FinDEVr 2014: Avoka Presents Transact 4.1 to Provide Omni-Channel Account Opening

FinDEVr 2014: Avoka Presents Transact 4.1 to Provide Omni-Channel Account Opening
Avoka_hi_res_FS2014

This post is part of our live coverage of FinDEVr San Francisco 2014.

Avoka presented its platform that eases and accelerates customer onboarding.

Omni-Channel & Social Account Opening in 60 Seconds

Avoka will demonstrate omni-channel account opening through our engagement platform demonstrating:
  • Responsive & adaptive design
  • Cross-over between channels
  • Pre-fill from social profiles
  • ElectID verification
  • Separation of information capture from core systems to facilitate early cross-sell
Presenters: Derek Corcoran (Chief Experience Officer) & Howard Treisman (CTO)
AvokaHome_FinDEVr2014
About:
Avoka is a leading customer experience management company specializing in multi-channel customer transactions. Avoka powers customer engagement applications for banking and insurance organizations worldwide, capturing and delivering business-critical transactions into back-office systems.
Website: avoka.com
Twitter: @avokatech

FinDEVr 2014: Financial Apps Shows How its Relevancy Engine Helps Developers Deploy Big Data

FinDEVr 2014: Financial Apps Shows How its Relevancy Engine Helps Developers Deploy Big Data
FinancialAppslogo

This post is part of our live coverage of FinDEVr San Francisco 2014.

Financial Apps showed how its technology helps developers make the most out of financial data.

Driving the Data to Action
Detailed financial data is the “Big Data” we all want to work with. In this presentation, Financial Apps is showing how its Platform and Relevancy Engine enables developers to access, consume, and integrate consumer financial data within their solutions.
Presenters: Bob Sullivan (President) & Bill Kennedy (Chief Scientist)
FinancialAppsHome_FinDEVr2014
About:
Financial Apps provides a suite of development tools and API access for financial account and transactional data. Our solutions help to quickly build the next generation FinApp. The Financial Apps Relevancy Engine helps make data actionable, providing a comprehensive solution for Fintech development.
Twitter: @financial_apps

FinDEVr 2014: Forte Payment Systems Helps Developers Enable Payments into Their Applications

FinDEVr 2014: Forte Payment Systems Helps Developers Enable Payments into Their Applications
ForteLogo_FinDEVr

This post is part of our live coverage of FinDEVr San Francisco 2014.

Forte Payment Systems presented its RESTful APIs to help developers add payments to their apps.

Professional Payments Made Easy: Developer to Developer
Enable payments into your application with Forte’s full range of enterprise-class services. Our modern and professional RESTful APIs have been implemented to simplify integrations, yet keep power and flexibility for developers to build massively scalable and distributed payment-enabled solutions.
Presenter: Jeff Thorness (CEO, Founder & President)
ForteHome_FinDEVr2014
About:
Forte Payment Systems empowers developers to build secure and innovative electronic payment solutions for all platforms whether online, at a physical POS or on the road. Able to provide the modern, robust, and powerful options that large companies demand, along with the ease of use, simplicity, and affordability for the smallest of operations, Forte redefines the notion of flexibility and scalability.
Website: forte.net
Twitter: @fortepayments

FinDEVr San Francisco 2014: Helping Developers Do What Developers Do Best

FinDEVr San Francisco 2014: Helping Developers Do What Developers Do Best
FinDEVrLogo

Innovators from Avoka to Yodlee are taking the stage to practice their presentations here on rehearsal day at FinDEVr San Francisco 2014

And if you are a fan of fintech innovation, it’s hard to imagine being in a better place over the next two days than at the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF for this first event for fintech developers.

After all, the fact of the matter is that when it comes to innovative financial technology, if they build it, there’s a good chance they’ll be here.
FinDEVrSteel
And we are hoping you will be too. We’ve got two days of presentations and demonstrations, workshops and dedicated, high-quality networking sessions – all geared toward helping the growing community of fintech developers do what they do best.
That means not just building the kinds of technologies that make commerce, investment, and saving easier, safer, and more efficient. It also means helping developers forge the kind of key relationships with industry professionals that will help plot the course of fintech innovation for years to come.
So with that in mind, here are a few last minute details to help you make the most of your FinDEVr experience this week.
Where?
1675 Owens Street, Suite 251
San Francisco, California 94143-3008
When?
Day One – Tuesday, September 30
Registration begins at 8:00am. Light Breakfast available until 9:00am.
Presentations begin at 9:00am.
Day One will feature a single-track schedule of presentations and networking opportunities.
Day Two – Wednesday, October 1
Registration begins at 8:00am. Light Breakfast available until 8:30am.
Workshops begin promptly at 8:30am.
Day Two will feature a multi-track schedule of workshops and presentations.
See a full agenda at our website, or via our mobile, social media app.
How?
Of course, the best way to enjoy FinDEVr is to be here at the Mission Bay Conference Center in person. Tickets are still available  for one or both days of the event. Register today to save your spot.
And once you’ve registered, download our Bizzabo app, login with your registration e-mail and you’re ready to go.
If you can’t make it to the conference, then you can follow the action on our Live Blog at Finovate.com, and on our Twitter feed @FinDEVr. If you’re interested in joining the conversation, be sure to use #FinDEVr.
Questions? 
Email us at SanFran@FinDEVr.com.

Radius Raises $54.7 Million in Series C Round

Radius Raises $54.7 Million in Series C Round
RadiusLogo

Bringing Big Data to bear to help companies market to small and medium-sized businesses, Radius announced this week that it had raised $54.7 million in funding in its Series C round. The infusion of capital takes the San Francisco-based company’s total financing to more than $80 million.

The Series C was led by Founders Fund, and included participation from a host of new and existing investors:

  • BlueRun Ventures
  • Formation 8
  • Glynn Capital Management
  • Slow Ventures
  • Western Technology Investment
  • Yuan Capital
Also involved in the round were individual investors John Mack (chairman, Morgan Stanley), Charles Songhurst (former Microsoft corporate vice-president), and actor/musician Jared Leto.
RadiusHomepage
The funding will go toward on boarding additional engineering, data science, and marketing talent, as well as helping support the company’s plans to expand globally.
Radius CEO Darian Shirazi points to having a “core competency” in data science as a key differentiator between his company and its competitors, calling it “the only way to build great marketing intelligence”. A software engineer at Facebook at the age of 17, Shirazi’s approach marries proprietary data and public information to provide exacting “confidence scores” that help show which prospects are most likely to turn into actual sales. 
In real-time, Radius tracks 40 million businesses with 50 billion data points. And by providing the software with feedback on ROI and sales that actually close, the technology becomes more accurate and intelligent.
Radius demoed its technology as part of FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose. See a video of the company in action.

Oh Bionym! Canadian Security Startup Raises $14 Milion

Oh Bionym! Canadian Security Startup Raises $14 Milion
BionymLogo_FinDEVr

In a round led by Ignition Partners and Relay Ventures, Toronto-based authentication specialist, Bionym has brought in $14 million in new funding

Bionym is the maker of the Nymi, a wearable authentication solution that uses an individual’s cardiac rhythm to provide a unique identifier that makes pass codes and PINs passé.

The Series A funding comes just days before Bionym is scheduled to demonstrate the Nymi – and the technology behind it – at FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers, in San Francisco.
BionymNymiHomepage
Karl Martin, Bionym CEO, said that the new funding will help the company meet “manufacturing milestones” as well as help add talent to the team. Quoted in Reuters, Ignition Partners managing partner, Nick Sturiale pointed to commitments from a broad range of third-party app developers as key in helping Bionym grow the number of use cases for its wearable authentication solution.
Also participating in the round were Export Development Canada (EDC), MasterCard, and the corporate investment arm of Salesforce.com, Salesforce Ventures. Bionym’s total capital now stands at $15.4 million.
Bionym’s Nymi is an example of how innovators are looking at new ways to both make the authentication process seamless as well as take advantage of the trend toward wearables. Founded in 2011, Bionym just announced its 40th employee, and a move into new offices in downtown Toronto.
Meet the team from Bionym next week at FinDEVr. Tickets to the two-day event are available here.

Day Two at FinDEVr: A Festival of Fintech Innovation

Day Two at FinDEVr: A Festival of Fintech Innovation
FinDEVrLogo

FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers, is right around the corner. For the past few weeks we’ve introduced you to some of the innovators who will be presenting, demoing, and holding workshops on Day One.

Today, we’re happy to help you get to know some of the companies that will be showcasing and sharing their APIs, SDKs and more on Day Two.

There’s still time to save your spot. Pick up your tickets today and we’ll see you in San Francisco next week!


BCLLogo_FinDEVr

BCL Technologies develops APIs for Financial Text Extraction that unlock Big Data in unstructured documents and websites, enabling FinTechDevelopers to easily extract structured Financial Triplets from any source.

Presentation: Unlocking Financial Text
Explore the different use cases for BCL’s Financial Data Extraction APIs for unstructured text, to generate structured data Triplets.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
Automated Financial Extraction APIs to extract Financial Triplets
  • More Quickly
  • More Accurately
  • Without Human Intervention
Unlock Financial Text fast and with high accuracy.


BionymLogo_FinDEVr

Toronto-based Bionym is a team of experts in cryptography, biometrics, and security. Our first product is the Nymi, a wearable device that enables the user to authenticate once via unique cardiac rhythm and securely and seamlessly assert Persistent Identity to any system.

Presentation: Here I Am: Revolutionizing FI and Banking Experiences with Persistent Identity and the Nymi
Balaji Gopalan is presenting the Nymi Persistent Identity vision and User flow and will review key aspects of the SDK and Developer offering. In addition, he will propose and inspire discussion on select use cases in FinTech where the Nymi can improve engagement, security, and customer satisfaction.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Increases both security and convenience
  • Enables the creation of new personalized experiences
  • Light, shallow yet robust API for all major OSes
The Nymi platform allows Users to be recognized and authenticated for service, workflows, or transactions simply by being present – completely safely and securely.


Print

Blockchain is the world’s most popular, web-based Bitcoin wallet and the most highly trafficked Bitcoin website. Blockchain is the defacto search engine for the Bitcoin community. Blockchain has over 2 million wallets and our footprint continues to grow quickly.

Presentation: Blockchain: The Core API for Bitcoin Development
Blockchain’s API’s power most of the Bitcoin companies in the ecosystem, Utilizing our APIs, you can start a Bitcoin business in minutes. From wallet creation to transaction verification, Blockchain’s APIs have you covered.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Most popular Bitcoin API
  • Wallet Creation API
  • Transactions submitted with our API have fast network propagation time (3-5 seconds)
If you’re wanting to build a Bitcoin product, Blockchain is the one stop shop API for your development needs.


CrowdCurityLogo_FinDEVr

CrowdCurity is a web security marketplace. We connect businesses with security testers. We do bug bounty programs-as-a-service. Bitcoin First.

Presentation: How to Invite Hackers to Your Website
Too many websites are being exploited, and we need to rethink web security. The best way to stay secure and ahead of the bad guys is to invite good, white-hat hackers to test your security. We have made it easy to connect businesses to a crowd of security researchers.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • No bugs, no cost. Don’t pay for expensive consultants.
  • Leverage the knowledge of the crowd
  • Agile security around the clock


EntersektLogo_FinDEVr

Entersekt is an innovator in transaction authentication and mobile app security. Our one-of-akind approach to harness the power of electronic certificate technology with the convenience of mobile phones providing financial institutions and their customers with full protection from online and mobile banking fraud.

Presentation: Securing Mobile Applications Through Transport iLayer Diversity
Mobile security is becoming increasingly important as more functionality is shifting to these devices. But how do we ensure the integrity of the phone and the server we’re connecting to? This is a common problem and has been addressed by recommending out-of-band authentication schemes.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Avoids the open Internet of SMS for user and transaction authentication
  • Provides end-to-end encrypted communication
  • Counters phishing, man-in-the-middle/browser attack
Harnessing the power of public key infrastructure, Transakt transforms almost any mobile phone into a powerful weapon in the fight against account takeover fraud.


GoogleCloudPlatformLogoFinDEVr

Google Cloud Platform enables
developers to build, test, and deploy applications on Google’s highly scalable and reliable infrastructure. This suite of services allows developers to choose from computing, storage, and application services for web, mobile, and backend solutions.

Presentation: Big Data on Google
Google has been the most innovative Big Data company in the World, having paved the way for highly distributed parallelized workflows. Technologies like Hadoop, Flume, Dremel, and HBase were made possible by Google’s research and development efforts. Now Google is outsourcing its own Big Data secret.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Seamlessly scale into petabytes of data and dozens of thousands of servers
  • Simplicity and ease of use
  • Performance
Google’s BigQuery and Dataflow services are the next generation of Big Data tools, allowing you to focus on solving your Big Data problems rather than building systems.


GreenAddressITLogo_FinDEVr

GreenAddress IT is a leader in securing bit coins and providing instant clearing confirmations. It supports desktop, mobile, and web apps, and offers a very featureful and secure wallet as well as APIs to enable third party developers.

Presentation: GreenAddress: Instant and Secure Bitcoin
The presentation is introducing bit coin’s multi signature features. These features allow users to radically improve the security of bitcoin wallets, as well as create new services like instant confirmation allowing for faster arbitration between exchanges.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Available for all platforms and easy to use
  • Instant confirmation for super smooth transactions
  • Vastly improved security model via multisig and two-factor authentication
GreenAddress’ API gives 3rd parties the ability to securely manage and receive instant confirmations without having to wait for transactions.


Kiind

Kiind helps businesses reward their employees and customers with gift cards., With Kiind, you can easily send personalized offers to multiple contacts, and Kiind’s technology allows you to defer when you pay for rewards and gifts, thereby saving you money.

Presentation: Making Gifting Easy
We’ll touch on Kiind’s API and where it is headed as well as our marketplace
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Measurable tracking and reporting
  • Branding
  • Offer a choice between gifts
Send measurable gifts and only pay for what is used. Kiind makes your gifting easy so you can focus on what you know best.


KnoxPaymentsLogo_FinDEVr

Knox Payments allows people to make ACH payments using only their online banking login information, providing the cheapest, safest, and easiest way to accept digital payments.

Presentation: ACH That Doesn’t Suck: No Account and Routing Numbers Needed
Developing ACH processing the traditional way is horrible. Your users don’t know their account and routing numbers and you don’t know if they actually have the money. Knox has solved these problems with the ease of just logging into your online banking, making ACH cheaper, safer, and easier.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • No account and routing numbers needed
  • No new accounts for your users
  • Guaranteed overnight funds for ACH
ACH sucks and credit cards are expensive: Knox fixes that without needing your users to create any new accounts.


masspay_black_cs5

MASSPAY is m-payments for every(f)one. If you know how to dial, you know how to pay. It’s simple and convenient. You don’t even need a smartphone with a data plan – you can use it with an NFC QR code. MASSPAY is the first solution dedicated to emerging and developed markets with minimum investment.

Presentation: Mobile Payments for Every(f)one
How to pay using a feature phone or a smartphone without any app. Why MASSPAY is a perfect solution for developed markets as well as emerging or developing countries. Why MASSPAY is for every phone and everyone.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
With MASSPAY you can process:
  • Any transaction
  • From any phone (with or without application or data plan)
  • In a single easy scenario
If you know how to make a phone call, you know how to pay. With minimum of investment and maximum of simplicity and convenience, from any phone.


MorpheusLogo_FinDEVr

Morpheus Aiolos is a company based in Spain that has developed financial software since 2012. We have two featured products: an API to extract bank transactions and a clone of Mint, which uses the API.

Presentation: API for Banking
Our API standardizes the way an application can extract information form any bank account. We’re describing how it works, with some examples.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • First API that works in countries where there is not a standard for banking
  • Already tested in a production environment
  • 5,000 users in Spain
We can add banks to adapt the API to other countries in a matter of days

SAP Acquires Concur Ahead of FinDEVr Debut

SAP Acquires Concur Ahead of FinDEVr Debut
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In a deal valued at $8.3 billion, SAP has announced that it is acquiring Seattle-area fintech innovator – and FinDEVr presenter – Concur Technologies.

There are still “i’s” to be dotted and “t’s” to be crossed: the acquisition is subject to both approval from shareholders and regulators. But assuming all goes well on those fronts, the deal is expected to close by the end of 2014 or, at the latest, in the first quarter of 2015.

ConcurSAPHomepage_FF2014
Quoted in the Seattle Times, Concur CEO Steve Singh said, “We have always been focused on making solutions for real customer problems and with SAP we have a great opportunity to advance that mission.”
The board of directors for Concur was unanimous in supporting the sale of the company, for which SAP paid $129 per share. The purchase price reflected a 20% premium on Concur’s stock price at the time.
Concur boasts more than 25,000 clients and 25 million users who take advantage of its business and travel expense management technology. Combined with SAP, it is estimated that the new entity will have in excess of 50 million cloud customers and rank as the #2 cloud company in the world by revenue.
Said Singh, “We are constantly seeking innovative ways to deliver the best customer experience, and we’re exciting about leveraging SAP technology.”
Founded in 1993, Concur is a presenting sponsor of FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, the first fintech event for developers. More information about FinDEVr is available here.

e-SignLive by Silanis Turns Mobile Devices into Signature Capture Solutions

e-SignLive by Silanis Turns Mobile Devices into Signature Capture Solutions
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This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateFall 2014.

The team from Silanis is making its way to the stage right now. Silanis will demoing its electronic signature platform, e-SignLive

The e-SignLive Use Your Own Device (UYOD) capability solves a fundamental problem in financial services and banking: how to capture a customer’s handwritten signature electronically, without asking the customer to come into the branch. This innovation enables the customer’s smartphone or tablet to be used as a signature- capture device. It does not require an app or any in-branch hardware. Banks can now make remote customer on-boarding convenient and secure with any smartphone.
Presenting: Tommy Petrogiannis (CEO & Co-Founder) & TJ Witte (Sr. Technical Consultant)
SilanisHomepage_LiveBlog
Product Launch: September 2014
Metrics: e-SignLive by Silanis processes over 600M transactions annually and is used by 8 of the top 20 North American banks. With over half of our customers in banking and lending, e-SignLive has the largest share of the e-signature market in these industries. Outstanding customer service is part of our DNA. Silanis was named 2014 and 2013 Leader in Customer Satisfaction by enterprise software review site G2 Crowd. In 2013, Silanis was awarded the IBM Beacon Award for Best Industry Solution for Banking.
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), via fintech companies and platforms
HQ: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Founded: March 1992
Twitter: @SilanisTech

“Game On!” Kapitall Launches New Mobile App for iOS

“Game On!” Kapitall Launches New Mobile App for iOS
KapitallLogo_FF2014

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateFall 2014.

Making their way to the stage next is the team from Kapitall, demoing Kapitall Tournament & Pocket.

Kapitall is launching its mobile trading application as well as its latest virtual stock tournament game at FinovateFall 2014. For iOS devices, Kapitall mobile users will have the investing and gaming functionality at their fingertips. Practice, tournament, and live brokerage portfolios will be available to help members of all ages and investing skill sets to learn, play, and invest.
Presenting: Gaspard De Dreuzy (Co-Founder) and Antonio Reyes (Head of Development)
KapitallHomepage_LiveBlog
Product Launch: September 2014
Metrics: $25M raised
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C), through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms
HQ: New York, NY
Founded: March 2008
Website: kapitall.com
Twitter: @Kapitall

CR2 Demoes BankWorld Money Voucher’s Cash Send App

CR2 Demoes BankWorld Money Voucher’s Cash Send App
CR2Logo_FF2014

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateFall 2014.

Our next presenter is CR2, demoing the Cash Send application of its BankWorld Money Voucher platform.

“CR2 is demonstrating the BankWorld Cash Send application at Finovate. Cash Send is a truly omnichannel product recently deployed. It allows people to instantly send cash to any individual from a mobile app; this cash is instantly dispensed from an ATM without the recipient needing an ATM card or indeed a bank account of any type. It significantly lowers the cost of remitting funds to any individuals outside of the classic banking system.”
Presenting: Kieran Kilcullen (Director, Sales & Marketing) & Patrick Simons (Principal Consultant)
CR2Homepage_LiveBlog
Product Launch: 2013
Metrics: Over 100 banks in 60 countries have adopted CR2’s solutions. CR2 has a network of well-established offices strategically located in 6 countries: Ireland, Australia, India, South Africa, UAE, and Jordan.
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), licensed
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Founded: 1997
Website: cr2.com
Twitter: @CR2_Ltd

Malauzai Software Unveils its Mobile Banking SmartApps for Community FIs

Malauzai Software Unveils its Mobile Banking SmartApps for Community FIs
MalauzaiLogo_FF2014

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateFall 2014.

Finishing off the second session of the morning is Malauzai Software, demoing its SmartwebApps.

“Designed for an exceptional user experience with superior economic value, SmartwebApps delivers the next generation of mobile banking, leveraging the power of an app-like experience on any device, desktop, or browser.”
Presenting: Robb Gaynor (Chief Product Officer & Founder), Danny Piangerelli (CTO), and Craig Agulnek (Director, Product Management)
MalauzaiHomepage_LiveBlog
Product Launch: September 2014
Metrics: Based in Austin, TX, Malauzai Software has more than 50 employees and 300 customers (190+ live), representing more than 400,000 SmartApp users and 500,000 downloads
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms
HQ: Austin, TX
Founded: July 2009
Website: malauzai.com
Twitter: @malauzaimonkeys