Author: David Penn

Lending Club Adds Larry Summers to Board of Directors

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Lending Club
Image representing Lending Club as depicted in...

As if the board of directors of Lending Club was not star-studded enough, the peer-to-peer lender recently announced that former Treasury Secretary Lawrence “Larry” Summers would be joining the team.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Summers noted that “rapid adoption of technology and innovation” that was creating opportunities for companies like Lending Club.  Summers will join such notable as former Morgan Stanley CEO, John Mack, and legendary tech stock analyst, Mary Meeker.

Lending Club is a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer consumer lender.  The company recently surpassed $1 billion in total loans issued, and has doubled the volume of its monthly loans over the past eight months.  As of December 2012, the average loan amount is $12,300.

This comes even as Lending Club maintains fairly high standards. The typical Lending Club borrower has:

  • FICO score of more than 700
  • 15% debt-to-income ratio (excluding mortgage)
  • Personal income of more than $69,000
  • 14 years of credit history

Watch Lending Club’s Finovate demonstration here.

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Dashlane is a PC Mag Editor’s Choice for Security

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dashlane

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for DashlaneLogo.jpgPC Mag finds a lot to like in Dashlane.

From the password manager’s “elegant interface” and ease of use, to the way it streamlines online shopping, Dashlane earned high praise in a recent review of security “must-haves” at PC Mag.

Dashlane enables shoppers to use their iPad or iPhone to login and checkout on any website in the world.  Combining instant checkout with total consumer privacy, Dashlane lets consumers move quickly through the payment process – from entering e-mail and contact information to password generation and payment options.

One feature that caught the eye of the reviewers at PC Mag was the way Dashlane’s password wizard helps build “memorable but unguessable” passwords. 

The password wizard is a boon for consumers weary of setting up new passwords and filing out the same old forms each time they shop at a new online retailer.  And anything that helps customers move from “found it!” to “own it!” faster and more efficiently is a bonus for businesses, as well.

Watch Dashline in action at Finovate Fall 2012 here.

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BrightScope Featured in The New York Times

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BrightScope
Image representing BrightScope as depicted in ...

Looking for a reliable guide to the top 401(k) plans? The New York Times is sending inquisitive investors in the direction of BrightScope.

An independent provider of 401(k) ratings since 2008, BrightScope provides an annual list of the top 30 401(k) plans. The company leverages the largest private database of 401(k) data to empower plan sponsors, advisors, and participants.

BrightScope incorporates 200 different factors into each individual 401(k) plan rating, making it easy to quickly evaluate and compare different plans. Importantly, as The New York Times points out, BrightScope makes it easy to compare plans by peer group, as well. This way a 401(k) plan participant can compare his or her plan to other plans in similar industries and businesses.

For more on BrightScope, take a look at the company’s Finovate demo here.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 17, 2012

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Affinity Solutions, Andera, BellaDati, Betterment, Bill.com, Fiserv, Giftly, LearnVest, Lending Club, MiiCard, PayPal, Personal Capital, Stocktwits, Tyfone
  • FiservThumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpg launches mobile app for UChoose Rewards.
  • Affinity Solutions brings “Big Data” capability to card-linked offers.
  • StockTwits launches a new app for HootSuite.
  • Business Insider looks at Expensify’s team building trip overseas.
  • HelloWallet launches financial wellness workforce assessment for employers.
  • Des Moines Register considers Giftly’s remote gift card giving app.
  • American Banker reports Lawrence Summers, formerly one of President Obama’s top economic advisors, joins Lending Club’s board of directors.
  • Tyfone is expanding into Latin America through a deal with Protege Sistemas of Brazil.
  • Gesa Credit Union chooses Andera’s oFlows platform.
  • Reuters recommends visiting Betterment, Personal Capital, and LearnVest for year-end money advice.
  • Bill.com launches new application platform powered by open APIs for third-party developers to integrate native apps with Bill.com’s software.
  • New miiCard DirectID Check allows SMBs & professionals to perform bank-level ID proofing online.
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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Controlabill Wins $600,000 Grant from Commercialisation Australia

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Controlabill

Controlabill.jpgControlabill‘s bill payments system has won the startup an A$600,000 (Aus. dollars) grant from Commercialisation Australia.

Controlabill is an authority-management service that makes it easy for customers to manage all of their payment relationships in one place. Taking advantage of the efficiency of direct deposit, Controlabill operates independently of the billing process to save time and guarantee on-time payment.

The Commercialisation Australia grant will help the company conduct customer trials, develop sales and support resources, and enlist the services of an experienced CEO.

Commercialisation Australia provides funding and support for innovators as they bring their projects to market. Since January 2010, Commercialisation Australia has awarded more than A$140 million to 360 recipients.

Watch Controlabill in action here.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 14, 2012

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BellaDati, FIS, Klarna, Simple, Sparkroom
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBellaDati opens its first international office in Seoul.
  • Klarna co-founder and deputy CEO talks Square and the business of payment processing.
  • Sparkroom wins Readers’ Choice Top Product award.
  • Simple doubles per-transaction limit on its debit cards.
  • Investors Business Daily profiles FIS chairman and CEO Frank Martire.

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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Compass Plus Earns High Marks in Annual PayX Report

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Compass Plus

Thumbnail image for CompassPlusLogo.jpg

A perfect score in the “card-issuer processing capability” category helped TranzWare from Compass Plus earn high marks in the annual PayX report.

TranzWare helps financial institutions manage, switch, and route electronic payments from multiple devices. In this year’s PayX report, the TranzWare product suite earned perfect scores in “complementary products” and finished in the top three (out of 19 reviewed) in a number of other categories such as, “product,” “industry,” and “customer profile overview.”

The PayX report focuses on the year’s top card-acquiring-payment software solutions. This year’s appearance in the report was the second for Compass Plus.

Compass Plus demonstrated another of its recent products, TranzAxis, at FinovateFall 2012 in September.  See the demo from Compass Plus here.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 13, 2012

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Sesame, Dwolla, InComm, Lending Club, Manilla, On Deck Capital, PayPal, TradeHero, wipro
  • Manilla update means one app is all you need to manage expenses from bills to subscriptions.
  • Just in time for the holidays TradeHero is now available at the Apple app store.
  • Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers to join Lending Club board of directors.
  • CorFire announces strategic integration with PayPal.
  • Speaking of PayPal, you can now fund your account with cash using PayPal’s new “PayPal My Cash Card.”
  • Credit Sesame launches free credit-monitoring service.
  • Wipro announces the launch of SmartOffers, in partnership with Intuition Intelligence.
  • On Deck Capital adds American Express veteran to head marketing efforts.
  • InComm launches the Paypal My Cash Card.

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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P2P Lending Pioneer Zopa Announces New Funding Round

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Zopa
Image representing Zopa as depicted in CrunchBase

UK peer-to-peer lender, Zopa, announced Monday that it landed a “multi-million pound” funding-round. Exact terms remain undisclosed. Augmentum Capital, a venture capital fund under RIT Capital, led the round.

Zopa’s news arrives as the United Kingdom takes a closer look at the growing business of peer-to-peer lending, and is considering additional regulations on the industry. Founded in 2005, Zopa was the first “peer-to-peer” lending marketplace. It now has about 500,000 members who have lent more than £250 million among themselves.

Investors in the company have included Balderton Capital, Forward Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Wellington Partners, as well as Augmentum Capital.  

Additionally, the British government has announced that Zopa will be one of the peer-to-peer lenders it will use as part of £110 million in lending to small-and-medium-sized enterprises.  Zopa’s share of the initiative is £10 million.

Zopa’s now-defunct USA affiliate presented at the first Finovate in San Francisco here.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 12, 2012

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BrightScope, MasterCard, TSYS, Zopa

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpg

  • BrightScope’s annual list of top 401(k) funds has been highlighted in The New York Times.
  • Two credit unions sign deal with TSYS to provide payments services for consumer credit businesses.
  • MasterCard announces investment in and partnership with C-SAM.
  • British government to loan 10 million pounds to SMEs by way of P2P lender, Zopa.
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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Finovate Alumni News– December 11, 2012

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bill.com, Capital Access Network, FIS, Flint Mobile, MasterCard, Monitise
  • From online to the desktop, Bill.com is now fully integrated with Quickbooks.
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFIS announces deal with VW Credit for North American loan and lease processing.
  • New team at Capital Acess Network to build online lending engine, CapTap.
  • MasterCard launches ‘cash electronification’ service rePower in Europe.
  • Monitise and Intuit partner to bring Mint to financial institutions.
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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Third Quarter 2012 Funding for Finovate Alumni: More Than $50 Million Raised

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CashStar, Continuity Control, DemystData, FreeMonee, FutureAdvisor, On Deck Capital, SaveUp, The Currency Cloud

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpg

August was the biggest funding month of the third quarter. Six companies raised more than $49 million, led by FreeMonee, which alone raised $34 million.

In addition to the eight companies listed below, On Deck Capital raised $100 million in credit facility commitments in late August. 

Here’s the Q3 summary for 2012:

July — $6 million raised by 2 companies

August — More than $49 million raised by 6 companies

Note: Funding that companies received before they demonstrated at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? E-mail us at [email protected] or [email protected].

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