Finovate Alumni News– May 9, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgForbes.com takes a look at the competition between Square and Flint Mobile.
  • Compass Plus presents instant card issuance in debut appearance at CARTES America conference.
  • SAGE SA names Amir Suleman as Head of Sales for Middle East.
  • Striata receives PCI compliance for its Grade 1 infrastructure in the UK.
  • New Europe Online interviews eToro’s Head of Product Marketing, Alon Levitan, about how eToro is changing online trading.
  • Good.is features SaveUp’s Priya Haji.
  • PEHub interviews Drew Sievers, who led mFoundry to an acquisition by FIS.
  • Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee leverages Billhighway Give to Reach Fundraising Goals.
  • Perfectsen selected as a semi-finalist for the Innotribe Startup Challenge 2013.
  • OneID wins 2013 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation. Come see their presentation at FinovateSpring next week.
  • Locaid earns extended relationship with LaaS company Timesheet Mobile. See Locaid demo at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
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.

Finovate Alumni News– May 8, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgThe Wall Street Journal takes a look at “bitcoin startups” including OpenCoin. Come meet them at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
  • Currensee announces launch of Trade Leaders managed fund.
  • US Bankcard Services now providing AuthenticID service to its merchants.  See AuthenticID demo at FinovateSpring next week.
  • Check Point introduces 600 Series security appliances for SMBs.
  • Forbes lists SoMoLend as 1 of 10 top crowdfunding sites for fundraising.
  • Investor Junkie reviews Jemstep. Come see what’s new at Jemstep at FinovateSpring next week.
  • MoneyDesktop honored with Bronze award in the Telly Awards, which recognize the finest video, film, & web commercials. See them demo at FinovateSpring.
  • Business Insider names BillGuard as 1 of the 20 hottest startups from Israel.
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.

Kashoo Tops 100,000 Users and 50,000 iPad App Downloads

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Cloud accounting company Kashoo has announced surpassing a pair of major milestones: more than 100,000 registered users and more than 50,000 iPad app downloads.

News of these milestones, especially with regard to the number of iPad app downloads, comes in the wake of the company’s upgrade to its iPad accounting app last month (read our coverage of that announcement here).

In statements accompanying the announcement, Kashoo CEO Jim Secord suggested that strong sales of the iPad itself should be viewed as a positive for their accounting app. The thinking? More people using iPads = more mobile small businesses using iPads = more mobile small businesses with iPads using Kashoo to handle their accounting needs. Apple sold more than 19 million iPads in the previous (second) quarter, according to this report.

Kashoo is funded by private investment from FBC. FBC is the largest, small business tax preparation and planning company in Canada  Kashoo is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and demoed its technology in October 2010 as part of FinovateFall. Watch them in action here.

Pageonce Rebrands as Check

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The company formerly known as Pageonce has changed its name to Check. See for yourself at their new online home, check.me.

Why Check? According to COO Steve Schultz, the name change long had been a work in progress for the company, and includes at least three elements they believe will help consumers and potential partners better understand the brand and the business.

On its face “Check” reminds consumers that the service still represents an alternative to paper checks, arguably part of the original mission of Pageonce. Beyond this, the company appreciates how the name “Check” also reflects the idea of “checking off” tasks that have been accomplished, as well as the importance of keeping one’s finances simple and “in check.”

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The evolution of Pageonce to Check is a testament to the evolution of a company that began with an innovative data aggregation tool. Said Schultz in a phone conversation last week, “The company is very different now and has grown to be one of the few companies to provide a digital wallet that includes personal finance management, bill pay, and mobile.”

All of this is geared toward helping the company take better advantage of the $4 trillion bill payment market. “We will continue to focus on innovation in payments,” he added, noting that their peer-to-peer payment feature, PayAnyone, continues to grow since its launch three months ago. The company is especially pleased at the high collection rates (i.e., the rate at which people pick up the money sent to them). Said Schultz, “it is one thing to send people money. People have to actually go and get it.”

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“Fortunately, because our average ticket is $400-500, most people have enough incentive to collect the money.”

What else is coming from Check in 2013? Expedited bill pay is one of the features many customers have been longing for. Here, Schultz says that the feature is a “natural fit for us” and is something consumers can expect from Check later this year.

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Check is also working more directly with billers. Although formal announcements are still at least a month away, Check will be serving as the mobile payment channel for a number of billers in the near future.

“We found that some billers have no mobile channel, or have tried to build their own,” said Schultz. “Others have tried to develop a specific payment app.”

“What we found is that customers want a simple solution. This will allow bill payment without the traditional PFM linking. Give Check your account number and they’ll be able to do the rest.”

As Pageonce, the company demoed its technology as part of FinovateSpring 2010. See them in action here.

Digital Mailer’s My Virtual StrongBox a Lock for Redstone FCU

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Redstone Federal Credit Union has seen more than 30,000 members (20% of its online banking base) take advantage of the My Virtual StrongBox service powered by DigitalMailer in the five months since the technology was deployed.

My Virtual StrongBox allows users to store copies of everything from wills and birth certificates to deeds and insurance policies. It integrates with online banking platforms and personal finance management (PFM) tools by way of APIs. Files are encrypted so that only the user can access them.

Founded in 1951 and based in Huntsville, Alabama, Redstone Federal is the largest credit union in the state. As of 2012, the company is the 16th largest credit union by membership in the U.S. and 34th largest by assets.

Here are a few additional metrics on Redstone FCU:

  • More than $3 billion in assets
  • More than 350,000 accounts
  • More than 130,000 online banking users

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DigitalMailer has processed more than 60 milllion electronic statements and 80 million emails since inception in March 2000. Its products are used by more than 200 financial institutions. Ron Daly is CEO. 

The company demoed its technology as part of FinovateFall 2012. See them in action here.

Finovate Alumni News– May 6, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBraintree’s Bryan Johnson provides columnist James Altucher with an example of “how to go from $0 to $1,000,000 in two years.” See Braintree demo at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
  • TransactionAge takes a look at Klarna as an alternative to Google Wallet.
  • Digital Mailer’s My Virtual StrongBox deployed by Redstone Federal Credit Union.
  • Investment News features Finect, a social network for financial advisors. Join them in San Francisco for FinovateSpring.
  • miiCard partners with Bitcoin Exchange Platform, Tradehill.
  • Innovation Agency updates Innovation Café to support formal judging process and integrated rewards payment process.
  • TIO Networks announces partnership with mobile app developer iFactor Consulting.
  • Bloomberg Businessweek reports: On Deck Capital Targets Businesses Banks Won’t Touch.
  • David Barrett, Expensify CEO, interviewed on SkyNews to talk about Bitcoin. Come check out what’s new at Expensify at FinovateSpring next week.
  • Best Vendor profiles Gremln. See them in action at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
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.

Webby Awards Honor Finovate Alums Among Web’s Best

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So what do fintech innovators, and Finovate alumni, like Mint, Manilla, and Dashlane have in common with the likes of the Chrome Web Lab, Tom Hanks’ Electric City, and Cracked.com?

How about earning honors from the esteemed judges of the 2013 Webby Awards?

Thumbnail image for ManillaLogo.jpgManilla made the most of its showing at the 17th Annual Webby Awards, picking up honors in three categories (Utilities & Services, Web Services & Applications, and Financial Services/Banking). But the biggest winner among the Finovate-affiliated nominees was Mint. Mint won the Webby People’s Voice award in the Financial Services/Banking category, along with earning an honor in the Best User Experience category.

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Also representing well at the Webby Awards was Dashlane, coming in for Web Services & Applications honors, and a trio of Finovate alumnus that impressed judges in the Financial Services/Banking category: LearnVest, UBank’s PeopleLikeU, and Kapitall.


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The Webby Awards have been given out every year since 1996 by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). The Academy includes among its members such luminaries as David Bowie, Vint Cerf, and Arianna Huffington. 

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The Webbys provide two major awards per category: the Webby Award and the Webby People’s Voice Award. The latter award is determined by an online vote.

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Learn more about our Webby Award-winning alumni at our demo pages.
ManillaFinovateFall 2012
MintFinovate 2007
DashlaneFinovateFall 2012
LearnVestFinovateFall 2012
KapitallFinovateFall 2010

On Deck Announces $17 Million Expanded Series D Round

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The latest funding for On Deck Capital comes courtesy of PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Industry Ventures, and Google Ventures, which led the round. The announcement is the second of its kind this year for On Deck, which raised $42 million in funding from Institutional Venture Partners in February.

The company’s immediate plans for the capital are practical: building products and adding staff. But longer-term On Deck remains focused on playing a growing role in the lending requirements of the five million small businesses in the United States.

Here are a few metrics from On Deck:

  • Raised $59 million in funding so far in 2013; $100 million to date
  • Increased its repeat customers by 34% in 2012
  • Loaned $400 million since inception
  • Grew distribution partners to 300% to 1,500 nationwide in 2012

On Deck was founded in 2007, and is headquartered in New York. Their small business loans range from $5,000 to $150,000, with terms extending as long as 18 months. Businesses that have been operating for longer than one year, and have annual revenues of at least $100,000 are eligible.

On Deck was among the companies to take part in FinovateSpring 2012. See them in action here.

Finovate Alumni News– May 2, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNewfination interviews Adhil Shetty, founder and CEO of BankBazaar.
  • Pymnts.com features TipRanks Financial Accountability Engine. Join TipRans in San Francisco for FinovateSpring.
  • Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth talks about hyper growth in Europe.
  • InvestmentNews columnist takes a look at Finect. See them demo at FinovateSpring in May.
  • Yodlee forms partnership with London fintech incubator Level39.
  • Virtual Piggy wins The National Parenting Center’s 2013 Seal of Approval under the Websites category. See it demo live at FinovateSpring.
  • Signifyd receives the Merchant Risk Council’s 2013 Emerging Technology Award in the startup company category. Come see it demo live at FinovateSpring.
  • Engadget reports: PayPal and Discover expand partnership, will reach 2 million stores by year-end.
  • PandoDaily looks at Xero’s stealth period.
  • Billhighway partners with the Automation Alley Fund organization.
  • Braintree hires Google Wallet co-creator &
    former Square employee Rob von Behren as lead software engineer.

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.

FinovateSpring 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 4

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Our FinovateSpring 2013 Sneak Peek preview continues with another 12 companies that will be demoing their innovative technologies at our San Francisco event on May 14 and 15.

If you missed the previous installments of our Sneak Peek preview, here are links to parts 1-3:

Everything you need to know about FinovateSpring, from a full list of presenters to instructions on how to buy tickets, is available at our FinovateSpring 2013 information page here.  

For now, here’s a look at a dozen more fintech companies who will be presenting their innovations on stage in May.

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Arxan Technologies protects the App Economy from emerging hacker attacks with award-winning application integrity protection products that provide best-of-breed mobile app shielding.
Features: 
  • Strengthens financial apps with self-defense and tamper-resistance
  • Delivers multi-layered application security, broadest platform
Why it’s great: Arxan provides global Forbes 500 companies with the world’s strongest and most deployed application integrity protection to launch multi-OS mobile services.

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BBC Easy is a web service that increases lending efficiency and reduces risk by automating the collection of borrower’s financial data.
Features:
  • Pulls financial data directly from the top 10 accounting systems
  • Loans are monitored with automated Borrowing Base Certificates
Why it’s great: Direct access to financial data lowers risk and increases loan efficiency.

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CardFlight is the easiest way to integrate card-present payments into your own mobile apps.
Features:
  • Encrypted reader that works with virtually any iOS or Android device
  • Easy, flexible SDK
  • Support for most payment processors
Why it’s great: Easily accept card-present payments in your apps while keeping full control of your user experience.

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Corduro Register helps enable Payments as a Service for the enterprise.
Feature:
  • No Credit Card, No Phone, No Hassle 
Why it’s great: Corduro focuses on enterprise clients, providing them with a unique way to pay.

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Credit Sesame is the consumer’s credit and lending expert, providing smart financing for your life.
Features: 
  • Buying a house? See what you can afford
  • Compare multiple loans and find the best one
  • Monitor your credit for free on the go
Why it’s great: It’s the one mobile app that provides the information, analysis, advice, and offers you need for every important financing decision.

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Escardgot introduces the Helix SCard. Evolved spending. Simple. Store your cards, select, and swipe.
Features:
  • Merchants can send cards and offers directly to a consumer’s phone
  • A consumer can decide which ones to use when ready to swipe
Why it’s great: The Helix SCard is the perfect transitional technology to usher in the wireless payment industry. No POAS hardware changes like NFC.

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Finect is the only online network for the financial industry.
Features:
  • Online profiles and groups with seamless LinkedIn integration and professional verification
  • One-stop compliant social media
  • First-ever investment profiles for real-time peer discussions
Why it’s great: We’re a one-stop shop network allowing you to build your brand and community in a compliant manner.

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GoNow‘s eWallet Platform will ignite mass market eWallet adoption and includes a “Super Smartcard” programmed by the eWallet which enables payments at any POS terminal.
Features:
  • Full compatible with existing POS infrastructure
  • Generates new revenue, extends brand
  • GoNow has independent secure element
Why it’s great: Available as white label, GoNow’s eWallet Platform makes it easy to launch an eWallet that works everywhere and offers new revenue opportunities.

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Narrative Science enables companies to automatically uncover insights hidden in data and create new content and communication at a scale and frequency never before possible.
Features: 
  • Provides powerful insight across a variety of industries
  • Business intelligence solutions that deliver actionable insight
Why it’s great: Narrative Science’s Quill solution addresses today’s challenges with Investment Research and Portfolio Reporting for both individual and institutional investors.

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Plastyc Inc. enables better banking services to be delivered to all via web and mobile, regardless of income, age, and bankability.
Features: 
  • Turns prepaid cards into DDA alternative
  • Web/mobile consumer interfaces with push messaging
  • 24×7 monitoring and analytics
Why it’s great: Brings life-time-value of prepaid accounts to unprecedented levels.

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P2BInvestor introduces crowdfunding receivables.
Features:
  • Investor dashboard for crowdfunding platform
  • Explore receivables loans to invest in
  • Interactive returns calculator
Why it’s great: First platform for crowdfunding receivable loans

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Wallaby Financial is the first service to combine a cloud-based wallet with an intelligent credit card to help consumers maximize rewards and cash back.
Features:
  • Build the perfect wallet and credit card mix
  • Get more rewards and cash back
  • Swipe smart every time you shop
Why it’s great: Consumers that want to maximize their credit card rewards and cash back can build their ideal wallet with Wallaby.
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For more information on being a part of FinovateSpring 2013, see our FAQ. To register, visit our FinovateSpring page here.

Yodlee Names Armsby New Chief Financial Officer

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Formerly the chief financial officer for View, Inc., Mike Armsby has been tapped to become Yodlee’s next CFO.

Experience in managing and accelerating growth, along with helping guide companies into new markets, are among the qualifications highlighted by company President and CEO Anil Arora when talking about the appointment. Stepping down after serving Yodlee as interim CEO is Marc Blouin, who will stay on as Senior Vice President of Finance.

While at View (formerly Soladigm), Armsby helped the company finance the expansion of its commercial production, helping raise more than $150 million through a pair of equity rounds and debt financing. Previous to his time at View, Armsby held positions at Price Waterhouse, Bain & Company, and PowerLight, where he was also CFO.

Yodlee provides financial solutions to enable and empower online banking. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company’s technology is used by more than 600 financial institutions and more than 40 million consumers.

Yodlee is among the companies that will be demoing at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May. To learn more about the event, and to save your spot, visit our FinovateSpring information page here.

BancBox Heralds Era of Automated Escrow for Crowdfunders

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The quickest path to the front of the pack is often to create a pack of your own.

That’s one way of looking at the recent announcement from BancBox CEO Sanj Goyle, whose company just built what they are calling the first online investment portal with an automated escrow service.

The idea behind the portal, BancBoxCrowd, is to provide a platform for creating independent escrow accounts for crowdfunded projects. The money collected from investors is either returned if the project is not completed, or distributed accordingly if the funding goal is reached.

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BancBoxCrowd is fully SEC and FINRA compliant, and works by copying and pasting the relevant code to the destination page or solution. Users can monitor funding and escrow status, as well as get investor information, all in real-time.

Founded in 2008 and based in San Mateo, California, BancBox began as a way for non-financial institutions to collect, store, and send money in a secure, compliant, and integrated way. The platform has opened more than 100,000 consumer accounts, and processed billions of dollars in payments.

BancBox demoed their technology as part of FinovateSpring in 2012. See their presentation here.