David Penn, Author at Finovate

Plastyc Adds Instant Access Fee to Mobile Check Deposit

By David Penn Posted on February 5, 2013
Categories: Plastyc

Pionneering alternatives to traditional banking sine 2006, Plastyc is unveiling a new option that provides quicker access to checks deposited into their prepaid Visa accounts.

Customers using mobile remote deposit will be offered the option of immediate access to the deposited funds for a 1% fee for government or printed payroll checks, or 4% for personal checks. Customers who opt for delayed access, typically five business days, pay no additional charge.

Additionally, Plastyc has increased the maximum deposit amount for checks to $2,500, which the company says is more than that allowed by other mobile deposit systems.

The service is being tested with the company’s mobile app users before being rolled out to the entire card base. The service is powered by Chexar Networks.

Plastyc is one of a handful of Finovate alumni who are participating in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Project Catalyst, which we featured late last year.

To learn more about Plastyc in action, click here to see their demo from FinovateFall 2011.

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Finovate Alumni News– February 4, 2013

By David Penn Posted on February 4, 2013
Categories: eToro, Flint Mobile, Heckyl Technologies, Jingit, Linkable Networks, Stocktwits, TransferWise, Virtual Piggy, Xero

The Economist highlights TransferWise. See them demo at FinovateEurope next week.

Strategic Shopping blog, November Sunflower, features Jingit.

Top Technology News takes a look at the Flint mobile payment system.

Linkable Networks now offers deals at Lunds and Byerly’s Minnesota Grocery stores.

Virtual Piggy opens London office. Come watch its live demo at FinovateEurope next week.

Xero’s Report Packs go live for Australian partners.

Bloomberg looks at how StockTwits is adjusting to Twitter changes.

eToro updates Trader for iOS to allow for native and social registration.

SMC Securities, Global Capital to integrate Heckyl Technologies platform. See them demo next week at FinovateEurope.

Finovate Alumni abound in Payment Source’s list of 11 major mergers in payments technology.

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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ACI Worldwide Buys Online Resources, FIS Scoops Up mFoundry

By David Penn Posted on February 1, 2013
Categories: ACI Worldwide, FIS, mFoundry, Online Resources

It was a big day for Finovate alumni. ACI Worldwide and FIS, themselves both Finovate alums, rang the register on a couple of smaller fintech companies they hope will make them even bigger players in the online banking and payments world.

Online Resources Bought by ACI Worldwide

In an all-cash deal worth $260 million, the purchase of Online Resources will help ACI Worldwide bring broader online banking and full-service bill payment options to its network of financial institutions.

The deal is also expected to increase the company’s customer base, with 1,000 banks, billers and other FIs coming along with Online Resources into the ACI Worldwide fold.

A look at the numbers:

Online Resources provides services to more than 1,000 FIs and billers
It processes more than 240 million bill payment transactions each year
It connects more than 9,000 billers
The combined entity anticipates cost synergies (i.e., saving in operating expenses) of more than $19 million.
Common shareholders will receive $3.85 per share, an 83% premium over yesterday’s closing price

FIS Purchases mFoundry

FIS’s decision to buy the 78% of mFoundry that it did not already known is seen as an opportunity for the company to assert itself in the mobile arena, while expanding its customer base in the process.

FIS already has a sizable footprint when it comes to banking and payments technology. And in bringing mFoundry fully on board, the company has helped fuel optimism about the prospects for greater innovation and “convergence” among the various players within the industry.

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A Who’s What Preview of FinovateEurope 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 31, 2013
Categories: FinovateEurope 2013

With FinovateEurope right around the corner, anticipation is building for what will be our biggest event in Europe yet!

To give you yet another taste of what this year’s event has to offer, we’ve put together a word cloud of all the titles of the registered attendees.

And here’s a sample of some of the organizations that will be attending this year’s FinovateEurope event.

ABN Amro
Accenture
AIB
Aktif Investment Bank
Alfa-Bank
Alior Bank
Allianz
Anthemis Group
Balderton Capital
Bank Hapoalim
Bank of Ireland UK
Bank Respublika
Barclays
BBVA
BNP Paribas Retail Banking
BRE BANK SA
CaixaBank
Capgemini
Capital One
Celent
Commerzbank AG
Cortal Consors
DAB bank AG
Datamonitor
eMarketer
Ernst & Young
Fidelity Investments
Financial Times
FINANSBANK
Frumtak Investment
GSB Ventures
IBM

IDC Financial Insights
ING
Jack Henry & Associates
JSC Probusiness bank
KPMG
Liberty Bank
Lloyds Banking Group
MasterCard
Microsoft
Old Mutual Plc
Ovum
PayPal
PostFinance
Rabobank
RBS
Ribbit Capital
Russian Standard Bank
Sberbank Russia
Scottish Life
SKAGEN
Skandiabanken
SpareBank 1
Sunstone Capital
Swedbank
SWIFT
Thomson Reuters
Troika Venture Capital
UBS AG
Unicredit
Visa Europe

If you’d like to join us, get your ticket today and be a part of FinovateEurope.

If you have any questions about the event, check out our FAQ or e-mail us at info@finovate.com. We’re looking forward to seeing you in London in February!

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Flint Adds Customer Management, Social Marketing to Mobile Payments App

By David Penn Posted on January 31, 2013
Categories: Flint Mobile

The latest upgrade to Flint‘s mobile payments app looks to leverage both sides of the merchant/customer transaction.

The new iPhone app allows merchants to set up pre-set lists to make inputting transactions faster and more efficient. Customizable receipts make it possible to search and organize customers based on transaction details like product type and card used. These features potentially provide additional marketing tools, allowing, for example, targeted loyalty offers to selected receipts.

The new app also sports Facebook integration so customers to directly post ratings and reviews. For the those businesses that have avoided social marketing due to time limitations or integration concerns, Flint’s app makes it easier to get the customer to do some of the work.

More than 20,000 users have downloaded Flint since it was first available late last year, opting for the dongle-free approach to taking payments on the go. The average transaction has been more than $100.

Watch Flint’s most recent demo from FinovateSpring 2012 here.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 30, 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 30, 2013
Categories: Acculynk, ACI Worldwide, Comarch, Experian, Figlo, Jemstep, Movenbank, Simple, Tuition.io

Jemstep launches new Portfolio Manager service.

Aite Group names ACI Worldwide “Vendor to Watch” in 2013.

Business News Daily takes a look at Comarch Altum.

Acculynk‘s PayLeap now features API developer integration tools.

Figlo is 1 of 16 companies to join a global alliance with Microsoft.

American Banker reports Simple Enacts New Security Features.

All Things D lists Tuition.io as 1 of 2 companies to help college grads with empty pockets.

LifeHacker features Simple.

Netbanker reports: Movenbank Provides a Peek at its User Interface. Come check it out at FinovateEurope, less than 2 weeks away.

Experian extends Precise ID fraud prevention to online Social Security related services.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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FinovateEurope 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 3

By David Penn Posted on January 29, 2013
Categories: Akamai, Birdback, Device Ident, FinovateEurope 2013, Five Degrees, FreeAgent, GMC Software Technology, Meniga, PhotoPay

With just a few weeks to go before FinovateEurope, here’s the third and final part of our Sneak Peek preview of the companies demoing in London (click here for part 1, here for part 2).

There still time to get your ticket and be a part of the conference in London on February 12 & 13 at Old Billingsgate Market Hall. For more information or to register, visit our FinovateEurope page here.

Each presenting company supplied a few teasers about the innovations they will be showcasing at the event.

___________________________________________________________________________

Akamai Technologies

In a unique demonstration, Akamai will command agents and attack servers across the Internet to launch attacks commonly directed at financial services sites (including SQL injection, slow HTTP post, and DDoS attacks) at a pair of live demonstration banking sites on the public Internet. One site in the clear, and one protected by Kona Site Defender.

The demonstration will show how these attacks can compromise an unprotected site, and how Kona Site Defender is able to detect and mitigate these attacks automatically, live, in real-time. The demonstration will feature innovative adaptive rate control and real-time Web security monitoring security technologies.

Innovation type: Security

Birdback

A lot is happening on the front-end of payments: Mobile POS, mobile wallets, NFC payments … The back-end of payments, however, remains untouched. A card transaction is nothing more than a money transfer. Meanwhile, developers dread the prospect of having to develop native applications for each of these new, front-end payment platforms.

So why not an API that sits at the very heart of the transaction network, on top of the most widespread means of payment: the payment card? What if one could link applications to payment cards, essentially turning what’s already in consumers’ pockets into a loyalty card, a discount voucher or a means of sending them digital receipts?

Innovation type: Rewards, cards, back office

Device Ident

Device Ident will showcase its new solution to prevent online fraud in real time. Our product identifies and evaluates any device interacting with our customers’ online services, and analyzes history and behavior of the visiting device to prevent fraud and misuse for all our customers.

It is easily integrated into our customers’ online services and it fully complies with European privacy laws.

Innovation type: Security, identity

Five Degrees

Watch a fully automated model bank with an unparalleled level of self-service giving both customer and bank imminent insight and control in the process.

Through our Web-based, mid-office portal, Five Degrees offers the potential of enormous business benefits in terms of efficiency in adapting new business processes on the go. As today’s market demands, our open services hub integrates with external services like KYC checks, Passport Validation, and PFM.

Come and view the fast and instant response for the next banking generation: rapid deployment, rich customer experience, instant and transparent insight for bank and client alike.

Innovation type: Back office, banking, communications, sales

FreeAgent

FreeAgent is the UK’s market leader in SME cloud accounting software. The FreeAgent platform’s capabilities extend far beyond traditional accounting software, and are developing toward performance and health measurement tools, providing vital information for both the businesses themselves and current or prospective lenders.

We will demonstrate how cloud accounting and the associated data creation, aggregation and interpretation functions can provide financial institutions with real-time insights into the underlying fundamentals and risk trends existing within a single business or across a base of clients.

Innovation type: Back office, lending, small business

GMC Software Technology

GMC Inspire Dynamic Statement is an interactive and engaging way to present your customers’ statements, online or offline.

Instead of the standard online statements, GMC Inspire can generate thousands of dynamic statements in minutes, presenting your customers’ data through attractive charts and graphs that are fully clickable.

Areas that require attention and action can be highlighted and customers can even drill down to granular level detail, providing a fully intuitive service. GMC Inspire also allows you to track usage of every statement and use this data to populate relevant offers and marketing messages for every customer.

Innovation type: Mobile, PFM

Meniga

“To Buy or Not to Buy” is a white-label module for mobile banking applications that uses PFM functionality to empower and infl
uence consumers at the point of sale or when considering buying something.

It allows users to check if they can afford what they are about to purchase or see how much closer to their savings goals they would be if they saved the money and used it to feed their goal instead.

One unique aspect of this innovation is allowing the users to leverage their social networks and direct messages to crowd-source the decision and instantly collect feedback before making the purchase. This fun and simple feature uses gamification to engage users and their network of friends.

Innovation type: Mobile, online, PFM, rewards

PhotoPay

PhotoPay provides the easiest and fastest way to pay paper and PDF bills using mobile devices.

Paying bills on a mobile phone is often difficult. Manual data entry is cumbersome and frustrating for smartphone users. PhotoPay has developed an advanced technology that significantly improves the mobile bill payment experience for both paper and electronic bills.

Banks and payment providers love PhotoPay because it can dramatically improve user experience and increase bill payments transactions. Our first bank customer has seen a 2,000% increase in mobile bill payments after implementing PhotoPay.

Innovation type: Payments, cards

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Finovate Alumni News– January 29, 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 29, 2013
Categories: Acculynk, FreeAgent, IP Commerce, Kashoo, MiiCard, PaySimple, PlayMoolah, ReadyForZero, Taulia, TIO Networks, True Office, TSYS

Acculynk joins EMV Migration Forum.

TSYS announces extension agreement with Payment Alliance International.

True Office scores $3 million funding round. See them demo at FinovateEurope in London!

GetApp compares accounting options in FreeAgent and Kashoo.

Taulia doubles customer base in 2012.

miiCard granted U.S. patent for method of establishing true online identity based on ability to access online financial accounts.

TIO Networks appoints Bill Burnham, founder of Inductive Capital, to Board of Directors.

WorkSaveLive blog features ReadyForZero.

PaySimple launches 3 new integrated partners.

PlayMoolah launches Yusheng Rush, a Chinese New Year themed mobile game.

IP Commerce announces latest release of Commerce Boarding, a real-time qualification and decision engine.

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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True Office Scores $3 Million Funding Round

By David Penn Posted on January 28, 2013
Categories: True Office

When the regulatory and compliance training gets tough, the tough get gamified.

At least that’s the approach taken by True Office, a company that specializes in gamifying the complex (and often tedious) regulatory and compliance training process for professionals working in financial institutions.

And this effort to bring a little bounce to the step of those trudging through mandatory compliance training has won the company $3 million in Series A funding.

Said True Office CEO and founder, Adam Sodowick: “A well-designed game has the power to engage employees and at the same time produce analytics that can help banks identify and reduce operational and compliance risk.”

According to information released by the company late last week, True Office will use the funding to help the company expand its presence in the financial sector, as well as apply its gamification approach to other highly-regulated industries.

Participating in the funding round were Rho Ventures, the Partnership for New York City Fund, and Contour Venture Partners.

Watch True Office in action next month in London at FinovateEurope 2013. More information about the event is available here.

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Tradeshift Inks Deal & Investment from Intuit

By David Penn Posted on January 25, 2013
Categories: Tradeshift

What’s better than a deal that turns your current customer base of 150,000 small and medium-sized businesses into a potential field of five million?

The same deal, with an undisclosed but “multi-million” dollar investment thrown in for good measure.

That’s how the year is beginning for Tradeshift. The company announced that it has formed a partnership with Intuit, integrating its e-invoicing and business transactions platform with QuickBooks. The new free app, which connects to customer’s Tradeshift or Quickbooks accounts, will be available first to QuickBooks users in the United Kingdom.

The company also announced a significant investment from Intuit, which will join Tradeshift’s board of directors. Although the amount was undisclosed, it has been characterized as “multi-million”.

Newly available to QuickBooks users, the app will also be an opportunity to further test Tradeshift’s social networking approach to business. CEO and founder Christian Lang has said that “invoicing is one of the few business processes that’s really viral.” Thanks to Intuit, he’ll now have five million opportunities (and undisclosed millions in new capital) to help prove his point.

See Tradeshift in action in this video from their demo at FinovateEurope 2012.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 25, 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 25, 2013
Categories: BillFloat, Cachet Financial Solutions, Concur, Geezeo, Lending Club, Simple, Tradeshift, TransferWise, TSYS, ValidSoft

Silicon Valley Business Journal interviews BillFloat CEO and co-founder Ryan Gilbert.

Commercial Bank of Qatar to deploy latest version of TSYS card and merchant management platform.

TransferWise wins “Best Middleweight Startup” at The Europas. See them demo at FinovateEurope in February!

Concur rolls out new datacenters in France and the Netherlands.

Santander receives 2012 Banking Technology Award for Best Security Initiative for its SIM swapping solution, developed with ValidSoft.

Portland’s KATU.com features Simple.

UK’s KashFlow integrates with Tradeshift to enable SMBs who use its cloud-based accounting software.

The Paypers reports: Geezeo enters 2 new partnerships.

VatorNews considers what’s next for Lending Club.

Cachet Financial Solutions partners with Volunteer Corporate to provide mobile RDC to their 325 member CUs.

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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New TradeKing Finds Focus in Customer-First Mindset

By David Penn Posted on January 24, 2013
Categories: TradeKing

When TradeKing met Zecco, and the two online brokerages merged last year, the big question was whether or not the whole would be more than merely the sum of its parts.

Based on a review of where the “new” TradeKing stands at the beginning of 2013, the answer seems to be an ever-less-qualified “yes.”

The combined entity now boasts more than 500,000 total accounts, making TradeKing the sixth largest online brokerage. And once known primarily for its “disruptive” approach to the industry due to its low and transparent pricing strategy, TradeKing now has the opportunity to impress a whole new cohort of traders and investors with its customer service and investor education resources, as well.

Here’s a look at what TradeKing has accomplished as of the end of 2012:

Earned a four-star ranking for six years in a row in Barron’s Online Broker Survey
Voted #1 for customer service for the fourth time in the SmartMoney annual broker survey
The number of daily users of TradeKing LIVE has doubled since the Zecco acquisition
More than 49% of TradeKing’s registered representatives have FINRA Series 4 licenses
More than 50% of TradeKing’s registered reps have Series 24 licenses
TradeKing has hosted more than 60 live educational events for accountholders, with more than 8,000 total attendees

To that last point, TradeKing clients have watched more than 280 of the brokerage’s educational videos for more than 15,000 hours of watching and more than 57,000 total views.

TradeKing also announced that its trading platform now includes streaming charts, enhanced options functionality (including strategy recognition) and real-time, intraday updates. The company has also unveiled TradeKing Forex, which allows clients to trade more than 50 currency pairs, plus gold and silver, as well as provides access to charting tools, trader education, and actionable research.

Both TradeKing and Zecco made their Finvoate debuts back in 2008 at FinovateSpring.

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Finovate Blog

Author: David Penn

Plastyc Adds Instant Access Fee to Mobile Check Deposit

Finovate Alumni News– February 4, 2013

ACI Worldwide Buys Online Resources, FIS Scoops Up mFoundry

A Who’s What Preview of FinovateEurope 2013

Flint Adds Customer Management, Social Marketing to Mobile Payments App

Finovate Alumni News– January 30, 2013

FinovateEurope 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 3

Finovate Alumni News– January 29, 2013

True Office Scores $3 Million Funding Round

Tradeshift Inks Deal & Investment from Intuit

Finovate Alumni News– January 25, 2013

New TradeKing Finds Focus in Customer-First Mindset