While the digital revolution offers promising solutions, banks still need help with the weight of legacy systems and resource-intensive processes, particularly in payment operations.
Rivero AG was launched to modernise and streamline payment operations for banks across Europe. To get a better understanding of the company, we sat down with co-founder Fatemeh Nikayin.
Tell us more about your company and its offerings.
After years in the payment industry and facing its challenges firsthand, we launched Rivero AG in 2019 to streamline payment operations. Kajo, our initial product for scheme licence compliance management, debuted in April 2020, first in Switzerland and then across Europe. Amiko, focused on digital fraud recovery and dispute management, followed in March 2021 and has since attracted a growing European customer base.
What problem was your company set up to solve?
Our clients are banks offering Visa and Mastercard to their customers. Every card issuing bank has two core processes: first, the scheme compliance processes – to stay updated with the compliance updates from the payment network to ensure compliance and seamless payment experience for their customers. Second, there is the fraud recovery and dispute process – to manage the dispute process with the customer in case of fraud or mishandling of services by merchants.
These processes are costly and resource-intensive, posing financial risks for banks. Most banks rely on legacy processes and systems to manage these processes. With our products, banks can make these processes modern, digitalised and therefore more efficient. By providing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products, we further reduce our clients’ integration and maintenance burden.
Since launch, how has your company evolved?
These days, we provide SaaS solutions for all players in the card payment ecosystem, such as issuers, acquirers and FinTechs, with issuing banks as our primary customers. Our competitive edge is ingrained in our unique product offering, focusing on making costly and manual payment operations seamless. Kajo, our first product, is the only solution on the market for card scheme compliance and enables all licensees of payment networks to minimise the effort and the risks involved in this process.
Our second product, Amiko, is the only SaaS solution that digitalises the entire fraud recovery and dispute process. It helps banks manage this process more efficiently while being able to offer a unique self-service experience to their customers. Amiko empowers banks to promote consumer protection of card payments to their customers without being concerned with increasing volume or costs.
What has been the biggest challenge or most ‘tricky moment’ to overcome?
Our journey has been challenging and rewarding as we have navigated the complexities of reaching our break-even point. In doing so, we’ve dedicated significant effort to assemble a solid and cohesive team that drives our vision forward. Equally important to our mission, we’ve fostered strategic partnerships with some of the most prominent card issuers and financial institutions both in Switzerland and across Europe.
What are your biggest achievements or ‘proudest moments’ so far?
One of our proudest achievements was when Visa recognised the value of our products for their clients by selecting us as the very first Swiss fintech to be incorporated into the prestigious Visa Fintech Partner programme.
This selection is not merely a gateway for us to tap into Visa’s vast global client base, but it also stands as a testament to the quality and value of our offerings. Being endorsed by a giant like Visa speaks volumes about the trust and confidence they have in us.
How would you describe the culture of your company?
Our company culture is anchored in a strong ethos of open-book management. Our products result from the unique confluence of our deep-seated knowledge of payments. This is in addition to the fresh perspectives of modern SaaS design principles.
Every single member of our team plays a pivotal role in this culture. They constantly challenge the status quo, seeking ways to redefine and elevate the standards in the payment sector. We place a huge emphasis on the bedrock of our operations: maintaining banking-grade security standards. Ensuring the safety and trust of our clients and partners is critical.
What’s in store for the future?
Our approach combines deep payment experience with modern SaaS products. This isn’t just a formula; it’s how we think and operate. Every decision is made with our customers’ needs in mind, ensuring they benefit from practical, effective solutions.
We recognise that the world of fintech is dynamic. Instead of just adapting, we aim to be a driving force behind the change. Our commitment is unwavering: to provide clients with advanced, secure tools that truly make a difference. As the industry shifts and grows, we’ll continue prioritising efficiency-driven and customer-centric solutions.
