• Birdback teams up with Braintree for 3-day payments hackathon.

• Indiana Members CU chooses Jack Henry & Associates' Symitar for in-house core processing.

• Keynote DeviceAnywhere adds mobile scripting, UI enhancements.

• VoiceTrust moves operational headquarters to Canada, opening offices in Toronto and Montreal.

• Figlo expands partnership with Yellowtail Consulting to enable stronger focus on South Africa.

• Wipit partners with Sprint/ Boost Mobile to bring mobile payment capability to cash-preferred consumers.

• Virtual Piggy signs first UK partners, Toy Galaxy and Toadstool.

• eToro granted UK financial regulation approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

• Silicon Republic features Holvi.

• Tyfone releases Connected Smart Card solution to allow FIs to enhance user ID info used to access sensitive data.

• Tradeshift partners with Invoiceware International to deliver compliant e-invoice validation in Latin America.

• BillGuard to integrate with Google Wallet for transaction monitoring.

• SigFig Portfolio adds support for Windows Phone.

eToro is marking their second year as an investment network, announcing a handful of metrics and milestones as part of the celebration:

• 50 million trades processed
• 3 million registered users
• 200,000 active investors

eToro allows investors to invest together, sharing trading information and/or following "top traders" who may have as many as 9,000 other investors following their every move in the market. The platform includes safeguards, such as a tool that will prevent investors from investing more than 20% with any one trader. Investors can participate in eToro for as little as $50. And the company is currently offering a $20 gift card to new users.

eToro was founded in 2007, and is led by CEO Jonathan Assia and CTO David Ring. The company has raised nearly $34 million in funding, including a $15 million round in March.

eToro demonstrated their technology last year as part of FinovateFall, winning Best of Show for the fourth time. See them in action here.

• Seventy2Minutes reviews TransferWise as a PayPal alternative.

• Wallaby Financial to participate in Frequent Travel University educational event. See them demo at FinovateSpring.

• Credit Agricole's social media bank celebrates its second year.

• Social investment network eToro reaches 50 million trades.

• Access Softek and Geezeo partner to integrate Access Softek's mobile banking with Geezeo's PFM.

• Guardian Analytics unveils FraudMAP Wire product to prevent wire tap.

• San Francisco Business Times names Taulia one of the 2013 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area.

• VentureBeat reports Bill.com has converted more than 40% of its customers from checks to electronic ACH transactions.

• American Banker reports: Actiance Updates Social Media Management Software.

• Arvest Bank to deploy IntelliResponse Virtual Agent technology. See them demo at FinovateSpring in May.

• GMC Software Technology founder Rene Muller wins Lifetime Achievement award.

• PrivatBank to provide service to customers wearing Google Glass.

• American Banker interviews Pageonce COO Steve Schultz on the company's goal to be the "go-to financial app on the phone".

• Mountain America CU launches MoneyDesktop's My Money Manager PFM.

• Blackhawk Network prices of its IPO of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $23 per share.

• American Banker reports: Planwise Courts Bank Partners.

• Black Enterprise features Bolstr as Tech Startup of the Week.

• American Banker reports BillGuard has flagged $50M in suspect charges.

• The Globe and Mail considers how eToro can benefit investors.

• TechCrunch reports: SMB Inventory Management Startup TradeGecko Partners With Xero Accounting.

• Rebirth Financial unveils white-label crowdfunding platform.

• Trustly has now processed 10 billion SEK in payments since it began in 2008, has fully rolled out Direktbetalning in Sweden 

• AG Beat features Entrepreneurial Finance Lab.

• BSCG, Mitek, and Yodlee selected as Monarch B2B Innovation Award Winners.

• Lodo Software appoints Matthew Lawlor, former founder & CEO of Online Resources, to board of directors.

• South African Logistics Company implements Kofax Software to Automate HR. Watch Kofax demo live at FinovateSpring.

• Business Credit Radio features Sue Heilbronner, PaySimple's Chief Growth Officer.

• American Banker highlights Plastyc's unique approach to serving prepaid card users. Watch Plastyc's demo at FinovateSpring.

• Mati Greenspan, senior investment consultant at eToro, explains how eToro will soon support Bitcoin.

• American Banker looks at Braintree's multi-merchant approach. Come see Braintree demo at FinovateSpring.

• Live Science considers how Narrative Science automates journalism and report generation. See Narrative Science's live demo at FinovateSpring.

• Quantopian announces algorithm development competition.  The company will demo at FinovaeSpring in May.

• Bank Innovation reports: Intuit will continue to support FinanceWorks.

• Reuters takes a look at TipRanks. See them demo at FinovateSpring.

• eDeposit announces major new features in upgrade of mobile app.

• TradeHero a winner at Echelon Singapore Satellite pitch competition.

• INTJ Capital gives kudos to Quantopian's decision to provide for external data sets. Join Quantopian in San Francisco for FinovateSpring in May.

• American Banker interviews Green Dot CEO and founder Steven Streit. See Green Dot demo at FinovateSpring.

• Realty Mogul is among the companies highlighted in Upstart Business Journal column on crowd funding. See them demo at FinovateSpring.

• Innovations in gamification help True Office win Computerworld Honors Program award.

• Aiming for the enterprise: Mobile Payments Today features Corduro.

• Azimo goes live on Google Affiliate Network.

• American Banker reports: Randolph-Brooks chooses Andera's online account opening platform.

• The gamification revolution interviews Michelle Katics, CEO of BankersLab.

• Kabbage takes home first place for Top B2B Innovation from PYMNTS.com.

• Virtual Piggy taps into $10Bn Annual Market with epay Partnership.

• eToro placed on the 2013 FinTech50 Watchlist, a shortlist of 50 companies in Europe that are redefining financial services through technology.

• Macgasm features Tuition.io as 1 of 5 apps of the week.

• Newfination interviews SumUp's Florian Richter.

• Tradeshift features Intuit's Eric Dunn to talk about the recent partnership.

• TechCrunch reports: Yodlee Interactive now powers financial data for 300 apps and businesses; on pace to surpass 500 in 2013.

• The Economist highlights TransferWise. See them demo at FinovateEurope next week.

• Strategic Shopping blog, November Sunflower, features Jingit.

• Top Technology News takes a look at the Flint mobile payment system.

• Linkable Networks now offers deals at Lunds and Byerly's Minnesota Grocery stores.

• Virtual Piggy opens London office. Come watch its live demo at FinovateEurope next week.

• Xero's Report Packs go live for Australian partners.

• Bloomberg looks at how StockTwits is adjusting to Twitter changes.

• eToro updates Trader for iOS to allow for native and social registration.

• SMC Securities, Global Capital to integrate Heckyl Technologies platform. See them demo next week at FinovateEurope.

• Finovate Alumni abound in Payment Source's list of 11 major mergers in payments technology.

• Androidever.com takes a look at Pageonce.

• Gartner highlights Comarch Commission & Incentive in recent report.

• FIS announces expanded relationship with Modern Woodmen Bank.

• TomTom uses Keynote DeviceAnywhere for real-time performance monitoring in Paris.

• The New York Times features Simple's approach to customer service.

• Check Point Software Technologies introduces new ZoneAlarm 2013 security product line, integrates Facebook Privacy Scan.

• MyBankTracker looks at Movenbank's new site layout. Come see Movenbank's live demo at FinovateEurope Feb 12 and 13.

• Daily Tekk interviews Brendon McQueen, CEO of Tuition.io.

• eToro launches new version of its WebTrader platform.

• Dwolla introduces new look, allows users to apply for higher transaction limits.

• Cardlytics opens office in San Fran, appoints new SVP of Marketing. Come see Cardlytics demo at FinovateEurope next month.

• CNBC interviews Barry Silbert, SecondMarket CEO, to understand why entreprenuers avoid IPOs.

• Bank Systems & Technology considers how NICE's newest solution uses voice recognition to prevent fraud. Come see NICE demo its new tech live at FinovateEurope in London February 12 and 13.

• Getapp.com reviews ShopKeep POS.

• Biometric Update highlights a year of new customers and pilot projects from VoiceTrust.

• TechCrunch features a video interview with Betterment CEO and founder, Jon Stein.

• Experian announces deal to provide address and mortality screening services to Guardian Financial Services.

• Shares Magazine recognizes eToro for Best Use of Social Media.

• Business Insider tours LearnVest's New York office.

• American Banker reports: Artisans' Bank Chooses Andera's Account Opening System.

• American Banker looks at how Banno's (formerly T8 Webware) Help Me Decide feature gives consumers an advantage when selecting which card to use.

• Bazaarvoice completes $6.7 million financing related to acquisition.

• TIBCO Software named to Software Magazine's 500 Largest Software Companies in the World.

• SoMoLend and GATE Global Impact make a deal that will facilitate investing in business expansion and job growth.

• LearnVest launches iPhone app.

• Goodwill to provide HelloWallet subscription to employees as well as community members with disabilities and unemployed.

• Metaforic announces partnership with Appthority to reduce mobile app risks and enhance security.

• Microsoft's new Windows 8-style UI now supported by the KonyOne Platform.

• MSM Media awards eToro Best Social Media Trading Product for its OpenBook platform.

• Ping Identity recognized as 1 of 5 high-growth businesses at Denver Startup Week.

• National Gift Card Corp partners with InComm to offer gaming & music eGift cards for businesses.

We wrapped up FinovateFall in New York City about a week ago. Over the course of two days, 64 companies give seven-minute demos to an audience of around 1,100. We've summarized the information and presented in our latest Finovate Report, Fall Edition.

Introducing:

The Best New Products at FinovateFall 2012

This post-show wrap-up is designed to help those that weren't there get a better understanding of the major themes. And for those that were in attendance, it's a box score to compare with your own notes and impressions.

In the report, we looked at the three big trends that emerged at FinovateFall:

• Small businesses get the same financial tools as bigger businesses
• Security moves past the PIN 
• Beyond plastic, the mobile wallet is here

And we profiled each of the seven companies voted Best of Show by the attendees at the event (note 1):

• Credit Sesame
• Dashlane
• Dynamics
• eToro
• LearnVest
• MoneyDesktop
• PayTap
• ShopKeep POS

__________________________________________________________________

About the report
__________________________________________________________________

The Best New Products at FinovateFall (link)
Includes a look at all eight Best of Show winners

Author: Julie Schicktanz, Finovate Group Research Analyst
Editor: Jim Bruene, Finovate Group Founder

Published: 28 September 2012

Length: 59 pages, 12,000 words

Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, US$195 for others

The printed version will be mailed to subscribers next week

_________________________________________________________________

Note:
1. See Best of Show methodology here.

Our fifth annual FinovateFall in NYC concluded an hour ago. After seeing 64 demos over two packed days, the audience voted for their three favorites each day. The top eight overall were named Best of Show (see notes).

The winners (in alphabetic order):

• Credit Sesame for its Financial Fitness Indicator that gives users a comprehensive view of their financial situation
• Dashlane for its instant login and checkout feature
• Dynamics for its Triple Interface card, allowing for tap, swipe, or EMV payments
• eToro for its social trading index 
• LearnVest for its certified financial planning capabilities and mobile app
• MoneyDesktop for its PFM platform and bubble budgets 
• PayTap for its social bill-payment platform
• ShopKeep POS for its tablet-based POS

We'll have videos of all 64 demos posted at Finovate.com as fast as possible (probably two to three weeks out).

Thanks to everyone who presented, attended, tweeted, networked, blogged, tolerated the Internet hiccups and helped push fintech forward. You are the best! 

----------

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.   
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites as the day went on and choose three favorites from just the demos of that day. Ballots were turned in at the end of the last demo session each day. 
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: "Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed. Note: Ballots with more than three companies circled will not be counted." 
4. The eight companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named Best of Show.
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners.

"The Social Trading Index is an evolution of eToro's CopyTrader technology, which enables users to copy the trading activity of any user in the network in order to create a diversified people-based portfolio. As a result of offering the ability to aggregate several users into a single social trading index, users are able to benefit from an even more diversified and controlled investment portfolio. Through CopyTrader and Social Index people have now been transformed into a new asset class, paving the way for a social approach to investing."

Since we are nearing the end of the first quarter, we wanted to look back at all of the Finovate alums who have raised funding over the past few months.

Here's the month-by-month breakdown:

January -- $25 million raised by 3 companies

Social investing network eToro announced today it has secured $15 million (U.S.) in funding. Spark Capital led the round, which is intended to expand the trading platform and fuel growth in international markets.

Within the past year, eToro has experienced growth across the board:

• Active user base doubled 
• Workforce doubled to 200 employees
• Trading volumes doubled in size
• Number of traded positions increased 5x

To learn more about eToro, watch its FinovateEurope 2012 demo.

We recently looked back at Finovate's Best of Show Awards archives and wanted to share the list of the 41 award-winning companies.

Here's the Best of Show history that stretches back to 2007, the inception of Finovate:

At Tuesday's second annual FinovateEurope, 35 companies laid it on the line within the grueling 7-minute demo format plus a day of networking in the old London fish market on the Thames.

For the first time ever, and much to our astonishment, every demo finished at or under the time limit. Thankfully, we never had to hear the bell signifying that time is up.

At the end of the last demo, eligible audience members (note 1) voted for their three favorite demos (note 2). All 35 companies received votes (employees of presenting companies cannot vote), but four stood out in the vote tally (alphabetic order):   

• Cardlytics (with Aimia) showed its in-statement ad platform and management tools (demo recap)
  
  
• Dynamics which launched its "chip and choice" card for
  the chip & pin world (demo recap)
  
  
• eToro which launched its crowd-sourced "guru finder"
  to help locate traders to follow/copy (demo recap)
  
  
• Nutmeg launched an investment service focused around the needs
  of the everyday investor (demo recap)

Dynamics and eToro are previous Best of Show winners. You can read our live blog posts on each demo now. And in two or three weeks we'll have the full demos available at Finovate.com.

Thanks to everyone who attended and presented. We are truly humbled by the support from the European financial community, and we are already making plans for the 2013.

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

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.   
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites as the day went on and choose three favorites only from the demos of that day. Ballots were turned in at the end of the last demo session each day. 
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: "Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed. Note: Ballots with more than three companies circled will not be counted." 
4. The four companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named Best of Show.

To start the afternoon session, eToro showed us Guru Finder that allows investors to quickly create and implement trading strategies:

"eToro's newest innovation on its social trading platform OpenBook is the Guru Finder, which allows users to create personalized and detailed trading strategies that they can easily implement in minutes. It supports copy trading with a very detailed analysis/filter tool to enable users to create their own customized, people-based portfolio. Investors can filter and dissect the largest trading community by different dimensions such as Activity, Risk, Performance and Instruments traded and pick a personalized trader line-up for their people-based portfolio. The visual implementation resembles e-commerce filtering mechanisms, ensuring seamless and intuitive dissection of large data sets to achieve fast and meaningful results."

Product Launched: February 7, 2012

HQ Location: Limassol, Cyprus
Company Founded: January 2007
Metrics: 190 employees, offices in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, $16.6 million raised, over 1.75 million registered users
Website: etoro.com

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.