Finovate Alumni News– January 9, 2013

  • Gartner highlights Comarch Commission & Incentive in recent report.
  • FIS announces expanded relationship with Modern Woodmen Bank.
  • TomTom uses Keynote DeviceAnywhere for real-time performance monitoring in Paris.
  • The New York Times features Simple’s approach to customer service.
  • Check Point Software Technologies introduces new ZoneAlarm 2013 security product line, integrates Facebook Privacy Scan.
  • MyBankTracker looks at Movenbank’s new site layout. Come see Movenbank’s live demo at FinovateEurope Feb 12 and 13.
  • Daily Tekk interviews Brendon McQueen, CEO of Tuition.io.
  • eToro launches new version of its WebTrader platform.
  • Dwolla introduces new look, allows users to apply for higher transaction limits.
  • Cardlytics opens office in San Fran, appoints new SVP of Marketing. Come see Cardlytics demo at FinovateEurope next month.
  • CNBC interviews Barry Silbert, SecondMarket CEO, to understand why entreprenuers avoid IPOs.
  • Bank Systems & Technology considers how NICE’s newest solution uses voice recognition to prevent fraud. Come see NICE demo its new tech live at FinovateEurope in London February 12 and 13.
  • Biometric Update highlights a year of new customers and pilot projects from VoiceTrust.
  • TechCrunch features a video interview with Betterment CEO and founder, Jon Stein.
  • Experian announces deal to provide address and mortality screening services to Guardian Financial 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.

CR2 Helps Africa’s Cashless Economy Move Forward

logo-cr2-mediapack.jpgMartin Dolan, CEO of CR2, made a number of interesting observations on mobile banking in a recent interview with AllAfrica.com.

The topic of the conversation was the role CR2 is playing in the Cashless Lagos Project sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The goal of the project is to reduce the costs of handling cash, and to eliminate fraud in the system.

The following four points on the role of ATMs in countries like Nigeria were especially noteworthy.

  • By putting a “significantly bigger PC” inside the ATM, CR2 increases the ability of ATMs to do transactions more than five-fold.
  • The larger PC also enhances the ATM’s ability to interact with Internet and mobile channels.
  • In providing cardless access to ATMs, CR2 reduces reliance on often expensive-to-produce chip and PIN cards.
  • Maintaining low barriers to entry is important to customers even if KYC (“know your customer”) remains “the biggest problem” for mobile banking.

Dolan also noted that more than 95% of the transactions in Nigeria are via ATM according to the Nigerian Central Bank.  Be sure to check out CR2’s new banking technology at FinovateEurope next month in London!

Finovate Alumni News– January 7, 2013

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  • ACI Worldwide launches ACI Money Transfer System 5.0.
  • Suncorp Bank chooses FIS to manage ATM and POS transactions
  • 500Friends to integrate LoyaltyPlus platform with Bazaarvoice.
  • Financial Edge Community CU partners with SaveUp.
  • Mitek issued new patent for “Methods for Mobile Image Capture and Processing of Documents”.
  • The Financial Brand checks out the “Simple” way of banking.
  • The New York Times looks at SoMoLend’s take on crowdfunding, seeking out institutions to serve as lenders.
  • New York Times looks at Enloop’s hassle free business plan writing service.
  • The Telegraph highlights TransferWise as a cost-saving option for overseas money transfers.
  • Luxembourg’s Nordea Bank picks Temenos to standardize IT infrastructure.
  • GMC Software Technology helps Gala Bingo move to “third generation” bingo tickets.
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.

Credit.com Leverages Experian’s IntelliView

Thumbnail image for ExperianLogoFF12.jpgLate last year, Experian announced that it had developed a web-based searchable database to help plow through consumer credit data. And now, fellow Finovate alum, Credit.com has put the database to use.

IntelliView uses a representative, 10% sample of Experian’s database, which tracks more than 200 million customers in the United States. IntelliView allows searches and queries based on several categories:

  • bank cards
  • retail cards
  • automotive loans
  • first mortgages
  • second mortgages
  • home equity lines of credit
  • personal loans

Credit.com used the web-based query analysis software to create a list of the top 10 states in terms of highest average bank card balance in the third quarter of 2013 (the last quarter for which data was available).

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The data for IntelliView is the same as that used by Experian-Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports, which accesses Experian’s aggregated quarterly consumer credit data.  The service is available by subscription from Experian.

See Experian’s latest Finovate demo here.  Credit.com’s most recent demo at Finovate is here.

New “Paperless Coalition” Includes 3 Finovate Alums

New “Paperless Coalition” Includes 3 Finovate Alums
xero logo

With a battle cry of “save time, money and trees” the Paperless Coalition has launched its campaign to promote a paper-free workplace.

Among the members of the Paperless Coalition are three Finovate Alumni: Xero, Manilla and Expensify. The Coalition is led by HelloFax, and has set-up a website, paperless2013.org where businesses can “take the pledge” to work toward using less paper – and sign up for the coalition’s monthly newsletter.

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According to Reduce.org, the average office worker consumes more than 10,000 sheets of paper every day. More than three million tons of office paper are used in the United States alone every year.

Also participating in the Coalition is Google via Google Drive.

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To see Xero’s most recent Finovate demonstration, click here. Manilla’s last Finovate demo is here.  Expensify can be seen in action here.

Finovate Alumni News– January 3, 2013

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  • Internet Marketing For Small Business likes how Flint leverages the camera for mobile payments.
  • Lithium Knowledge Center shares tips on configuring Klarna.
  • Entrepreneur interviews Jason Richelson, founder of New York-based ShopKeep POS, a cloud-based system.
  • Clover raises $3.3 million from undisclosed investors.
  • Tuition.io exits private beta, aims to make student loan management easier.
  • The Boston Globe takes a look at Tom Leighton, the new CEO at Akamai.
  • Techie Insider looks at how PayPal mobile payments can benefit your church.

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.

2012 Funding for Finovate Alumni– More than $450 Million Raised

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgHere is a list of all the funding Finovate alumni received over the course of 2012.  

After an impressive 2011, where more than $423 million was raised, 2012 was even better, with more than $450 raised.
A few stand-out metrics for the year:
  • A total of 44 companies received funding, some more than once in 2012
  • Combined, more than $450 million was raised
  • The best quarter for raising capital was the first quarter when more than $150 was raised
  • The biggest funding month this year was March, with more than $68 million raised by three companies
Here is a month-by-month breakdown of funding received.
January — $25 million raised by 3 companies
Currensee: $2 million — blog post
Finsphere: $11.3 million — blog post
HelloWallet: $12 million — blog post
February — $57 million raised by 5 companies
Capital Access Network: $30 million — blog post
Dwolla: $5 million — blog post
Jemstep: $6 million — blog post
Kabbage: undisclosed — blog post
Xero: $16.6 million — blog post
March — $68 million raised by 3 companies
Boku: $35 million — blog post
eToro: $15 million — blog post
ThreatMetrix: $18 million — blog post
April — $2.5 million raised by 1 company
miiCard: $2.5 million — blog post
May — $55.5 million raised by 5 companies
Kony: $15 million – blog post
Pindrop Security: $1 million — blog post
SecureKey: $30 million — blog post
SoMoLend: $1.17 million — blog post
Yodlee: $8.3 million — blog post
June — More than $62 million raised by 8 companies
Affinity Solutions: $14.5 million — blog post
Arroweye Solutions: $3 million — blog post
Cartera Commerce: $12.2 million — blog post
Credit Sesame: $12 million — blog post
Doughmain: undisclosed — blog post
Lending Club: $15 million — blog post
Nutmeg: $5.3 million — blog post
Planwise: $200,000 — blog post
July — $6 million raised by 2 companies
Continuity Control: $1 million — press release
SaveUp: $5 million — blog post
August — More than $49 million raised by 6 companies*
DemystData: undisclosed — blog post
FutureAdvisor: $5 million — blog post
FreeMonee: $34 million — blog post
The Currency Cloud: $3.1 million — blog post
CashStar: $5 million — blog post
Continuity Control: $2.25 million — blog post
September — More than $59 million raised by 5 companies
Banno: $2 million — press release
Betterment: $10 million — press release
Edo Interactive: $15 million — press release
Fuze Network: $2.5 million — press release
Kabbage: $30 million — blog post
October — $37 million raised by 2 companies
The Currency Cloud: $1.9 million — blog post
Braintree: $35 million — blog post
November — More than $23 raised by 4 com
panies
ActivePath: $10 million — blog post
Jingit: $7 million — blog post
Bazaarvoice: $6.7 million — blog post
Xero: $49 million — blog post
December — More than $16 million raised by 4 companies
Waspit: $3 million — blog post
Controlabill: $570,000 (A$600,000) — blog post
Zopa: undisclosed — blog post
ShopKeep POS: $10 million – blog post
Clover Networks: $3.3 million – blog post
*In addition to the companies listed for August, On Deck Capital raised $100 million in credit facility commitments.
Note: Funding that companies received before they demonstrated at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? E-mail us at Julie@Finovate.com or David@Finovate.com.

Giftly’s Gift Cards Make Gains in 2012

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for giftlyLogo.jpgInside a recent profile of Giftly were a handful of interesting metrics:

  • 10,000 Giftlys sold so far in 2012
  • $4 per Giftly collected on average (processing fees range from $1 to $10, based on price of gift)
  • Gross revenues for 2012 expected to be $100,000
  • “Tenfold” increase in sales according to CEO Timothy Bentley

Giftly provides customized gift cards that can be used at a wide variety of U.S. businesses.  The company has been widely reviewed this year, with mentions in Fast Company, TechCrunch, and CNet.

Giftly has raised $2.5 million through investors like Baseline Ventures, RPM Ventures, and LightSpeed Venture Partners. They have formed partnerships with BancBox and CBW Bank, among others.

Watch Giftly’s most recent product demo from FinovateSpring 2012 here.

Cardlytics Platform Adopted by America First Credit Union

Thumbnail image for Cardlytics.jpgThe partnership between Cardlytics and Fiserv bears fruit as America First Credit Union announced that it was adopting the Transaction-Driven Marketing program developed by Cardlytics.

Offers from Cardlytics are targeted at 200 million transactions every week, and analyze $500 billion in transactions every year. They were named a “Red Herring Global 100 Winner” earlier this year out of 1,200 candidates.

America First Credit Union has the distinction of being the 12th largest credit union in the United States. Founded in 1939, America First has more than 100 branches and nearly 600,000 members.

The America First deployment is just one of the big wins for Cardlytics in 2012. In August, the company announced a new partnership with Bank of America to power its transaction-based rewards program. Cardlytics is also among the companies selected to present at the upcoming FinovateEurope 2013 in February.

Watch the Cardlytics demo from FinovateEurope 2012 here.

Fuze Network Shares Year-End Metrics

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Fuze_Network1Logo.jpgHere are some interesting metrics recently released by Fuze Network.

  • Performed more than 3.5 million cash-to-card transactions in 2012
  • Processed more than $250 million in total volume in 2012
  • Routes transactions to more than 14,000 financial institution card issuers
  • Provides network access to 150,000 integrated retail endpoints
  • Earns more than 60% of transaction volume from repeat cardholders

Fuze’s reCHARGE Network allows cardholders to add cash to more than 1 billion credit, debit, and prepaid cards at the point of sale.  Watch them in action from FinovateFall 2011 here.

Finovate Alumni News– December 21, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCompare Broker reviews the new mobile app from TradeKing.
  • MyBankTracker reviews how BillGuard protects from unwanted charges.
  • San Francisco Business Times reports: Giftly lets givers put ‘heart’ into gift cards.
  • Capital Access Network relocates Headquarters to NYC, adds Scott Blum as CMO.
  • Fiserv partners with TOPS Software to improve payment processing for property managers.
  • The Washington Post looks at SoMoLend’s community-focused lending.
  • Forbes names Lending Club one of the top five fintech companies of 2012.
  • Chicago donut chain “Glazed and Infused” now using ShopKeep POS software.
  • Wired.co.uk names Holvi startup of the week.
  • Credit Sesame unveils free credit monitoring service.
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 Alums Help Power CFPB’s Project Catalyst

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAs part of its mandate to develop innovation and entrepreneurship in the consumer financial marketplace, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the help of three Finovate alumni.

BillGuard, Plastyc, and Simple are taking part in the first phase of the CFPB’s Project Catalyst, which has three goals: 

  • Establish firm lines of communication with innovators
  • Understand new and emerging products in the market
  • Engage with innovators
In a statement, the CFPB noted that the “data-driven agency … always wants to learn more about what innovators are discovering about consumer wants, needs, and practices.”

To that end, here’s a quick key to what each company does and how each will contribute to the project.

Bill Guard

Bill Guard provides consumers with email alerts to warn of questionable activity in their debit or credit accounts. As part of Project Catalyst, BillGuard will be providing data on customer complaints and dispute resolution.

Watch BillGuard’s most recent Finovate demo here.

Plastyc

Plastyc provides an online-based, prepaid card that serves as an alternative to traditional checking accounts. Here, the CFPB is hoping to learn more about how consumers are using remote mobile check deposit, as well as the importance of immediate access to deposited funds.

To see Plastyc in action, watch their Finovate demo here.

Simple

Simple is a virtual bank that provides checking, savings and debit-card functions via a state-of-the-art user interface. Simple’s Goals savings program, which allows customers to make daily, set-aside contributions toward an eventual purchase, is largely what the CFPB is looking to study.

Simple debuted at FinovateFall 2011. Watch their demo here.

Note that while all three companies are sharing data with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, no personally identifiable information will be included.