The payments industry has a fragmentation problem. If you want a modern solution for card issuing, push-to-debit or ACH processing, you often have to patch together multiple point solutions. This approach puts the burden back on fintechs and banks to manage a complex ecosystem, wasting time and money on engineering just to keep things running.
This is the chaos Qolo was built to solve. During a recent conversation at Money20/20, Qolo’s co-founder and CEO Patricia Montesi sat down with John San Filippo of Finopotomus to discuss how the company is simplifying financial infrastructure. Montesi explained how Qolo combines payments, cards and bank-grade ledgering into a single, unified platform. This innovative approach allows businesses to move money, manage digital wallets and handle disbursements with ease.
Innovating Around Legacy Cores
For financial institutions, the challenge is often compounded by legacy technology. Many of the largest banks still operate on decades-old core systems like Hogan. As Montesi pointed out, 47 of the top 200 banks use this exact core. For these institutions, competing with tech-forward banks is a constant struggle.
They face a difficult choice: undertake a multi-year, multi-million dollar “rip and replace” project, switch to a modern core that may not live up to its promises or find a better way forward.
Qolo offers that better way. Instead of a disruptive overhaul, Qolo’s platform acts as an innovation layer that overlays the old core. By hooking into the existing system, Qolo provides instant virtual, real-time sub-ledgering capabilities. This modernization allows banks to move money more seamlessly, reconcile instantly and offer their commercial customers powerful new tools.
The results speak for themselves. Since implementing this solution, KeyBank has seen a significant increase in business and deposits, processing $33 billion through the Qolo system this year alone. Banks are no longer held back by their aging infrastructure. They can innovate quickly, win new clients and enhance their competitive edge.
More Than a Platform, a Competitive Advantage
Qolo’s 100% cloud-based, modern platform is designed for speed and flexibility. Legacy systems, with their hardware constraints, inherently throttle innovation. Fintechs are migrating from these older platforms because they can no longer keep up with the demand for dynamic money movement. Today’s customers expect digital wallets and the flexibility to send and receive money however they choose.
This is where Qolo’s integrated approach shines. Montesi described a typical fintech setup where one might use one company for card issuing, another service for push-to-card, and another for ACH. While these are all modern solutions, they operate on disparate platforms. This fragmentation forces companies to figure out how to unify servicing and reconcile funds, creating unnecessary overhead.
Qolo eliminates this by combining everything into one platform. For banks, this provides significant internal efficiencies. With a unified commercial banking portal, everyone has instant visibility into their cash position. The headaches of manual reconciliation disappear, freeing up teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
A Consultative Approach to Implementation
Implementing new technology in a bank is a complex process. Qolo’s approach is consultative and educational, ensuring all stakeholders from risk, compliance and other departments are involved from the start.
Many bank teams are accustomed to a 30-year-old core that isn’t real-time and lacks APIs. Qolo’s team, stacked with experienced banking and payments professionals, guides them through the world of APIs and webhooks with patience and expertise.
This hands-on method ensures a smooth transition. For example, Huntington Bank signed its contract with Qolo in October of 2024 and was live with transactions flowing just one year later. This rapid timeline from contract to launch is a testament to Qolo’s efficient and supportive implementation process.
What’s Next for Qolo?
Looking ahead, Qolo is focused on productizing its virtual account management solution to offer a more structured, out-of-the-box option for banks. The team is also exploring the addition of stablecoin and how the Qolo platform can ledger it, staying ahead of market demands.
Internally, Qolo is embracing AI to boost efficiency. Engineering teams use tools like Glean to compress development timelines and reduce overhead. This focus on automation leads to a better customer experience, with faster time-to-market and fewer manual errors.
A Smarter Path to Modernization
The choice between point solutions and a unified platform is clear. While specialized tools for KYC or KYB have their place, the real complexity lies in moving money across multiple rails. Managing five different integrations, each with its own sponsor bank and capital reserve requirements, is a logistical nightmare. It forces companies to build tools around their partners’ inefficiencies.
Qolo provides an elegant solution. With instant, real-time reconciliation and a single platform to manage all payment types, Qolo empowers businesses to move beyond fragmented systems and embrace a more controlled, efficient future.
Ready to see how Qolo can transform your financial operations? Talk to us today.
