JPMorgan pilots bill-payment tech, housing association chief retires, new VC rounds

October 20, 2023 2:35 PM

JPMorgan Chase pilots Mastercard's open-banking tech for U.S. bill payment; Benson F. "Buzz" Roberts will retire at year-end as CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders; venture capital firms pore funds into bank vendors; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

JPMorgan Chase pilots bill-payment product for merchants

JPMorgan Chase has begun piloting its ACH-powered "Pay-by-bank" bill-payment product enabling merchants to set up a path for consumers to pay bills directly from their bank account, according to a press release Friday. Verizon will test the solution, which uses Mastercard's open-banking technology to build on J.P. Morgan Payments' existing automated clearing house capabilities. Customers of participating billers may enable the feature on the biller's checkout page, which uses the customer's existing bank-authentication tools, such as biometrics, to securely make payments like rent, utilities, tuition, insurance and health care, the release said. —Kate Fitzgerald

NAAHL chief Buzz Roberts to retire

Benson F. "Buzz" Roberts (pictured), president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, will retire at the end of the year after a 45-year career in affordable housing and community development.

Roberts — a former Treasury Department official in the Obama administration — has worked for nearly eight years at NAAHL, a nonprofit that brings together banks, investors and community development financial institutions to create affordable housing. He also served on the Biden-Harris transition's agency review team for Treasury.

Before joining NAAHL, Roberts served from 2011 to 2015 as the director of Treasury's Office of Small Business, Community Development and Housing Policy. He spent 22 years at the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a nonprofit investor in low-income community development, where he served as a senior vice president for policy and program development.

At Treasury, Roberts helped create the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit, the HOME housing partnerships program and the Capital Magnet Fund. He was also involved in the Treasury's funding for Federal Housing Administration multifamily risk-sharing loans. —Kate Berry

Fintech that aims to protect older adults raises $16.5M

Carefull, a fintech that helps financial institutions protect their older customers from exploitation and fraud, has raised $16.5 million in funding in a Series A round. This brings the New York City company's total funding up to $19.7 million. Carefull says it has increased its client base to 35 financial institutions and advisor groups over the past year; it first piloted its technology with The Cooperative Bank in Roslindale, Massachusetts, in 2021. Carefull will use this round of funding to expand onboarding and support for new partners, further its research and development, and bolster its ability to meet new state regulations that require more protections for aging Americans, according to a press release. — Miriam Cross

VR startup secures $40M from ABS Capital, JPMorgan Chase fund

Young female employee in vr goggle attenting virtual training

The virtual reality-based skills training startup Transfr recently announced a Series C investment round of $40 million led by ABS Capital and joined by JPMorgan Chase Impact Finance and Advisory, alongside previous investors. Banks including Bank of America and TD Bank already use virtual reality for various forms of training, including onboarding and helping employees rehearse their response to stressful encounters, such as bank robberies. ABS Capital Partners Phil Clough said Transfr is "uniquely positioned to capitalize on the tailwind from the challenges in the labor market by providing innovative training solutions that can efficiently bring qualified candidates to market." — Carter Pape

Health care banker Jed Brody returns to Barclays

Longtime health care investment banker Jed Brody is returning to Barclays to lead Americas health care, two years after leaving for a rival.

Brody will be a managing director based in New York reporting to Rick Landgarten, the global head of health care and real estate investment banking, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. Brody is rejoining Barclays after a stint starting in 2021 at Leerink Partners, the advisory arm of the former SVB Financial Group.

"We are delighted to welcome Jed back to Barclays," Landgarten said in the statement. "His deep relationships in the health care industry, together with his extensive experience in working on complex transactions, will be of tremendous value to our existing and future clients." — Michelle F. Davis, Bloomberg News

JPMorgan appoints Carsten Woehrn co-head of M&A in EMEA

JPMorgan Chase has appointed Carsten Woehrn as co-head of its mergers and acquisitions business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Woehrn, who joined the bank in 2000 as an analyst, will lead the M&A business in EMEA alongside Dwayne Lysaght, according to an internal memo sent on Tuesday and seen by Bloomberg News.

He will replace Guillermo Baygual, who is taking on a new role leading industry coverage of the consumer and retail sectors. Baygual will also co-head an industry group covering real estate and infrastructure, according to the memo. A spokesperson for JPMorgan confirmed the contents of the memo. Woehrn was most recently head of JPMorgan's strategic investments group M&A franchise in EMEA. His promotion follows a raft of new management appointments by JPMorgan to lead industry coverage groups within its investment bank. — Dinesh Nair, Bloomberg News