Author: David Penn

Ant Financial Acquires EyeVerify

Ant Financial Acquires EyeVerify
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: EyeVerify, Mergers & Acquisitions

eyeverify_antfinancial

Less than a week after EyeVerify’s successful return to the Finovate stage, the company announced that it has been acquired by Ant Financial. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but EyeVerify will remain in operation as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Financial Services and will remain headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

EyeVerify founder and CEO Toby Rush said Ant Financial’s vision to support small and micro enterprises and their consumers “resonate(d) deeply” with the core mission of EyeVerify. Rush notes that EyeVerify’s payment-grade biometric platform is already trusted by more than three dozen banks and technology leaders, and says, “We look forward to helping even more people across the financial spectrum access digital services with security and convenience.”

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EyeVerify’s Director of Marketing Tinna Hung demonstrated EyePrint ID at FinovateEurope 2016.

EyeVerify’s innovation is to use the pattern of veins and white space in the human eye as a biometric marker, an identifier more unique than fingerprints according to the company. Using the camera embedded in most smartphones, EyeVerify users can take an “eyeprint” as easily as they would take a selfie and use that spoof-proof eyeprint for authentication purposes. The software-based technology, deployed by Wells Fargo for its corporate clients with commercial banks this spring, doesn’t require expensive hardware and has an accuracy rate of 99.99%.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, EyeVerify demonstrated its Eyeprint ID at FinovateEurope in spring 2016, where the company won Best of Show. More recently, EyeVerify demoed its technology here in the U.S. at FinovateFall 2016 (demo video available soon). Last month, EyeVerify integrated its Eyeprint ID technology into the Identity Platform of fellow Finovate alum, BioConnect.

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Signifyd Raises $19 Million in New Funding

Signifyd Raises $19 Million in New Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Signifyd

signifyd_homepage_september2016

E-commerce anti-fraud innovator Signifyd has locked in an investment of $19 million from American Express Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and TriplePoint Capital. The funding, which takes Signifyd’s total to $50 million, will help the company grow its infrastructure and continue to enhance its machine learning technology.

American Express Ventures partner Rohit Bodas emphasized both Signifyd’s commitment to state-of-the-art technology as well as the Palo Alto-based startup’s confidence in its technology in discussing his firm’s decision to invest. “By leveraging machine learning and providing a 100% guarantee, Signifyd is making it possible for even the smallest merchants to combat fraud and achieve measurable cost savings in the process,” Bodas said.

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Signifyd co-founder and CEO Rajesh Ramanand demonstrated Guaranteed Payments at FinovateSpring 2013.

Signifyd’s anti-fraud solution leverages the power of the “social graph” and what it says are “thousands of different data points” to help ensure that online consumers are who they say they are. The technology provides merchants with a clear “Accept or Decline” judgement on transactions, and assumes liability for any transaction that is incorrectly determined to be fraudulent. Signifyd says merchants can realize margin gains of 20% and enjoy cash-flow predictability from the company’s 100% financial guarantee alone. Signify serves more than 5,000 e-commerce companies, including major retailers like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Lacoste.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd demonstrated its Guaranteed Payments technology at FinovateSpring 2013. Earlier this year, Signifyd unveiled a fraud-protection app for Magento Marketplace, and was featured in a March 2016 column from TechCrunch called, “The rise of APIs.” Named one of the best places in the area to work by San Francisco Business Times this past spring, Signifyd began the year extending its integration with Shopify Plus and added CyberSource founder Bill McKiernan to its board of directors.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Daon, EyeVerify, Jack Henry, Klarna, Signifyd

On Finovate.com

  • Signifyd Raises $19 Million in New Funding
  • Read All About It! FinovateFall 2016 in the Press

Around the web

  • BBC America features Daon in a look at how biometric technology is replacing the password. Video of Daon’s FinovateFall 2016 debut will be available soon.
  • Klarna partners with retail giant Arcadia to provide “buy now, pay later” shopping for U.K. consumers.
  • ACI Worldwide earns 2016 Swift accreditation for its money-transfer system.
  • Jack Henry & Associates announces full integration of Banno 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.

 

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AnchorID Brings Custom Authentication to Credit Unions

AnchorID Brings Custom Authentication to Credit Unions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AnchorID

anchorid_homepage_september2016

CU Wallet, a Los Angeles-based provider of white-label digital wallet solutions for regional and community FIs, has picked Finovate Best of Show winner AnchorID to provide multifactor authentication. Pointing to the unique challenges of small and midsize banks and credit unions, CU Wallet CEO Paul Fiore praised both the level of KYC compliance and variety of authentication solutions available via AnchorID. Specifically, Fiore credited the enterprise-grade authentication specialist for developing a platform that does not require having access to core processor data. Fiore says AnchorID “levels the playing field.”

AnchorID CEO David W. Schropfer added that his company’s technology also makes it easier for FIs to keep up with new technological challenges. “Our proprietary platform solves the authentication problems of today and tomorrow by enabling access to new technology as it becomes available,” he said. This helps smaller banks and credit unions in particular take advantage of innovations in authentication and security without worrying about the spending money on soon-to-be-obsolete technologies.

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CEO David Schropfer demonstrated AnchorID at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

An innovator in the field of global access and identity proofing, AnchorID’s authentication solutions include a wide variety of technologies for the enterprise. From biometric solutions using fingerprint, voice and iris, to PIN, and soft token, and device-based authentication strategies, AnchorID’s multifaceted approach allows enterprises to experiment and select the authentication strategies that fit them best. The technology integrates readily with Microsoft Active Directory and Azure, Linux, LDAP, and SAML. As part of AnchorID’s new partnership with CU Wallet, more than 100 regional and community banks and credit unions will get access to AnchorID’s authentication solutions.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Kingston, New York, AnchorID demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014, where it won Best of Show. The company was featured in Mergermarket and highlighted by Consumer Reports in its “Bright Ideas” column in December 2014. AnchorID has raised more than $1 million in funding.

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FinovateFall 2016: Live from the Twitterverse

FinovateFall 2016: Live from the Twitterverse
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2016

ff2016_twitter_pic

Whether you are new to our fintech conferences or a hardcore Finovate veteran, you are likely to find the real-time conversation on #Finovate, to be one of the most entertaining—and often informative—aspects of the show. From talk about the way bots raise interesting questions about the new role of human agents, to the debates over the ever-expanding use-cases for the blockchain, the tweets from our Twitter audience go a long way toward helping put some of the most innovative technologies in context.

Twitterlogo_lightblueOur Twitter followers are not above issuing a challenge or two, either. How does this technology help banks and credit unions serve their customers better? Why does this solution secure my personal information or my business data better than another? What does this innovation truly do to foster financial inclusion and support the underbanked?

And while the wit can occasionally be sharp (one Tweeter referred to it as “Finovate meets Shark Tank!”), the goal of building better fintech always shines through. From “tough-love tweets” to gif-animated ovations, #Finovate at FinovateFall 2016 was once again the great combination of professional insight and been-around-the-block-once-or-twice banter that we’ve come to know and love from the show’s most passionate fans.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at a sampling of what folks had to say about FinovateFall last week.


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marous_sindeo
finovatebingocard
cormier_swych
ktmills_daon
barratt_ladiesroom
scott_backbase
waldman_chatbot
wu_trusona
higdon_blockchain_ag
theo_clinc
shevlin_gongshow
webster_fis_fiserv
ghela_bots_data
finovate_bestofshow

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Trustly Taps Oscar Berglund as New CEO

Trustly Taps Oscar Berglund as New CEO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Trustly

trustly_homepage_september2016

Swedish payments company Trustly announced that the man who served as both the company’s CFO and Deputy CEO, Oscar Berglund, has been appointed CEO. Carl Wilsson, Trustly-co-founder and CEO, will take a new role as VP of Business Development, where he will specialize on strategic product development and implementation.

Saying that this was the “right time” to pass the torch to someone he’d worked with for more than six years, Wilsson said the company was now on a path that would “support a continued high-growth journey.” Andreas Bernstrom, chairman of the company’s board, praised Wilsson’s decision to shift to “a more focused, growth-oriented role” and called his replacement, Oscar Berglund, “a key contributor to the company’s development.”

Oscar Berglund arrived at Trustly in January 2013 from Alpcot Capital Management, where he spent five oscarberglundyears as a portfolio manager. Before that, Berglund was a financial analyst and later an associate at Goldman Sachs in the firm’s investment banking division. A veteran of the Swedish Army, where he earned the rank of 2nd lieutenant, Berglund holds an MS in economics and business administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.

“We are in the very beginning of our journey, and I look forward to continue working with the rest of the team in servicing our customers with Trustly’s unique payment solutions,” Berglund said. “I am delighted that Trustly will continue to benefit fully from Carl’s expertise and experience as we together with the rest of our colleagues drive the company forward.”

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Trustly demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013. The company’s news comes just a month after it announced a partnership with Nordnet Bank, giving the Nasdaq-listed bank access to Trustly’s European instant payments platform which will give customers greater control over their savings and investments. At the beginning of September, Trustly launched its Direct Debit solution, and in August, the company was recognized by CoinTelegraph as one of the “10 hottest Nordic fintech startups.”

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AnchorID, FIS, Kantox, TransferWise, Trustly

On Finovate.com

  • AnchorID Brings Custom Authentication to Credit Unions
  • FinovateFall 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced
  • Trustly Taps Oscar Berglund as New CEO
  • FinovateFall 2016: Live from the Twitterverse

Around the web

  • Kantox launches dynamic hedging to help monitor currency risk in real-time.
  • FIS brings its Cardless Cash solution to CO-Op Financial Services.

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.

 

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FinovateFall 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateFall 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AutoGravity, Backbase, Best of Show, Clinc, FinovateFall 2016, MX, Swych, Trusona

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Innovations in automobile financing that leverage mobile technology to empower buyers. Omnichannel solutions that enable customer onboarding in less than a minute. Intelligent personal assistants that hear and respond in natural, conversational language.

The Best of Show winners of FinovateFall 2016 are a compelling tribute to the diversity of our industry. From new strategies that help financial institutions leverage their data to provide better services, to platforms that transform the gift card from a present-of-last-resort to the perfect gift, to a multifaceted identity-solution capable of securing everything from your email account to SWIFT wires, it is an exciting time to be a part of this dynamic fusion of finance and technology.

And while we give due credit to those demos that drew the most enthusiastic praise from our record-breaking FinovateFall audience, know that our Best of Show winners represent the tip of the spear, the vanguard of a movement whose innovations will shape the way we save, spend, invest, and engage the financial world for years to come.

Here are our Best of Show award winners for FinovateFall 2016 (in alphabetic order):

AutoGravity Logo copyAutoGravity for its app that harnesses the power of the smartphone to enable users to take control of the automobile buying and financing experience.

Backbase---Hi-ResBackbase for its omnichannel banking platform that leverages optical character recognition and facial recognition to deliver 60-second onboarding.

clinc-logo-finovate-new copyClinc for its personal assistant for mobile banking, “Finie,” that uses advanced artificial intelligence and deep learning to communicate with users in natural, conversational language.

 

MX Logo copyMX for its innovative technology that enables FIs to acquire new data, as well as better and more effortlessly understand and analyze the data they already have.

 

Swych Logo copySwych for its mobile gifting platform that makes it easy for users to buy, send, upload, redeem, and exchange gift cards instantly and conveniently from their mobile devices.

Trusona Logo copyTrusona for its insured cloud identity suite with offerings that run the gamut from securing everyday logins to protecting the world’s most sensitive assets.

We had a great time at FinovateFall 2016 and hope you enjoyed our two-day conference, as well. A thousand thanks to our sponsors, our partners, our presenters, and, last but not least, the 1,600+ attendees who made this year’s FinovateFall our biggest event yet. We’ll see you again next year!

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 during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
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.”
4. The six 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 through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 and 2016 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fiserv, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Welcome to Day Two of FinovateFall!

Around the web

  • Fiserv launches BillMatrix Next, a configurable, multichannel e-billing and payment platform.
  • Xero unveils plans for Facebook Messenger accounting bot.

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.

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Welcome to Day Two of FinovateFall!

Welcome to Day Two of FinovateFall!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2016

finovatefall2015_audience_overheadshot

1600!

It’s official: FinovateFall 2016 is our biggest event to date, eight times the size of our first Finovate conference back in 2007. Thanks to everyone who has made it possible. And with our developers’ event FinDEVr Silicon Valley just over a month away, and the return of FinovateAsia coming up in November, there is still much innovation to come.

Our first day of FinovateFall 2016 on Thursday showed how technology can leverage even the most old-fashioned of savings strategies into truly, behaviorally savvy PFM; how a few lines of code can turn abandonment into omnichannel engagement; and much, much more. Relive it all when free videos of every demo are released later this month.

All this just makes us that much more excited for what’s in store for the final day of our annual fall event. So without further ado, here’s the lineup for Day Two.

Registration begins at 8 a.m.

8 a.m. – 8:45 a.m., Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m., Demo Session #5 featuring:

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m., Intermission & Refreshments

10:45 a.m. – 12:05 p.m., Demo Session #6

12:05 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Buffet Lunch & Refreshments

1:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m., Demo Session #7

2:40 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., High Quality Networking & Open Bar with Appetizers

Best of Show Winners will be announced during the end of day networking session.

All demo videos will be available for free in a few weeks in our video archives.

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New Report from AARP Explores the Longevity Economy

New Report from AARP Explores the Longevity Economy
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Guest Post

AARP_LongevityEconomy

_______________________

Guest post by Theodora Lau*
_______________________

By 2015, there were more than 1.6 billion people in the world who were part of the 50-plus cohort. By 2050, this number is projected to double to nearly 3.2 billion people. Throughout the world, the growth of this age group is having a transformative impact, economically and socially. The United States alone is home to 111 million in the 50-plus demographic, representatives of a powerful force driving economic growth and value. AARP has branded the group the Longevity Economy, because it represents the sum of all economic activity driven by the needs of Americans aged 50 and older, and includes both products and services they purchase directly and the further economic activity this spending generates.

The difference it makes is substantial. In the first Longevity Economy report released in 2013 by AARP and Oxford Economics, the Longevity Economy fostered $7.1 trillion in annual economic activity. This figure has now been revised to $7.6 trillion in the latest report. The out-sized contribution reflects the changing demographics, wealth, and spending patterns of the 50-plus population as the lifespan increases and the Longevity Economy becomes more pervasive and central to economic and social policies.

Key findings from this report include the following:

  • The 50-plus cohort represented approximately 35% of the U.S. population in 2015 and was responsible for over $7.6 trillion in annual economic activity—roughly 42% of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
  • Direct spending on consumer goods and services, including health care, by those aged 50 and older, amounted to $5.6 trillion in 2015.
  • Approximately $1.8 trillion in federal, state and local taxes were attributable to the Longevity Economy in 2015—about 34% of federal tax revenue and 41% of state and local tax revenue collected in the U.S.

The economic contributions of the Longevity Economy are evident, and the beneficiaries are not limited to those over 50. In fact, the spending of the Longevity Economy supports more than 89.4 million jobs (61% of all U.S. jobs) and over $4.7 trillion in labor income.

As Jody Holtzman, senior vice president of market innovation at AARP, would often say:” Why would you leave money on the table by ignoring the only humongous growth-market that exists?!” So the question for entrepreneurs and VCs is simply this: What is your 50+ strategy?

The Longevity Economy Report is available for download at:

http://www.aarp.org/technology/innovations/innovation-50-plus/research/#longevity

For more information about AARP’s technology innovation initiatives and how AARP sparks innovation in the marketplace for the benefit of people over 50, please visit:

http://www.aarp.org/technology/innovations/innovation-50-plus/

*Theodora Lau is director of enterprise strategy and innovation at AARP. You may contact her for more information at tlau@aarp.org.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CardFlight, CR2, Entersekt, Fiserv, Qumram, Xero, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • New report from FinovateFall 2016 sponsor AARP explores the Longevity Economy.

Around the web

  • CR2 launches its next generation ATM software, BankWorld ATM Client 5 and BankWorld Studio.
  • RNC Genter Capital Management picks Asset Manager Connect from Fiserv.
  • CardFlight unveils new set of iOS and Android-compatible, Bluetooth-enabled mobile card-readers.
  • Xero teams up with Macquarie Bank to integrate with electronic billpay system, BPAY.
  • Entersekt forges reseller agreement with Blue Bay Technologies.
  • Zopa partners with Pariti to help millennials manage credit card debt.
  • Russell Investments selects Qumram for compliant, digital recording and retention. See Qumram at FinovateFall in New York.

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.

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