Kotapay, a division of First International Bank & Trust (FIBT), today announced Advantage Payment Services (APS), the leader in regulatory technology for top fintech payments organizations, has become the preferred provider of transactions dispute management and customer identity verification for its Kavinu platform.
The deal follows a strategic equity investment by FIBT in APS, signaling the 115-year-old community bank’s commitment to next-generation financial technology and risk management.
“We built Kavinu as a next-generation banking as a service platform, providing financial innovators with a not only a direct connection to an experienced banking partner but also best-in-class providers like APS,” said Trent Sorbe, Chief Payments Officer at FIBT. “We will continue to look for opportunities to make similar strategic investments in companies that align with our strategy to power secure, compliant payments products, leverage artificial intelligence where prudent, and accelerate speed-to-market under our ‘One Contract. One Connection’ commitment.”
As one of Kotapay’s preferred providers, the APS Dispute Advantage platform, a scalable, configurable, regulatory compliant workflow solution, will be integrated into the Kavinu platform. Clients using Kavinu will now benefit from the deep regulatory expertise offered by FIBT and the AI and machine learning capabilities of APS to empower real-time risk management decisioning.
“Navigating the complex regulatory landscape must remain a critical priority for banks and fintechs,” said Dave Campbell, CEO at APS. “We’re proud to be a part of Kotapay’s vision to reinvent the traditional banking as a service model, driving responsible fintech innovation.”
Furthering the strategic partnership between the North Dakota-based companies, FIBT’s Chief Payments Officer Trent Sorbe, and Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Michael Toy have joined APS’ Board of Directors.