Israeli startup Nummularii optimises investment advisory processes for BBVA

In today’s always-on world of social media, streaming and same-day deliveries, customers have grown accustomed to the idea of personalisation. They expect products and services that suit their tastes to be delivered in a way that offers them the greatest possible convenience and value. And this is as true of financial investors as it is of fashionistas and film buffs.

Aware that delivering a personalised service – particularly at scale – can often be costly and time-consuming, Nummularii, a B2B fintech startup based out of Tel Aviv, is reinventing the way investment advisers interact with and serve their clients.

This focus on optimising the way in which advisors interact with their clients was decisive in Nummularii being declared winner of the Asset Management category in BBVA’s 2018 Open Talent competition, where it stood out above more than 150 other fintech startups.

Nehmad described the win as a “validation” for his company, and was delighted when the bank quickly commissioned a proof of concept for a solution that met the needs of its own investment advisers and their thousands of clients.

“You could feel a real sense of commitment from the bank,” he said, “a real motivation to create a proof of concept that could be transformed into a successful commercial project.”

He believes the personal touch is key, saying “portfolio owners want to have control over their investments. They want access to transparent, affordable and tailored advice that’s easy to understand, and given to them by a human expert they know they can trust.”

Juan del Corro, solutions development manager at BBVA, agrees: “Nummularii’s solution allows us to offer our customers a more personalised service, which translates to a better overall experience. Even at such a large scale as we operate, we’re able to send alerts and information to customers quickly and effectively.”
When it came to the proof of concept, most of the heavy lifting had already been done. According to del Corro, “Nummularii’s solution was already fully developed. All we needed to do was adapt certain features and make developments here and there so that it fit more closely to our needs.”

Nehmad found this collaborative process enlightening: “I’d been living and breathing this startup for five years, so I knew every bit and byte. Working with different stakeholders really helps you to see things you’d never noticed before, and to tune your solution to each of their needs.”

“I think it’s helpful for the bank to go through the process from scratch, too,” he added, “It’s useful for them to be able to identify a problem and to see how a startup can address that, and then take it from there.”
Del Corro saw the process as equally valuable, saying “it’s very enriching to work hand-in-hand with startups like Nummularii; they specialise in a very specific business need, and have helped us to focus on a challenge we couldn’t have worked on by ourselves.”

Things move quickly with BBVA. The proof of concept came to an end in March 2019, less than a year after Nummularii won the Open Talent competition. Satisfied with the outcome, BBVA believes that, in the long term, the solution could become part of its day-to-day business. Inspired by winning the competition and being granted the proof of concept, Nehmad is optimistic that, between them, BBVA and Nummularii can make his company’s solution a commercial success.