TransferWise’s Peer-to-Peer Strategy for Exchange Rate Savings

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

The second presenter in the second morning session is TransferWise.

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“TransferWise allows regular people to access the real, mid-market exchange rate. We do this using peer-to-peer technology that cuts out traditional fees.  Customers pay a tiny, fully transparent service charge to access this.”

Product Launched: February 2011

HQ Location: London, UK
Company Founded: March 2010
Metrics: $1.35 million in investment capital; 20 employees; transferred over £10 million in the first year; growing at more than 20% per month
Twitter: @transferwise
Presenting Kristo Kaarmann (Co-Founder) and Taavet Hinrikus (Co-Founder)
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PrivatBank Empowers Cashless Transactions with Smartphones

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Next up to the stage is PrivatBank:  
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“Liqpay is the project of the Center of E-Business of Privatbank.  The Liqpay team specializes in innovative web and mobile services deployment such as Liqpay (liqpay.com), iPay (pos.liqpay.com), and SiteHeart (site heart.com) and a number of other projects.
We have developed smartphone applications that allow users to manage ATMs (cardless and contactless cash withdrawal) and payment apps for gas stations.”

Product Launched: October 2012

HQ Location: Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine
Company Founded: 2007
Metrics: Service is launched in 10,000 ATMs and in 1,500 gas stations in Ukraine.  The company has three employees.
Website: privatbank.ua
Presenting Kristina Chaykovskaya (Vice President), Marla Gurina (Business Development Manager)
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Device Ident Launches Anti-Theft Solution

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Next up to the stage is Device Ident with an anti-fraud 

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solution for European companies in the e-commerce and financial sectors:

“Device Ident provides a sophisticated anti-fraud solution for any type of online transaction. We identify and evaluate any device interacting with our customers’s online services and analyze history and behavior of the visiting device to prevent fraud and misuse for all our customers in real time.
In addition, our products have a built-in, anti-fraud network that allows all participants access to much higher degrees of protection without running into conflict of revealing customer information.”

Product Launched: January 2013

HQ Location: Hamburg, Germany
Company Founded: May 2012
Twitter: @deviceident
Presenting Roberto Valerio (Managing Director, Device Ident) and Michael Backes (Managing Director, Liquid Labs)
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Temenos Introduces edgeConnect’s Live Designer

Thumbnail image for TemenosLogo.jpgThis post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Coming to the stage now is Temenos. The company will be showing an innovative way to build and design dynamic applications pages:

edgeConnect is the industry’s most dynamic user experience platform (UXP). edgeConnect provides a single, consistent platform that enables superior user experiences to be delivered across multiple distribution channels, for any product, any user, in any language and optimized for each device.
A major new editor within edgeConnect called ‘Live Designer’ is a game changer in application design. It allows designers to change the look and feel, layout and behavior while an application is executing, so that they can make changes and see the effects of dynamic application pages prior to live deployment.”

Product Launched: Q1 2013

HQ Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Company Founded: 1993
Metrics: Over 1,500 customer deployments in 25 countries; more than 3,900 employees; revenues as of Dec. 2012 were more than $470 million USD
Website: temenos.com
Twitter: @temenos
Presenting Dharmesh Mistry (Product Director UXP) and Holger Lehmann (Manager Business Solutions – Front Office)
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Simple and Secure: Azimo Unveils Social Sending Strategy

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

And they’re off!

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Taking the stage as the first presenter on day one of FinovateEurope 2013 is Azimo with its digital money transfer innovation:
“Azimo is a digital international money transfer service. We offer a simple, secure, fast, and inexpensive way to send money from a mobile or PC to friends and family in over 125 countries around the world.
Recipients can receive funds in any bank account or from over 150,000 cash collection points. Senders can fund their money transfer with a debit card or bank account using their social media account to speed up the process.”

Product Launched: August 2012

HQ Location: London, UK
Company Founded: January 2012
Website: azimo.com
Twitter: @Azimomoney
Presenting Michael Kent (CEO) and Marek Wawro (CTO)
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Lights! Camera! Finovate!

Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgWe’re less than 24 hours away from the first Finovate event of the year, FinovateEurope 2013.

And from fintech veterans to the latest innovators on the block, the diversity of new apps, toolkits, services, and solutions on display here at dress rehearsal is nothing short of impressive.

What are we seeing so far? More mobile payment and banking strategies than you can shake a dongle at, advances in authentication and gamification, creative ways to help banks better understand and serve their customers and much more.  

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We hope you’ll be joining us for what promises to be two great days of presentations and demos of the best in financial technology. If you can’t be with us here in London, then be sure to follow us on Twitter @Finovate, or via our Live Blog at finovate.com starting bright and early Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM London time.

Finovate Alums Make America’s Most Promising Companies List

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAccording to Forbes, four of the 100 most promising companies in the United States right now aren’t just fintech companies. They are Finovate alumni, as well.

Of the four, Lending Club is the highest rated, earning the number 12 spot in Forbes‘s “America’s Most Promising Companies” roster. Also making the top 50 was Boku, with alumni On Deck Capital and Swipely helping round out the list.
Interestingly, Swipely CEO Angus Davis recently made a “most promising” list of his own.  Davis was featured along with more than 20 of his peers in a profile of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35” also compiled by Forbes.
Here’s a closer look at the alumni featured.
  • Rank: 12
  • Revenue: $16 million
  • Employees: 125
  • Demo video
  • Rank: 38
  • Revenue: $195 million
  • Employees: 115
  • Demo video
  • Rank: 94
  • Revenue: $37 million
  • Employees: 152
  • Demo video
  • Rank: 95
  • Revenue: $1 million
  • Employees: 36
  • Demo video

Affinity Solutions Announces More than $6 Million Raised

Thumbnail image for AffinityLogo3.jpgLoyalty program provider Affinity Solutions reported that the company had raised $6.75 million in a combined equity/convertible securities offering.

Two investors were involved in the offering, neither of which has been discovered.
Affinity Solutions has more than 100 employees and manages loyalty programs with more than 4,000 banks.  Founded in 1998, the company was last on the Finovate stage in the spring of 2012.  See their demo here.

CashStar Reports Record Holiday Season

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for CashStar.jpgStrong holiday sales for the company’s eGift Cards have made CashStar optimistic about the prospects for mobile gift card and “last-minute gifting” demand in 2013.

Why are eGift Cards working for CashStar? In part, it may be because they are working for merchants. According to CashStar:
  • The company enjoyed a 800% increase in mobile eGift Cards purchased compared to 2011
  • Brands with mobile-optimized eGift Card websites outperformed non mobile-optimized websites in purchases by smartphone by more than 50% in December 2012
  • Brands from mobile-optimized sites earned 3,700% more in sales in 2012
CashStar has a network of more than 250 brands, including Brooks Brothers, Jiffy Lube, Harry & David, and Petco. The company’s support for Passbook on the iOS platform has added new retail partners like Home Depot and The Body Shop.
See CashStar’s most recent demo from FinovateFall 2011 here.

Plastyc Adds Instant Access Fee to Mobile Check Deposit

Thumbnail image for Plastyc2.jpgPionneering 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.

Finovate Alumni News– February 4, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgThe 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.

ACI Worldwide Buys Online Resources, FIS Scoops Up mFoundry

Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgIt 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.

More on the deal:

  • mFoundry serves more than 800 banks and credit unions across the country
  • The acquisition will cost FIS $120 million (valuing mFoundry at about $160 million) 
  • The deal is expected to close by the end of March
  • Founded in 2004, mFoundry’s clients include Bank of America, Zions Bank, and more than a third of the top-50 financial institutions in the U.S.
  • FIS serves more than 14,000 FIs in more than 100 countries

mFoundry and Online Resources both participated in our very first Finovate back in 2007. mFoundry was also on stage more recently at FinovateFall 2010.