A Swiss company, Sonect AG, believes every shop can be a virtual ATM.
The company is one of 10 startup businesses participating in the third Venture Center Financial Technology Accelerator mentoring program in Little Rock. It is sponsored by Fidelity National Information Services Inc., better known as FIS.
"With Sonect, you are able to withdraw cash everywhere with your smartphone, free of charge," Sandipan Chakraborty, chief executive officer of Sonect, said Wednesday at Little Rock's Robinson Center.
Sonect's virtual ATMs require users to download the Sonect App and create an account. The user then chooses a shop in the Sonect ATM network and selects the amount to withdraw. A cashier then scans a barcode on the phone to activate the transaction and then tenders cash that is deducted from a bank account.
There is no charge for withdrawals using Sonect. Users can receive cash from participating shops or restaurants or even when the food delivery person arrives.
Sonect has created a software solution and a model that is working already in Europe, said Wayne Miller, managing director of the FinTech Accelerator.
Chakraborty formed the idea for the business one evening when his wife asked if he'd picked up some cash to pay the baby sitter, Miller said. He had forgotten.
He went out and looked for the nearest ATM, which was almost a mile away, Miller said.
"Of course it was snowing [in Bern, Switzerland]," Miller said.
As he was headed to the ATM, he noticed a customer in a pizza shop paying for his pizza.
"He said to himself, why can't I have access to cash like that," Miller said. "That's how Sonect began."
Besides Sonect, the other nine startup companies enrolled in this year's program are Arcanum of Athens, Ga.; Billon Group of London and Warsaw, Poland; FinVoice of San Francisco; Bucket Technologies of Bentonville and Santa Ana, Calif.; Gas POS of Birmingham, Ala.; LexAlign of Austin, Texas; Pay Your Tuition Funds of Washington, D.C.; Upper Room Technology of Green Bay, Wisc.; and Verikai of San Francisco.
The companies participated in a rigorous 12-week program designed to accelerate the development of their technology solutions.
Each company received in-depth mentoring and training from FIS and the Venture Center as well as a monetary investment of $75,000.
The program, now in its third year, is improving, said Rob Lee, an FIS executive vice president and chief product officer.
"With time and repetition and process and building the team, the program overall has gotten better," Lee said.
FIS engaged its team of executives at a higher level this year, Lee said.
"We clarified the FIS expectations," Lee said.
FIS' executives were more involved in mentoring this year, Lee said.
More than 40 banks, many from outside Arkansas, and about 80 executives met with the startup companies during the three-month program, Miller said.
The Venture Center received 281 applications from startups in 46 countries and 29 states this year. That compares with about 150 applications for the first program in 2016 and about 295 last year.
Unlike in the past, this year's startup companies have ideas that are ready to be implemented, Lee said.
FIS signed a three-year contract with the Venture Center and the state of Arkansas when the program began in 2016.
FIS also has signed letters of intent with several of this year's startup companies, Lee said. That means FIS is looking at integrating the companies' products into FIS' product line, Lee said.
At least one of the startups in this class is working to move its headquarters to Little Rock, Lee and Miller said.
The company is working with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission on determining state incentives that would be involved, Miller said.
Business on 07/19/2018