Alumni News– November 5, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBraintree announces new service that makes it easier for merchants to sign up for the platform.
  • MasterCard launches MasterPass in Czech Republic.
  • CAN Capital to offer loans via Yodlee’s Small Business solution.
  • PayPal’s Venmo to power payments for web and mobile chat app, Dasher.
  • Wall Street Sector Selector highlights Financial Guard and lists Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, Nutmeg, SigFig, and Wealthfront in a column on using roboadvisors with retirement accounts.
  • SumUp partners with BitPay to integrate bitcoin into its mPOS solution.
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.

Trustly Announces $30 Million Investment from Bridgepoint Development Capital

Trustly Announces $30 Million Investment from Bridgepoint Development Capital

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Trustly, the Swedish payments company that began 2014 with a deal to make Groupon easier to use for customers at seven Swedish banks, is closing out the year with a €23 million ($30 million USD) investment courtesy of Bridgepoint Development Capital.

Carl Wilsson, Trustly CEO, said that the investment from Bridgepoint will help fuel the company’s European expansion. Trustly is live in eight European countries, and covers 57 banks representing 67 million consumers. The company currently processes more than seven million payments a year.

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“We are delighted to partner with Bridgepoint, who will provide support and financial resources as we continue to grow and innovate,” Wilsson said. A partner at Bridgepoint, Johan Dahlfors, pointed to both the growth of the European online payments market and the B2B, B2C, and P2P-based payment tools developed by Trustly as support for his firm’s investment.
“The business is therefore well positioned in a growing market for online payment solutions,” Dahlfors said. “We look forward to working with the ambitious team to build out its European presence further.”
Trustly develops online and mobile banking payment solutions. The company specializes in enabling direct bank e-Payments, integrating its technology with FI’s existing online banking infrastructure to make paying online as easy as paying in person with cash.
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The technology allows the merchant website to be visible throughout the payment process – a boon for both consumers and banks, as far as Trustly is concerned. The platform supports a wide range of authentication methods used by banks, as well, from MobileBankID to SMS codes.
Named one of the fastest growing technology companies in Sweden, Trustly’s recent headlines include the release of its open source, alternative messaging technology, BankAPI in September. In June, Trustly announced a partnership with PayPal to facilitate direct payments for online banking customers in Sweden and Denmark.
Trustly is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and was founded in 2008. See the company’s 2013 FinovateEurope demo of Trustly’s direct, person-to-person bank payment solution here.

Alumni News– November 4, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgOberthur and SecureKey announce collaboration to enable secure cloud transactions.
  • Zopa reports £250 million lent in 12 months.
  • Xendpay eliminates fee for overseas bank-to-bank transfers.
  • MX boosts its funding total to $20 million with new investment.
  • Xpenditure announces two new partnerships, US expansion.
  • Financial Advisor profiles robo-advisor, iQuantifi.
  • SK Planet teams up with Celcom Axiata Bhd to form joint-venture company, Celcom Planet.
  • Programmable Web takes a look at Feedzai’s anti-fraud API.
  • EyeVerify announces Eyeprint ID v2.0 to launch in January on iOS and Android.
  • Fidor Bank and Kraken join forces to launch specialized bank for crypto currencies.
  • TipRanks CEO and co-founder Uri Gruenbaum discusses financial accountability in a CNBC panel discussion.
  • Dragon Wealth named Euromoney Magazine’s Best Wealth Management Innovator in Asia.
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.

Socure Scores $2.5 Million to Overcome Evil with Good

Socure Scores $2.5 Million to Overcome Evil with Good

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Online security companies are always working to stay one step ahead of fraudsters. Socure, a New York-based company is out to fight these malevolent deeds with an approach it calls Social Biometrics.

As it turns out, it pays to be good. The company just closed a $2.5 million round of funding this week. Investors include:

    • Founder Collective
    • Two Sigma Ventures
    • ff Venture Capital 

This, added to Socure’s $2.2 million Seed round it generated in March, brings the company’s total funding to $4.7 million.

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Socure’s fraud detection solution uses people’s social behavior across networks to determine the authenticity of their identity. See their debut of Social Biometrics at FinovateFall 2013.

MX Takes its Funding Total to $20 Million with New Investment

MX Takes its Funding Total to $20 Million with New Investment
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The amount was undisclosed, but the latest investment for MX (formerly MoneyDesktop) reportedly takes the company’s total capital to $20 million.

“We are thrilled to be partnered with those that are on the side of innovation,” Ryan Caldwell, MX CEO and founder said in a statement. “And we are humbled to be a critical part of making that shift possible.”

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More is known about the investors than the investment – though the company’s previous funding total of more than $11 million suggests that the current investment is around $8-9 million. Speaking for one of the investors, TTV Capital’s Mark Johnson, referred to MX as “the kind of innovation and company that only comes along so often,” and praised how MX was able to deliver a “truly engaging” experience across platforms.
Also participating alongside TTV Capital were Commerce Ventures and North Hill Ventures.
Formerly known as MoneyDesktop, MX specializes in helping banks provide cross-platform banking and financial management experiences to their clients and customers. A Finovate multiple Best of Show award winner, MX launched a pair of products in September – Helios and WideNet. These technologies not only provide FIs with the technology they need to make their banking apps deployable on a wider variety of devices. They also make it possible for FIs to reach beyond their current customer base and expand their market reach.
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“For the first time in banking history,” Caldwell explained from the Finovate stage last month. “not only your account holders, but non account holders (can) download and use your app. This allows you to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively cast a wide net across all the potential account holders you don’t yet have, but want.”
In addition to the funding news, MX announced seven new clients with assets of $74 billion combined.
  • America First Credit Union
  • ATB Financial
  • BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union)
  • Cadence Bank
  • LGFCU (Local Government Federal Credit Union)
  • Washington Federal
  • Wilson Bank and Trust
MX was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Provo, Utah. See the company’s award-winning, multi-device demo from FinovateFall 2014.

Alumni News– November 3, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMoney on Toast to outsource its administration to Equiniti Wealth Solutions.
  • Mitek announces Restrictive Endorsement feature to reduce risk of duplicate check deposits.
  • Azimo opens up money transfer service to Kenya’s M-Pesa.
  • Better ATM Services signs agreement with ATM manufacturer, Genmega.
  • Ixaris teams up with United bank for Africa (UBA) to bring its virtual card platform to 20 markets in Africa.
  • Socure scores $2.5 million to overcome evil with good.
  • Yantra Financial Technologies integrates Ripple Protocol into risk management system.
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.