BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monit, the award-winning mobile financial platform for small businesses, announced it has signed an exclusive agreement with JAM FINTOP Banktech, a $150M investment fund designed to help accelerate technology adoption at community banks across the United States. As an extension of Monit’s previously announced $5.2 million round financing, the new agreement will include a new investment from JAM FINTOP Banktech and a commercial partnership that expands the reach of Monit’s capabilities to the investment fund’s extensive network of community banks.
JAM FINTOP Banktech is an investment fund from JAM Special Opportunity Ventures, an affiliate of Jacobs Asset Management, and FINTOP Capital. The partnership will integrate Monit’s acclaimed mobile financial platform with community banks looking to embrace technology to grow business banking portfolios and be more competitive. Taken collectively, the $650+ billion of combined assets of the fund’s limited partner (LP) banks would make it equal to the fifth largest bank in the nation.
More than 80 percent of small businesses fail due to poor cash flow management, and while data sources are available to give banks information on the health and needs of larger commercial companies, the disparity when it comes to serving small and medium-sized (SMB) businesses is significant. Monit offers an innovative two-sided financial platform for both SMB owners and the banks who offer the technology to customers - a business guidance platform paired with advanced analytics that allows banks to provide cashflow tools, tailored insights resident in the bank’s digital experience, and solutions to acquire and deepen the bank’s relationships with SMBs.
“We are excited to add JAM FINTOP Banktech to our team of amazing investors, and its community of LP banks to the Monit family,” said Steve Dow, CEO of Monit. “The partnership goes well beyond investment. As a team of bankers and technologists ourselves, our visions are aligned in helping America’s business owners thrive, and supporting the drive of community bankers to add value as trusted advisors to those businesses. We are excited to further our existing LP relationships and work with the broader network to offer solutions with positive returns for both banks and their business customers.”
Monit creates strong connections between banks and their SMB customers. Banks provide the Monit app to their customers, empowering them with predictive financial tools to better manage their business. With a bank-branded Monit app, SMB owners can automatically forecast cash flow, monitor business vitals, and get customized insights at their fingertips. For banks, the Monit bank platform provides much-needed data visibility and the ability to understand, target, and connect with small business customers with resources they need, when they need them.
“The community banks in our portfolio range from $500 million to $50 billion in assets, but they don’t have the resources to develop this type of technology the way the massive global banks do,” said Matt Kelley, Director of the JAM FINTOP Bank Network. “Business banking is driving growth and our network of banks are actively looking for solutions to deepen relationships with customers and compete with the offerings of larger banks. We are excited to join efforts with Monit as one of our first investments to get the most innovative tools in the hands of bankers so they can serve their SMB customers more effectively, efficiently, and profitably.”
“At Busey we are always looking for ways to stay close to the customer base and implement tools that allow our business customers to operate more efficiently. A partnership with Monit is a natural integration that provides our customers access to critical information for their business like cashflow and accounts payable and receivable for an aggregated customer view,” said Farhan Yasin, CTO of Busey Bank. “Monit is exactly the type of technology that we hoped JAM FINTOP would provide us access to. It’s like having a phenomenal research team focused on emerging and disruptive banking trends at our disposal.”
“SMBs are woefully underserved by the large national banks, which gives regional banks like Valley an opportunity to step into the gap using modernization and innovation like Monit,” said Stuart Cook, Chief Digital Product Officer, Valley Bank. “There’s an opportunity for every bank to serve their SMB customers better using new tech and innovation but they don’t have the time or resources to build it. JAM FINTOP helps us identify, access, and implement cutting edge technology like Monit. It creates a strategic advantage.”
Monit launched in 2020, and has already won numerous awards and coverage for its technology, including Finovate Best in Show, Aite Spotlight, FinXTechConnect, and has been the focus of articles in American Banker and other publications.
For more information about how Monit helps small businesses and the banks that serve them, go to: https://www.monitapp.io/
About Monit
Monit is a Boston-based predictive intelligence technology company dedicated to the success of business owners and the banks that serve them. Monit’s founding team combines digital enterprise advice capabilities with real-world banking, small business, and regulated financial institution experience. Monit is privately funded with investment from TTV Capital, Runway Venture Partners, Correlation Ventures, notable individual investors and bank partners. Learn more at www.MonitApp.io and engage with Monit on LinkedIn or Twitter.
About JAM FINTOP
JAM FINTOP is a joint venture between JAM Special Opportunity Ventures (“JSOV”), an affiliate of Jacobs Asset Management (“JAM”), and FINTOP Capital. The partnership brings together bank experts and seasoned fintech entrepreneurs to invest in companies changing the way financial institutions and their customers move, track, and interact with money. JAM has a 26-year history investing in public and private community banks, and FINTOP Capital is a leading fintech investor with over 140 years of collective experience.
JAM FINTOP Banktech raised $150 million in April 2021 to help accelerate technology adoption at community banks across the United States. Uniquely, all 66 of the fund's limited partners are community banks. The $600+ billion of combined assets of the fund's limited partners would rank as the fifth-largest bank in the nation. JAM FINTOP's second fund, JAM FINTOP Blockchain, will invest in blockchain infrastructure, on-ramps and businesses. With Figure and NYCB as lead investors, it is currently being marketed to Qualified Purchasers. For more information, visit www.jamfintop.com.
