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 - CMS Wire reports: Linkable Networks: Improving the Customer's Path to Purchase.
- Lighter Capital appoints Jeff Seely to board of directors.
- Pymnts.com reports: BillGuard Acts As Antivirus For The Disease Of Fraud.
- Expensify to begin new pricing structure.
- Global Finance magazine names Taulia the best worldwide invoice discount management solution.
- Expensify will soon be made available to over 250,000 Citrix enterprise customers.
- BillFloat extends SmartPay pilot program with Radio Shack partnership.
- Newfination interviews Mitch Fox, co-founder of GoodApril.
- Wired's Beyond the Beyond column features OpenCoin in a report from the Bitcoin 2013 business convention.
- ProfitStar's iPay Solutions named among best places to work in Kentucky.
- Billhighway adds the Friends of Birmingham Historical Museum & Park as new client.
- TransferWise wins a spot on Mashable's list of "20 Hot London Startups You Need to Watch."
- Yodlee and Check (formerly Pageonce) are among the companies highlighted in American Banker column on reimagining PFM for mobile.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
 SmartPay, an instant financing option powered by BillFloat, will soon be available via a select group of Radio Shack retail outlets in Houston as part of a pilot program, BillFloat announced today. SmartPay allows consumers to pay for newly bought smartphones on an "in-store lease-to-own" basis. The new partnership with Radio Shack will be the first time such a financing opportunity has been available to potential smartphone buyers.  Based in San Francisco and founded in 2009, BillFloat's More-Time-To-Pay platform helps provide instant financing options for merchants and their customers.
The platform supports SmartPay, as well as products like MoreTime and SmartLine. According to BillFloat, SmartPay volume has grown by more than 1,900% since its launch last September. In becoming part of the pilot program, Radio Shack joins MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile, and CSpire in offering SmartPay.
Ryan Gilbert is co-founder and CEO of BillFloat. The company has raised more than $20 million in venture capital.
BillFloat presented its MTP platform as part of the FinovateSpring 2011 show in San Francisco. Watch a demo of the technology at work here.
- Cortera now offering free Cortera Business Directory accounts.
- Lendio announces record year-over-year revenue growth of 97% for the first quarter of 2013.
- Zopa launches Safeguard offer that protects lenders from faulty borrowers through a fund held by a non-profit.
- PayMyStudentLoans.com reviews ReadyForZero can help students save money in college.
- PA Consulting Group will deliver identity verification solutions using miiCard.
- MoneyDesktop launches new version of PFM & updates MoneyMobile app.
- South Bangla Agriculture & Commerce Bank is the fifth Bangladeshi bank to deploy Temenos T24 banking software.
- Leaf announces Leaf Membership Network. Join Leaf in San Francisco for FinovateSpring in May.
- Financial Advisor introduces Finect. Come see Finect demo their technology at FinovateSpring.
- appPicker reviews Kashoo Accounting for iPad.
- Small Business Association of Michigan selects Billhighway Give as its mobile fundraising solution.
- Intuit releases Android tablet banking app. Come to FinovateSpring to watch Intuit unveil its new technology.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
 NerdWallet profiles GoodApril. See them demo at FinovateSpring in May in San Francisco.
- CSI Enterprises launches globalVCard for Travel mobile app.
- Cairo Amman Bank to deploy Temenos T24.
- Kashoo announces updates to its cloud accounting web app.
- Cardlytics named a Best Workplace by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for second consecutive year.
- Virtual Piggy sees 100,000 new active users sign-up since March for its youth wallet solution. Come check out their demo at FinovateSpring.
- Gartner names Metaforic as a 2013 Cool Vendor in the Security Infrastructure Protection category.
- Arxan Mobile Application Integrity Protection for IBM Worklight Apps enables IBM Worklight customers to protect their mobile apps against hacking. Come check out Arxan's new technology at FinovateSpring.
- ID Analytics introduces new version of Credit Optics Credit Score for more intelligent insight into consumer behavior.
- Newfination talks to BankBazaar about how it works.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- Bank Independent picks Jack Henry Banking's SilverLake technology for enterprise-wide automation.
- TSYS Merchant Solutions launches Pay in Your Currency multi-currency solution.
- CommunityLend earns spot on Branham300's Top 25 Up and Coming companies roster.
- ID Analytics introduces new version of Credit Optics Credit Score for more insight into consumer behavior.
- Kofax ranked a "Leader" by Forrester Research in The Forrester Wave report.
- AGBeat features Kabbage. Check them out at FinovateSpring.
- Kony Solutions announces record year in FY2013, growing 90% YOY. Hires Abhay Parasnis as President and COO.
- Mobile World Live takes a look at Zooz's recent funding round. Meet Zooz in San Francisco as they demo their technology as part of FinovateSpring.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
This quarter, both January and Feburary funding exceeded $50 million. Most of February's funding can be attributed to On Deck Capital's $42 million round. Over three months, 15 companies raised more than $155 million, This is very similar to last year's first quarter funding* when we saw a total of 11 companies raise more than $150 million. Here's the Q1 summary for 2013: January -- $57 million raised by 6 companies February -- $56 million raised by 5 companies March -- $42 million raised by 4 companies ___________________________________________________________________ *While the funding over last year has increased, so has the number of Finovate alums. We're tracking more than 100 additional companies this year compared to last year. Note: Funding that companies received before they demonstrated at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? Email us at julie@finovate.com or david@finovate.com.
 PYMNTS.com, a website owned by Business Wire and Market Platform Dynamics, recently published the winners of the 2013 Innovator Awards. Three Finovate alums were selected as overall Best in Show winners: First place: Pangea Payments- Innovation: A new way to send money anywhere, at a flat fee, instantly, leveraging the prepaid rails.
- Finovate demo: Will demo at FinovateSpring 2013 in May 14 & 15
- Description: Combining mobile payments with social media channels to empower and inform the user in everyday purchases.
- Finovate demo: FinovateFall 2012
- Description: Small business payments solution
- Finovate demo: Will demo at FinovateSpring 2013 in May 14 & 15
In addition, five Finovate alums took home Gold awards, five won Silver awards, and seven were awarded in the Bronze category. Here is a summary of all of the winners: Gold - Category: Most innovative
- Innovation: PayPal POS Initiatives that leverage its worldwide digital wallet accountholder base.
- Finovate demo: FinovateEurope 2012
- Category: Best credit
- Innovation: The consumer's advocate for demystifying credit with a range of tools and information resources to help them monitor and manage their financial health.
- Finovate demo: FinovateStartup 2009
- Category: Best B2B innovation
- Innovation: Online working capital for small businesses.
- Finovate demo: FinovateEurope 2013
- Category: Best SMB innovation
- Innovation: Small business payment platform integrated with Quickbooks.
- Finovate demo: Finovate 2009
- Category: Best innovation via ACH
- Innovation: Cash flow management, accounts payable/ receivable management platform
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2011
Silver - Category: Most invisible
- Innovation: Platform-as-a-Service that powers POS 2.0 commerce solutions.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2012
- Category: Best credit
- Innovation: Offers consumers "more time to pay" their bills on time to help avoid late fees, overdraft charges, service termination and high cost loans.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2011
- Category: Best cash
- Innovation: Enables consumers to shop online and pay with cash easily for a wide range of goods.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2011
- Category: Best SMB innovation
- Innovation: Cloud-based, small business platform that integrates invoicing and payment acceptance in one system.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2012
- Category: Best comeback
- Innovation: Alternative business financing that helps businesses tap into the capital it needs to run the business.
- Finovate demo: FinovateEurope 2011
Bronze - Category: Most disruptive
- Innovation: Mobile checkout service that enables one touch payments across multiple applications.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2011
- Category: Best technology
- Innovation: OneID lets people sign in without usernames and passwords, yet delivers authentication solutions with non-repudiation, keeping both people and businesses safe from today's biggest identity and personal information threats.
- Finovate demo: Will demo at FinovateSpring 2013 in May 14 & 15
- Category: Best newcomer
- Innovation: Aggregates financial account information and allows users to manage their money in one place, online or with a mobile device.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2012
- Category: Best credit
- Innovation: Brings together investors with creditworthy borrowers to reduce the cost and complexity of traditional lending.
- Finovate demo: Finovate Startup 2009
- Category: Best debit
- Innovation: Reinventing personal banking with modern online and mobile experiences, no surprise fees, and great customer service.
- Finovate demo: FinovateFall 2011
- Category: Best prepaid
- Innovation: A new way to send money anywhere, at a flat fee, instantly, leveraging the prepaid rails.
- Finovate demo: Will demo at FinovateSpring 2013 in May 14 & 15
- Category: Best check
- Innovation: Mitek's patented mobile imaging technology allows users to remotely deposit checks from anywhere, at anytime by snapping a picture with their camera-equipped smartphone or tablet, and has become the "gold standard" for mobile check deposit.
- Finovate demo: FinovateSpring 2012
 MasterCard to deploy Mobile PayPass technology in Brazil, the company's first NFC payment project in Latin America.
- Social Commerce Today takes a look at Azimo and the multi-billion dollar remittance market.
- Woopra, the customer analytics blog, profiles BillFloat.
- BBVA Compass picks Keynote's DeviceAnywhere platform for mobile app testing.
- Kashoo announces "flash sale" for its iPad accounting app.
- Mobile Payments Today highlights the Pay Anyone app from Pageonce.
- Comarch invests PLN 1 million in a bid to strengthen its customer support services.
- Wired magazine features Acuity Systems' Harlan Hutson talking about authentication and moving beyond the digital wallet.
- Efigence-implemented Alior Currency Exchange wins best innovation of the year award for 2012 from Polish Academy of Sciences and editors of Business Forum magazine.
- BBVA named Model Bank of the Year by Celent.
- ShopKeep POS wins Stevie Award for Best customer service.
- Fortune 100 company chooses Taulia to provide extensive invoicing capabilities.
- PaySimple launches starter promotional pricing to help newer companies grow and manage their businesses.
- TESOBE's Open Bank Project organizes FinTech hackathon in London on the 19th of March at Level39.
- Doxo introduces provider online bill pay and view.
- PayPal expands relationship with Coinstar to add coins or dollars into or withdraw money from their PayPal accounts.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- Silicon Valley Business Journal interviews BillFloat CEO and co-founder Ryan Gilbert.
- Commercial Bank of Qatar to deploy latest version of TSYS card and merchant management platform.
- TransferWise wins "Best Middleweight Startup" at The Europas. See them demo at FinovateEurope in February!
- Concur rolls out new datacenters in France and the Netherlands.
- Santander receives 2012 Banking Technology Award for Best Security Initiative for its SIM swapping solution, developed with ValidSoft.
- UK's KashFlow integrates with Tradeshift to enable SMBs who use its cloud-based accounting software.
- The Paypers reports: Geezeo enters 2 new partnerships.
- VatorNews considers what's next for Lending Club.
- Cachet Financial Solutions partners with Volunteer Corporate to provide mobile RDC to their 325 member CUs.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
 American Banker reports: ImpulseSave Launches Chrome Plugin to Encourage Savings.
- SaveUp allows users to vote for potential prizes.
- SmartyPig introduces the SmartyPig OneClick Chrome extension.
- Get Rich Slowly blog features Tuition.io.
- Forbes covers Virtual Piggy, calling it PayPal for Kids. Come see Virtual Piggy demo at FinovateEurope.
- Springwise features Movenbank. Come to FinovateEurope and see Movenbank's live demo of its new platform.
- American Banker reports: STAR Financial Bank Rolls Out PFM Software from MoneyDesktop.
- Virgin Mobile, C Spire test BillFloat as financing option.
- Mastercard moves to ease EMV migration within U.S.
- Azimo announces £300,000 ($480,000 USD) angel investment round. Come see their demo at FinovateEurope in February!
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
BillFloat announced that it has raised $21 million courtesy of Investor Growth Capital, which led the financing round along with previous investors Venrock, First Round Capital, and Baseline Ventures. New investor Bronze Investments also participated in the round. The new funding comes as the company focuses on its More-Time-to-Pay (MTP) platform, which provides customers with real-time payment flexibility. Consumers can access MTP online, in stores, and through mobile thanks to the company's partnership with more than 2,500 billers - from cable companies to utilities. Founded in 2009, BillFloat has raised more than $36 million. On the agenda for 2013 according to CEO and co-founder Ryan Gilbert, are the following: - Expand team by two-thirds, mostly through new developers
- Drive more than $400 million in loans
- Raise up to $100 million in debt financing to fund loans
BillFloat offers loans up to $200 to its more than 700,000 registered users. See BillFloat in action at its most recent Finovate demo here.
- BillFloat announces $21 million in new funding.
- Jack Henry & Associates launches retail and commercial lending platform.
- Compass Plus completes benchmark testing on HP servers.
- ImpulseSave releases Google Chrome e-commerce plug-in.
- Dashlane partners with Pwnedlist to enhance security alerts. Check out Dashlane's live demo at FinovateEurope next month.
- Mitek to launch Mobile Deposit Alliance, allowing participant banks to share deposit data.
- TechCrunch reports: eBay And PayPal Expect To Do $20 Billion Each In 2013 Mobile Commerce.
- El Paso Electric Company partners with TIO Networks Corp to launch EPE MobilePay.
- Dwolla introduces Guest Send to help developers building bank software make payments from one account to another.
- Bill.com wins Best Software as a Service category of the 2012-2013 Cloud Awards Program.
- Clearstream chooses Standard Chartered Bank as its clearing and settlement agent for its investments in South Africa.
- Payments.com profiles MasterCard Worldwide's initiatives in Africa.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- Dwolla launches the ability to send money over Twitter.
- Planwise launches free online tool that's like Google Maps for your money to visualize your future spending.
- Intuit-owned Mint to collaborate with Monitise to enhance banks' mobile apps with Mint functionality.
- InComm buys majority stake in Adility. Financial terms have yet to be announced.
- Equity Administration Solutions collaborates with SecondMarket so clients can more easily manage shareholder information.
- PaySimple named Red Herring Global Top 100 winner.
- Wonga launches PayLater, a service that offers users financing deals on online purchases with certain retailers.
- BellaDati opens first international office in Seoul.
- Experian announces IntelliView, a web-based query, analysis and reporting tool that gives 24-7 access to quarterly consumer credit data.
- Diversinet's mobiSecure SDK to power ultra-secure messaging in AirStrip Technology's mHealth application.
- Acculynk's Payzur heads west as Washington credit union offers P2P service to members.
- Long-term payments agreement announced between TSYS and Merrick Bank.
- Bible Money Matters takes a closer look at the merger between Zecco and TradeKing.
- BillFloat to provide handset financing options for MetroPCS customers.
- Virtual Piggy signs agreement with CardinalCommerce to integrate its youth payment tech into their Centinel Universal Merchant Platform through Cardinal.
- TechCrunch reports Concur to use Nor1's eStandby Upgrade tech to make hotel offers available to their business travel customers via TripIt.
- Simple shows off Android app teaser on Twitter and Facebook. The app to launch early next year.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
 More than half of the companies recently highlighted in American Banker's "Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch" are Finovate Alumni.
Below are the six companies featured in the article, along with a link to their most recent appearance and product demo at Finovate.
Read the full article from American Banker here.
- American Banker lists Andera, Banno, BillFloat, BillGuard, Mortgage Harmony, and Lighter Capital as top 10 tech companies to watch in 2013.
- ZDNet reports UBank gears up for mobile banking site with beta program.
- Frost & Sullivan recognizes Virtual Piggy with the 2012 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Entrepreneurial Company of the Year.
- ProfitStars adds new protections against malware.
- Sybase 365 and Globe Telecom partner to launch LTE roaming service with China Mobile.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- SecureKey ranked #2 in PROFIT HOT 50, the ranking of Canada's top new growth companies.
- TechCrunch reports: Mint.com tops 10 mil registered users, 70% use mobile.
- Fox Business names Prosper.com & BillFloat as cutting edge bank alternatives.
- PYMNTS News reports Compass Plus Releases White Paper on Payment Fraud. Come see its live demo at FinovateFall.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
The New York Times Bucks blog recently featured BillFloat, a startup that provides short-term loans to help consumers pay bills. The metrics cited in the article: - Registered190,000 users in the past year
- Provided 80,000 loans in past year
- Total originations were nearly $13 million in past year
- Average loan amount was $160
- Works with over 2,500 companies across the U.S.
- Loan default rate around 10%
Consumer costs: - Maximum interest rate is 36% APR (not including service fee)
- Service fee ranges from $9 to $18 per loan
To learn more about BillFloat, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.
- InspirePay embeds Dwolla's payment network.
- Fast Co Design applauds ReadyForZero's product and UI.
- Phil D'Angio appointed as Senior VP of Global Sales for ValidSoft.
- MAPFRE Puerto Rico selects Identity Theft 911 to provide ID theft protection & resolution services to policyholders.
- Vision Research Lab highlights Holvi's demo from FinovateEurope.
- DepositAccounts.com looks at reward checking accounts from Kasasa.
- Kabbage's partnership with UPS provides more funding by using shipping data in underwriting.
- BillFloat is loaning more than $1 million per month.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
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."
LCEC anticipates this service will decrease late payments and improve customer satisfaction. To learn more about BillFloat, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.
- Business Insider examines Personal Capital's consumer-focused approach to wealth management.
- Prairie Cast hosts Jordan Lampe from Dwolla and discusses the rumors about funding.
- Kasasa changes the face of local banking in Alabama.
- Geezeo signs more credit unions.
- BillFloat adds Florida electric provider to list of billers.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- Kony selected as mobile application platform for Intermountain Healthcare and SelectHealth.
- PC Mag selects MyCyberTwin as 1 of 25 best small business apps for 2012.
- Simple CEO, Josh Reich, talks to Business Insider about all the ways Simple has improved on traditional banks.
- Brian Garrett, a 40-year banking veteran joins BillFloat as senior advisor.
- Cardlytics chosen to power BankAmeriDeals from Bank of America.
- Kapitall enables users to trade stocks through its platform.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
- Payments Journal looks at Dwolla's P2P payment platform.
- Prosper announces iPod Nano giveaway for borrowers.
- Simply Stacie describes BillFloat's daily $50 giveaway.
- OnPoint CU debuts Tyfone mobile gift card service.
- Active Filings describes how consumers can benefit from BillGuard's fraud-monitoring service.
- Freewaregenius describes the Kapitall user experience.
- Xero makes BestVendor's list of 25 most beloved web services and work apps with a belovedness score of 38%.
- SafetyPay available as payment option for Facebook Credit purchases.
- Pageonce sees $1 million in user bill payment, launches iPad app.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.
Out of 268 alumni, 80 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in September 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 33 (41%) had more visitors in September than August. Year-over-year, 42 (52%) had traffic increases.
Private Companies
- Seeking Alpha and Cortera had the highest traffic in September with 2.1 and 2.0 million unique visitors, respectively. Cortera also had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visits with over 1.5 more visits in 2011 than in 2010.
- Kabbage had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 280x.
- Weemba saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 7.5 times the number of unique visitors in September compared to August.
- SmartCredit.com had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 126,000.
 Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011
1) The previous month recorded was August 2011 2) Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com 3) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink 4) Kasasa is powered by BancVue
Public companies
- CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 7 times the number of visitors this year than last year.
- Intuit had a notable increase in number of unique, year-over-year visitors, increasing by 300,000 visits.
- Check Point had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 41% more visitors in September than in August.
 Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011
1) The previous month recorded was July 2011. _______________________________________________________ Notes: 1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 3. NM = not measurable 4. t= tie 5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.
- Credit Karma is giving away free credit-monitoring service to first 12,500 readers.
- HelloWallet opens a second office in San Francisco.
- FreeMonee tells AOL Daily Finance that it is to launch a merchant-reward plan with a major U.S. bank on Nov 17.
- Credit Union Times reports that mShift is one of the three largest providers of mobile banking tools to credit unions.
- ABC News looks at BankSimple's alternative banking approach.
- Auto insurance & finance providers The General, Mark One Holdings, & Freeway Insurance add BillFloat as a payment option.
- Continuity Control endorsed by Western Independent Bankers.
- Expensify launches an app for the Windows phone.
- Mlive.com recommends using BillShrink (Truaxis) to avoid an outrageous mobile bill.
- Mint.com and Budgettracker.com are recommended as two tools for mitigating financial mistakes.
- Bank of America will use Yodlee's FinApp Platform.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
 After being acquired by Taulia, billFLO announces its services will be shutting down Dec 1, 2011.
- Fox Business News mentions ChargeSmart's mortgage payment solution.
- DoughMain explains how to ease children's financial fears.
- Business Insider uses BillFloat and Prosper.com as examples of alternative financing companies.
- Dwolla now integrated with Active Merchant for use in Shopify.
- Weemba seeks to help with cash-flow issues during the holiday season.
- Prosper's September volume is four times larger than 2010.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.
Out of 268 alumni, 75 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in August 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 41 (55%) had more visitors in August than July. Year-over-year, 45 (60%) had traffic increases.
Private Companies
- Seeking Alpha -- the most-trafficked in August with 2.5 million unique visitors -- also had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits with 300,000 more visits in August than in July.
- Budgettracker.com saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 6.5 times the number of unique visitors in August compared to July.
- Betterment had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 88x.
- Cortera had the highest number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 1.5 million.
Source: Compete.com retrieved week of October 3, 2011 1) The previous month recorded was July 2011
Public Companies - Fiserv had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 50% more visitors.
- CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 5 times the number of visitors.
- S1 also had a high percentage growth year-over-year, doubling its visitors.
Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 3, 2011 1) The previous month recorded was July 2011. _______________________________________________________ Notes: 1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 3. NM = Not measurable 4. t= Tie 5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.
- TSYS signs payments agreement with Imperial Bank.
- The Baltimore Sun mentions BillFloat & Prosper.com as two companies that are assisting cash-strapped consumers.
- LearnVest launches LV Mom's Newsletter & 2 new products: Baby On Board Bootcamp & LV Discussions.
- Weemba gives small businesses simple, direct pipeline for raising financing pre-holiday season.
- Morningstar recommends CheckFree to help control your bills by setting up automatic payments.
- Continuity Control buys Compliance Services Group of Iowa & Kirschler Peterson & Associates of Atlanta.
- Crain's New York Business.com mentions BillGuard, BankSimple, Betterment, SecondMarket, On Deck Captial & Plastyc.
- Jemstep launches out of beta to offer custom investment advice & guidance.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.
Out of 255 alumni, 59 (23%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in July 2011 (see tables below). Of those, 19 (32%) had more visitors than in the previous month and 25 (42%) were flat. Year-over-year, 26 (44%) had an increase, 10 (17%) were flat, and 23 (39%) were down.
Private Companies Notable successes: - Seeking Alpha had the most traffic in July with more than 2 million unique visitors.
- eToro saw the highest monthly growth percentage with 3 times the number of unique visitors in July compared to June.
- Bundle had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits, with 450,000 more visitors in July than in June.
- eRollover had the highest percent year-over-year traffic increase, with 260,000 more visitors from last July.
Source: Compete.com retrieved week of August 15, 2011 1. The previous month recorded was May 2011 2. Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com 3. Kasasa is powered by BancVue
Public Companies Notable successes: - PayPal had the highest number of U.S. visitors in July, with more than 30 million visitors.
- Jack Henry & Associates saw the highest monthly growth with twice as many visitors in July than June.
- Wipro Technologies had the highest year-over-year growth, with 3 times as many visitors this year compared to last year.
- FIS Global and Online Resources also doubled their traffic compared to last year.
Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of August 15, 2011 1. The previous month recorded was May 2011. _______________________________________________________ Notes: 1. We reviewed 255 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 3. NM = Not measurable 4. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.
 - BillFloat
- Bling Nation
- Boku
- Cardlytics
- ClairMail
- Expensify
- IDAnalytics
- Lending Club
- SecondMarket
- Wikinvest
- Wonga
- Yodlee
_________________________________________________________________________
In other Alumni News:
Aptys Solutions  Aptys Solutions announced that the ACH functionality in its PayLogics payment platform provides same-day settlement. Link
Balance Financial - Balance Financial launched Balance Certified Pro, a new software that is geared toward professionals. Link
- Balance Financial released an iPhone App. Link
BillGuard TechCrunch reported that BillGuard's "Anti-virus for Bills" is now completely free for users. Link
BrightScope CNNMoney's article, Simplify Your Retirement Savings, pointed to BrightScope to provide a clear understanding of retirement savings. Link
ChargeSmart ChargeSmart announced that its Bill Payments customers can now pay many of their utility bills with an American Express card. Link
Continuity Control Continuity Control raised $1.1 million in financing from convertible promissory notes and warrants. Link
Cortera  The Miami Herald reported that Cortera's Risk Data and Reporting is now an SAP-endorsed business solution. Link
Cortal Consors Institutional Investor ranked Oliver Le Grand, CEO of Cortal Consors, number 13 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link
Credit Karma Credit Karma's new feature, Credit Alerts is available for free to the first 200 people to click the link. Link
Credit Sesame The Hands On Home Buyer blog recommended Credit Sesame for its interactive property taxes tool. Link
Currensee The Business Insider reported that Currensee plans to launch its Trade Leaders program in China. Link
Dwolla - The E-News publication, Business Record, commented on Dwolla's positive impact on Iowa's startup culture. Link
- Financial Plus Credit Union adopted Dwolla's FiSync integration. Link
Dynamics Dynamics revealed its angel investors in Series A and Series B funding rounds. Link
Guardian Analytics - American Banker reported that Guardian Analytics is planning to launch an outsourced fraud prevention service that will help financial institutions meet new FFIEC guidelines. Link
- Guardian Analytics introduced its FraudDESK service to provide fraud analytics support to financial institutions. Link
- Guardian Analytics is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday that will explore FFIEC guidance. Link
iPay Technologies iPay Technologies helped Generations Community Federal Credit Union increase bill pay adoption and its number of transactions. Link
Lending Club - San Francisco ABC News Channel 7 explained the benefits of P2P loans from Lending Club. Link
- Finextra news blog discussed Lending Club's success. Link
- American Banker reported that, in June, Lending Club saw an increase of 7% in loans originated that totaled a record $20 million. Link
Lodo Software The Silicon Prairie News reported that Lodo Software is seeking to raise $5 million in a round of Series D funding. Link
mFoundry Columbia Credit Union announced that it deployed mFoundry's mBanking, a mobile banking platform. Link
Mitek  MSN Money reported that Mitek Systems began a NASDAQ market listing on July 14th, and is trading under the symbol MITK. Link
Monitise - CNBC reported that Monitise's ReliaCard will be offered to U.S. Bank's Visa cardholders in some states. Link
- Monitise, US Bank, and FIS announced that they are planning to offer a mobile app for Visa's ReliaCard users. Link
Prosper - San Francisco's ABC News Channel 7 explained the benefits of P2P loans from Prosper. Link
- Finextra news blog discussed Prosper's success with its P2P lending service. Link
Q2ebanking Q2ebanking's director of security solutions, Ward Howell, published an article detailing a Credit Union's perspective of the FFIEC guidelines in The Credit Union Times. Link
Receivables Exchange Institutional Investor ranked Justin Brownhill and Nicolas Perkin, Co-Founders of The Receivables Exchange, as number 42 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link
Standard Chartered Institutional Investor ranked Jan Verplancke, CIO of Standard Chartered, as number 37 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link
TILE Financial  Daily Finance interviewed Amy Butte, CEO of TILE Financial. Link
TradeKing TradeKing announced the public availability of its API. Link
Tyfone CoVantage Credit Union chose to implement Tyfone's mobile wallet solution. Link
Zopa - Zopa founder Giles Andrews was interviewed on BBC's The Bottom Line. Link
- Finextra news blog discussed Zopa's success as a P2P lending service. Link
Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of our alums, using data from Web-analytics company Compete to review the sites they operate. Out of 255 alumni, 62 (24%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in May 2011 (see tables below). Of the 62 reviewed, 25 (40%) had fewer visitors than in the previous month and 28 (45%) saw a decline year-over-year. Private Companies
The 44 private companies are as follows: Notable successes: - Cortera saw the highest number of unique U.S. visitors in May, with almost 2 million hits.
- HelloWallet experienced the greatest month-over-month growth, with more than four times as many visitors.
- Betterment saw its traffic increase an impressive 38 times from May of last year.
Private Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011 
Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011
Public Companies
The 18 public companies are as follows: Notable successes: - PayPal experienced the highest number of U.S. visitors in May, with over 32 million visitors.
- TransUnion Interactive saw the highest month-over-month growth with more than two times the number of visitors in May than in April.
- Sybase 365 experienced the highest year-over-year growth, with its traffic up almost 80% from last year.
Public Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011
 Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011 _____________________________________________________________________________ Notes: 1. We reviewed 255 unique sites. Data was unavailable or irrelevant for 201 sites because: - They had been acquired.
- They were no longer available online.
- They were not covered by Compete for various reasons (including some that were not U.S. domestic companies).
- The number of unique visits was too small to be considered accurate.
- They were subdomains of larger websites.
2. Numbers have been rounded to three significant digits. 3. The charts include companies that did not have measurable traffic in May 2011, indicated by "N/A." 4. Compete draws its information from the online activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic, and may undercount at-work usage.
To follow updates from Finovate alumni companies in real time, be sure to follow us on Twitter.
Doxo signs Oregon Federal Employees Credit Union (OFECU). Members will be able to receive statements and banking documents via the service. http://bit.ly/finovate421111
eToro surpasses 1.5 million users. The company cites the growth of thousands of members joining per day since the launch of eToro's social platform, OpenBook. http://prn.to/finovate421113
Yodlee partners with Boursorama to provide Money Center service. Boursorama customers will receive the Money Center PFM service free of charge. http://bit.ly/finovate420115
To see Finovate news updates in real-time, follow our feed on Twitter.
GoalMine launches with $25 reward to users who establish a $25 per month investment plan. -- The program not only encourages ongoing investment, but highlights the convenience of the company's online GoalPack gift card system. http://bit.ly/finovate11152
Ixaris launches Secret Path Developer Challenge. -- Secret Path rewards developers who build payment applications on Ixaris Opn for social media networks, mobile devices and ecommerce. http://bit.ly/finovate11172
PayNearMe garners $16 million in venture capital. -- Khosla Ventures led the funding round. The company will also be launching a mobile payments application. http://bit.ly/finovate11161
SmartyPig adds 21 new "Best in Class Retailers" just in time for holiday shopping. -- Retail partners boost users' savings by up to 14% when the savings goal is withdrawn via their gift card. http://bit.ly/finovate11155
Tempo Payments powers reward card for Sheetz convenience stores. -- The decoupled affinity debit cards are independently-branded rewards debit cards, which link to the customer's checking account. http://bit.ly/finovate11151
 We're pleased to announce that the demo videos from FinovateFall 2010 are now available for free download (or immediate consumption) from the Finovate archives.
This fall's NYC conference showcased 56 handpicked companies doing 7-minute demonstrations (no slides allowed) of their latest technology innovations to a sold-out audience of 650 financial & banking executives, venture capitalists, press, analysts and entrepreneurs.
Check out these cutting-edge ideas in financial, banking, payments, mobile, lending, investing and security technologies today for inspiration and your next edge on the competition!
(P.S. If you're interested in joining us at the next Finovate event, tickets are now on sale for FinovateEurope (Feb, 1, 2011 in London). It is going to be an amazing showcase of European and global fintech innovation!)
 Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.
We're very excited to reveal the 56 cutting-edge companies that have been selected to demo their latest technology innovations on October 4 and 5 in New York City at FinovateFall. Over the show's two days, attendees will get to watch the future of fintech and banktech unfold on stage via fast-paced demos (28 each day) from these innovators. And then have a chance to interact with top executives from each of the demo companies during intimate networking sessions. Without further delay, here's the list of companies we're excited to showcase:
If you're interested in attending the conference, registering now will save you $100 on your ticket via the early-bird discount and reserve your spot (space is limited and we're expecting to sell out). We'll see you in New York!
Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.
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