Finovate Alumni Raise $825 Million in 2013, Up 79%

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Cheers to a new year! After ringing in 2014, we wanted take a look back at the capital raised by Finovate alumni in 2013. It was quite a year, with alums pulling in $825 million, $365 million more than in 2012 for an increase of about 80%.
2013 funding summary:
    • 62 companies raised $825 million
    • Q4 had the most capital, with a total of $294 million raised by 17 companies (more than half by Xero, which landed $150 million). 
    • October was the busiest month, with $177 million raised (mostly Xero’s $150 million)
    • May was second highest with $91 million raised by 7 companies
2012 comparison
Last year Finovate alums took in almost twice as much as 2012, when 44 Finovate alums collectively raised $460 million. The chart below shows the quarter-by-quarter comparison for both years.
2013YearEndTable.jpg
Quarter 1 — blog post
More than $155 million raised by 14 companies
January — $57 million raised by 6 companies
February — $56 million raised by 5 companies

March — $42 million raised by 4 companies


Quarter 2 — blog post
More than $205 million raised by 15 companies
June — $81.7 million raised by 6 companies
May — $91.5 million raised by 7 companies
April — $32 million raised by 2 companies

Quarter 3 — blog post
More than $171 million raised by 22 companies

July — More than $63 million raised by 8 companies
August — More than $26 million raised by 6 companies
September — $82 million raised by 9 companies
Quarter 4
More than $294 million raised by 17 companies

October— $177 raised by 6 companies
November — More than $87 million raised by 7 companies
December — More than $30 million raised by 6 companies

Note: Funding that companies received before they first appeared at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? Email us at julie@finovate.com or david@finovate.com.

Meet the Innovators of FinovateFall 2013

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FinovateFall 2013 is right around the corner. That means it’s time to start getting to know the entrepreneurs and innovators that will be presenting their technologies on stage in New York City in September.

Remember, the early bird deadline is this Friday, August 2nd. So to reserve your spot and register now.

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Akimbo Financial offers a social bank account alternative that makes sharing money easier than ever.
authenticIDs identity tools pictureID and catfishID, are the most accurate, time-saving solutions for the forms of ID we already carry.
Backbase‘s Launchpad, the Commercial Banking Edition, making CFO’s work easier.
BehavioSec uses behavioral analytics to transparently tackle web and mobile security.
BillFloat revolutionizes credit delivery to consumers and businesses.
Biometric Signature ID has a patented software-only biometric for secure ID online verification.
BizEquity is the first and leading cloud-based business valuation engine, an innovative solution to small business lead generation.
Capital Access Network is the largest and most experienced small business finance specialist.
Cardlytics uses consumer purchase data to drive a patented advertising platform. Ads are so relevant–they’re expected. 
CoverHound is a comparison insurance adviser, helping people discover, buy, and manage insurance online.
CR2 is the innovative provider of self-service banking solutions including ATM, Internet, and mobile banking.
DoubleBeam‘s SDK powers mPayments inside other mobile apps, helping signup customers quickly and save a ton on the cost of payments.
FinanceIt offers businesses the ability to provide consumer financing to their customers at the POS.
Financial Guard helps you protect your investments, providing online investment advice at the right price, finally.
Finect is the leading online network for the financial services industry.
Fiserv is a leading global technology provider serving the financial services industry, driving innovation in payments.
FlexScore “gamifies” financial planning, gives a “score” of your financial fitness, and provides education, advice, peer comparisons.
Float Money offers interest-free credit to members of its shopping club and financial health partners.
FutureAdvisor manages your investments for better returns, making quality financial advice available to everyone.
GMC Software Technology is a leading software developer of solutions that transform the customer experience.
Guide Financial is like a healthcheck for your finances – automatically scanning your accounts for ways you can earn or save more, and providing simple, easy fixes.
Ignite Sales is the leader in retail banking, customer acquisition, and retention technology.
Innovation Agency, where you can execute on your innovation mandate and unlock the wealth of ideas in your ecosystems.
Instabank – Beautiful money.
Interactions provides natural language Virtual Assistant application services for the automation customer care processes.
Jumio is a next generation credentials management company offering payments and ID scanning and validation products for mobile and web transactions.
Kofax is a leading provider of smart process applications that simplify the business critical First Mile of information-intensive customer interactions.
LearnVest empowers people everywhere to take control of their money and live their richest lives.
Level Money is a financial GPS, designed to replace budgeting.
Lighter Capital provides growth capital to technology companies in a highly-automated basis – Capital-as-a-Service.
Lumesis provides software for the fixed income municipal market. Compliance and credit-focused. 
Luminous is a boutique innovation company that has become synonymous with innovative banking around the world.
Manilla is the leading free and secure service to simplify and organize daily financial life.
MasterCard is a technology company in the global payments industry, operating the world’s fastest payments processing network.
mBank is the biggest, pure-play online bank and the third largest retail bank in Poland.
miiCard is the first digital identity verification service to prove ‘you are who you say you are’ entirely online.
Mitek is positioned as the leading innovator in mobile imaging software. 
MoneyDesktop empowers financial institutions to provide online/mobile banking experiences to promote personal financial intelligence.
Motif Investing is a thematic, customizable, low-cost and crowdsourceable ETF-like product that is disrupting investing economics.

Narrative Science
 
enables companies to uncover the insight hidden in their data and create new content at a scale and frequency never before possible.
Numbrs – One App – Every Bank.
P2P Cash is the mobile wallet with switch technology that allows us to aggregate all other mWallets and mobile financial services.
PayWith is powered by MasterCard. Funded by Merchants. Loved by Consumers.
PhonyInvoices provides invoice fraud detection and prevention. We check a company’s vendor lists and transactions for suspicious activity.
Place2Give provides valuable and trustworthy information to make the most impactful social capital investment decisions.
QuarterSpot lending platform delivers the lowest cost and most favorable term small business loans.
RevolutionCredit is a revolutionary solution that transforms the credit decisioning process for both creditors and consumers.
SaaS Markets is the enterprise app store company for financial organizations looking to leverage cloud-based applications for their employees or customers.
SavedPlus is an automatic savings program that helps customers save money with every purchase.
Simple Verity provides business credit reports on any SMB in America.
Socure offers a social identity verification solution to combat the growing risk of online identity fraud for financial institutions.
SpearFysh leverages mobile, speech analytics, big data, and SaaS technology to improve sales processes and drive growth.
Spreedly provides vault cards in the cloud and work with more than 50 payment gateways.
StockSmart apps and platform offer insight and information on the world’s best companies and people.
StrategyCorps delivers local/mobile/social consumer checking solutions so appealing and relevant, your customers will gladly pay for them.
Tinkoff Credit Systems is Russia’s leading provider of online financial services.
TipRanks is a cloud-based service that measures the performance of anyone giving investment advice.
Toopher eliminates online fraud using your phone’s location. Simple, secure, your phone stays in your pocket.
Unleash is the cloud CFO that helps small businesses make better decisions faster.
VerifyValid and Deluxe are giving checks their first major upgrade in more than 200 years.
Versafe protects all users from all malware, threat types. On all devices, all transparently. 
WordSentry software analyzes messages during composition, identifying non-compliant components, for correction before sending.
Yodlee is the platform for financial innovation, powering the world’s largest collection of transactional data.
Yseop creates a new age where financial services delivered to customers are driven by AI and human collaboration.
Zenmonics is a global technology services and mobile product provider to the financial services market.
Zighra empowers banks and financial institutions to leverage implicit mobile user authentication and accelerate payments.
Zooz provides complete payment essentials at your fingertips: a robust set of tools that will improve the payment process.
Plus more stealth companies to be announced in the weeks to come.
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To find out more about the upcoming FinovateFall 2013 event in New York, September 10 and 11, visit our FinovateFall information page here.

Fourteen Alums Recognized in AlwaysOn Global 250 Awards

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This year, 12 Finovate alums were selected among 250 other winners in the AlwaysOn Global 250 awards, and two Finovate alums were identified among 50 other Companies to Watch.

The awards honor the top 250 U.S.-based private tech companies, plus recognize 50 to watch. Some of the underlying themes in this group of 300 innovative companies include mobile technology, cloud-based solutions, and social network integration.

Here are the 12 Finovate alum winners of the 250 Awards, listed in alphabetical order:

BillFloat

    • Category: Consumer Internet
    • Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
    • Founded: 2009
    • CEO: Ryan Gilbert
    • Total funding: $32.5 million
    • FinovateSpring 2011 demo video
    • Category: B2B Applications- SaaS and Enterprise
    • Headquarters: Lexington, MA
    • Founded: 2005
    • CEO: Tom Beecher
    • Total funding: $21.2 million
    • FinovateFall 2011 demo video
    • Category: Consumer Internet
    • Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
    • Founded: 2009
    • CEO: Rob Frohwein
    • Total funding: $53.7 million (plus $91.7 million in debt funding)
    • FinovateSpring 2013 demo video
    • Category: Consumer Internet
    • Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
    • Founded: 2006
    • CEO: Renaud Laplanche
    • Total funding: $220 million
    • FinovateStartup 2009 demo video
    • Category: B2B Applications- SaaS and Enterprise
    • Headquarters: New York, NY
    • Founded: 2007
    • CEO: Noah Breslow
    • Total funding: $102 million
    • FinovateSpring 2012 demo video
    • Category: B2B Applications- SaaS and Enterprise
    • Headquarters: Denver, CO
    • Founded: 2002
    • CEO: Andre Durand
    • Total funding: $78 million
    • FinovateEurope 2012 demo video
Placecast 

    • Category: B2B Applications – Mobile
    • Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
    • Founded: 2005
    • CEO: Alistair Goodman
    • Total funding: $8 million
    • FinovateSpring demo video
    • Category: B2B Applications- SaaS and Enterprise
    • Headquarters: San Jose, CA
    • Founded: 2005
    • CEO: Reed Taussig
    • Total funding: $36.2 million
    • FinovateStartup 2009 demo video
    • Category: Consumer Internet
    • Headquarters: London, UK
    • Founded: 2007
    • CEO: Errol Damelin
    • Total funding: $145 million
    • FinovateFall 2010 demo video
    • Category: Consumer Internet
    • Headquarters: Redwood City, CA
    • Founded: 1999
    • CEO: Anil Arora
    • Total funding: $116 million
    • FinovateFall 2010 demo video
Here are the two listed in the Companies to Watch category:

All companies were selected by industry experts in the following organizations:

  • The AlwaysOn editorial team
  • Morgan Stanley
  • KPMG
  • GSV Capital
  • Greylock
  • Google Ventures
  • New Enterprise Associates
  • Flybridge Capital Partners
  • Accel Ventures
  • Bridge Bank
  • Venrock
  • SV Angel
  • Roth Capital Partners
  • Intel Capital
  • Menlo Ventures
  • Khosla Ventures
  • FirstMark Capital
  • Doll Capital Management
  • Benchmark Capital
  • Cooley
  • GGV Capital
  • Finovate Alumni News– May 23, 2013

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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.

    BillFloat Extends SmartPay Pilot Program with Radio Shack Partnership

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    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.

    smart-pay-powered-by-billfloat-85720705.jpgBased 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.

    Finovate Alumni News– April 30, 2013

    • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCortera 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.

    Finovate Alumni News– April 29, 2013

    • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNerdWallet 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.

    Finovate Alumni News– April 25, 2013

    • 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.

    First Quarter 2013 Funding for Finovate Alumni– More Than $150 Million Raised

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    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

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    *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.

    Nineteen Finovate Alums Win 2013 PYMNTS.com Innovator Awards

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    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
    Second placeWaspit 
    • Description: Combining mobile payments with social media channels to empower and inform the user in everyday purchases.
    • Finovate demo: FinovateFall 2012
    Third placeLeaf
    • 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: FinovateSpr
        ing 2012

    Finovate Alumni News– February 28, 2013

    • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMasterCard 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.

    Finovate Alumni News– January 25, 2013

    • 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.
    • Portland’s KATU.com features Simple.
    • 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.