Fargo, N.D. — Kotapay, a division of First International Bank & Trust (FIBT), has designated Advantage Payment Services (APS) as its preferred provider for transaction dispute management and customer identity verification on its Kavinu platform. This collaboration follows a strategic equity investment by FIBT in APS.
APS’s Dispute Advantage platform, a scalable, configurable, and regulatory compliant workflow solution, will be integrated into Kotapay’s Kavinu platform. This integration aims to provide Kavinu clients with the regulatory expertise of FIBT combined with APS’s AI and machine learning capabilities for real-time risk management decision-making.
Trent Sorbe, Chief Payments Officer at FIBT, stated, “We built Kavinu as a next-generation banking as a service platform, providing financial innovators with a direct connection to an experienced banking partner and best-in-class providers like APS. We will continue to seek opportunities for similar strategic investments in companies that align with our strategy to power secure, compliant payments products, leverage artificial intelligence where prudent, and accelerate speed-to-market under our ‘One Contract. One Connection’ commitment.”
Dave Campbell, CEO at APS, commented, “Navigating the complex regulatory landscape must remain a critical priority for banks and fintechs. We’re proud to be a part of Kotapay’s vision to reinvent the traditional banking as a service model, driving responsible fintech innovation.”
Further solidifying the partnership between the two North Dakota-based companies, Trent Sorbe and Michael Toy, FIBT’s Chief Operating and Strategy Officer, have joined APS’s Board of Directors.
Kotapay, an electronic payment solutions provider founded in 1993, is based in Fargo, North Dakota, and serves over 107,000 companies across all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is owned by First International Bank & Trust (FIBT), a regulated bank with more than $5 billion in assets, offering full-service banking in North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, and Minnesota since 1910.
Advantage Payment Services (APS), also based in Fargo, North Dakota, specializes in regulatory technology for banking, payments, and fintech. Its cloud-native platform integrates identity verification, dispute case management, transaction risk monitoring, and digital document management into existing business processes.
