Author: David Penn

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 2

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 2
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bento for Business, DoubleNet Pay, FinovateSpring 2015, FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek, Karmic Labs, SizeUp, Stratos, TickerTags, Trulioo, Uncategorized

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FinovateSpring 2015 is just over a month away. Our annual spring conference returns to San Jose, 12/13 May for two days of live demos of the latest in fintech innovation.

Today we introduce you to another seven companies that will be on stage presenting their technical solutions to some of the financial community’s biggest challenges—from improving engagement through mobile and social channels to improving security and reducing friction for business and individual consumers.

Be sure to check out Part 1 of our Sneak Peek series featuring Alpha Payments Cloud, CUneXus, DRAFT, FundAmerica, SayPay, StockViews, and TrueAccord, as well.

Tickets are going fast. Register today and save your spot at our second Finovate show in San Jose.

Bento_logo_box_snaggit_resizeBento for Business provides financial solutions that fit small businesses, combining the security of a bank with the ease and convenience of a modern technology company.

Features:

  • The Bento Prepaid Commercial MasterCard provides small business owners with controls, such as where, when, and how much their employees can spend without putting their owners’ personal credit at risk.

Why it’s great
Bento’s solutions are designed to save owners time and help eliminate expense ‘leaks,’ a type of fraud that can cost them up to 5% of their revenue each year.

Presenters

Bento_FAhamd_cropFarhan Ahmad, Co-founder and CEO

Ahmad was formerly managing director at Barclays and the global head of emerging payments and prepaid for Discover Financial Services. He has held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, Bank One and First USA.
LinkedIn

 

Bento_SAnderson_cropSean Anderson, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Anderson was formerly senior director of emerging products at Blackhawk Network, where he built and launched their open API platform, launched an offers platform, and developed a prepaid processing platform.
LinkedIn

 

DoubleNetPay_logo_box_snaggit_resizeDoubleNet Pay automatically pays bills and funds savings goals directly from an employee’s paycheck, eliminating guesswork, late fees, and budgeting hassles.

Features:

  • Seamless integration with major payroll processors
  • Allows an employee to simply snap a picture of a current bill stub
  • Employees can easily create, fund, and redeem custom savings goals

Why it’s great
Bills are paid and savings funded automatically on payday, just like payroll taxes.

Presenters

DoubleNetPay_BCosgray_cropBrian Cosgray, Founder and CEO

Cosgray has spent his entire career in financial services. Working with customers across the economic spectrum convinced him of the need to simplify and automate how people pay bills and save money.
LinkedIn

 

DoubleNetPay_CLaird_cropCody Laird, Co-founder and COO

Laird is a financial technology veteran. Prior to co-founding DoubleNet Pay, Cody spent 21 years with SunTrust Bank helping to design and build their current retail banking platform.
LinkedIn

 

DoubleNetPay_BLevy_cropBret Levy, Co-founder and CTO

Levy has been responsible for the architecture of many innovative, highly scalable software systems, most notably the Scientific Games system that powers most state lotteries.
LinkedIn

 

KarmicLabs_Dash_logoKarmic Labs provides API-based payment and SaaS solutions for card issuance (initially commercial market). Karmic offers Dash, FIS, and also uses Karmic’s APIs to offer its own product to FIs.

Features:

  • Robust API infrastructure for commercial card issuance
  • Payment virtualization layer
  • Creates a marketplace of innovative financial technology and SaaS solutions for the commercial market.

Why it’s great
Karmic labs offers API-based payment and SaaS solutions, of which its first product is Dash; the APIs are also used by FIS, a global leader in banking and payments technology, for its own product to FIs.

Presenters

KarmicLabs_RWeidenmiller_new_small_cropRyan Weidenmiller, CEO

Weidenmiller is an entrepreneur who built a top-ranked venture capital fund in China, now working on Karmic Labs’.
LinkedIn

 

KarmicLabs_CAgerton_crop2Chris Agerton, CTO

Agerton was previously at Google, and was a founding engineer at Pinterest, responsible for developing high-availability architecture at Scribd.
LinkedIn

FIS_TLand_FS15Troy Land, Group Executive of Emerging Commerce, FIS

Land is the group executive of emerging commerce at FIS within the retail payments division; he holds expertise in business and product development.
LinkedIn

 

SizeUp_logoSizeUp: SizeUp FI (financial insitutions) is big-data for small businesses. It enables FIs to provide their customers with business intelligence through the FI’s own website.

Features of SizeUp FI:

  • Enable your FI’s customers to :
    • Compare their business performance with that of industry competitors
    • Find customers, suppliers, and competitors
    • Discover best locations to advertise

Why it’s great
SizeUp FI delivers a deeper business-customer partnership through success assistance; “sticky” client engagement; FI services awareness; and big-data insights that SMEs couldn’t previously access.

Presenters

SizeUp_AUbalde_cropAnatalio Ubalde, CEO and Co-founder

Ubalde is a successful entrepreneur leading Software as a Service (SaaS) ventures focused on data-driven solutions for small businesses and economic development.
LinkedIn

 

SizeUp_TBarron_cropThomas Barron, VP Business Development

Barron has developed corporate partnerships for 15 years from Fortunte 500 companies to 5-person startups. He previously worked at Visa developing strategic partnerships.
LinkedIn

 

Stratos_logo_snaggitfromboxStratos consolidates cards into one dynamic card, making payments secure and smart. Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform allows cards to download instantly, digitizing physical fulfillment.

Features:

  • Ensures virtual top of wallet, increases consumer engagement and loyalty
  • Provides secure card and wallet data
  • Eliminates costly physical card fulfillment

Why it’s great
Starts card working with Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform to reinvent, not only your wallet, but also cards—just like the iPod and iTunes reinvented your CD collection.

Presenters

Stratos_TOlson_cropThiago Olson, Co-founder, CEO

Olson worked at CERN and the Department of Defense and is a leader in next generation payments. He graduated with honors in engineering and physics at Vanderbilt.
LinkedIn

 

Stratos_HBalanon_cropHenry Balanon, Co-founder, CTO

Balanon brings technical leadership and expertise to Stratos from his previous experience as co-founder of Detroit Labs, a leading mobile-app agency.
LinkedIn

 

TickerTags_logoTickerTags connects trending social content to investable companies through the monitoring of 250,000+ crowdsourced Tags that have the potential to impact a company’s business.

Features:

  • Track social velocity and sentiment of products/brands driving your investment
  • Create your own Tags to associate with Tickers for personalized trending notifications
  • It’s free

Why it’s great
We are a community-maintained platform intent on democratizing information-flow by evolving new monitoring from view-limited tickers to social -monitored tags.

Presenters

TickerTags_CCamillo_cropChris Camillo, Co-founder, CEO

A pioneer in social arbitrage investing, Camillo’s audited portfolio has averaged 84% annual returns over the past 8 years.
LinkedIn

 

Trulioo_logoTrulioo’s bank-grade AML/KYC identity-verification product, GlobalGateway, enables businesses to perform frictionless ID verification for 3 billion people in more than 40 countries via 140 data sources.

Features:

  • Builds confidence and trust by preventing fraud and identity theft
  • Saves time, money, and resources through automated online ID-checks
  • Eliminates barriers to market entry

Why it’s great
Trulioo’s GlobalGateway provides advanced analytics from cyber and traditional data sources to verify identities online by powering fraud and compliance systems worldwide, increasing trust and safety.

Presenters

Trulioo_SUfford_cropStephen Ufford, Founder, CEO

Ufford has founded four data-focused startups over the last decade while working in the role of CEO. As a serial entrepreneur, he challenges the status quo and if it’s broken, he likes to fix it.
LinkedIn

 

Trulioo_AKvitnitsky_cropAnatoly Kvitnitsky, Director of Corporate Development

With solid startup and corporate experience, Kvitnitsky leads strategic partnerships and data acquisition for Trulioo.
LinkedIn

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Patch of Land Earns $23 Million Investment Led by SF Capital Group

Patch of Land Earns $23 Million Investment Led by SF Capital Group
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Patch of Land

PatchofLand_homepage_full

FinovateFall 2014 alum Patch of Land has raised more than $23 million in a Series A round. SF Capital Group led the investment, which included the participation of Ron Suber, president of Prosper Marketplace.

The investment is a major infusion of capital for the company. Patch of Land’s total funding now stands at $25 million. Neil Wolfs, SF Capital Group president, will join Patch of Land’s board of directors.

An innovator in the field of real estate crowdfunding, Patch of Land sees the investment as an opportunity to provide the loan products, such as construction and buy-to-rent loans. In this, building bigger and better relationships with institutional investors is key. “We look at them as our capital firepower,” COO Jason Fritton said. Additionally, the capital will help Patch of Land build out its team, adding loan officers, underwriters, and others.

PatchofLand_FF14_stage

Left: CMO AdaPia D’Errico and CTO Brian Fritton demonstrated the Patch of Land platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

According to The Real Deal, the investment makes Patch of Land “one of the best-funded real estate crowdfunding platforms” in the country. The company has generated 12% annual returns for investors since inception, which is what may have helped spur interest among institutional investors. Issuing $17 million in short-term, commercial real estate loans without a single default likely provided additional impetus for larger investors to get involved in the real estate crowdfunder.

“We are excited to work with this dynamic team and help them capture the tremendous opportunity they have identified,” said Wolfson. “Patch of Land was one of the first companies to focus exclusively on real estate debt investments and the first to offer pretended loans, which dramatically shortens the time developers wait to get funded.”

Patch of Land was founded in February 2013 by Carlo Tabibi, CEO; Brian Fritton, CTO; and Jason Fritton, COO, and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company has 10 employees; more than 2,500 investors; and more than 280 loans in its pipeline, with an average loan size of $240,000.

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FreeAgent Scores $5 Million Line of Credit

FreeAgent Scores $5 Million Line of Credit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FreeAgent, Lighter Capital

FreeAgent_homepage_full

U.K.-based online accounting system provider Free Agent has raised $5 million in new debt financing courtesy of SaaS Capital. The new funding will be used helping the company acquire new customers.

Todd Gardner, founder and managing director of SaaS Capital said, “Free Agent is exactly the type of company we were looking to assist when we announced our new fund last month … (They) simply needed more capital to seize the market opportunity in front of them.”

Free Agent CEO Ed Molyneux says SaaS Capital’s investment was a unique opportunity. “We have historically raised equity and also used some venture debt, but we found the SaaS Capital solution to be a great way to finance our growth compared to those other options.”

FreeAgent_FEU13_stage

FreeAgent CEO Ed Molyneux presented at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

The financing from SaaS Capital comes in the form of a “revenue-based line of credit.” According to FreeAgent, this funding strategy will give the company the ability to deploy capital for longer periods than other lenders, as well as more flexibility when it comes to funding its own longer-term goals. Note that Finovate alum, Lighter Capital, specializes in this kind of financing.

FreeAgent’s cloud-based accounting system is geared toward freelance workers and what the company calls “micro-businesses” for whom other solutions are often too expensive and/or too complex. The company’s platform offers a wide variety of features to help manage business operations from tracking expenses to sending invoicing, to tax planning and filing.

FreeAgent was most recently in the headlines for its partnership with small-business booking-platform Appointedd announced in February, and last December, FreeAgent was selected to be a part of Lloyds Banking Groups new Business Toolbox.

Founded in April 2007 and headquartered in Edinburg, United Kingdom, FreeAgent made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013, where its online accounting system was demoed. The company has 50 employees and more than 27,000 paying customers. Ed Molyneux is CEO.

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Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility

Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dealstruck, Uncategorized

Dealstruck_homepage_full

In an investment that brings its total lending capacity to more than $100 million, direct lender Dealstruck has raised $58 million in new funding. The funding comes in the form of a $50 million credit facility led by Brevet Capital Management and the completion of a Series A round led by Trinity Ventures.

Co-founder and CEO of Dealstruck Ethan Senturia said, “Recent IPOs by alternative lenders validate an increasing need for new sources of growth capital. We look forward to building on our growth to date by setting even more businesses on the path to becoming bankable.”

The funding will be used to provide funding to small businesses across the country. Dealstruck has loaned more than $50 million since inception, and says it is the fastest online direct lender to reach and surpass the “$50 million lent” milestone.

Dealstruck_FS2014_stage_full

(Left to right): Dealstruck CTO Russell McLoughlin and CEO Ethan Senturia presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

Talking about his firm’s investment, Doug Monticciolo of Brevet Capital focused on Dealstruck’s role in supporting small businesses, which Monticciolo called “an important engine of economic growth.” Added Noel Fenton of Trinity Ventures, “When small businesses succeed, it’s a win for everyone. Dealstruck is poised to help thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses grow.”

Operating in 43 states, Dealstruck offers three loan products: a term loan, an asset-based line of credit, and an inventory line of credit. Term loans are available up to $250,000, with lines of credit available as high as $500,000. Approved loans are funded within 48 hours.

Dealstruck made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, where it demonstrated its Investor API. The company was founded in July 2012 by Ethan Senturia, CEO, and Russell McLoughlin, CTO, and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Authentify, BBVA Compass, BillGuard, Dealstruck, Dwolla, ETRONIKA, Insuritas, Jumio, PayNearMe, Taulia, TradeHero, Uncategorized, Vouch, Zooz

On Finovate.com

  • Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility
  • BBVA Taps Dwolla for Real-time Money Transfers

Around the web

  • Vouch launches its social network for credit. See Vouch at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.
  • Retail Week features Zooz as its Start-up of the Week.
  • Vermont Federal Credit Union partners with Insuritas to open and manage turnkey insurance agency.
  • Optimal Payments integrates Jumio’s Netverify into its NETELLER stored-value service.
  • BillGuard launches custom categories capability.
  • Taulia Launches Research Arm, Taulia Labs.
  • Norway Registers Development agrees to take 80% stake in Etronika.
  • PayNearMe partners with online rent payment network RentMoola to enable landlords to take rent in cash online.

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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Finovate Debuts: StreetShares Helps Small Businesses Raise Capital

Finovate Debuts: StreetShares Helps Small Businesses Raise Capital
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: StreetShares, Uncategorized

StreetShares_homepage_full

StreetShares is a specialist in what the company calls “affinity-based social lending.” The idea is to take crowdfunding a step further by connecting small business owners in need of capital with investors with shared affinities. The first shared affinity StreetShares has been able to serve is the veteran and veteran-owned business community.

Calling the platform “Shark Tank Meets eBay,” business owners on StreetShares pitch their business to interested, accredited investors who compete for the opportunity to fund the loan.

“We are bringing the ‘peer’ back to peer-to-peer lending in the U.S. market,” StreetShares CEO Mark Rockefeller said, in explaining P2P lending’s origins in Great Britain and its evolution in the U.S. “We are talking about veterans funding veterans; female executives funding female executives; alumni from one school funding fellow alums from the same school.”

StreetShares’ stats:

  • Founded in July 2013
  • Headquartered in Reston, Virginia
  • CEO Mark Rockefeller, COO Mickey Konson, and CTO Ben Shiftlet are co-founders
  • Raised more than $1 million in funding
  • Maintains 12 FTEs
  • Provides small business loans of up to $50,000

The story

The idea behind StreetShares originated from the concept of the GI Bill, which gave millions of servicemen returning from World War II the opportunity to buy homes, start businesses, and raise families, giving birth to a true middle-class in America.

StreetShares_FEU2015_stage

(Left to right): COO Mickey Konson and CEU Mark Rockefeller presented StreetShares at FinovateEurope 2015.

And while the circumstances have changed since 1945, many of the challenges remain: entrepreneurs, many of them veterans, still struggle to raise the capital help get their businesses off the ground or to move to the next level in terms of growth and expansion.

This is where StreetShares comes in. The company believes that businesses are more likely to get funded by (a) investors who have some sense of connection with the borrower and (b) investors who feel as if they know exactly where a business is headed and how it plans on getting there.

Add to this the extensive information about applicants provided to potential investors—and located on each applicant’s “tile”—and an investor has everything needed to make a lending determination. This includes information on the business itself, with links to websites and social media; a pitch with the ability to attached additional information, including spreadsheets, background on the applicant; and information on the status of the bidding for that company’s loan.

StreetShares_screenshot1_full

What do businesses need in order to apply for a loan via StreetShares? SMEs can apply online or by phone, and any U.S. citizen-owned business that has been in operation for at least a year is eligible. Businesses must earn a minimum amount of revenue, be incorporated, and have a business guarantor “with reasonable credit.” More information on the application is available at StreetShares.com.

Individuals with “accredited investors” can participate on the platform. Accredited investors need a StreetShares account, and must have an income of $200,000 or more ($300,000 for a couple), or have a net worth of $1,000,000, excluding the value of a primary residence.

At FinovateEurope 2015, StreetShares showed its auto-invest feature. Auto-invest enables the platform to make investments for the investor based on a set of prearranged criteria such as risk-tolerance level, affinity type, interest rate, bid amounts and more. Once set, the platform bids on open loans on the investor’s behalf. The investor can review the bids in the invest tab, as well as in the investor portfolio.

StreetShares_screenshot_3_full

The future

StreetShares believes three key factors distinguish it from others in the SME lending space. The first, and most prominent, is the use of social affinity groups to “build bonds of trust” between borrowers and lenders. This trust results in lower-cost loans. The second factor is a fully transparent platform in which all investors, retail and institutional, compete for loans fairly side by side. And the third factor is co-investment, in which StreetShares puts its own capital to work as a co-investor on each loan that is made.

The company remains focused on expanding its capacity to provide loans, especially in the below-$100,000 category, which Rockefeller says is a $136 billion market. “We think lending is about risk and risk is about data,” Rockefeller said from the Finovate stage in February. “But what if we could tap into human trust, and apply that to lending. We think we have a way.”

That way has been brightened by news last month that StreetShares has picked up a $200 million commitment from Direct Lending Investments, Community Investment Management (CIM), and Eagle Bank Corporation to help fund loans. Speaking for Direct Lending Investments, Brendan Ross said, “Our mission is to put money to work funding small businesses. We are excited about this business partnership with StreetShares and the unique business owners they serve.”

Watch StreetShares demo its technology live at FinovateEurope 2015.

 

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ZenPayroll Raises $60 Million in Round Led by Google Capital

ZenPayroll Raises $60 Million in Round Led by Google Capital
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ZenPayroll

ZenPayroll_homepage_full

Forget about presidents and painters. The next face I want on my paper currency is that of the ever-smiling ZenPayroll CEO Joshua Reeves, whose startup just raised $60 million in a round led by Google Capital.

Also participating in the Series B were Emergence Capital Partners, General Catalyst, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, and Ribbit Capital. The investment round takes ZenPayroll’s total funding to more than $85 million and, according to TechCrunch, values the company at more $550 million.

Coverage in the New York Times noted that round-leader Google Capital typically specializes in funding “older companies with more established businesses.” Google Capital partner Laela Sturdy pointed to the way ZenPayroll “changed payroll from an impersonal transaction into a meaningful connection between employers and employees.” And beyond ZenPayroll’s capacity to “solve every business owner’s biggest headache”—as another observer put it—Sturdy had high praise for the company’s human capital, as well. “We’re big believers in Josh and his team, and big believers in where they can take this company.”

ZenPayroll_FS2015_stage_full

Above: ZenPayroll co-founder and CEO Joshua Reeves presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

ZenPayroll offers all of its features: direct deposit; unlimited payroll runs; year-end W-2s and 1099s for $29 per month plus $4 per employee. There is no longer-term contract, and nothing to download. The online platform is accessible 24-7 from any web-enabled device. ZenPayroll is currently promoting a 2-month, free trial.

We last reported on ZenPayroll in September when the company opened up its API. The company processes billions of dollars in annual payroll for more than 10,000 SMEs in 47 states and the District of Columbia. With the additional funding, ZenPayroll anticipates going nationwide by the end of the month.

ZenPayroll made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, Calif. Founded in October 2011 by Reeves, Tomer London (CPO), and Edward Kim (CTO), the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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FinovateFall 2015: Ladies and Gentlemen, Launch Your Applications!

FinovateFall 2015: Ladies and Gentlemen, Launch Your Applications!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2015

FF2015_horizontallogo_withdata
Spring may have sprung, but for many here on the Finovate team, the fall season is already on our minds.

Why? Because the application-window for companies looking to demo their latest fintech innovations at FinovateFall 2015 in New York is now open! And that’s a big deal for fintech players of all shapes and sizes. For example:

  • Startups ready to show new technology in front of an audience of banking executives, press and industry analysts, fellow fintech firms and venture capitalists.
  • Industry veterans eager to show the world that they’ve still got more than a few innovations to showcase.
  • International firms looking to launch, or make serious inroads, into North America.
  • Direct-to-consumer financial firms with a digital value-proposition new to the industry.

If this describes you and your technology, then FinovateFall 2015 may be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

FF2014_audienceshot_widereduced

FinovateFall 2015 returns to the New York Hilton Midtown for two days of technological innovation and intense networking. The conference will be held on 16/17 Sept 2015, featuring our signature 7-minute live demos focused on the “special sauce” of true innovation in fields ranging from authentication and digital investing to mobile payments and P2P lending.

Watch last year’s presenters in the FinovateFall archives. For a refresher on last year’s Best of Show winners, read our FinovateFall 2014 Best of Show review.

FinovateFall2015_registrationpage

For attendees: Be a part of the live audience at FinovateFall 2015. Register today and take advantage of special pre-sales savings!

For presenters: Demo your technology on stage at FinovateFall 2015 before an audience of nearly 1,500 financial professionals. Email us at fall@finovate.com for information on how to apply. The application window for FinovateFall 2015 opens today and applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Other questions? Send us an email at fall@finovate.com or contact Finovate Event Director, Greg Palmer, 1-800-418-0980.

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Finovate Debuts: LockByMobile Lets Cardholders Lock Out Fraud

Finovate Debuts: LockByMobile Lets Cardholders Lock Out Fraud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: LockByMobile, Smart e-Money

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The concept behind LockByMobile is simple: use mobile devices to give cardholders an added level of security against credit and ATM card breaches. For Smart e-Money, the company behind LockByMobile, the strategy was to leverage and deploy the award-winning technology it had already patented and deployed in another context.

“What if you could be one step ahead of fraud?” said Smart e-Money VP of Innovation Angelito Villanueva from the Finovate stage in February. “What if you could add a hard lock that only your customers could lock and unlock, just with a swipe of their finger using their smart phone?”

“Wish it could be done? Well, this solution already exists, and we call it LockByMobile.”

LockByMobile stats:

  • Founded in 2000
  • Headquartered in Manila, Philippines
  • Operates as a subsidiary of Smart Communications
  • Serves more than 72 million subscribers
  • Has more than 200 employees

The story

The key technology that makes LockByMobile work has been around since 2007 when it was first developed by Smart e-Money as a security tool for its prepaid wallets. The technology won an award in 2009 for “Best Mobile Security Feature” at GSMA in Barcelona, Spain, but it is the enhancement and deployment of the technology as a way to make cardholders more secure that brought the company to London for FinovateEurope 2015.

To get started with LockByMobile, users download the app, register, and then sign in with their mobile number and a PIN. Users will be able to see their various card accounts on file with the participating issuing banks. Locking and unlocking cards is as easy as a swipe of a finger, and a bright-red highlighting makes it easy for users to see at a glance which of their cards are locked and which are not.

If a transaction is attempted on a locked card, the cardholder will get an SMS notification to their mobile device. And real-time functionality means that even in the case of an accidental locking, there is no friction or inconvenience when it comes to unlocking the card on the spot.

Slide1

There are a variety of ways LockByMobile is helpful to cardholders. Consumers who lose their cards or have their cards stolen can use the mobile app to lock their cards to prevent use. But LockByMobile points out, even though cards are only used once or twice a day on average, “your card is potentially exposed to fraud all the time.” In other words, even with your card “safely” in your pocket or purse, locking the card using LockByMobile’s technology provides valuable anti-fraud protection.

In addition, the platform’s spending controls can be used to manage supplemental cards given to children or be used by caregivers helping seniors avoid financial exploitation. LockByMobile allows transactions to be limited by channel, amount, location, type of merchant, and type of currency.

The future

LockByMobile caught the attention of more than one observer at FinovateEurope 2015. Let’s Talk Payments praised the company as an added layer of security for ATM and credit-card users. Data monitor’s profile of LockByMobile’s Finovate debut led to a 4 out of 5 rating, including high marks for being a potentially “game-changing” opportunity for banks.

Going forward, the company plans to launch LockByMobile in “several financial institutions across different countries” in 2015, as well as build relationships with a number of potential partners.

“We are constantly improving our offer and enhancing the platform with new functionalities,” said Villanueva from the Finovate stage. Added Guillaume Danielou: “We are currently developing a version for Corporate Cards where the business owner can control the limits and usage for his employees’ business cards, as well as benefiting from the Lock/Unlock feature to protect the cards against fraud.”

Watch LockByMobile’s live demo at FinovateEurope 2015.

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Global Debt Registry, GMC Software Technology, LockByMobile, Pirean, Ripple, TrueAccord, Trulioo, Uncategorized, ZenPayroll

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: LockByMobile Lets Cardholders Lock Out Fraud
  • ZenPayroll Raises $60 Million in Round Led by Google Capital
  • FinovateFall 2015: Ladies and Gentlemen, Launch Your Applications!
  • Finovate Debuts: Pirean’s “Access: One” Keeps Access Management Simple

Around the web

  • Feature on automation in debt collection highlights Global Debt Registry and True Accord. See True Accord at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.
  • Ripple adds dropdown customizations to its price charts.
  • Huffington Post: Trulioo, Making Trust Online an Option.
  • Callcredit Information Group partners with Trulioo. Check out Trulioo at FinovateSpring 2015.
  • GMC Software Technology Named SIIA Software CODiE Award Finalist.

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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EZBOB Raises £3 Million in Private Equity Investment

EZBOB Raises £3 Million in Private Equity Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: EZBOB

EZBOB_homepage_full

U.K.-based SME lender EZBOB has raised £3 million in new capital courtesy of a private equity investment.

The investment takes the company’s total capital to more than £16 million (more than $23 million USD), including a £7 million debt-financing round in February 2014.

EZBOB made headlines this spring with its partnership with online Chinese marketplace Alibaba. A loan guarantee agreement with the European Investment Fund (EIF) in March enabled EZBOB to increase its loan volumes by up to £40 million over the next two years. EZBOB acquired Everline, Wonga’s small business financing unit, in February.

A two-time Finovate alum, EZBOB last appeared on the Finovate stage as part of FinovateEurope 2014 conference. The company was founded in November 2011 by Tomer Guriel, CEO, and Sharone Perlstein, business development, and is headquartered in London.

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PayPal Pays $280 Million for Paydiant

PayPal Pays $280 Million for Paydiant
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Paydiant, PayPal

PaydiantPayPal_homepage_May2015

Mobile payments innovator Paydiant has been acquired by PayPal in a deal believed to be worth $280 million. The acquisition, announced in March, closed today.

A specialist in white-label, cloud-based mobile payment, cardless ATM access, and offer-redemption and -loyalty solutions, Paydiant gives merchants, FIs, and processors the ability to provide and run their own mobile solutions under their own brands.

Welcoming Paydiant to the PayPal family in the company blog, PayPal President and CEO Designee Dan Schulman highlighted the role Paydiant played in helping businesses like Capital One and Subway launch mobile payments and rewards programs. Schulman also reminded readers that Paydiant provides the white-label, mobile platform for MCX’s CurrentC mobile wallet, which is supported by many of the largest retailers in the world, including CVS, Exxon, and Walmart.

According to Schulman, the goal of the acquisition is to offer merchants the opportunity to build their own branded wallets. He explained that this “will accelerate mobile-in-store payments … and drive consumer engagement through loyalty, offers, and the prioritization of preferred payment types, such as store-branded credit cards and gift cards.”

Paydiant was founded in 2010 by Chris Gardner and Kevin Laracey. Headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the company made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2013 in a joint demonstration with FIS.

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