Finovate - Conferences Showcasing the Future of Financial & Banking Technology
FinovateFallFinovateAsiaFinovateEuropeFinovateSpring

Blog

TopicsTopics   TopicsArchives  

June 2011 Archives

Credit Karma, founded in May 2007, provides free ad-supported access to consumer credit reports. Based on website traffic, it is one of the most popular companies to demo at Finovate (see previous coverage). The company has closed in on the million-visitor mark several times this year (see chart below).  

Web Traffic: 
(Retrieved June 23, 2011 from compete.com) 
WebTraffic.jpg

Number of Employees: 22

Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Market Position: Credit score provider

Value Proposition: Credit Karma uses targeted advertisements to offset the cost of purchasing credit information from TransUnion. The company also provides tools and calculators to help understand and predict credit score changes. 

Revenue in 2010: Over $3 million

Timeline:
Timeline.jpg

The User Experience:
1) Create a user profile with email and a password. 
ProfilePage.jpg

2) Provide personal information to retrieve your credit information.
Account info Page.jpg

3) Confirm your identity. 

4) View your credit score, learn how it was calculated, and see how it compares to others.
Credit Score.jpg
5) Use Credit Karma's tools to see how future events, such as applying for a new credit card, will impact your credit score.
Manipulator tool.jpg

6) Credit Karma provides recommendations from advertisers based on your credit score. A
Endorsements.jpg
 high credit score might yield a credit card offer similar to the Chase offer to the right, whereas another might trigger an auto loan offer.

Recently, Credit Karma announced a new service called Approval Odds, which is a free feature that aims to help consumers avoid being declined for a credit card.

To see a live demo of this service from FinovateStartup 2009, check it out here.

AlumNewsIMG.jpg
AlphaClone
AlphaClone launched a new feature that measures sentiment. Link

BillFLO
Taulia acquired BillFLO. Link

Bills.com
Bills.com.jpg
Bills.com shared money-saving strategies for recent college graduates. Link

BrightScope
BrightScope was highlighted on the Tuscon NBC news channel series, "4 Your Money." Link

CashEdge
Ally Bank began offering CashEdge's Popmoney service. Link

Continuity Control
ContinuityControl.jpg
LEVERAGE, the Service Corporation for the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, began offering Continuity Control's CreditUnion Assistant program. Link

CreditKarma
Credit Karma introduced its Approval Odds service to help avoid being declined for a card. Link

Currensee
Currensee reached $6 billion in trading volume and $12 million under management. Link

doxo
The MakeUseOf blog reviewed doxo's online filing cabinet. Link

Dwolla
  • Dwolla CEO commented on the Bitcoin virtual currency debate, exchange, and hysteria.  Link
  • Dwolla's fees were compared to PayPal's. Link
  • Silicon Prairie News discussed Dwolla CEO's comments on Bitcoin. Link
eWise
eWise Payo's smartphone app won the Editor's Award for Consumer Focus at the 2011 Cards International Awards. Link

Expensify
Expensify.jpg
  • The Dallas News highlighted Expensify. Link
  • Expensify was listed as one of 25 tools to help you manage spending by cmvlive.com Link
HelloWallet
HelloWallet posted a short video series explaining its wealth-tracking service. Link

Jwaala
Jwallaa.jpg
KEMBA Financial Credit Union implemented Jwaala's platform. Link

Lending Club
  • Lending Club is approaching its financial breakeven point. Link
  • Reuters commented on Lending Club's P2P marketplace. Link
Lendio
Lendio helped banks increase business loans by finding qualified borrowers. Link

Mortgagebot
mortgagebot.jpg
Mortgagebot and Business Solutions extended their Tech Alliance to provide mortgage application solutions at preferred terms. Link

PayNearMe
PayNearMe facilitated 7-Eleven's partnership with Greyhound for cash transactions. Link

Prosper
Reuters commented on Prosper's P2P marketplace. Link

Receivables Exchange
Receivables exchange.jpg
The Receivables Exchange won 2011 "Management Team of the Year" at the Stevie Awards. Link

Strands
Strands Personal Finance landed in the 2011 Red Herring Top 100 North America list. Link

TradeKing
TradeKing announced its free webinar series on trading advice beginning July 12th. Link

Voice Commerce
VoiceCommerce.jpg
Voice Commerce launched its CashFlows app. Link

Xero
Getapp.com reviewed Xero's cloud-based software. Link

Finovate2011_low.png

Innovative. Inspiring. Fascinating.

Whatever your preferred descriptor, the scores of companies that have submitted applications to demo their latest and greatest at FinovateFall (September 20-21 in NYC) can live up to it.

They're innovating in everything from biometric security to mobile apps to online lending to artificial intelligence to the "gamification" of financial education and much more. Right now, we're sorting through the thick stack of applications to fill FinovateFall's two days with fintech's best new ideas for your education and enjoyment.

Last year, the fall conference sold out weeks in advance so be sure to get your ticket now to lock in your seat (and the early-bird price) to see these exciting demos of new technology and connect with hundreds of leading financial executives, venture capitalists, industry analysts, reporters and technology entrepreneurs.

Register before midnight on Friday June 24th to save $200 off the list price and reserve your seat. We'll see you in September!

FinovateFall 2011 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Tier One Partners, and the law firm of CB&S.

FinovateFall 2011 is partners with: BankInnovation.net, BankerStuff, CardWeb, Filene Research Institute, Finance on WindowsPYMNTS.com, Mercator Advisory Group, MyBankTracker.com, Mobile-Financial.com.

We all know that sticking to a budget is important, but it's not easy. HelloWallet's online
HWLogo.jpg
personal financial management (PFM) is designed to help. Users can track long-term goals and spending through interactive graphs and personalized notifications. In addition, the startup's philanthropic efforts make you feel even better about using the $8.95/mo advertising-free service. 

Washington, D.C.-based HelloWallet was founded in 2008 by former Brookings scholar Matt Fellows to provide financial guidance for Americans who lack access to professional advisors. The service originated with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation intended to help low-income Americans create a budget. 

Web Traffic
(Note: The traffic below does not reflect users who access the service through their employer. The footnote* at end of the post reflects those numbers.)
CompeteTraffic.jpg
(Retrieved June 22, 2011 from compete.com)

The company has expanded its horizons and now looks to help consumers at all income levels. In fact, HelloWallet is primarily distributed through Fortune 500 companies to their employees as a benefit.  

The User Experience 
No matter where you are in your financial journey, HelloWallet has features to help you stick to your budget. 

It has five main sections:
  1. Home features an overview of your accounts, a list of to-dos, and a feed of alerts.Thumbnail image for HomeScreen.jpg
  2. Plan focuses on the long-term view of wealth, goals, and budget through a cash-flow graph. It also provides personalized recommendations on how to increase savings.Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Plan Screen.jpg
  3. Budget displays account totals and income by day. It also shows budget totals by category.Budget Screen.jpg
  4. Transactions are listed and graphed. The graph shows money earned compared to money spent on a daily timeline.Transaction Screen 2.jpg
  5. Profile facilitates personalized advice by asking about other personal situations, such as number of children and if you anticipate caring for elderly parents in the future.Profile Screen.jpg

A mobile version is scheduled for later this year.

Philanthropy
Because HelloWallet believes in helping people at all income levels, it has pledged to give away one subscription to a low-income family for every five purchased. To help identify deserving families who qualify for a free subscription, it maintains community partnerships with the following non-profit organizations:

  • The Center for Economic Progress: Assists hard working, low-income families reach financial stability.
  • The Community Builders: Builds homes and communities for low-wage families and individuals.
  • Community Renewal International: Restores communities through personal relationships. 
  • EARN: Provides low-income working families with tools to help them achieve financial goals.

To see it in action, check out HelloWallet's Finovate Spring 2011 demo

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*HelloWallet's average employer partner workforce is 50k employees where the average take-up rate is about 20% after six months. It expects to serve 600,000 employees by the end of the year. Thus, since employees log in once a week on average, the actual web traffic varies substantially from the compete.com graph. 
FinovateSpring_Logo_Date.jpg

The demo videos from FinovateSpring 2011 (last month in San Francisco) are now available for your viewing enjoyment -- free of charge -- in the Finovate Video Archives.

The spring conference was our largest conference ever, with 850 financial executives, venture capitalists and industry leaders watching 64 innovative fintech companies showcase their latest and greatest products. (FinovateFall in NYC in September promises to be even bigger, register now if you haven't already!)

If you missed the spring event, then be sure check out these fast-paced 7-minute demo videos from all our presenting companies. These hot young startups and leading established companies are innovating on everything from tablet interfaces to P2P payments to financial education to mobile bill capture to PFM to merchant-funded rewards to biometric security and much more. It's inspiring to see all the new ideas being launched!

FinovateSpring 2011 was sponsored by: The Bancorp, Tier One Partners, and the law firm of CB&S.

FinovateSpring 2011 was partners with: BankInnovation.net, BankerStuff, CardWeb, Filene Research Institute, Finance on WindowsPYMNTS.com, Mercator Advisory Group, Mobile-Financial.com and TheStartup.eu

Thumbnail image for AlumNewsIMG.jpg
AcceptEmail
AcceptEmail partnered with WorldPay to launch an e-billing and online payment service. Link

Balance
GeekWire interviewed Balance Financial CEO, Devin Miller. Link

BancVue
BancVue executives won Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Link

BankOns
Examiner.com referred to BankOns as the new GroupOn. Link
billshrinkLOGO.jpg

BillShrink
BillShrink was featured in The New York Times. Link

BrightScope
Forbes reported on BrightScope's list of exchange-traded funds held in America's 401k plans. Link

CheckFree
CheckFree expanded its functionality to support account-to-account and peer-to-peer transfers. Link

Clairmail
ClairMail.jpg
Clairmail joined the RSA Secured Partner Program to provide secure access to mobile banking. Link

doxo
  • doxo CEO explained paperless billing in a video interview, highlighting the mobile app. Link

  • doxo was featured on the Top Productivity Apps website. Link

  • Northwest Innovation reviewed doxo's mobile app. Link
Dwolla
TechCrunch reported that Dwolla hit a milestone of $1M in transactions per week. Link

Enloop
  • Business News Daily interviewed Enloop CEO, Cynthia McCahon, about creating a "living business plan". Link

  • Huffington Post spotlighted Enloop. Link
eRollover
eRollover launched an online solution for financial advisors to grow practices. Link

eWiseThumbnail image for eWise.jpg
eWise announced its partnership with Affirmative Technologies to speed the adoption of alternative payment methods. Link

Kiboo
Kiboo launched a public site called "Know Your Money".  Link

Lending Club
  • Lending Club posted a video of their five-word acceptance speech at the Webby Awards. Link

  • The Wall Street Journal noted Lending Club as leading the way in P2P lending. Link
mFoundry
  • mFoundry helped Starbucks build an app for Android. Link

  • mFoundry passed the 400 customer milestone. Link
Mitek
Mitek's mobile check deposit was cited as the number one feature that would cause you to switch banks. Link

Monitise
  • ComputerWeekly discussed the survey Monitise conducted on mobile banking. Link

  • Forbes discussed Monitises' deal with Visa. Link
peerTransfer
  • peerTransfer is hosting a free webinar on international student payment processing this Wednesday, June 22. Link

  • peerTransfer won the Innovation Award from Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange. Link
ProsperThumbnail image for Prosper.jpg
  • Prosper announced that it is giving away an iPad2 to new investors. Link

  • The Wall Street Journal noted Prosper as leading the way in P2P lending. Link
SafetyPay
SafetyPay was selected by BorderJump as its preferred payment solution for cross border transactions. Link

SmartyPig
Fox Business News suggested using SmartyPig.com as a tool to help "pump up" savings. Link

Tagit 
Tagit helped Commonwealth Bank launch its first mobile app. Link

ThreatMetrix
  • ThreatMetrix announced its cloud-based fraud prevention platform. Link

  • ThreatMetrix launched "ThreatMetrix Fraud Facts," a free downloadable report. Link
Tyfone
  • Tyfone was awarded an NFC over-the-air and over-the-wire seminal patent. Link

  • American Banker reviewed Tyfone's mobile payment patent. Link

  • NFC Rumors looked at how Tyfone uses SD cards to enable NFC transactions. Link

Thumbnail image for AlumNewsIMG.jpg
Andera
  • Andera launched FortiFI, a new fraud prevention system. Link 
  • Andera CEO Charlie Kroll discussed the release of FortiFI. Link 
ChargeSmart
  • ChargeSmart launched ChargeSmart Direct to provide customers with additional access to support staff. Link 
  • Fox Business News highlighted ChargeSmart and PlasticJungle's gift card trading service as a way to make savings fun. Link   
Check Point Software Technologies 
Check Point announced the 2012 version of ZoneAlarm. Link 

Currensee 
Currensee.jpg
  • Forex Crunch outlined the benefits of Currensee, describing its profitability as "significantly high". Link 
  • The Street highlighted Curensee as a startup that "rocks" the financial house. Link 
doxo
  • Chicago Tribune discussed doxo's step toward a paperless society. Link 
  • TechCrunch & VentureBeat featured the launch of doxo's mobile app, a mobile digital filing cabinet. Link  and Link 
  • Macworld took a closer look at doxo's new app. Link   
Dwolla
Dwolla.jpg
  • Dwolla released Grid, a feature that protects personal user information. Link 
  • The Street highlighted Dwolla as a startup that "rocks" the financial house. Link 
  • The Next Web interviewed Dwolla about its API. Link 
Enloop 
StartUp Beat profiled Enloop. Link

eWise 
eWise raised $14 million in funding. Link

Expensify 
Expensify.jpg
CNNMoney named Expensify as one of five best apps for businesses. Link

FreeMonee 
CardTrak.com examined FreeMonee's gift network. Link

Ftrans 
Ftrans raised $650,000 in equity financing. Link

GoalMine 
GoalMine won The Core Underbanked Innovators Challenge at the 6th Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum hosted by Core Innovation Capital. Link

Jemstep 
Jemstep.jpg
Jemstep launched a new version of its service that features many improvements. Link

mFoundry 
The Washington Post reported that mFoundry's mobile deposit service is its most requested feature. Link

Mitek
  • Mitek Systems was granted 4 more patents for its mobile deposit feature. Link 
  • Bank Technology News discussed Mitek's new patents. Link 
Monitise
  • Monitise launched its services in India. Link 
  • The Wall Street Journal covered Monitise's 5-year agreement with Visa. Link 
  • TechCrunch examined Monitise's recent deal with Visa. Link  
Prosper 
Prosper raised $17.5 million in funding from investors. Link

RobotDough
The Street highlighted RobotDough as a startup that "rocks" the financial house. Link

SecondMarket 
CNBC interviewed Barry Silbert, CEO of SecondMarket, regarding its role in IPOs. Link

Silver Tail Systems 
Silver Tail Systems raised $20M in a Series B funding round. Link

Striata 
Striata partnered with POCiT to enable bill payments. Link

Sybase 
Sybase was named the most successful database software vendor in China. Link

ThreatMetrix  
Thumbnail image for ThreatMetrix.jpg
ThreatMetrix collaborated with USA ePay to provide fraud prevention to online retailers. Link

TradeKing 
TradeKing partnered with CoolTrade for automatic stock trades. Link

UBank 
UBank voiced that it will change the banking industry by using the web and mobile technology. Link

Zopa 
Thumbnail image for zopa.jpg
BBC's Radio 2 interviewed Zopa CEO Giles Andrews about P2P lending. Link 

Have you ever cringed when entering credit card information into an online checkout form? 
Thumbnail image for eWise.jpg
Maybe you were wondering, "Who is on the other side of this transaction? Where is my information going? How do I know this is secure?" It can also be tedious keying in all of the information, especially on a mobile: credit card number, password, user name, and CVV code. Fortunately, there are solutions such as Secure Vault Payments (SVP) by eWise to help solve these problems.

Thumbnail image for SVP Logo.jpgSVP launched in late 2009 as a new player in alternative payment solutions. It allows you to pay for goods and services directly through your online bank account. There are close to 50 banks (and counting) participating in SVP's service and with US Bank as a new partner in this service, the availability has increased dramatically.

How It Works
  1. When checking out at a participating retailer, select the Secure Vault Payment option (see image) and choose your bank from the drop down list. SVP1.jpg
  2. SVP will redirect you to your bank where you log in using your existing username and password. 
  3. Select the account (i.e., savings, checking) from which you would like the money to be drawn and confirm the payment. You will then be redirected to your receipt on the retailer's page. 

What's In It for Consumers? 
  • No need to maintain an account with a third party:
    Since SVP works with your existing bank (current clients are US Bank, First Citizens Bank, and many more*) there is no need to set up an account somewhere else. This also removes the headache of remembering an additional username and password. 
  • Security you can trust:
    Since the transaction takes place at your bank's website and not a third party, it removes the middleman and improves perceived security. 
  • Familiar user interface:
    You already know how to navigate your bank's website, so there's no need to learn a different interface.

What's In It for Banks? 
  • Be a trusted advisor: 
    Being in the center of a transaction allows you to build rapport with clients. 
  • Earn additional revenue: 
    Both the consumer's and the merchant's banks receive a fee for authenticating the user.

Another PayPal? 
While there are many similarities between the two, such as security, the ability to pay directly
Thumbnail image for SVP2.jpg
from your bank account, and no merchant storage of account information, there are two major differences. 
  1. During a purchase, SVP directs you to your bank's website (see image on right). 
  2. The bank controls the payment, stores the payment information, and handles dispute resolution. 

SVP is innovating on a number of fronts including a mobile app that incorporates the use of quick response (QR) codes in a payment system. To see a demo of the QR code payment system in action, visit Finovate.com. It also has other capabilities, such as providing an on-demand donation platform for non-profits. For a more in-depth look at this and other features, check out its website

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Other Participating banks include: AFB&T, Bank of Coweta, Bank of North Georgia, Cambridge Trust Company (Cambridge, MA), CB and T Bank of East Alabama, CB and T Bank of Middle GA, Citizens First Bank (Rome, GA), Coastal Bank and Trust of Florida, Cohutta Banking Company, Columbus Bank and Trust, Commercial Bank (Thomasville, GA), Commercial Bank and, Trust Company (LaGrange, GA), Community Bank and Trust (Enterprise, AL), First Coast, Community Bank, First Commercial Bank (Birmingham, AL), First Commercial Bank of Huntsville, First Community Bank (Tifton, GA), First Bank of Jasper, First State Bank and Trust Company (Valdosta, GA), Georgia Bank and Trust, Savings Bank of Maine, SB&T Bank, Sea Island Bank, Sterling Bank (Montgomery, AL), Synovus Bank (St. Petersburg, FL), Synovus Bank of Jacksonville,, The Bank of Nashville, The Bank of Tuscaloosa, Coastal Bank and Trust (Mobile, AL), The Coastal, Bank of Georgia, NBSC, Tallahassee State Bank, Trust One Bank (Memphis, TN), United Western Bank (Denver, CO)

This week, three Finovate alumni reached significant funding milestones.  


eWise.jpg






New round
$14 million Series B from Wellington Partners, Balderton Capital, TTV Capital, and Patagorang 

Funding History
$12.1 million Series A in July 2010

Previous Investors
Balderton Capital, Stanley S. Shuman of Allen & Co., and Total Technology Ventures 

Profile
Market Position: Online Payments and Personal Financial Management
Founded: 1999
Locations: Denver, London, Australia, and China
Description 
eWise creates payment and financial management solutions for financial institutions including:
  • eWise Pay By Account 
  • eWise Pay Anyone 
  • eWise Account Aggregation
  • eWise Personal Financial Manager 
  • eWise eAuthentication

For more information on eWise's innovations, see their FinovateEurope 2011 and FinovateSpring 2011 demos.


Prosper.jpg





New Round 
$17.2 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Crosslink Capital, Accel Partners, CompuCredit, Omidyar Network, Eric Schmidt's TomorrowVentures and Volition Capital 

Funding History
$7.5 million Series A in April 2005
$12.5 million Series B in February 2006
$20 million Series C in June 2007
$14.5 million Series D in April 2010

Previous Investors 
Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Eric Schmidt
Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, Omidyar Network, QED Investors, and TomorrowVentures

Profile
Market Position: Peer-to-peer Lending
Founded: 2006
Location: San Francisco, CA

Description 
Prosper, a peer-to-peer lending site with over one million members, has funded $236 million in personal loans. To see Prosper in action, check out their FinovateStartup 2007, FinovateStartup 2008, and FinovateStartup 2009 demos. 

SilverTailSystems.jpg







New Round
$20 million Series B funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Leapfrog Ventures, Seraph Group, and Startup Capital Ventures

Funding History
$2.1 million Series A in September 2008

Previous Investors
Leapfrog Ventures, Seraph Group, Startup Capital Ventures

Profile
Market Position: Security
Founded: 2008
Location: Palo Alto, CA

Description
Silver Tail Systems' products detect online and mobile fraud, help investigate possible attacks, and prevent future attacks. To learn more about Silver Tail Systems' innovative fraud detection, check out their FinovateStartup 2009, Finovate 2009, FinovateSpring 2010, FinovateFall 2010, FinovateEurope 2011, and FinovateSpring 2011 demos.

Finovate_Alumni_news.jpg
Betterment
Medill Reports discussed the benefits of Betterment and Currensee, claiming that the social networking craze changes the way some people invest. Link

BrightScope
BrightScope announced the top 10 treasury inflation protected securities funds in America's 401ks. Link

ChargeSmart
ChargeSmart.jpg
Fox News' Studio 10 reviewed ChargeSmart, PlasticJungle, and Bills.com and found a number of money saving tools and ideas. Link

Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies won The Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2011 Award from The Association of Support Professionals for its exceptional web support design, implementation, and customer experience. Link

ClairMail
ClairMail announced record customer expansion with a 300% year-over-year growth in users. Link

Corduro
Corduro.jpg
The New York Times reported that Corduro's cloud platform challenges PayPal and Square's mobile payment services. Link

Credit Sesame
The Wisdom Journal depicted Credit Sesame's services as more than just credit scores. Link

Currensee
See Betterment above.

doxo
  • doxo explained how to use its online filing cabinet and "due date" alerts to help organize GroupOn, Living Social, and other daily deals. Link
  • TheFinancialBrand.com discussed Oregon Federal Credit Union's use of doxo and discussed other usage ideas such as uploading a scan of your passport prior to travelling. Link
Dwolla 
  • Credit Union Times listed Dwolla as a contender in the P2P payment space. Link
  • Dwolla rallied community efforts to gather donations for the tornado-stricken town of Joplin by selling its t-shirts and accepting donations. Link
  • Omaha World-Herald covered Dwolla's arrival into Nebraska. Link
Enloop
Enloop.jpg
  • About.com highlighted Enloop's business plan creation service. Link
  • Forbes blog discussed "How Not to Fail" by using Enloop to assess the potential success of a business plan. Link
Geezeo
Call Federal Credit Union, based in Richmond, VA, selected Geezeo for its PFM solution. Link

Guardian Analytics
Guardian Analytics positioned by Gartner in the "Visionary" quadrant for web fraud detection. Link

HelloWallet
HelloWallet.jpg
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom urged residents to improve their money management by using HelloWallet. For every five subscriptions purchased, HelloWallet will give away one subscription to a family in need. Link

Hidden Levers
Financial Advisor Blog discussed using Hidden Levers to build better portfolios, highlighting risk management and accuracy of the service. Link

Lending Club
  • Lending Club exceeded a quarter million dollars in cumulative loans and is offering cash bonuses. Link
  • Wall Street Journal blog discussed growth of P2P Lending sites Prosper and Lending Club. Link
Lendio
Lendio.jpg
Lendio raised $2 million in debt financing. Link

PayNearMe
PayNearMe founder Danny Shader, in an interview with Vator News, revealed the service is used beyond the unbanked population, including teens who prefer to pay with cash and consumers who would like to keep their online transactions private. Link

Prosper
See Lending Club above.

RobotDough
RobotDough.jpg
Dow Jones Financial reports that a UCLA professor backed RobotDough. Link

SecondMarket
The Washington Business Journal discussed SecondMarket's recent popularity. Link

Sybase
Sybase.jpg
Sybase launched the M-Commerce Guide, a publication for examining global market opportunities for mobile network operators, advisors, and FIs. Link

TradeKing
TradeKing CIO Dan Raju discussed security issues that may arise with the NYSE cloud community, citing its security. Link

Tyfone
Tyfone contracted with Star One Credit Union to use its NFC technology. Link

UBank
UBank.jpg
CEO of UBank examined security concerns and competitors during an interview with ZDNet. Link

Imagine this scenario: You'd like to visit a friend who lives three hours out of town but
2011-06-02_11-16-55.jpg
your car is in the shop so you need to take the train. To purchase the ticket ahead of time, you'd like to pay online or over the phone instead of at the Amtrak station. But here's the kicker-- you don't have a credit or debit card. How are you supposed to buy the ticket if you can only pay with cash? The solution is easy, and it's called PayNearMe.

Founded by Danny Shader in 2009, PayNearMe is a Mountain View, CA-based company that 
enables consumers to buy online and pay offline at 7-Eleven stores. 

Using this service, consumers can pay off loans with cash, purchase goods from other retailers, and even pay for services such as transportation. To get a better idea of more possibilities, see PayNearMe's FinovateFall 2010 and FinovateSpring 2011 demos, both of which won Best of Show awards.

Why use PayNearMe?
    • You do not have a credit or debit card (24% of U.S. households)
    • You prefer to pay with cash (most teens and 54% of adults) 
    • You do not want to divulge personal information online
    • You would like to repay a loan with cash
How it Works
Imagine you want to purchase a book that's for sale online, but don't have (or don't want to use) a debit or credit card.  

You can use PayNearMe to purchase the book online using an Amazon gift card. It's a three-step process: 

1) Complete the online form at the PayNearMe website.
Choose Merchants (step one in the visual below), select Amazon as the retailer (step two), and answer these questions: 
    • Gift card amount
    • Email addressThumbnail image for Step1n2.jpg
    • Zip code
    • Password














Then choose whether to pay with or without a printer. If going paperless, enter a mobile phone number and within seconds receive the following text message:
text1.4.png
2) Go to 7-Eleven. 
Use PayNearMe's website to locate a nearby 7-Eleven store and, once inside, find the PayNearMe cards on the rack (see example at end of post). Following the instructions in the text message, 
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for text4.png
reply with the nine-digit code. 

A follow-up message will appear seconds later: 
Thumbnail image for text2.2.png
You can pay the cashier with a $20 bill and ask her to load the money onto the card. After she swipes the card and processes the payment, she'll hand you a receipt along with the card. You'll then receive a final text message:
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for text3.1.png
3) Use the claim code. 
The receipt prompts you to visit www.amazon.com/gc and enter the claim code listed on the 
Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for GCclaimcode.jpg
receipt (see below). Login with your Amazon account, ensure the payment is loaded into the system, and click Apply to Your Account. The $20 is loaded into your account so you can find the book and pay for it with the $20 gift card balance. 

Analysis
I like that this is a completely free service for consumers; $20 in your wallet translates into $20 in your Amazon account. There are no hidden fees or surcharges. In addition to this, the PayNearMe card is reusable so you don't need to pick up a new one each time you use the service.

On the flipside, Amazon doesn't offer PayNearMe as one of its default payment choices so you have to start the transaction through the PayNearMe website. While this is an additional step in the process, it still makes it easy to pay for goods and services using cash.

PayNearMe card and receipt

Card and receipt.png

Watch Demos

Click above for video archives of all demos.

 

Twitter