Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Behalf Raises $27 Million in New Funding
  • Backbase Partners with Entersekt to Deliver Authentication Technology
  • EyeVerify Teams Up with BioConnect to Boost Payment Security.

Around the web

  • PittsburghPost-Gazette feature on local fintech incubator SteelBridge Laboratories quotes Om Kundu, CEO of InSpirAVE. See InSpirAVE at FinovateFall in New York next week.
  • Massachusetts-based Randolph Savings Bank re-ups with Fiserv for front- and back-office technology.
  • Wipro announces partnership with Stibo Systems to offer Master Data Management (MDM) solutions.
  • PYMNTS.com looks at TransferWise and its growing independence from bank partners.
  • Jack Henry & Associates Awarded by Aite Group for Core Processing.

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.

Coinbase Offers Mobile Card Payment Option to European Bitcoin Buyers

Coinbase Offers Mobile Card Payment Option to European Bitcoin Buyers

Coinbase_homepage_August2016

European customers of Coinbase have been able to buy bitcoin and ethereum using debit and credit cards for a little over a year. Now, they can do it on mobile, too.

Strong numbers from the U.S. seem to support the move. Announcing the new functionality on the its blog, Coinbase noted that 40% of its credit and debit card purchases of digital currencies in the U.S. are coming from mobile devices. “Our mission at Coinbase is to create an open financial system for the world,” the post read, “and enabling easy access to digital currencies like bitcoin and ether in as many countries as possible gets us one step closer to that goal.”

Indeed. Coinbase last month added Australia, Canada, and Singapore to the list of countries where Coinbase customers can use payment cards to buy digital currencies. The company added support for ethereum earlier this year, and enabled PayPal and credit cards for bitcoin sales and purchases, respectively, in June. Coinbase launched the U.S. beta of its instant bitcoin purchase via debit card in March and expanded the service to all U.S. customers later in the spring.

Coinbase’s free mobile wallet works for both Android and iOS (in addition to online). Customers can create a digital wallet, connect a bank account, debit, or credit card, and then begin buying both bitcoin and ether on the Coinbase exchange.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase demonstrated its Instant Exchange technology at FinovateSpring 2014. The company has raised more than $117 million in funding, including a strategic investment of $10.5 million from Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ in July. Coinbase has exchanged more than $4 billion in digital currency and served more than four million customers in 33 countries.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • ID.me Lands $3.7 Million Grant
  • Coinbase Offers Mobile Card Payment Option to European Bitcoin Buyers

Around the web

  • RightCapital announces new partnership with Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP). See Right Capital at FinovateFall 2016 in New York next week.
  • Intuit unveils personalized app recommendations for QuickBooks Online.
  • Business News Daily names BlueVine Best B2B Factoring Service.
  • Top Image Systems increases footprint 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.

DriveWealth Adds Real-Time Margin

DriveWealth Adds Real-Time Margin

DriveWealth_homepage_August2016

Margin calls—the “friendly” shoulder-tap from your brokerage that means you’re in a losing investment position and your broker needs more capital to cover it—are the bane of every trader and investor who uses leverage. But for those on the DriveWealth platform, the technology’s new real-time margin feature all but makes traditional margin calls a thing of the past.

Instead of calculating margin requirements only once a day like most traditional brokerages, DriveWealth’s real-time margin will recalculate and update margin requirements over the course of the trading day. This intra-day limiting of purchasing power makes it less likely that an investor will be forced to liquidate holdings or come up with additional capital to satisfy a margin call. Robert Cortright, founder and CEO of DriveWealth said, “With the release of real-time margin, we are now giving investors who want to trade on leverage a way to increase control and decrease risk relative to traditional margin accounts.”

DriveWealth_stage_FEU2016

From left: CIO Harry Temkin with Michael Fitzgerald, head of corporate strategy, demonstrated DriveWealth’s real-time fractional trading with Passport 2.0 at FinovateEurope 2016.

Using margin is admittedly a strategy for experienced investors: Even seasoned professionals often find themselves suddenly forced to sell other positions or raise cash to defend a losing leveraged investment. In addition to giving investors greater protection against intra-day market risk, real-time margin also promotes a more efficient market, limiting buying power intra-day when volatility rises rather than waiting for an urgent, late-in-the-trading-day phone call from the brokerage. Real-time margin is available via API for DriveWealth’s partners as well as a feature on the app.

Founded in May 2012 and headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, DriveWealth pioneered the use of APIs and cloud-based technologies as a way to provide international investors and traders access to the U.S. equities market. The company’s mobile-first, full-stack platform includes real-time fractional share trading, which it demonstrated earlier this year at FinovateEurope, winning Best of Show.

In what has been a busy year for DriveWealth, the company expanded its APIs to support investment advisers in August, teamed up with CreditEase to bring robo-advisery to China in June, and partnered with Australian fintech company Stoxs to provide Australian investors with access to U.S. stocks in February. DriveWealth has raised more than $8 million in funding, and includes Fenway Summer Ventures, Route 66 Ventures, and SenaHill Partners among its investors.

Find out more about how companies like DriveWealth are building APIs that help connect investors and markets at our upcoming developers conference, 18/19 October, FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Fintech Trending: Look Who’s Chasing Venmo, Student Loan Servicing Falls Short
  • DriveWealth Adds Real-Time Margin

Around the web

  • The Times of India examines the role Ripple can play in reducing the costs of overseas remittances.
  • iSignthis integrates its digital KYC technology with Ixaris.
  • Axis Bank’s Tagit-powered app adds augmented reality.
  • Cortera announces 100th release of its Cortera Pulse product.
  • Quisk rolls out mobile-money platform at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited.
  • Philadelphia Business Journal names eMoney Advisor one of the “Best Places to Work” in Philadelphia.

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.

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Agreement Express

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Agreement Express

AgreementExpress_homepage_August2016a

FF2016-Logo-wdate-largeA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Agreement Express allows financial institutions to design and execute consistent, automated onboarding experiences, while providing deep analytics that enable proactive and personalized client advice.

Features:

  • Fully automates client experiences across multiple lines of business
  • Utilizes client data to improve and evolve rich customer experiences
  • Supports FI’s digitalization initiatives

Why it’s great
Agreement Express is the only end-to-end platform to provide faster, smarter, easier onboarding for all financial institutions.

AgreementExpress_MikeGardnerPresenters

Mike Gardner, CEO
Gardner is a 20-year veteran of the software industry. He has led Agreement Express to become one of the most respected onboarding automation platforms in the financial services industry.
LinkedIn

 

AgreementExpress_AndrewGrocholskiAndrew Grocholski, Account Executive
Grocholski is a seasoned professional in the SaaS industry. He has worked with large financial institutions to help them implement systems that improve business operations.
LinkedIn

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: FF

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: FF

FinFit_homepage_August2016

FF2016-Logo-wdate-largeA look at the companies to demo live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Join us for the first-time public unveiling of FF, a smart transaction analytics platform that helps users focus their daily spending on what’s truly important and brings happiness in the long-run.

Features:

  • Offers proactive nudges and gamification based on years of scientific studies
  • Employs machine-learning to tailor individual recommendations
  • Available via API and white-label apps

Why it’s great
Merges happiness and behavioral economics to drive mass adoption of savvy consumer-spending paths, focused on what is truly important in life.

FinFit_DanielGusevPresenters

Daniel Gusev, CEO
Gusev—a digital payments geek with 10+ years of relevant experience—has built a number of commercially successful products in the European payments space; he is a passionate researcher of behavioral design.
LinkedIn

FinFit_OndrejGrichOndrej Grich, CTO
Grich, co-founder of a leading consumer retail operation in Europe and a veteran builder of scalable IT platforms for nearly 20 years, possesses a particular knack for big-data analysis platforms.
LinkedIn

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Experian Fraud & Identity Solutions

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Experian Fraud & Identity Solutions

Experian_CrossCore_homepage_August2016

FF2016-Logo-wdate-largeA look at the companies that will demo live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Experian’s CrossCore allows you to integrate fraud and identity technology from multiple providers to reduce friction and false positives—meaning more growth for your business.

Features:

  • Operate efficiently with single sign-on to multiple systems
  • Easily create, deploy, and manage strategies that deliver confidence in transactions
  • Quickly make dynamic strategy changes

Why it’s great
Collaboration is power. With every part of your fraud and identity solution working together through a single API, identifying and communicating potential threats has never been easier.

Experian_AdamFingershPresenters

Adam Fingersh, GM and SVP, Fraud and Identity Solutions
Fingersh, general manager of Experian’s fraud and identity business, is responsible for all aspects of those businesses in North America.
LinkedIn

 

Experian_JohnSarrealJohn Sarreal, Senior Director, Product Management
Sarreal is responsible for the integration of FraudNet products and technology into the overall fraud and identity strategy and oversees product development for the CrossCore platform.
LinkedIn

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: InSpirAVE

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: InSpirAVE

InSpirAVE_homepage_August2016

FF2016-Logo-wdate-largeA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 8 2016. Register today.

InSpirAVE’s platform inspires you to multiply savings and fulfill big purchase goals for life’s special moments. By harnessing support of friends/family and retailers/banks together, InSpirAVE help you go farther.

Features:

  • One-on-one pre-purchase recommendations via trusted advisers to thoughtfully buy
  • Personalized financial plan to multiply savings
  • Monitor progress and doorstep-delivery of purchase via P2P and merchant payment

Why it’s great
No goal is out of reach if you set your mind to it. InSpirAVE’s internet-of-savings platform empowers you with the “financial intelligence” to multiply your savings and sustainably achieve those goals.

InSpirAVE_OmKunduPresenters

Om Kundu, Founder, Chairman, CEO
Kundu is a champion of customers, growth and social impact to #SaveForWhatMatters. He has held key in-house roles and has served as a trusted adviser to leading retail and financial institutions responsible for P&Ls with 10+ million users and $40+ billion balances.
LinkedIn

InSpirAVE_MarkKrofchikMark Krofchik, Chief Technology Officer
As CTO of InSpirAVE, Krofchik brings passion for tech with deep domain-experiences—across retail & banking organizations—in leading InSpirAVE’s development team. He holds both bachelors and masters of science in engineering from Carnegie Mellon.
LinkedIn

SelfScore Raises $7 Million to Bring Credit to International Students

SelfScore Raises $7 Million to Bring Credit to International Students

SelfScore_homepage_August2016

Palo Alto-based SelfScore has raised $7.1 million in additional Series A funding. The round, led by Pelion Venture Partners and including existing investors, Accel Partners and Aspect Ventures, brings the data-analytics startup’s total capital to more than $15 million.

“Some of the most successful companies in this country were started and are run by international students,” SelfScore CEO and co-founder Kalpesh Kapadia said. “Our goal is to use this new round of funding to further educate current and future international students about why they should care about credit, and empower them to build it.” In addition to education, SelfScore plans to use the capital to expand its credit card portfolio and speed up new product development. As part of the investment, Blake Modersitzki, managing partner at Pelion, will join SelfScore’s board of directors.

SelfScore_stage_FF2014b

SelfScore CEO and co-founder Kalpesh Kapadia demonstrated his technology at FinovateFall 2014.

SelfScore has leveraged its expertise in data analytics and machine learning to create a proprietary algorithm that provides insights into consumer behavior, including creditworthiness. From its inception as a “scoring as a service” supplement to FICO scores, the consumer analytics company launched its dedicated MasterCard credit card geared specifically for international students this spring, and has since seen 3x growth in the number of signups month-over-month. Pointing out that the SelfScore has managed its growth “with very little capital deployed,” Modersitzki added, “SelfScore’s unique data analytics and machine-learning approach is a game-changer for unleashing financial freedom with today’s generation of international students.”

Founded in 2014, SelfScore demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014. The company was profiled by Tech in Asia and CardRates.com in June, and hired a new CMO, Venkat Bala, in April. Bala was formerly VP, head of early-stage consumer cards at Wells Fargo.

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Liferay

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Liferay

Liferay_homepage_August2016

FF2016-Logo-wdate-largeA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Liferay Digital Experience Platform (DXP) helps you create, manage, and deliver unique banking experiences consistently across every touchpoint by aggregating customer data from disparate systems.

Features:

  • Deliver unique, personalized customer experiences in context
  • Gain a comprehensive, single view of the customer
  • Lay the foundation for ongoing digital transformation

Why it’s great
Liferay DXP enables a deeper customer relationship from the beginning through a better understanding of what your customer wants.

Liferay_HenryNakamuraPresenters

Henry Nakamura, Sr. Customer Experience Manager
Nakamura puts customers’ needs first in building Liferay’s CX Department. He does it all, from journey mapping and engagement plans, to building a reference program.
LinkedIn

 

Liferay_KevalMehtaKeval Mehta, Account Manager
Mehta has worked on technical pre-sales and has a deep technical understanding of the product. He currently helps customers create solutions using Liferay.
LinkedIn

Slice Launches Smart Shopping Assistant Extension for Chrome

Slice Launches Smart Shopping Assistant Extension for Chrome

Slice_SliceWatch_homepage_August

You’ve got a PFM app to help you manage your finances and a robo-adviser to help you with your investments. So why not let technology help you save money when it comes to shopping?

Online shopping solution provider Slice debuted its Slice Watch Chrome Extension this week. The new smart-shopping assistant allows users to track the prices of products as they browse online, alerting them that a given website supports Slice Watch. Shoppers click on the teal-colored Slice Watch button to get a pop-up that allows them to add the item to their watch list. If the price of the item drops, the shopper gets an e-mail notification. Slice Watch is currently supported by retailers such as Amazon, Macy’s, Anthropologie, Target, and Nordstrom, among others.

“Right in time for this year’s Labor Day sale season,” wrote Julia Handel at the Slice blog, “meet your smart shopping assistant that’ll save you time, money, and your sanity.”

Slice_stage_FS2015

Slice COO and co-founder Harpinder Singh demonstrated the Slice Platform API at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

Boasting the largest and most comprehensive collection of item-level purchase-data from more than two million online consumers, Slice enables financial institutions, e-commerce merchants, and others to build features and applications to improve customer engagement, personalization, and marketing efforts. Slice also provides consumers with a free app that makes it easy to track all online purchases, price drops, product recalls, as well as store receipts. The Slice app is available on both Android and iOS.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Slice demonstrated its Platform API at FinovateSpring 2015. The company was acquired by Rakuten for an undisclosed sum in the summer of 2014. Read our Finovate Debut profile of Slice from last summer.