FinovateEurope 2012 is less than a week away and we are very excited to return to London to showcase the best new innovations in financial technology from across the globe.

On next Tuesday, dozens of cutting-edge startups and leading established companies (check out the list of presenters) will take the stage to debut their latest and greatest ideas via Finovate's signature fast-paced, demo-only format

We blew past last year's attendance total of 450 last week and tickets have continued to sell strongly (there are still a few left if you want to register).

In case you're curious about who is attending this year, here is a small sample of the organizations that have already registered:

If you want add your organization's name to this list and join our top-notch audience to watch the future of European finance and banking technology debut live next Tuesday, please register soon before it is too late. We'll see you in London!

FinovateEurope 2012 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting & The Bancorp Bank

FinovateEurope 2012 is partners with: BankerStuff, BankInnovation, Celent, Deutsch Startups, Finance on Windows, The Financial Services Club, The Financial Services Innovation Centre, Juniper Research, and PYMNTS.com.

Portal software startup Backbase announced today that it partnered with Australia-based Sandstone:

"Backbase provides powerful Web2.0 e-business technology that will underpin Sandstone's next generation online banking solutions.... Backbase Forms will enable Sandstone BankFast customers to easily create and edit forms for customer-facing business applications."

Sandstone will market the Backbase Bank 2.0 and Forms technology throughout Australia and New Zealand.

To learn more about Backbase and Sandstone, come to FinovateEurope February 7 in London or watch Backbase's FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Last week, Lodo Software announced that it partnered with Arvest Bank to update its online banking service:

"Lodo's solution will help Arvest deliver an improved and personalized online experience that allows bank customers to monitor and manage their finances with greater convenience and control."

Arvest Bank will also join Lodo's advisory board to guide the future direction of Lodo products.

To learn more about Lodo Software, watch its FinovateEurope 2011 demo.

Washington, D.C.-based HelloWallet, a subscription PFM service, recently announced it received $12 million in Series B funding from Morningstar and TD Fund.

The Washington Business Journal reports:

"The largest chunk of the new capital came from Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., which invested $6.75 million. District-based TD Fund put in $4 million, with some other existing and new investors filling out the Series B round."

The startup plans to use the capital to expand its customer base and help its clients build savings.

To learn more about HelloWallet, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

BillFloat announced earlier this week that it added Florida-based Lee County Electric Cooperative to its list of providers:

"Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) enabled residents in the Southwestern region of Florida to add up to 30 more days to pay their monthly electric bill when finances are tight.  LCEC is the latest electric company that BillFloat has added to its list of nearly 1,000 utility billers across the country."

To learn more about BillFloat, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

We're very excited to announce that FinovateEurope 2012 has officially blown past last year's record attendance of 450 with two weeks still to go.

On February 7th in London, this year's audience will get to witness dozens of new fintech innovations debut from both cutting-edge startups and leading established companies (check out the list of presenters) via Finovate's signature fast-paced demo-only format.

In case you're curious about who's attending this year, here is a (very) small sample of the organizations that have already registered:

If you want to join the top-notch audience and watch the future of European finance and banking technology debut live, there are still a few tickets left. But please register soon as tickets are continuing to sell quickly. We'll see you in London!

FinovateEurope 2012 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting & The Bancorp Bank

FinovateEurope 2012 is partners with: BankerStuff, BankInnovation, Celent, Deutsch Startups, Finance on Windows, The Financial Services Club, The Financial Services Innovation Centre, Juniper Research, and PYMNTS.com.

New York-based Kapitall now enables users to trade stocks through its platform:

TechCrunch reports:

"The simple brokerage platform has no minimums to open and maintain an account, and is fully paperless. You can choose to transfer real money into Kapitall to begin trading or use practice portfolios to see how your trades perform, risk-free."

The user-friendly GUI, with its drag-and-drop interface, makes it easy for novice traders to build portfolios and execute trades.

To learn more about Kapitall, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

Bank of America announced yesterday that it chose Cardlytics to power its transaction-based rewards program called BankAmeriDeals:

Reuters reports:

"Customers will receive offers through the bank's online banking website. The discounts will be awarded in the form of cash payments once a month. Customers need not sign up for emailed coupons or check a separate web site, as bargain hunters do with offerings from Groupon Inc and others."

Bank of America will begin testing the technology this week but has not disclosed when it will officially launch for customers.

To learn more about Cardlytics, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo with ActivePath and come to FinovateEurope 2012 on February 7 to see its live demo.

This week we interviewed David Barrett, CEO of Expensify, an expense-processing platform. Barrett launched the San Francisco-based startup in May of 2008 and now employs 10 people. 

Expensify has been recognized as CNN Money's One of Five Best Apps for Business, has taken home a Best of Show award at FinovateSpring 2010, was featured as the App of the Week by both Gearburn and Salesforce, and has received $6.7 million in funding.

Finovate: I see that you've been programming since the age of 6. Tell us about what you were programming and what drove you to do so at such a young age.

Barrett: I started watching my brother type in games from Byte magazine into our trusty Vic-20. Then when my parents went to the mall they'd leave me in Radio Shack and I'd write programs on the Tandy computers there while they shopped -- a bat that flew around the screen was my favorite. The magazines I read alone in my room at night had pictures of the latest 8086 computer with its seductively glowing amber screen, quite unlike the magazines of my peers. But ultimately it was a combination of living in the midst of farm fields miles from friends (and being antisocial with few friends in the first place), combined with summer vacations on a sailboat in the middle of Lake Michigan. I didn't really have much to do but write in my trusty notebook about ideas to explore, games to build, and things to do once I was off that damn boat and back in my room.

Finovate: Tell me about when you first had the idea for Expensify's receipt-importing platform.

Barrett: The moment I saw the image quality an iPhone camera could have with auto-focus enabled. It's not exactly a genius idea -- it's just so amazingly obvious. Of *course* it should work like this: just take a picture of the receipt, and magically everything is read off it and associated with your credit card feed automatically. I can't think of any way *but* that to work. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done, which is why it took literally years of development to make it possible.

Finovate: What has most surprised you about launching Expensify?

Barrett: How much fun it can be to disrupt a boring space. It sounds absurd, but in truth I picked expense reporting precisely *because* it sounded boring: Banks wouldn't talk to me about my original idea because it sounded too crazy. So I re-cast it as expense reimbursement and, voila. Boring. Or so I thought, but it turns out that this space sits at the absolute heart of every organization. It affects all industries, all company sizes. Everybody in the company from the CEO to the janitor. It affects the obvious companies like sales and consulting, but also churches. Student groups. Families. It's for anybody who's ever put a receipt in their pocket.  It's the great equalizer. As a result, Expensify has become -- quite to my surprise -- a product for Everyman. It's equal parts humbling and exhilarating.

Finovate: Last year you took your entire team to Vietnam for a month. What was your favorite part and would you recommend it to other startups?

Barrett: My personal favorite moment was sitting in the midst of Marble Mountain, an ancient Buddhist temple carved into a deep cave accessible only from the top of a tall mountain, itself only accessible by a winding staircase up the sheer cliff sides. It's so hard to get out of your habits at home and into a place -- physically and mentally -- truly different. It's that different mental state that I find is the most valuable part of the trip. It triggers a level of introspective discussion that simply doesn't happen in the office, no matter how many pizzas you order, or how late you order them.

Finovate: What advice would you give a fintech entrepreneur who is just starting?

Barrett: Everything goes slower than everybody tells you it will. Prep yourself for a marathon. Even worse: a marathon where everybody else is sprinting off the blocks, in different directions. In the fog.

Finovate: What is your favorite part about leading Expensify?

Barrett: I think "leading" is a strong word. As stressful and chaotic as it is, I like having a strong team of independent peers, each pulling the company in the way they feel is best. And then I like going home and having dinner with my wife and dog, confident that this is so much bigger than me, I can sleep soundly.

Finovate: How has Expensify adapted to accomodate growth?

Barrett: I don't know that we have, at least not that well. For the astounding number of users we have and companies who depend on us, we're still too small. We struggle to hire really great people, and are constantly tempted to lower our standards. But so far we haven't, and that feels very good, despite the increased work it creates for everyone. (Hint:https://expensify.com/jobs)

Finovate: Can you give us a sneak peek of what's next for Expensify?

Barrett:In broad strokes, Expensify has the basics down cold. Not perfect. Not even close to perfect. But pretty well, and better every day. But we only have the *basics* down cold. We're always going to stay true to the roots of expense management -- that not-so-boring field we call home. But we're done catching up, and are beginning to lead in new directions that bring the latest technologies to bear on this age-old problem. Importing eReceipts from your online bank account, or SmartScanning receipts with your mobile phone -- these are bold moves that nobody's ever done before. But there are so many more things to be done (and so many better ways to do what we already do), we're really just getting started.

To learn more about Expensify, watch David Barrett's recent demo fromFinovateSpring 2011. Stay tuned for another CEO interview next month.

"The Series C financing started in April 2011 with $4 million from North Bridge Venture Partners, Egan-Managed Capital and Vernon & Park Capital LP. The new tranche of the round, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, saw the number of investors climb from four to five, although they are not named."

Bank Technology News reported last week that alternative payments company, PayNearMe, is working with Progreso Financiero to launch a mobile version of its 7-Eleven cash payments platform in mid-February:

"Progreso will send a bar code to individuals' smartphones using a text message. 7-Eleven's clerks would scan the bar code after to complete the payment after receiving users' cash, Shader says. Progreso, of Menlo Park, Calif., helps Hispanic consumers build credit in the United States and gain access to mainstream financial services."

The startup also hopes that by the end of March, it will add another brick-and-mortar store where consumers can go to process cash transactions for bills, bus tickets, auto loans and more.

To learn more about PayNearMe, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Last week identity validation startup, Finsphere, made two announcements:

• According to GeekWire, it has received $11.3 million in funding, which brings its total funding up to around $30 million:

"The company, led by wireless veteran Michael Buhrmann, has raised $11.3 million of a $15.4 million venture capital round, according to a SEC filing. It's unclear whether a $3.95 million round raised in October is part of the new round."

•  It added a board member from Vodafone Ventures:

"Tobin Ireland, Group Director of Commercial Development at Vodafone, joins the Finsphere Board of Directors. Also participating in the investment are existing Finsphere investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Frazier Technology Ventures."

To learn more about Finsphere, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo and come see its live demo at FinovateEurope this February 7 in London. Get tickets here.

2011 was a big year for IPOs and that has been reflected in the growth of secondary marketplace, SecondMarket. 

Yesterday, Forbes published statistics on the startup's performance over its three years of operation:

• In 2011, private company transactions totaled $558 million
• From 2011 to 2010, private company transactions increased 55%
• Since it began in 2008, the startup has exceeded $1 billion in deals
• In 2011, over 61% of transactions were in the social media and consumer web space

2011 Sellers:

• 79% were ex-employees
• 11% were employees
• 4% were investors
• Less than 1% were founders

2011 Buyers (by dollar value):

• 73% were institutions
• 27% were individuals

The top 10 most watched companies on SecondMarket (as of 4Q 2011):

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Foursquare
4. Dropbox
5. Yelp
6. Gilt Groupe
7. Hulu
8. Square
9. Living Social
10. Spotify

To learn more about SecondMarket, watch its FinovateStartup09 demo.

PayPal will be expanding its payments trial from five Home Depot locations to 51:

American Banker reports:

"PayPal, of San Jose, Calif., said this month that it is testing this system at five Home Depot stores. This week, it will expand the trial to 51 Home Depot stores: one in Atlanta, six in Omaha and 44 in the San Francisco bay area."

As PaymentsViews noted yesterday, this is not a mobile payments technology (as mistaken by some). Because the transaction requires a phone number combined with a PIN, the customer never uses a mobile device.

To read a personal account of how the technology works in action, check out what Russ Jones, PaymentsViews writer, has to say about the experience.

Seattle-based doxo published an infographic yesterday detailing its successes in 2011. 

Doxo users:

• The highest number of documents uploaded by a single user was 1,206
• The most provider accounts listed by a single user was 62
• The most payments to providers by a single user was $9,100

Doxo providers:

• Users listed 13,848 different providers in 2011
• New York, NY had 1,120 different providers, the highest in the nation

Awards won in 2011:

• OnDemand Top 100
• Red Herring Top 100 Global
• Stevie American Business New Product of the Year Award
• Top 10 Rethinking Ideas of 2011

Most active doxo providers: 

• Puget Sound Energy
• AT&T
• KCP&L
• Sound Community Bank
• Froula Alarm System
• Oregon Employees CU
• Sprint

To learn more about doxo, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Electronic banking solutions company Q2ebanking announced yesterday that it appointed Matt Flake as CEO:

"Flake has more than 20 years of financial industry experience. Prior to his role as Q2's president, he was a senior vice president for Q2, responsible for sales, marketing and business development."

Flake will be responsible for daily operations and overall strategic direction.

To learn more about Q2ebanking, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

With 2012 underway and winter out in full force, it means that spring is just around the corner. And with the warmer weather will come our return to San Francisco with FinovateSpring 2012.

On May 8th & 9th, we will again be showcasing dozens of Silicon Valley's newest fintech innovations via our signature format that blends fast-paced demos with high-quality networking.

Tickets for the event are selling quickly and we're on pace to beat last year's record attendance of 850. The already long list of registered attendees includes executives from organizations like Wells Fargo, MasterCard, Mint.com, Charles Schwab, Citi, CNNMoney, Aite Group, H&R Block, Intuit, BBVA, and USAA (to name just a few).

If you're interested in joining them to watch the future of financial and banking technology unfold live on stage at this must-attend event then please get your ticket before Friday to lock in your spot at the low super early-bird rate of $300 off. That said, if you can't wait until May for your next fix of fintech innovation, we do still have a few tickets left for FinovateEurope 2012 (February 7 in London).

FinovateSpring 2012 is sponsored by: The Bancorp Inc., the law firm of Chambliss Bahner & Stophel & TxVia

FinovateSpring 2012 is partners with: BankInnovation, BankerStuff, Celent, Filene, Finance on Windows & PYMNTS.com

On the heels of FiPath's announcement yesterday, BrightScope revealed it is also partnering with social media engagement company Arkovi:

"Financial services professionals using BrightScope Advisor Pages can now activate Arkovi with an exclusive 30 day free trial. Once activated, each advisor and firm will have a permanent record of their social media participation on BrightScope and other prominent sites."

BrightScope advisors who use Arkovi will benefit from:

• Real time ability to tap into social media website activity
• Ability to access stored content 24/7
• Easy activation

To learn more about BrightScope, watch its Finovate 2009 demo.

St Helens Community Federal Credit Union announced yesterday that it is the first financial institution in Oregon to launch BancVue's Kasasa.

CU Insight reports:

"St. Helens Community FCU is offering two Kasasa financial products, including Kasasa Cash® and Kasasa Tunes®. All Kasasa products are free, reward-based accounts, with no minimum balance to earn the rewards, no monthly service fees, free online banking and other convenience services, and worldwide ATM fee refunds."

Kasasa Cash is a high-interest, free checking account for qualifying members and Kasasa Tunes is a free checking account that rewards qualifying members with downloads from iTunes or Amazon.

To learn more about BancVue's Kasasa, watch its Finovate2009 demo and check out Netbanker's blog post from last week.

Plastyc, creator of the UPside Visa prepaid card, announced yesterday that it is using GreenDot's Swipe&Load technology to enable UPside cardholders to load cash onto their cards at 7-Eleven stores:

"Swipe&Load technology makes it faster and easier for people to add cash to their reloadable cards. Now cardholders can visit any 7-Eleven store in the U.S and hand their UPside Visa card and cash to the cashier. The cashier swipes the card and the money is added to the card on the spot."

To learn more about Plastyc, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Ready Receipts, a company that offers merchants and consumers paperless access to their retail receipts, officially launched today:

"A new solution from Ready Receipts provides an online location where electronic versions of receipts can be stored and retrieved digitally... The company's Receipt Assurance provides consumers online access to their receipts, and also will be able to stream purchase information to personal finance tools."

Yesterday, Atlanta-based FiPath for Advisors (a service of FiPath*) announced a partnership with Arkovi, a company that monitors and archives social media communications:

"The partnership will enable FiPath to integrate industry-leading social media archiving capabilities into its online platform. The Arkovi service is now available at a discounted rate to FiPath for Advisor members, who will have access to Arkovi along with other social media tools."

FiPath is hoping that the availability of Arkovi's services will help advisors generate client leads by participating in social media.

To learn more about FiPath, watch its FinovateSpring 2010 demo.

*FiPath was formerly eRollover. It changed its name late last year.

In a blog post last week, Lending Club detailed its 2011 accomplishments. 

Here are some of the highlights:

• Over 21,000 loans were originated
• Originated loans exceeded $257 million
• More than 24,000 new investors joined 
• Over 460 million dollars in personal loans have been originated since Lending Club's start in 2007

Other accomplishments include receiving an installment of $25 million in capital and being named to Forbes' America's Most Promising Companies list.

To learn more about Lending Club, watch its FinovateStartup09 demo.

Last week, Reuters looked at the gamification of saving money, using Seattle-based Bobber Interactive's GoalCard platform as an example.

The article describes how Bobber's combination of gamification with Facebook's social networking capabilities encourages its Generation Y users to save money. Players can redeem points earned for cash prizes.

Reuters goes on to cite a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research that states lower income families could be motiviated to save more money if incented with prize-linked savings accounts. Such gamified savings accounts are reported as well-tested and with widespread consumer appeal.

To learn more about Bobber Interactive's GoalCard, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

eToro announced yesterday that it was selected best social trading platform by FX Empire, a financial information website:

"The committee of FX Empire, comprised of journalists, analysts and traders, decided in favour of eToro's trading platform due to its ability to provide eToro customers with full transparency and control over their investment portfolio."

To learn more about eToro, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Online question and answer platform cbanc Network announced major growth figures earlier this week:

• In 2011, it grew seven-fold from 500 to over 3,600 financial institutions 
• Current count of individual users exceeds 7,710

Billeo, a startup that eases shopping and paying bills online, announced its Active eWallet API tool this morning:

"Once a credit, debit, prepaid or gift card issuer uses the API, the issuer's card appears as an option in Billeo's iPad and browser apps (ShopSmart, Offer Assistant and Bill Pay Assistant) allowing cardholders using any of Billeo's free apps to easily add the card into their eWallet and use it while shopping or paying bills online."

To learn more about Billeo, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Yesterday, financial guidance company FiPath (formerly eRollover), unveiled its FiPath Express Rollover Center, a tool to help consumers navigate the 401(k) rollover process:

"FiPath's Express Rollover Center gives consumers the ability to quickly and easily sort through multiple rollover options to determine which option is the best match for them. The Express Rollover Center allows consumers to obtain and compare the basic information from each provider, including costs, fees, menu of services and more."

To learn more about FiPath, watch its demo from FinovateSpring 2010.

Finovate sponsor, The Bancorp Bank, recently announced it will be issuing Suze Orman's new prepaid debit card, The Approved Card:

"The Approved Card created by Suze Orman carries her name and a promise of excellent benefits and value with no hidden fees. The Approved Card offers a wide array of benefits for a prepaid card, such as identity theft protection, TransUnion credit scores, reports, monitoring, transparent and competitive fees, as well as money management tools."

Orman sees the launch of this card as the single most important thing she's done in her whole career and considers it to be the answer for consumers who are looking for a better way to bank.

To learn more about the card, check out Ron Lieber's article in the New York Times.

Fresh after PayPal revealed its point of sale pilot with Home Depot stores, TechCrunch reports that PayPal has partnered with ABJ Software, an international company that specializes in transaction authorization, PIN and point of sale communication, and many other solutions.

TechCrunch reports:

"AJB will build a native PayPal interface within its integrated payment solutions platform. The interface can then be made available to AJB's retail customer base.... Similar to the Home Depot integration, PayPal members will have the option of paying for merchandise by swiping a PayPal Access Card or by entering the mobile telephone number and password associated with their accounts."

This partnership will help PayPal's technology reach 250,000 point of sale terminals in ABJ's 140-plus retailer base.

To learn more about PayPal, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo and come to FinovateEurope 2012 in London next month to see its live demo.

"This gives banks, online service providers to small businesses, and the over 800 On Deck Funding Advisor partners integrated access to the On Deck platform, which includes their powerful credit decision and application submission system. Through the API, these third parties can now incorporate On Deck's loan origination and credit scoring functionality into their own software applications, bringing increased efficiency to the small business lending process without adding additional steps to the workflow or user experience."

"With Secure Vault Payments, a non-custodial parent initiates the payment at the Child Support Center's website. The parent is automatically redirected to his or her bank's online banking platform to select the account to use for payment. The participating financial institution authenticates the payer and immediately withdraws funds from the payer's account and then transfers funds to the Child Support Center the next business day."

Last week, debt assistance startup ReadyForZero unveiled its New Year's Challenge that aims to help users pay off more debt in 2012. It consists of two parameters: 

1. You must commit to pay 10% more toward your debt for three months
2. You must pledge not to use your credit card during that time

Here are the three steps of the challenge:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

After completing all three steps, users receive a badge (see screenshot below) to solidify their commitment.

To learn more about ReadyForZero, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

This morning, online identity verification service miiCard announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with UK-based Callcredit:

"Blending the identity validation and authentication services of miiCard with the consumer data and identity verification services of Callcredit will create a new kind of online identity service that not only provides convenience for the consumer but cost savings, fraud protection and increased conversions for in the industry."

The two companies aim to be the first to provide the UK with an online identify verification service.

To learn more about miiCard, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Yesterday, P2P marketplace Prosper unveiled a web app that enables borrowers and lenders to access their accounts on-the-go in an easy-to-read format. 

The mobile platform will allow users to:

• View their account balance, annualized return, and portfolio allocation

• Browse individual listings and invest in the ones they choose

• Transfer funds to their Prosper account

The app is browser-based so it cannot be purchased from the App Store or the Android Marketplace. To access the mobile app, type prosper.com into the browser on your mobile device (the address will automatically be changed to m.prosper.com).

To learn more about Prosper, watch its FinovateStartup09 demo.

Visa shared on its blog yesterday that California-based Intuit recently launched a prepaid Visa card called GoPayment:

"Those who use Intuit's GoPayment mobile acceptance app and reader can now link their GoPayment account to a Visa prepaid card, conveniently separating the funds collected through GoPayment from other finances."

Users can make purchases with the card online and in-store, and they can use it to withdraw cash at an ATM.

To learn more about the two companies, watch Visa's FinovateSpring 2010 demo and Intuit's Finovate 2009 demo.

The Receivables Exchange, an online platform for selling accounts receivables, announced a major milestone today. It has provided $1 billion in funding to small and mid-sized businesses since its inception:

"Since the marketplace launched, nearly 2,000 small and mid-sized businesses have signed up to sell accounts receivable on The Receivables Exchange. The largest single receivable sold to date is in the millions of dollars and the smallest is 30 cents."

Companies using The Receivables Exchange can be found in all 50 states and span across 50 industries.

To learn more about The Receivables Exchange, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

Yesterday Kony Solutions announced it partnered with Independence Blue Cross (IBC), a Pennsylvania-based health insurance company, to power its mobile app strategy:

"IBC chose Kony for its ability to reach more than 9,000 mobile smartphones/tablets/kiosks and operating systems using its cross-platform mobile development platform, allowing IBC to develop robust mobile solutions for members, providers, and business partners regardless of what type of device they use."

IBC selected Kony because it enabled the reach of a wider customer audience.

To learn more about Kony, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Security company Check Point Software Technologies announced today that it is working with Amazon Web Services to bring security to the cloud:

"Its security gateways are now available to customers through Amazon Web Services, enabling organizations to extend their security to the cloud with a full range of protections, or Check Point software blades, such as Firewall, Intrusion Prevention, Application Control, URL Filtering and many more." 

In a separate release, Check Point announced it won the encryption product of the year award for its Check Point Full Disk Encryption product at U.K.'s Computing Security Magazine's 2011 Computing Security Awards.

To learn more about Check Point, watch its Finovate 2008 demo.

Earlier today France-based Cortal Consors announced the expansion of Hopee, its platform for an online community that exchanges recommendations, analyses, and tips on investments.

"The Community's new version, launched this October, includes a range of new features such as theScreener, an independent risk assessing indicator for stocks." 

The free platform has 50,000 members in France and 60,000 members in Germany and recently launched in Spain, where it was positively received.

To learn more about Cortal Consors and Hopee, watch the FinovateEurope 2011 demo.

In the final week of 2011, financial management platform provider Geezeo announced that five credit unions signed on to provide its white-label PFM solution and engagement banking platform to their clients.

The credit unions include:

• NavyArmy Federal Credit Union, Texas
• Chesterfield Federal Credit Union, Virginia
• Ascentra Credit Union, Iowa
• Kohlr Credit Union, Wisconsin
• Hiway Credit Union, Minnesota

To learn more about Geezeo, watch its Finovate 2007 demo.

Yesterday, San Francisco-based Expensify announced that it gave the name SmartScan to the scanning system it launched in May. The startup states it has since fixed a lot of errors and has already scanned hundreds of thousands of SmartScan items.

On the Expensify blog, it also announced a couple of other changes:

1. Users now receive 10 free SmartScans per month, instead of the one-time installment of 10 free scans.
2. All receipts scanned in excess of the 10 free monthly receipt scans will be charged at the end of the month instead of before.

Other than those changes, the platform and price remain the same. To learn more about Expensify's pricing structure, check out my post from last November.

To learn more about Expensify, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Last week Lending Club announced that, for a limited time, it will forgo the 1% lender service fee on loans in excess of $20,000 for the entire life of the loan. 

P2P Lending News reports:

"Lending Club is likely dropping its service fee on a test basis to increase investor demand in larger notes. Because borrowers with larger loan sizes have much larger payments, investors tend to see them as riskier investment options."

Last week, The Receivables Exchange announced a strategic alliance with Insperity Investment, a human resources and business performance solutions company.

"This venture will enable The Receivables Exchange's working capital solution to be offered to small and medium-sized U.S. businesses, including more than 100,000 businesses supported by Insperity."

To learn more about the Receivables Exchange, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

Today, Credit Karma launched a free credit monitoring service for all U.S. consumers. The service will monitor a consumer's credit file on a daily basis and notify them of significant changes.

Here's how it works:

• The consumer visits CreditKarma.com and begins the free, two-minute registration process.

• Every day, Credit Karma monitors the consumer's credit report.

• After a new credit inquiry, missed payment, or improved payment status hits the consumer's credit file, Credit Karma alerts the consumer via email.

Credit Karma is the first company to provide this service for free and existing Credit Karma members need only to opt-in to take advantage of the service.

To learn more about Credit Karma, watch its FinovateStartup09 demo.

With 2011 put to rest, the Finovate team has returned to the office excited to make FinovateEurope 2012 in February our biggest and best European event ever.

Over the holidays we received a number of inquiries about whether it was still possible to get an early-bird ticket to the event. Given that, we've decided to extend our early-bird ticket deadline until this Friday (January 6th) so that you can lock in your spot at the early-bird rate.

Tickets for the event have been selling strongly and we expect a record crowd on February 7th in London. Here is a small sample of the organizations that have already registered to attend:

If you want to guarantee your chance to watch the future of European finance and banking technology debut in London in February, please register soon. As I mentioned above, tickets for the event are selling quickly -- well ahead of last year's pace when we sold out weeks ahead of the conference. In addition, with the extended deadline, if you register by Friday January 6th then you'll get the affordable early-bird price on your ticket.

FinovateEurope 2012 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting & The Bancorp Bank

FinovateEurope 2012 is partners with: BankerStuff, BankInnovation, Celent, Deutsch Startups, Finance on Windows, The Financial Services Club, The Financial Services Innovation Centre, and PYMNTS.com.