Revolutionizing Finance: InterLINK’s Journey from Concept to Multi-Billion Dollar Reality
Overview_
InterLINK emerged as a game-changing solution in the financial sector, addressing the challenge of maximizing interest on assets while ensuring FDIC coverage. Through collaboration between EZUniverse and Euvic, InterLINK revolutionized the industry with its secure, reliable, and scalable platform, resulting in billions securely monetized and reshaping the financial landscape for the better.
InterLINK was the first technology solution to achieve this efficiency, scale, and security. I’m confident that InterLINK continues to be the most effective solution on the market, which is a testament to why cost-per-hour should never be the leading consideration when selecting an engineering partner.
Leszek James, President and CEO of EZUniverse (now Tributary Ventures)
Background_
Picture this:
FDIC insurance, once limited to $50,000, left those with substantial assets in precarious positions. Brokers managing billions for their clients faced a dilemma – how to safely earn interest on vast sums of money temporarily held between transactions?
Challenge_
Arhitect and deliver a scalable, reliable, and industry-changing financial technology platform to replace error-prone manual efforts
There is intense competition among brokerage firms to attract new customers. Firms that can reliably optimize client resources can immediately stand apart from the rest of the firms. They needed a solution that wasn’t subject to market volatility or one-time conditions to make a credible promise to existing and potential customers. The opportunity to attract new clients with a unique offering was immense:
- First, create a system to change the classification of assets under brokerage accounts from cash on demand to savings. This would allow assets to earn significant interest.
- Second, to access greater FDIC insurance coverage than the $250k caps.
Past attempts had failed, costing financial institutions millions in fruitless research. Other companies addressing these opportunities relied on manual work and transfers, which was clumsy and difficult to scale.
Our client, EZUniverse (now Tributary Ventures), knew there was a solution that could be built on technology rather than human labor, and needed an engineering partner to prove it.
Solution_
Revolutionary System Design and Impeccable Engineering
EZUniverse partnered with Euvic to create a blueprint for innovation fueled by speed and efficiency, designed to fit this highly regulated industry.
Enter InterLINK:
- A technology platform that allows brokerage houses to offer differentiated and secure services to their clients.
- By redefining the classification of accounts from checking to savings, InterLINK opened the door to interest payments on funds while protecting up to $10m in assets per client with FDIC coverage.
- All without changing ownership of the processed assets.
- Built on a secure, real-time database.
- Underwent rigorous testing, surpassing the stringent standards set by the likes of BNY Mellon.
- Its security and reliability are unmatched to this day, earning the trust of financial giants like Deutsche Bank.
Together, EZUniverse and Euvic did what no one else had done by listening, analyzing the business problem, and providing an impeccably engineered end-to-end solution.
InterLINK didn’t just stop at solving a problem; it recalibrated the industry. The system needed to be 100% reliable and accurate to perform in the heavily scrutinized fintech and banking sector. The smallest error can result in billions of dollars in losses.
Result_
$Billions Securely Monetized, and Counting
Fast forward to today, and InterLINK stands as the technology-enabled deposit management platform of choice, managing billions in FDIC-insured cash sweep programs. What was once a flailing concept became a financial standard, generating previously inaccessible interest on cash assets for clients, brokers, and banks while increasing FDIC insurance coverage.
- InterLINK was designed and developed for less than $5M and twice has sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
- InterLINK is a testament to the powerful combination of a revolutionary concept and pristine engineering delivered with an unwavering resolve.
InterLINK isn’t just a success story; it’s a story of intense collaboration, innovation, engineering brilliance, and financial empowerment. Its impact continues to echo, reminding the industry that with vision, technical ingenuity, and determination, the financial landscape can be reshaped for the better.
Timeline_
- The InterLINK journey began in 2005 when Euvic embarked on its development, and in 2008, it was released, forever altering the financial services industry.
- Surpassing milestones, from its testing phases in 2007 to going live on BNY Pershing in 2012, InterLINK proved itself times over.
- By 2017, it had processed more than $1 billion in deposits, a testament to its effectiveness.
- In 2022, InterLINK found a new home under Webster ownership, continuing its legacy of financial transformation.