by delivering to its customers a powerful mobile banking platform with a user experience powered by data.

Alkami’s Mobile Banking Platform include the ability to leverage advanced telemetry data to gain real-time insights into user experience. By identifying and addressing friction points promptly, Alkami also enhances usability and drives higher conversion rates. Additionally, the company’s partnership with Alchemer (formerly Apptentive) enables it to capture and analyze account holder feedback effectively to identify areas for improvement and enhance the overall mobile banking experience

Best Banking Card Product: Zeta x Sparrow

In under 6 months, the Sparrow card by Zeta has become a leading card in the US non-prime segment, thanks to its modern approach and amazing consumer experience. Sparrow was built from the ground up to offer an intuitive and engaging experience, helping customers grow their credit, learn how to gain financial freedom, and even earn rewards along the way for on-time payments.

The card offers features that resonate with its target audience, such as an easy application process, lower fee structure, and user-friendly digital tools, which are often lacking in traditional subprime cards. The Sparrow card is now the 2nd highest-rated card on Credit Karma – not just within subprime, but across all cards from all banks on the Credit Karma platform.

Serving the Underserved Award: Signature Bank of Arkansas

By 2026, the Hispanic population in Northwest Arkansas is projected to account for 19% the area’s total population. Signature Bank of Arkansas went beyond a simple Spanish translation function within its digital banking ecosystem to create a Spanish-only banking experience that can accompany account holders on their financial journeys.

Banco Sí is Arkansas’s first fully bilingual bank with staff that’s fluent in both Spanish and English. The bank connected CSI’s NuPoint core banking system with Banco Sí and customized its digital banking experience with a variety of bespoke
features for its Hispanic account holders, including full translation of mobile banking features from English to Spanish, bilingual lending services through loan origination system, and instant-issue debit card machines.

Best SaaS Banking Platform: nCino

Most FIs are still utilizing legacy technology, resulting in siloed systems that don’t speak to one another or share data – leading to slow process times and frustrated end users who are used to a digital-first world where enjoyable experiences with Apple and Amazon set the bar high.

Through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, nCino helps financial institutions serving corporate and commercial, small business, consumer, and mortgage customers improve employee efficiency while enhancing the customer experience for onboarding, loans and deposits across all lines of business. nCino works with more than 1,800 financial institutions globally whose assets range in size from $30 million to $2 trillion.

Best Payments as a Service Platform: DailyPay

DailyPay has created a new system that is changing the way people are paid. To facilitate this, its technology platform combines a massive data network with tens of millions of nodes, over six thousand connections with endpoints in the banking system, and a unique and proprietary funding model that results in a consumer knowing their pay balance, or accessible earned wages, at all times.

Research shows its users no longer rely on payday loans or pay exorbitant overdraft fees to make ends meet. These funds can be accessed anytime, from any device, and the money can be transferred to any bank account, debit card, or payment card for a simple and transparent ATM-like fee.

Best Example of Customer Implementation of Embedded Finance: April

april offers a suite of tax products designed to be white-labeled and embedded into existing financial apps. Its approach includes partnering with banks, creditors, payroll providers, and other fintechs, to offer their users proactive insights and actionable strategies year-round. 

This past year, april partnered with HR platform Gusto to help employees take control of their financial future by making the most of their paychecks. Through this collaboration, Gusto has integrated the full suite of april’s products: the Filer, the Estimator, and the Paycheck Optimizer. As a result, employees have access to comprehensive tools to make more informed decisions regarding their tax situation.

Best Banking Service Partner: Themis

Themis is a user-friendly, collaborative compliance and risk platform tailored for banks and fintechs. Its centralized compliance collaboration suite has purpose built tools that integrate risk, communications, documents, workflows, and accelerate partner onboarding and revenue.

The company recently launched its Risk Scoring and Assessment Solution, addressing the challenges of risk reviews and due diligence in the dynamic landscape of BaaS for banks and fintech partnerships. By automating manual processes associated with onboarding fintechs, banks can dramatically reduce the time spent onboarding new partners.