Recently in Billeo Category

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow our feed here).

MoneyAisle appears in Kiplinger's Retirement Report -- (Print only) The story appears in the June issue and explains the new "auto loan search" features at MoneyAisle. More from MoneyAisle at http://bit.ly/FINOVATE671

BBVA Compass Bank replaces West Bank as SmartyPig's banking partner -- BBVA Compass is the 15th largest bank in America. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE672

Kapitall unveils "search by brand" feature -- The new search helps investors to identify the parent company of their favorite brands. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE681 or www.kapitall.com

SecondMarket CEO Barry Silbert interviewed by Dan Rather [vid] -- See more about SecondMarket's management of "illiquid assets." http://bit.ly/FINOVATE691

MoneyAisle featured in Wallet Pop -- Read more about shopping for an auto loan from MoneyAisle at http://bit.ly/FINOVATE692.

SmartCredit.com featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show -- See SmartCredit.com at work with Oprah and Jean Chatzky as part of the "Debt Diet" series on the program. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE693

Ebay recognizes Outright.com as most innovative app -- Outright.com received an award for most innovative application at the Ebay developer's conference. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6101

MPower Ventures in the running for Business Week's "Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs" -- Twenty-five companies are finalists. Read more at http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6102 or www.mpowerlabs.com.

Micronotes raises another $1.6 million in funding -- Yahoo Business reports on the startup's fund raising success. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6103

TransFS.com helps merchants to shop for better credit-card processing -- TransFS claims that users merchants can save up to 40% by shopping around for merchant services. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6111

Billeo expands merchant directory -- Billeo users can now pay their bills online with more than 10,000 merchants. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6112

Peer to Peer lender Prosper.com seeks regulation as a lender to avoid SEC -- Prosper has asked to become regulated as a lender to ease the regulatory burden of being regulated as an investment firm. http://bit.ly/FINOVATE6113

Just a quick reminder that the early-bird ticket prices for FinovateSpring 2010 (May 11, San Francisco) will expire at the end of March (less than 2 days from now). If you register by March 31, you'll save $100 on your ticket and lock in your spot to see debuts and demos of dozens of new financial and banking technological innovations. 

We've handpicked an amazing list of companies to demo their latest including:

Tickets are selling well with hundreds of registered attendees from great organizations like: 

FinovateSpring is one of our twice-yearly showcases of the best new ideas in banking and financial technology. The show is built around a unique blend of fast-paced demos of actual technology (no slides!) and high-quality networking with an audience of senior FI executives, fintech entrepreneurs, VCs, press, industry analysts and bloggers. It's an awesome environment to find your next competitive edge.

Don't miss out on the early-bird price on your ticket to this great show. Register now!

P.S. Online Banking Report subscribers are entitled to an extra discount to our Finovate conferences. Email me to get it.

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow it here).

Billeo includes AARP discounts in Offer Assistant - Billeo's Offer Assistant program, which helps online shoppers find discounts and incentive rewards, now includes AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). The association has about 40 million members. http://bit.ly/dtxfzU

BillShrink holds Facebook sweepstakes - BillShrink is giving away an iPad in a sweepstakes to encourage Facebook users to follow the company. The company will also give an iPad to the person who referred the winning user. The contest is similar in structure to a Mint promotion (our story here). Both are being handled by Wildfire. http://bit.ly/b8Vr6M

Bling Nation signs Adirondack Trust Company - The Adirondack Trust Company, located in Saratoga Springs, New York, is offering mobile payments through Bling Nation's system. This is the first East Coast deployment of the payments system. http://bit.ly/8Y0QR2

Bling Nation helping banks and merchants build relationships - According to a report from American Banker, Bling Nation's community-based payments system is building stronger ties between banks and retailers. By providing a payment system between community banks and merchants, Bling can offer lower transaction costs, encouraging merchants to work with local banks. http://bit.ly/9JkfgK

CashEdge provides P2P to Boeing Employees Credit Union - Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) is the first credit union in the country to offer CashEdge's POPMoney person-to-person payments service. The service launched on March 20. http://bit.ly/9RPJ2k

Diversinet expands focus on healthcare sector - Diversinet announced at the CTIA Wireless 2010 conference that it would increase its focus on providing mobile solutions to the healthcare market, connecting care providers and payers with healthcare information. The company's new strategy involves introducing new mobile applications, creating custom data portals for care providers, and developing systems to connect mobile devices to medical equipment. http://bit.ly/dcshRf

Fiserv to provide Mobile Money services to SunTrust Banks - SunTrust Banks selected Fiserv's Mobile Money to provide customers with mobile financial services. The Fiserv system will allow SunTrust to offer account access and customer alerts via text messaging and mobile browsers. http://bit.ly/bvvcFY

Lending Club photo contest with up to $2,500 in prizes - Lending Club launched a photo contest to encourage submission of new background images to use in its redesigned website; as many as six winners will take home cash prizes. http://bit.ly/b632aj

Mortgagebot case study: Community Bank - Charmichaels, PA- based Community Bank is using technology from Mortgagebot to open up new business channels and make the mortgage loan process more efficient. A Mortgagebot-produced case study on the bank reported a 68% increase in the volume of closed loans in 2009, compared to its results in 2008. http://bit.ly/9fi0t2

SecondMarket plans presence in Asia -- SecondMarket is preparing to push into Asian markets, where it may eventually employ as many as 150 people. The move into Asia follows $15 million in financing obtained from two Asian investors in February 2010. http://bit.ly/9OcLyQ

Yodlee data aggregation powers new PFM -- Newly launched online PFM In & Out Cash Management has partnered with Yodlee to import transaction data from more than 10,000 U.S. financial institutions. http://bit.ly/ah4nbY

Zopa marks fifth year in business -- Zopa (UK) announced its fifth anniversary in March. To celebrate, the company is running a sweepstakes awarding a 5% loan each day. http://bit.ly/9O5nQu

We're very pleased to announce the lineup for the upcoming FinovateSpring 2010 conference. Taking place on Tuesday May 11 in San Francisco, the conference will showcase dozens of handpicked companies debuting and demoing their latest and greatest fintech innovations. The quality of the new ideas that will be demoed on stage is very high this year and we're incredibly excited to showcase them to you.

The demoing companies selected (that we can reveal so far) are:

These companies will be showcased to an audience of senior financial/banking/credit union executives, influential press, industry analysts, venture capitalists, bloggers, tech companies and entrepreneurs.

A sampling of the great organizations already registered to attend includes: AARP, Aite, Alliant Credit Union, BNP Paribas, Capital One, Celent, Discover, Experian, Fidelity, Filene, Forrester Research, Google, Highland Capital, Intuit, Javelin Strategy, Jack Henry, Mechanics Bank, Motley Fool, NY Times, PayPal, Tower Group, USAA, US Bank, Venrock, Wells Fargo, and Wired Magazine.

We'd love to have you join us at the spring event and watch the future of finance/banking unfold onstage. If you register today you'll save $100 via the early-bird ticket discount. Please note that the early-bird prices expire at the end of this month and space is limited so lock in your spot now!

Billeo

Billeo makes its money by partnering with card issuers, to help them increase usage. The idea is simple: The best time to display card incentives is when consumers are shopping. According to Comscore, 70% of online purchases begin with a search, so Billeo tools make the rewards visible right on the search-results page. The company's Offer Assistant highlights special deals from loyalty programs offered by American Express, Visa, Discover, Bank of America, Chase, and other credit providers. (Finovate video here.)

Partnering with Bing gives Billeo the top three players in the U.S. search engine market, representing about 97% of U.S. searches. According to data from Comscore, Microsoft sites grew from 8% of the online search market to 11% in 2009, largely due to the introduction of Bing in June. Google continues to dominate the market at about 66%, with Yahoo coming in second at about 20%.

Billeo's partnership with Bing is mutually beneficial. Bing has its own incentives program, which offers cash rebates to certain online purchases, provided consumers use Bing to search for their goods. Offer Assistant highlights these offers, drawing attention to Bing's services. Billeo even makes Bing rewards visible on searches conducted using Yahoo! and Google, advertising Bing's rewards program to users of rival search engines. And of course, the deal allows Billeo to promote its Office Assistant product to consumers who prefer to search on Bing.

How Offer Assistant Works

1. In order to use Offer Assistant, users download Billeo's free browser plug-in. The plug-in, which works for Internet Explorer and Firefox, includes the full suite of Billeo services. Users also have the option to download just the Form Filler application. The full suite includes:

• Offer Assistant, which notifies consumers of special offers from Billeo partners
• Bill Pay Assistant, which manages online bill payments
• Shopping Assistant, which helps consumers track their favorite shopping sites so they can return to them easily
• Password Assistant, which helps users log in to online stores
• Form Filler, which stores consumer data to quickly populate online forms
• Save and File, which stores payment confirmation notices and receipts

3. Clicking the icon provides more information and a direct link that can be used to claim the offer. (Screenshot #2.)

4. Clicking the link takes the user to the vendor's webpage. If the user chooses to make the purchase, the Billeo add-on helps them complete the transaction by filling in the order forms, reminding them to claim the special offer, and saving the order-confirmation information provided by the site. (Screenshot #3.)

Billeo continues to attract more than 100,000 monthly unique visitors. The company's 2009 peak was in February with 215,000 visitors.

Compete.com Jan.2010, traffic data here

#1. Billeo Add its Icon to a Typical Product Search

#2. Clicking Expands the Icon for More Details

#3. Billeo Highlights the Deal at the Vendor's Website

Here are the news headlines posted recently on our Twitter feed (follow it here).

Billeo's iPad Sweepstakes -- From Feb. 4 to April 5, Billeo is offering an incentive for new users. Sign up to Billeo and be entered into a sweepstakes to win a new iPad. No purchase is required, but you must download the Billeo app and register. http://bit.ly/7JU7q3

Credit Karma Adds Users and New Tool -- Credit Karma doubled its users in 2009 and now serves more than 1 million users. On Feb. 3, the company announced its new Savings Dashboard tool, which helps consumers capitalize on improvements in their credit scores. www.creditkarma.com

Expensify Launches Palm Pre App -- Expensify has released a new app for the Palm Pre that scans receipts and tracks expenses. The company already has apps for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android. http://is.gd/7B22C

GreenSherpa Wins Catalyst Competition Award -- Social networking company Girls in Tech and broadcast platform Vator.TV have announced the winners of their joint Catalyst Competition honoring women-led startup companies. GreenSherpa was among the five winners selected. Other winners were AccessDNA, BakeSpace, MyLawsuit, and Marriage.com, with Graspr winning the popular vote. http://bit.ly/dw7HU1

Intuit Launches PFM product in India -- Intuit has launched a new financial software product in India. The new Intuit Money Manager application aggregates account data and allows users to view real-time information about their expenses. The tool can also track investments, insurance, and other financial instruments through Intuit's collaboration with Moneycontrol.com. http://bit.ly/9N1xMs

Mortgagebot Reports Growth in Users and Revenue -- Mortgage technology provider Mortgagebot reported a 25% growth in revenue for fiscal 2009. The company also gained about 200 new clients in 2009 and now serves nearly 950 clients. http://bit.ly/c9ugjC

Silver Tail to Present Webinar -- On Feb. 23, Silver Tail Systems will present a free webinar on screen injection, a new hacking technique threatening the security of online banking sites. Silver Tail's founder, Laura Mather, Ph.D., will provide detailed information on the hacking technology. http://bit.ly/caqtH8