Software, Banking Pros Launch BankWise To Help FIs Manage Change

FinTech startup BankWise is being launched by software executives and banking veterans to help financial institutions (FIs) manage industry changes and new technologies, The Business Journals reported on Monday (Sept. 27).

Sergei Morgoslepov, BankWise co-president and chief technology officer, has 12 years of banking experience with The Adirondack Trust Co. Joe Mastrianni, BankWise founder and co-president, is the founder and former CEO of Happy Software.

The duo said the shift to open banking is causing problems for many FIs due to incompatible, unrelated software systems that make sharing data with FinTechs difficult. For example, one software program might handle mortgages, but a completely different application is used for digital banking.

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“To make all those systems work together, there’s usually a lot of manual labor involved — moving data by spreadsheets, very error-prone, very slow process,” Morgoslepov told the news outlet. “We’ve taken processes that take multiple people and several hours of the day, and we can shrink those tasks to 20 minutes. The banks can increase volume, eliminate errors.”

BankWise Technology recently released Happy Banker, which is intended to help FIs restructure their daily operation processes and tasks related to compliance for modernization and efficiency.

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Rob Ward, BankWise chief marketing and sales officer, has 41 years of experience in the banking industry, almost 16 as vice president of marketing for The Adirondack Trust. He said banks typically outsourced numerous operations in the past are now being faced with compliance issues.

“That’s where we feel the opportunity is for BankWise technology, is helping banks with their core systems and their integration,” Ward said. “There are lots of opportunities.”

Headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York, BankWise has introduced its Happy Banker product to several FIs and is planning to target community banks, FinTechs, and insurance companies, for future rollouts.

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Its Happy Banker product can be customized with add-ons and comes equipped with a suite of modules, some of which were tailor-made for other FIs but can benefit the majority, Morgoslepov said.

For example, BankWise developed a bitcoin rewards system for one bank and a Paycheck Protection Program data solution for another. The startup’s next product will likely be something for the secondary loans markets.

Aside from Happy Banker, the startup offers data warehousing services, robotic processing automation, custom development, data integration, and more. Its goal is to onboard 10 to 15 new clients across the country and bring on more developers.