Finovate Alumni News — February 19, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgRescuecom highlights TransferWise as low cost, currency conversion option.
  • Acculynk‘s Payzur brings person-to-person payments to consumers on PULSE debit/ATM network.
  • Compass Plus helps Russian-based FI SwitchMaster reach processing benchmark.
  • ekmPowershop announces partnership with EZBOB.
  • American Banker reports: Planwise to Participate in Yodlee’s Incubator Program.
  • BillHighway hires new CFO.
  • Arroweye Solutions reports 40% growth due to 175% uptick in open loop card production, added 27 new clients in 2012.
  • Bill.com to provide Frantopia with accounting services.
  • Prosper unveils new protection for lenders.
  • The Next Web reports: Tradeshift adds support for accounting services Sage and Kashflow, helping businesses get paid.
  • Forbes considers how SoMoLend provides capital to small businesses.
  • VentureBeat reports SecondMarket is partnering with CircleUp to allow investors to invest in up-and-coming consumer product businesses.
  • Thomaston Savings Bank selects Q2ebanking’s full suite of ebanking solutions.
  • HiddenLevers launches portfolio stress testing app to help advisors generate leads.
  • Fiserv awarded Best-in-Class rating in 2012 Anti-Money Laundering Technology Review.
  • Gifting app Wrapp selects Braintree to power payments.
  • Pageonce adds person-to-person payment functionality to mobile app.
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.

Pageonce Goes Person-to-Person with Pay Anyone

Thumbnail image for PageonceLogo.jpgPageonce’s drive to create a mobile checkbook on your smartphone just reached a new gear.

The new service, Pay Anyone, gives smartphone users the ability to make the sort of frequent, informal payments typically reserved for checks. Rather than write a check to the landlord or the babysitter or the repairman, users will simply be able to make the payment as part of a person-to-person transaction using their Android or iOS device.

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The new app is designed to deepen Pageonce’s presence in the local payments market, where checks written to small businesses and individuals represent trillions in purchase value. Here’s a closer look at what’s on the table:
  • Consumers write 11 billion checks a year to small businesses and individuals
  • Pageonce currently processes more than $1 million in bill payments daily
  • More than 50% of consumers do not use or rarely carry a checkbook, according to 2013 study
  • Pageonce has $23 million in funding; 6,000 billers; more than 7.5 million users
Pageonce demoed its Personal Assistant and Bill Assistant at FinovateSpring 2010. A look at Pay Anyone is available here.

mBank & Efigence Team Up for Bank 3.0 Makeover

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

mBank_&_Efigence.jpgComing to the stage now is mBank & Efigence implementing a full “Bank 3.0” makeover that combines social media and “real-time customer gratification:

“mBank is the 1st established European bank to undergo a comprehensive, mass-scale, Bank 3.0″ revolution of its direct channels including modern UI/UX of transactional banking, PFM, video banking, transactional/real time marketing, social channels, gamification and mobile banking.”
Product Launched: June 2013
HQ Location: Lodz, Warsaw, Poland
Company Founded: mBank – 2000; Efigence – 1999
Metrics: mBank – 5,600 full-time employees; 3.5 million retail and SME customers; Efigence – 120 employees
Twitter: @mBankpl / @Efigence
Presenting Michał Panowicz (Managing Director, “New mBank” Project) and Bartek Wyszyński (Partner & SVP Strategy, Efigence)
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Mistral Mobile Unveils Mobile Front-End Building Solution

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

Representatives of Mistral Mobile are on their way to the stage now. The company will be demoing their Money Mobility Suite:

“Money Mobility Suite is the focal point of building a comprehensive mobile front-end for any financial service.
Suite integrates to any financial services 

mistral_250x94.jpgsystem such as core banking systems, payment processing systems, or a stored value account system and provides fully secure communication between the system and the Money Mobility applications in the handsets.

Suite provides fast time to market to deliver mobilization for various types of financial services. Most importantly, it provides remote management and configuration capabilities for all the applications through a single configuration management center and enables the financial service provider to instantly add or change features available for the users of the different financial services products.”
Product Launched: February 2013
HQ Location: New York, NY, USA
Company Founded: June 2012
Twitter: @MistralMobile
Presenting Peter Ollikainen (SVP Product Marketing) and Timo Tervo (CTO)
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Third Generation ayondo Underscores the Benefits of Social Trading

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.
Starting off our final session here on Day Two of FinovateEurope is ayondo. Ayondo is bringing social trading to a new level of usability, social interaction and guidance from top traders.

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“The best traders. Now on your account. The idea is temptingly simple: Why should we make trades ourselves if we can get the best day traders on our accounts automatically?
Doing away with fees such as issue surcharges, transaction costs, and management and deposit commission? Build your own portfolio of top traders and change them as often as you like – for free.”
Product Launched: January 2012
HQ Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Company Founded: 2008
Metrics: 12 employees; 3.2 million raised to date
Website: ayondo.com
Twitter: @ayondo_uk
Presenting Manuel Heyden (CEO & Founder) and Alexander Surminski (CMO)
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TraitWareID from Acuity Systems Provides Authentication Solution

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

Acuity_Systems_hi-res.jpgNext up is Acuity Systems with their demonstration of TraitWareID:

“TraitWareID simplifies and secures access to protected websites and applications by employing the user’s mobile device as a login token, eliminating the use of inconvenient and problematic usernames and passwords.
TraitWareID does this with patent-pending technology, which begins with user authentication, then binds the user’s identity to their device. TraitWareID utilizes digital identity mapping to analyze the user-created content of the authentication device.
Adding the patent-pending, user friendly, PhotoAuth image-based activation method to TraitWareID will enhance the security and user experience for transactions of all types on an end user’s device.”

Product Launched: October 2012

HQ Location: Visalia, California, USA
Company Founded: July 2008
Metrics: $3.5 million raised to date; two full-time employees; pre-revenue
Twitter: @TraitWareID
Presenting Harlan Hutson (President) and Chris Canfield (Lead Project Engineer)
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Biletu App Brings Event Planning and Expense Sharing to the Smartphone

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

Biletu_lo_res_logo.jpgWith a new way to organize events and share expenses with friends, Biletu is the next company to take the stage here at FinovateEurope:

“Biletu is an all-in-one, state-of-the-art app to join together events, chat, gamification, mobile payments, and social networks in a simple way. Biletu is a new, simple way to allow users to connect and for companies to engage innovatively with targeted users.”
Product Launched: April 2012
HQ Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Company Founded: January 2012
Metrics: $120,000 USD; 2 employees
Website: biletu.com
Twitter: @biletu
Presenting Felipe Millan (Founder)
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Five Degrees Introduces Matrix, a Web-Based Mid-Office Portal

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

five_degrees_new_logo.jpgFive Degrees is on its way to the stage right now. The company will be introducing Matrix, its banking services hub:

“Watch a fully-automated model bank with unparalleled self-service (on-boarding) that gives both customer and bank imminent insight and control in the process. Through the web-based, mid-office portal we offer the enormous potential of business benefits in terms of efficiency in adapting new businesses processes on the go.

As the market demands today, our open services hub integrates with external services like KYC checks, passport validation, PFM, etc. Come and view the fast and instant response for the next banking generation: rapid deployment, rich customer experience, instant and transparent insight for banks and clients alike.”

Product Launched: Q2 2013

HQ Location: Breukelen, Netherlands
Company Founded: July 2009
Metrics: 2012 Revenue: 3.3 million euros; 40 full-time employees; 5 million euros in capital raised
Presenting Martijn Hohmann (CEO) and Bjorn Holmthorsson (CTO)
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QuantConnect Presents a Cloud-Powered Stock Market Simulator

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

quantconnect_logo.jpgNext to the stage is QuantConnect with its stock market simulator and backtesting solution:

“QuantConnect gives engineers free access to a stock market backtester with high-resolution data for designing trading algorithms. Engineers can design strategies and have them distributed to working capital.’
‘We are demonstrating our cloud-powered backtester, capable of simulating years of stock data in minutes. Users can design strategies in C# IDE, compile them online, and run them across 14 years of tick data (up to 8 TB data).”

Product Launched: February 2013

HQ Location: New York, NY, USA, and Santiago, Chile
Company Founded: August 2011
Metrics: Raised $60,000; 3 employees; more than 500 beta-testing engineers/users
Twitter: @quantconnect
Presenting Jared Broad (Co-Founder) and Shai Rosen (Co-Founder)
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Akamai Intelligent Platform Emphasizes Reliability, Security

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

akamai.jpgRepresentatives from Akamai Technologies are making their way to the stage in our first presentation after the noon break:

“Akamai is a leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, platform, anywhere.
At the core of the company’s solutions is the Akamai Intelligent Platform, providing extensive reach, coupled with unmatched reliability, security, visibility, and expertise.
Akamai removes the complexities of connecting the increasingly mobile world, supporting 24/7 consumer demand, and enabling enterprises to securely leverage the cloud.”
Product Launched: February 2012
HQ Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Company Founded: August 1998
Metrics: 2011 annual revenue: $1.1 billion; 2,800 employees; Akamai has deployed the most pervasive, highly-distributed cloud optimization platform with 119,000 servers in 80 countries within more than 1,100 networks.
Website: Akamai.com
Twitter: @akamai
Presenting Rich Bolstridge (Chief Strategist, Financial Services) and Nick Coleman (Senior Solutions Manager)
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Financial Simplicity Announces New Portfolio Management Solution

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

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Our last presenter before the noon break is Financial Simplicity:
“Financial Simplicity offers a highly efficient capability to manage large numbers of individually tailored investment portfolios (in the thousands or tens of thousands). It will ensure that clients can offer highly customized propositions to their customers, while maintaining a high degree of centralized control over access, data, and business work flows.
Using systematically programmed processing and advanced algorithmic engines, Financial Simplicity negates the need for many time-intensive workflows and workarounds to manage data effectively. Financial Simplicity’s innovations have enhanced significantly the efficiency with which relevant portfolios can be delivered to investors.”
Product Launched: February 2013
HQ Location: Sydney, NSW Australia
Company Founded: 2003
Metrics: 20 employees and advisors in Australia, the U.S., Canada, and the UK
Twitter: @FinSimplicity
Presenting Stuart Holdsworth (CEO)
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True Office Anti-Money Laundering App Goes Mobile

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.
Bringing gamification to the field of regulatory and compliance training is our next presenter, True Office:

“By playing the True Office / Thomson Reuters Anti-Money Laundering desktop and mobile app, financial services employees are exposed to the regulatory risks they confront and learn how to comply with anti-money 

True_Office_hi-res.jpglaundering laws and company policies.

The data generated from this app provides financial services institutions with compliance analytics that help identify and reduce instances of AML risk.”

Product Launched: February 2013
HQ Location: New York, NY, USA
Company Founded: January 2010
Metrics: 20 employees; 30+ financial services compliance apps currently in production; winner of the 2012 Fintech Innovation Lab; seven-figure product development and distribution partnership with Thomson Reuters Accelus, extending its coverage to over 1,400 banks globally.
Twitter: @trueoffice
Presenting Adam Sodowick (Founder & CEO) and Andrew Neblett (Managing Director, Compliance, Audit & Risk, Thomson Reuters)
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