QUICK AND TO THE POINT
BYTES
by Mike Hunter
Digitizing the Private Investment Marketplace WealthVP is fully launching this month following three months in beta testing. The brainchild of entrepreneur Leif Hartwig, WealthVP acts as a catalyst for investment opportunities, virtually matching qualified private companies seeking capital with purpose-driven Family Office investors in one simple, easy-to-use SaaS platform. Using information entered in investor and company profiles, the Phoenix-based fintech company’s proprietary algorithm produces a wide range of matches
Debit Card Program Supports Community Giving Arizona Federal Credit Union believes that charitable giving to nonprofits is one of those things that a lot of people and companies intend to do but, unfortunately, get busy or distracted and never get around to doing it. When the credit union launched its 100 Club of Arizona debit card program in late 2017, it saw that its member-owners were excited to select and use a debit card that represented something they cared about. Suddenly, just by making everyday purchases, members were supporting their community. The program was expanded to include Arizona Humane Society in 2018, and Arizona Federal saw the same results — thousands of members selected the card and began helping the local animal welfare agency care for pets in need with every swipe. Rather than continue expanding with individual programs, the locally operated credit union decided to create the Local Artists, Local Causes program that could benefit many nonprofits serving identified areas of community focus, which are education, equality and social inclusion, community services, children and youth, and sustainability. Based on prior experience, much of the work to create the mechanics of the program was already complete — but needed a design concept that would match the “locally minded” focus. Chosen for his Arizona-centric art, local artist and creator behind High Jinks Apparel, Jon Arvizu, expertly designed the debit card and, a few months later, the Local Artists, Local Causes debit card was in market. From a business practice perspective, the initiative helps with retention of current members by giving them an opportunity to connect with their community in a simple, organic fashion while also attracting new customers looking for a financial institution that is mindful of the community they operate and live in. But from a corporate social responsibility aspect, Arizona Federal understood this as an opportunity to make small impacts with numerous nonprofits to affect change on a hyper-local level. Arizona Federal Credit Union is a financial institution that staunchly supports Local First Arizona in its efforts to promote banking, shopping and donating locally to keep money circulating here in the Valley, and this program is a microcosm of what it is doing on a bigger scale. Through the Local Artist, Local Causes community fund, proceeds will be distributed twice each year to eligible local nonprofits — creating a great opportunity to celebrate their work and to thank members. The Local Artist, Local Causes debit card is available with any of Arizona Federal’s consumer checking accounts, which can be opened online. —Jason Paprocki, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Arizona Federal Credit Union (www.arizonafederal.org)
between game-changing companies and Family Offices whose financial needs and strategic investment goals align. The powerful search and connecting methodology plus social graphing technology creates a personal experience that produces multiple results that align directly with investment goals. Once a match is made, investors control the conversation and can reach out directly to the companies they are interested in via the secure messaging tool. wealthvp.com
AI Platform Combats Financial Crime Consilient, a newly formed company dedicated to establishing a next-generation system for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, recently launched a new secure, federated learning platform powered by Intel® Software Guard Extensions. The artificial intelligence platform aims to prevent financial crime and enable secure collaboration among financial institutions while helping to protect privacy and secure data. According to the United Nations, between 2% and 5% of gross domestic product is laundered globally every year, which amounts to $800 billion to $2 trillion. Recognizing the need to move beyond a manual and fragmented monitoring system, Consilient built an intelligent, collaborative and always-on solution that leverages federated learning and Intel SGX to detect financial fraud. By automating this process through federated learning, access to multiple datasets, databases and jurisdictions are encrypted without ever revealing the data or sensitive customer information to the different parties involved. consilient.com
Fourteen local nonprofits shared the $25,500 generated by Arizona Federal Credit Union’s new Local Artist, Local Causes debit card giveback program with amounts that ranged from $1,500 to $3,000.
11
JAN. 2021
INBUSINESSPHX.COM
