Author: Jim Bruene

I’ve Got 99 Fintech Problems and a List Ain’t One

I’ve Got 99 Fintech Problems and a List Ain’t One
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Strategic Planning, Uncategorized

With apologies to Jay-Z (and a hat tip to The Middle Ground which, unbeknownst to me, came up with a better twist on his lyrics), we point you to the latest reference for those looking to solve real financial services problems.

The fintech wizards at Singapore’s MAS recently published a list of 100 problems in financial services. The problem 100 fintech problems tocstatements, and suggested enabling technologies, were crowdsourced from around the world. The list is as an aid for participants in its 2016 hackcelerator (which has a 31 July deadline for submissions for the S$20,000 prize), but it’s also a good reference for anyone in the fintech startup space.

While I’ve seen bigger lists (in 2014, we published a report with more than 1,000), the MAS version covers more diverse topics than most, addressing regulatory bottlenecks, trade finance opportunities, financial inclusion, along with the usual payments and consumer banking issues. Check out the table of contents (inset) and the full PDF here.

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Fintech Fundings: 113 Companies Raised $1.7 Billion in May

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized

money_pig_sunglassesTotal fundings worldwide in May were $1.7 billion across 112 deals and 1 IPO. The weekly details can be found through the following links:

The final week of the month saw 29 companies raise $592 million, including $238 in Cotiviti’s IPO. Venture funding was $354 million, of which just $100,000 was debt.

Two Finovate alums raised substantial rounds:

  • TransferWise raised $26 million, at a $1.1 billion valuation, for its international funds-transfer service
  • DashLane raised $22.5 million to fund growth of its digital password-management system

The total number of deals YTD stands at 551, 80% more than last year’s 306. Total dollars raised YTD is now $15.7 billion, more than twice the $7.2 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 21 May to 27 May 2016:

Cotiviti
Healthcare payments analytics
Latest round: $238 million IPO
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Atlanta, Gerogia
Tags: SMB, enterprise, healthcare, payment, insurance, bookkeeping, analytics, cost savings
Source: FT Partners

Weidal
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $153 million Series C
Total raised: $177 million
HQ: Hangzhou, China
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Nvest
Crowdsourced investment information
Latest round: $30 million Series D
Total raised: $57.2 million
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumer, investors, advisers, investing, trading, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

TransferWise
International funds transfer network
Latest round: $26 million Series D
Total raised: $116.4 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, remittances, foreign exchange, fx, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Carson Group
Wealth management platform
Latest round: $35 million
Total raised: $35 million
HQ: Omaha, Nebraska
Tags: Advisers, investing, wealth management, trading
Source: Crunchbase

Dashlane
Password management and secure digital wallet
Latest round: $22.5 million Series C
Total raised: $52.5 million
HQ: California
Tags: Consumer, B2B2C, password management, security, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Invest.com
Online alternative investments
Latest round: $20 million
Total raised: $20 million
HQ: Limassol, Cyprus
Tags: Consumer, investing, alt-investments, trading, wealth management, advisers
Source: Crunchbase

AutoFi
Point-of-sale system for vehicles
Latest round: $17 million
Total raised: $19.5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, B2B2C, credit, lending, auto lending, indirect loans, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

NetWealth
Wealth management platform
Latest round: $9.6 million Angel
Total raised: $9.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, advisers, investing, trading, asset management
Source: FT Partners

TrueEX
Electronic execution platforms for interest rate swaps
Latest round: $9.2 million Series A
Total raised: $33.7 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Enterprise, investing, trading
Source: Crunchbase

Konfio
Alt-lender to small businesses
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: Mexico City
Tags: SMB, credit, commercial loans, lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

zlien
Lien rights platform
Latest round: $5.0 million Series A
Total raised: $6.77 million
HQ: New Orleans, Louisiana
Tags: SMB, commercial lending, construction loans, security, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Syndicate Room
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $4.6 million Series A
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, investing, equity, P2P, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

Jirnexu
Mobile sales and fulfillment for financial institutions
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tags: Enterprise, online marketing, account opening, marketing, lead gen
Source: FT Partners

Clarity Money
Personal finance management app
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, PFM, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

United Mobile Technology
Mobile payments platform, iPAYst
Latest round: $2.2 million Series A
Total raised: $2.2 million
HQ: Munich, Germany
Tags: Consumer, B2B2C, payments, analytics, big data
Source: FT Partners

ClearTax
Online tax preparation
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $15.4 million
HQ: New Delhi, India
Tags: Consumer, taxes, personal finance, tax prep
Source: Crunchbase

Penny
Personal finance coach
Latest round: $1.2 million Seed
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, PFM, service, sales, chatbot
Source: Crunchbase

GoalWise
Online investment manager
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $1 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, advisers, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

WiseAlpha
Online investment platform for secured loans
Latest round: $870,000 Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $1.28 million
HQ: London, England, UK
Tags: Consumer, advisers, investing, commercial loans
Source: Crunchbase

LeaseOnline
Online automobile leasing service
Latest round: $725,000
Total raised: $725,000
HQ: Sweden
Tags: Consumer, credit, auto loans, lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Pleo
Company credit cards
Latest round: $560,000 Seed
Total raised: $560,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, credit cards, expense management, bookkeeping, controls, security
Source: Crunchbase

Flattr
Micropayments
Latest round: $335,000 Seed
Total raised: $2.43 million
HQ: Malmo, Sweden
Tags: SMB, B2B2C, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Accredify
Retail investor services platform
Latest round: $100,000 Debt
Total raised: $100,000
HQ: Miami, Florida
Tags: Consumer, advisers, investing, trading, deal management
Source: Crunchbase

WealthyLife
Financial literacy app
Latest round: $10,000 Grant (from JP Morgan)
Total raised: $85,000
HQ: California
Tags: Consumer, personal finance information, gamification, underbanked, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

BitOasis
Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Dubai, UAE
Tags: Consumer, crypto-currency, bitcoin, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

Chainlab
Blockchain-based smart contracts (aka Wings)
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: SMB, blockchain, bitcoin
Source: Crunchbase

Expensya
Expense reporting
Latest round: Unknown
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Paris, France
Tags: SMB, bookkeeping, accounting, employee management
Source: Crunchbase

Pepins
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unkown
HQ: Nacka, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, SMB, equity investing, investors
Source: Crunchbase

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Fintech Fundings: 28 Companies Raise $400 Million Week Ending May 20

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding, Uncategorized

Money_clickTotal fundings in second quarter hit $8.4 billion as 28 companies raised $401 million the third week of May. Eight deals passed the $10-million mark, with one more at $9 million.

Along with the usual payment and lending startups, two insur-tech companies raised substantial rounds: Embroker ($12.2 million) and Jetty ($4 million).

Finovate alums accounted for 40% of the week’s dollar volume including:

The total number of deals YTD stands at 522, 80% more than last year’s 290. Total dollars raised YTD is now $15.1 billion, more than twice the $7.1 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 14 May to 20 May 2016:

Clover Health
Health insurance provider
Latest round: $160 million Series C
Total raised: $295 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, insurance, healthcare, human resources, benefits, employees
Source: Crunchbase

Personal Capital
Digital wealth manager
Latest round: $75 million Series E ($500 million valuation)
Total raised: $175.3 million
HQ: Redwood City, California
Tags: Consumer, investing, wealth management, robo-adviser, trading, asset management, trading, Finvoate alum
Source: Finovate

SigFig
Digital investment adviser
Latest round: $40 million
Total raised: $56 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, portfolio management, wealth management, Comerica Bank (investor), Santander (investor), New York Life (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

EZBob
Small business alt-lender
Latest round: $35.5 million Debt
Total raised: $130.8 million ($83.1 million Equity, $47.7 million Debt)
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, credit, loans, underwriting, lending
Source: Crunchbase

Tally Technologies
Consumer credit-card management
Latest round: $15 million Series A
Total raised: $15 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, credit cards, personal finance, PFM, debt management, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Embroker
Business insurance
Latest round: $12.2 million Series A
Total raised: $14.4 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, insurance, claims management, broker, lead gen, price comparison
Source: Crunchbase

Tink
Personal finance app
Latest round: $10.2 million Series B
Total raised: $14.2 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, personal financial management, PFM, spending, budgeting, mobile, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Shift Technology
Fraud detection for ecommerece and financial services
Latest round: $10 million Series A
Total raised: $11.8 million
HQ: Paris, France
Tags: Enterprise, security, insurance, ecommerce, fraud protection
Source: Crunchbase

Chime
Neo bank
Latest round: $9 million
Total raised: $20.75 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, prepaid/debit card, savings account, deposits, payments, billpay
Source: Crunchbase

efileCabinet
Document management for accounting and financial firms
Latest round: $5 million
Total raised: $31.05 million
HQ: Lehi, Utah
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, , credit, loans, underwriting, lending
Source: Crunchbase

Ceterus
Accounting services for small businesses 
Latest round: $4.2 million
Total raised: $4.2 million
HQ: Charlston, South Carolina
Tags: SMB, accoounting, bookkeeping, receivables/payables, financial reporting
Source: Crunchbase

Jetty
Digital property and casualty (P&C) insurance
Latest round: $4 million Seed
Total raised: $4 million Seed
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, insurance, P&C, millennials
Source: Crunchbase

Tandem
Full-service digital bank
Latest round: $3.05 million Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $34.8 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, credit, deposits, banking, payments, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Goodlord
Mobile rent payments
Latest round: $2.9 million
Total raised: $2.9 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, payments, property management, rentals
Source: Crunchbase

Mesitis
Data aggregation and visualization for wealth management
Latest round: $2.35 million
Total raised: $6.13 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Advisers, SMB, investing, wealth management, investing tools, investors
Source: Crunchbase

Fund That Flip
Real estate marketplace lending
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2.04 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, SMB, credit, loans, underwriting, investing, P2P, peer to peer, crowdfunding
Source: Crunchbase

Hey You
Mobile ordering and payment app
Latest round: $2 million Series B
Total raised: $7 million
HQ: Surry Hills, Australia
Tags: SMB, merchants, acquiring, credit/debt card processing, restaurants, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Properati
Latin America real estate portal
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $4.23 million
HQ: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tags: Consumer, home buying, mortgage, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Capshare
Online cap-table management
Latest round: $1.99 million
Total raised: $2.99 million
HQ: Sandy, Utah
Tags: SMB, financial management, investors, investing, valuations
Source: Crunchbase

ET Index
Investor tools to evaluate carbon risk
Latest round: $1.6 million Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Investors, trading, valuations, analytics, eco, investing tools
Source: Crunchbase

Propellr
Alt-investments
Latest round: $1.6 million Convertible Note
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Advisers, investors, wealth management, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Monetise
Consumer alt-lender
Latest round: $600,000 Seed
Total raised: $600,000
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, lending
Source: Crunchbase

TableSafe
Mobile point-of-sale solution
Latest round: $513,000 Debt
Total raised: $18.96 million
HQ: Kirkland, Washington
Tags: SMB, merchants, acquiring, credit/debit card processing, hospitality, restaurants, underwriting, POS
Source: Crunchbase

Dvdendo
Automated financial advice
Latest round: $385,000 Seed
Total raised: $385,000
HQ: Miami, Florida
Tags: Consumer, investing, portfolio management, trading
Source: Crunchbase

i2iFunding
Consumer marketplace lender
Latest round: $300,000 Angel
Total raised: $300,000
HQ: Noida, India
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, lending, P2P, peer to peer, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Monotto
Funds-transfer service
Latest round: $50,000 Seed
Total raised: $60,000
Acclerator: VC Fintech
HQ: Charlston, South Carolina
Tags: Consumer, savings account, investing, ACH
Source: Crunchbase

Renew Financial
Renewable energy financing
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $102.2 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, loans, credit, lending, underwriting, personal finance management, energy consumption management
Source: FT Partners

TwoWayPay
Peer-to-peer payments
Latest round: Undisclosed Angel
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, P2P payments, remittances, funds transfers
Source: Crunchbase

 

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Mobile: One-Size-Fits-All vs. Niche Banking Apps

Mobile: One-Size-Fits-All vs. Niche Banking Apps
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Apps, Mobile Banking, US Bank

us bank itunes iphone apps

US Bank’s iOS app lineup 

 

Early on in the smartphone era there was a debate as to whether native apps or the mobile web would carry the day. As an early iPhone user, I was solidly in the native apps camp. Some day there will be a better interface, but until then it’s an app world (though not every headline writer agrees). And now the question for financial institutions is not whether you need a native app, it’s how many do you need?

Until recently, most financial institutions hoped to have a one-size-fits-all mobile app, just like on the desktop. That’s the option that lowers development costs, simplifies tech support, and makes digital banking easier to manage. But since most financial institutions serve many customer segments, bundling too many features into one UI really gums up the overall experience.

So we are seeing more and more financial companies developing multiple native apps to support distinct business groups, customer segments, and even charitable activities. The most prolific? US Bancorp with 43 iOS apps alone, 28 of which are white-labeled for its affinity credit-card customers (see screenshot above).

Delving deeper, let’s look at the 25 most-popular free finance apps in the U.S. Apple App Store (data is from mid-March, when I started this post). The 13 financial institutions in that group have a combined 123 apps, for an average of nearly 10 per bank. However, excluding US Bank’s 28 white-label apps, the total is 93, or 7.2 per FI.

Bottom line: You may not need 7 or 8 apps, but it’s clear that multiple apps optimized for individual use have an advantage in usability and focus (ROI is a much more difficult question of course). In addition to a core mobile-banking app, most mid-size and larger FIs should evaluate dedicated apps for the following segments:

  • Youth
  • Small businesses
  • Mobile wallet/cards (credit/debit/prepaid)
  • Saving/budgeting/personal finance
  • Home buyers/mortgage/home equity
  • Car buying/auto loans
  • College financing/student loans
  • Retirement/wealth management/investing
  • Optional: Insurance, HSA, any other stand-alone business line

——————–

Table: Number of iOS apps per financial services provider

Banks & Card Issuers: Total of 123 apps across 13 financial institutions

  • US Bank: 43 (14 branded, 28 white-labeled affinity partners, 1 nonprofit)
  • PNC Bank: 14 (all branded)
  • Chase: 11 (6 Chase branded, 5 JPMorgan branded)
  • American Express: 10 (8 branded, Plenti, Expert Care)
  • Citibank: 10 (all branded)
  • Bank of America: 9 (4 BofA branded, 5 Merrill Lynch branded)
  • Capital One: 8 (7 branded, 1 CreditWise)
  • Wells Fargo: 5 (all branded)
  • TD Bank: 3 (all branded)
  • Discover: 3 (1 branded, 2 Diners Club)
  • Navy FCU: 2 (all branded)
  • BB&T: 2 (all branded)
  • USAA: 2 (1 branded, Savings Coach)

Payments: 15 apps across 4 companies

  • PayPal: 9 (7 branded, Venmo, Xoom)
  • Square: 4 (all branded)
  • Western Union: 1
  • Google Wallet: 1

Insurance: 2 apps from 2 companies

  • Progressive: 1
  • Geico: 1

Personal finance/investing: 18 apps across 6 companies

  • Intuit: 13 (12 branded, Mint)
  • Credit Karma: 1
  • Digit: 1
  • Acorns: 1
  • Prosper: 1
  • Robinhood: 1

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Fintech Fundings: 30 Companies Raise $390 Million Week Ending May 13

Fintech Fundings: 30 Companies Raise $390 Million Week Ending May 13
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money 500 eurosTotal fundings in second quarter hit $8 billion as 30 more companies raised $390 million the second week of May. Nearly half of that ($188 million) was debt earmarked for Avant’s U.K. subsidiary.

The deals were widely dispersed around the world, with only 4 of the 30 headquartered in California. London beat that this week with 5, followed by 3 in NYC, and 2 each from Chicago, Florida and Germany.

The total number of deals YTD stands at 494, nearly double last year’s 266. Total dollars raised YTD is now $14.7 billion, more than twice the $6.7 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

Notable raises included Finovate alum Tagit which brought in nearly $9 million to supercharge its mobile application development platform.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 7 May to 13 May, 2016:

Avant (AvantCredit U.K.)
Consumer alt-lender
Latest round: $188 million Debt (for AvantCredit U.K.)
Total raised: $1.92 billion ($654 million Equity, $1.26 billion Debt)
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, lending
Source: Crunchbase

Bridge2Solutions
Incentive & rewards systems for financial institutions
Latest round: $35 million Series A
Total raised: $35 million
HQ: Daytona Beach, Florida
Tags: Consumer, enterprise, rewards, payments gamification, employees, human resources, loyalty, retention
Source: Crunchbase

Capital Float
Working capital financing
Latest round: $25 million Series B
Total raised: $41 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: SMB, lending, financing, commercial loans, invoice financing, factoring
Source: Crunchbase

Wincor Nixdorf (AEVI subsidiary)
Payments technology
Latest round: $23 million Post-IPO Equity
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Germany
Tags: Enterprise, cashless payments
Source: FT Partners

orderbird
iPad POS system for the hospitality industry
Latest round: $22.8 million Series C
Total raised: $37 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, merchants, acquiring, security, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Simplee
Healthcare finance platform 
Latest round: $20 million
Total raised: $37.8 million
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: SMB, patient finance, billing, payments, insurance, credit, underwriting, B2B2C
Source: Crunchbase

AutoFi
Auto financing platform
Latest round: $17 million
Total raised: $17 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: B2B2C, SMB, consumer, lending, auto loan, vehicle credit, underwriting, secured, captive financing, lead gen
Source: FT Partners

EuroCCP
Equities clearing  
Latest round: $16 million (from Euronext)
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tags: B2B, enterprise, trading software, investing services, back office
Source: FT Partners

Tagit
Mobile financial applications
Latest round: $8.75 million
Total raised: $8.75 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Enterprise, banking, mobile application development, developers, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

TechBureau
Blockchain technology 
Latest round: $6.2 million
Total raised: $6.2 million
HQ: Osaka, Japan
Tags: SMB, blockchain, distributed database, payments, crypto-currency, bitcoin
Source: FT Partners

WealthBar
Online financial adviser
Latest round: $5.5 million
Total raised: $5.5 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: Consumer, investing, robo-adviser, ETF, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

Healthcare Interactive
Healthcare & insurance technology
Latest round: $3.4 million Series A
Total raised: $11.8 million
HQ: Glenwood, Maryland
Tags: Enterprise, healthcare, payments, insurance
Source: FT Partners

Tandem
Digital bank
Latest round: $3.4 million Equity Crowdfunding ($95 million valuation)
Total raised: $34.8 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, banking, payments, deposits, loans, debit card
Source: Crunchbase

AppZen
Expense report automation 
Latest round: $2.9 million
Total raised: $3.0 million
HQ: Sunnyvale, California
Tags: SMB, accounting, bookkeeping, expense reporting, compliance, fraud protection
Source: Crunchbase

Sure
Mobile on-demand insurance 
Latest round: $2.6 million Seed
Total raised: $2.6 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, travel insurance, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Inkassogram
Debt collection platform 
Latest round: $2.45 million
Total raised: $2.45 million
HQ: Sweden
Tags: SMB, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, billing, payments, invoicing
Source: Crunchbase

Fluent
Blockchain B2B network 
Latest round: $1.65 million Seed
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: SMB, payments, blockchain, crypto-currency, bitcoin, payments
Source: Crunchbase

AccessPay
Online payments & cash management for small businesses
Latest round: $1.45 million Debt
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, payments, accounting, treasury management, commercial banking
Source: Crunchbase

FattMerchant
Payment processor
Latest round: $1.4 million
Total raised: $2.25 million
HQ: Orlando, Florida
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, merchants, acquiring, security, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

StoreHub
Mobile point-of-sale solution
Latest round: $850,000 Seed
Total raised: $850,000
HQ: Petaling, Malaysia
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, merchants, acquiring, credit/debit cards, mobile, POS
Source: Crunchbase

Bridge Financial Technology
Back-office platform for financial advisers 
Latest round: $722,000
Total raised: $722,000
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Advisors, B2B2C, investing, trading, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

Selequity
Online commercial real estate investing platform 
Latest round: $590,000 Seed
Total raised: $590,000
HQ: St. Louis, Missouri
Tags: SMB, investors, commercial mortgage, P2P lending, credit, underwriting, real estate
Source: Crunchbase

Cushion
Financial & time management service for freelancers
Latest round: $500,000
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Brooklyn, New York
Tags: SMB, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, billing, payments, invoicing, PFM
Source: Crunchbase

Olivia
AI-powered financial assistant 
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, mobile, artificial intelligence, customer service, chatbot
Source: Crunchbase

Shares.com
Asset crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $300,000 Angel
Total raised: $300,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, collectibiles, investing, asset-based lending, artwork
Source: Crunchbase

PaySur
Bitcoin exchange 
Latest round: $275,000
Total raised: $275,000
HQ: Leon, Mexico
Tags: Consumer, payments, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, blockchain, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

DebitShield
Online debit card security
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, security, payments, direct debit, online billpay
Source: Crunchbase

FairCent
Marketplace lender
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A
Total raised: $4.25 million (before the Series A)
HQ: Haryana, India
Tags: Consumer, lending, P2P, person-to-person, credit, lending, investing
Source: Crunchbase

iBondis
Marketplace lender to small businesses
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unkown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, P2P lending, crowdfunding, commercial loans, person-to-person, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Savesta
Stealth personal finance 
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bellevue, Washington
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, PFM
Source: Crunchbase

—–
Image licensed from Shutterstock

 

 

 

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Banking UI: Let’s Not Get Overly Responsive on the Desktop

Banking UI: Let’s Not Get Overly Responsive on the Desktop
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: UX, Website Usability & Design

 

nextcard home2My favorite website of all time was from the ill-fated dot-com “fintech” card issuer, NextCard. In 1999, it was light years ahead of its time in design and UI. If only it had been equally savvy in its underwriting skills, it would be a digital banking giant by now.

What I loved about its website was the almost total lack of copy. In an era where most traditional brands dumped everything they could think of on the homepage, NextCard made due with just 50 words of copy, an almost “Google-like” experience (and this was before Google). See its circa-2001 homepage above.

The nice thing about the NextCard effort, besides the big red “easy” button dominating the page, is that the whole thing fit nicely on a single desktop computer screen. That was back when horizontal and vertical scrolling were the norm.

Fast-forward 15 years and the vast majority of banking websites are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better. And I am a big fan of responsive design. It’s forced designers to pare back on overly busy home pages that have been a hallmark of banking sites since the 1990s.

wsecu mobileHowever, I think we are now in danger of becoming over-reliant on responsive design, at least on the desktop. Yes, it’s cost-effective to build a single site that works across all screen sizes. But if you are big enough to have a six-figure marketing budget, you can afford to tweak your site so it sparkles on both smartphones and desktops.

I don’t want to single out anyone, but I need an example, so I looked at a few sites in the Seattle area and chose Washington State Employess Credit Union to illustrate my point. Its site renders great on mobile phones or tablets with an intuitive swiping down (or is that up?) layout (see inset for iPhone 6 capture).

However, the same photos, fonts and layout rendered on a 13-inch laptop browser screen aren’t as elegant. The biggest issue is navigation. WSECU goes with the smartphone convention of a small “hamburger” menu in the upper right (see screenshot below). Users accustomed to mobile navigation will likely find it, but others may be perplexed.

With no visible desktop navigation, the eye is drawn to the “We’re all in” main headline along with the two running across the bottom (“Look what’s happening at your branch” and “Reflecting on 2015”). None of those are particularly enticing jumping-off points for the casual online visitor.

Overall, the WSECU site is pleasing to the eye and has easy-to-find login and search. However, the desktop version isn’t as effective as it could be explaining the products, services and benefits of banking there. And 20 years into web design, we should be more responsive to visitor needs.

WSECU home2

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Fintech Fundings: 26 Companies Raised $270 Million Week Ending May 6

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

Money_circuitSecond quarter’s funding pace remained strong with 26 companies raising $267 million—$55 million of that was Debt—the first week of May. The deals were widely dispersed around the world, with only 4 of the 26 companies hanging their shingles in California, although those four did account for half the dollar value.

The total number of deals YTD stands at 464, nearly double last year’s 252. Total dollars raised YTD is now $14.3 billion, more than twice the $6.6 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

Two Finovate alums scored big rounds:

——-

Fintech deals by size from 30 April to 6 May 2016:

VTS
Commercial real estate leasing and asset-management platform
Latest round: $55 million Series C
Total raised: $87.7 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: SMB, enterprise, commerical real estate, commerical mortgage, asset management
Source: Crunchbase

MobiKwik
Mobile wallet
Latest round: $50 million Series C
Total raised: $86.9 million
HQ: Gurgaon, India
Tags: Consumer, payments, banking, mobile, telecom top-ups, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Intacct
Digital banking company
Latest round: $40 million Debt (Silcon Valley Bank)
Total raised: $125.8 million (includes $85 million Debt)
HQ: San Jose, California
Tags: SMB, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, billing, payments, invoicing
Source: Crunchbase

Varo Money
Digital bank
Latest round: $27.4 million Private Equity
Total raised: $27.4 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, deposits, payments, debit card, banking, mobile
Source: Crunchbase, WSJ

Zooz
Payments technology
Latest round: $24 million
Total raised: $40.5 million
HQ: Kefar Sava, Israel
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, merchants, acquiring, security, credit/debit cards, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Net Element
Mobile payments
Latest round: $20 million Post-IPO Equity ($5 mil) and Debt ($15 mil)
Total raised: Unknown (NASDAQ: NETE)
HQ: Miami, Florida
Tags: Consumer, payments, brands: TOT Group, Unified Payments, Aptito, TOT Money
Source: Crunchbase

Azimo
Digital banking company
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $46.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, payments, peer-to-peer P2P funds transfers, remittances, FX, Rakuten (invester), Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Bench
Online bookkeeping service
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $54.5 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: SMB, accounting, payroll, bookkeeping, billing, payments, invoicing, omnichannel
Source: Crunchbase

Passport
Payments for transportation and parking
Latest round: $8 million Series B
Total raised: $17 million
HQ: Charlotte, North Carolina
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, payments, mobile, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

YieldStreet
Marketplace lender
Latest round: $3.7 million Seed
Total raised: $3.7 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, advisers, SMB, lending, credit, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer loan marketplace, investing, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

Love Will Inc.
Blockchain-based financial applications
Latest round: $2.51 million
Total raised: $2.61 million
HQ: St. Louis, Missouri
Tags: Consumer, payments, blockchain, crypto-currency, bitcoin, peer-to-peer funds transfers, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

Earny
Purchase protection tool for cardholders
Latest round: $1.2 million Seed
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer loan marketplace, investing, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

BrightFlag
Invoice analytics
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $1.47 million
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Tags: SMB, accounting, accounts receivables, billpay, analytics, machine learning
Source: Crunchbase

T2P (iBaht)
Prepaid debit card
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $1.1 million
HQ: Bangkok, Thailand
Tags: Consumer, payments, debit cards, prepaid
Source: Crunchbase

Monera
Personal finance portal
Latest round: $550,000
Total raised: $550,000
HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark
Tags: Consumer, price comparisons, insurance, mortgage, banking, lead gen, discovery, quotes
Source: Crunchbase

Dynamis Software
Sales tools for health insurance brokers
Latest round: $520,000
Total raised: $2.62 million
HQ: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Tags: SMB, enterprise, healthcare, health insurance, CDHC plans, sales, marketing
Source: FT Partners

Active.ai
Banking and wealth-management platform
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: India
Accelerator: Kstart
Tags: Banks, advisers, banking, wealth management, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Affordplan
Payments plan for emergency health services
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: New Delhi, India
Accelerator: Kstart
Tags: Healthcare providers, payments, credit, short-term loans, payments plans, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

PoshBerry
Blockchain-based loyalty wallet
Latest round: $250,000 Seed
Total raised: $250,000
HQ: Glarus, Switzerland
Tags: Enterprise (B2B2C), payments, loyalty, debit/credit cards, rewards, blockchain, crypto-currency
Source: Crunchbase

PFITR (Public Funds Investment Tracking and Report)
Porftfolio management for institutional investors
Latest round: $200,000 Convertible Note
Total raised: $1.02 million
HQ: St. Louis, Missouri
Accelerator: VC Fintech Accelerator (Little Rock, Arkansas)
Tags: Investing
Source: Crunchbase

TruckPay
Payment services in the construction industry
Latest round: $200,000 Convertible Note
Total raised: $200,000
HQ: Tenafly, New Jersey
Tags: SMB, payments, logistics, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

Bonop
Micropayments
Latest round: $58,000 Seed
Total raised: $58,000
HQ: Marbella, Spain
Tags: Consumer, payments, content
Source: Crunchbase

Digitzs
Payments provider for digital services
Latest round: Not disclosed Seed
Total raised: $2.55 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: SMB, merchants, payments, point-of-sale, mobile, credit/debit card aquiring
Source: Crunchbase

EPG (Easy Payment Gateway)
Payment management 
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $1.8 million
HQ: Gibraltar
Tags: SMB, merchants, payments, point-of-sale, mobile, credit/debit card aquiring
Source: Crunchbase

Hishab Ltd. 
Voice-based mobile POS
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Tokyo, Japan
Tags: SMB, merchants, payments, point-of-sale, mobile, credit/debit card aquiring
Source: Crunchbase

Paylike
Payment platform
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unkonwn
HQ: Aarhus, Denmark
Tags: SMB, merchants, payments, point-of-sale, mobile, credit/debit card aquiring mobile, APIs, developers
Source: Crunchbase

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Fintech Fundings: 114 Companies Raised $7.3 Billion in April

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money_tree_newThe month of April ended on busy note as 29 companies raised $427 million in the final week (ending April 29). That brought the total raised in April to $7.3 billion, which would have been a record year anytime before 2014.

The previous weekly totals in April:

The total number of deals YTD stands at 438, almost double last year’s 238. Total dollars raised YTD stands at $14.0 billion, 2.5x the $5.6 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

This week, seven deals did not reveal the amount raised including Finovate alum BlueVine which added Citigroup to the $40 million round originally closed last year.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 23 April to 29 April 2016:

Mosaic
Marketplace lender for residential solor projects
Latest round: $200 million Private Equity
Total raised: $224.9 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer loan marketplace, clean energy, investing, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

Nubank
Digital banking company
Latest round: $56 million Debt (from Goldman Sachs)
Total raised: $154.3 million ($98.3 million Equity, $56 million Debt)
HQ: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tags: Consumer, deposits, payments, prepaid, debit card, banking, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Remitly
International payments service
Latest round: $38.5 million Series C
Total raised: $61.5 million
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Tags: Consumer, SMB, remittances, payments, FX, international funds transfers
Source: Crunchbase

bitFlyer
Japanese Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $27 million Series C
Total raised: $34.4 million
HQ: Tokyo, Japan
Tags: Consumer, payments, bitcoin, blockchain, cyrpto-currency
Source: Crunchbase

Trov
On-demand insurance
Latest round: $25.5 million Series C
Total raised: $37.8 million
HQ: Danville, California
Tags: Consumer, insurance, object insurance, mobile, risk management
Source: FT Partners

SunFunder
Crowdfunding platform for investing in solar projects
Latest round: $17 million Debt
Total raised: $22.82 million ($5.82 milllion Equity, $17 million Debt)
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, investors, advisers, crowdfunding, equity, clean energy
Source: Crunchbase

E la Carte
Mobile ordering & payments for restuarants
Latest round: $15 million Debt
Total raised: $67.5 million ($52.5 million Equity, $15 million Debt)
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: SMB, B2B2C, payments, point of sale, acquiring, credit/debit cards, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

TranServ
SmartPay payments platform for enterprises
Latest round: $15 million Series C
Total raised: $15+ million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Enterprise, B2B2C, payments, merchants, APIs, developers
Source: Crunchbase

Lendix
Marketplace small business lending platform
Latest round: $13.5 million Series B
Total raised: $27.1 million
HQ: Paris, France
Tags: SMB, lending, credit, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer loan marketplace, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Savedo
Deposit price comparison site
Latest round: $5.6 million Series A
Total raised: $5.6 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: Consumer, deposits, investments, price comparison, discovery, investing, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

GoHenry
Prepaid debit for youth (18 and under)
Latest round: $3.58 million Equity Crowdfunding (Crowdcube)
Total raised: $3.58 million
HQ: Lymigton, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, youth, debit card, mobile, spending, controls, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Bitso
Mexican Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $1.85 million
Total raised: $1.85 million
HQ: Mexico City, Mexico
Tags: Consumer, payments, blockchain, virtual currency, crypto-currency, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

ID Global Solutions
Payment security technology
Latest round: $1.55 million
Total raised: $1.55 million
HQ: Longwood, Florida
Tags: SMB, merchants, security, payments, POS, credit/debit cards, authorization
Source: Crunchbase

ClearTax
Income tax service
Latest round: $1.3 million Seed
Total raised: $1.42 million
HQ: New Delhi, India
Tags: Consumer, SMB, accounting, bookkeeping,, tax returns, tax prep
Source: Crunchbase

Impact Health
Health insurance comparison site
Latest round: $1.3 million Seed
Total raised: $1.51 million
HQ: Los Angeles, California
Accelerator: TechStars
Tags: Consumer, insurance, healthcare, discover, price comparison, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Rooam
Payment system for bars and nightlife services
Latest round: $1.2 million Seed
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Washington D.C.
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, merchants, point of sale, mobile, POS, restaurants, bars
Source: Crunchbase

DreamFunded
Private tech stock market to sell pre-IPO shares
Latest round: $1 million Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, investors, employees, HR benefits, stock exchange, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Kasisto
Virtual assistant banking services
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $ million
HQ: Burlingame, California
Tags: Enterprise, B2B2C, service, AI, DBS Bank (investor), mobile
Source: FT Partners

Impact Guru
Crowdfunding solution for nonprofits
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Mumbai, India
Accelerator/Incubator: Harvard iLab
Tags: Consumer, payments, crowdfunding, nonprofit, fundraising
Source: Crunchbase

Tramonex
International payment service for small businesses
Latest round: $365,000 Grant
Total raised: $ million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, payments, cross border, FX, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

CallforLoans
Personal loan comparison site
Latest round: $105,000 Seed
Total raised: $105,000
HQ: India
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, discovery, quotes, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Fundwise
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $34,000 Convertible Note
Total raised: $143,000
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Tags: SMB, equity, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer marketplace, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Almax Analytics
AI for capital markets news
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Investors, advisers, traders, investing, data analytics, information, news
Source: FT Partners

BlueVine
Invoice factoring
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $64 million
HQ: California
Tags: SMB, factoring, accounts receivables, trade finance, lending, credit, underwriting, Citibank (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Deposit Rates Exchange
Deposit rates information site
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Australia
Tags: Consumer, deposits, savings accounts, investing
Source: FT Partners

HireAthena
Accounting, payroll and HR platform for small businesses
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unkown
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, human resoures, accounting, billing, payroll, invoicing, bookkeeping, insurance
Source: FT Partners

Nvstr
Social platform for investors
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, investors, social, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Parasail
Alt-lender for medical expenses
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, healthcare, payments, insurance
Source: Crunchbase

Pariti Technologies
Mobile spending app 
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, mobile, spending, budgeting, PFM, personal finance
Source: FT Partners

 

 

 

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Lending Club’s Stock Price is Not a Leading Indicator for Fintech

Lending Club’s Stock Price is Not a Leading Indicator for Fintech
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Lending Club, LendingRobot, Marketplaces, P2P Lending, Uncategorized

Lending-Club-NYSE

Lending Club (LC) will always have a fond place in my heart. Renaud Laplanche’s small team presented at our very first Finovate in 2007. And until a few months ago, they were our most successful startup alum, at least measured by company valuation (Credit Karma gets the nod for now). While LendingClub is still a unicorn (market cap = $1.5 billion today), the loss of 7 or 8 unicorns’ worth of market cap in the past 12 months is unsettling.

I have had little interaction with the company in the past few years as it moved from demoing tech at Finovate to keynoting alt-lending events. But I’ve always been a fan, both of the business model, and also of Laplanche and the company as a whole. I will say this, though, they were one of our more intense alums. But that’s not necessarily a negative. That’s often what it takes to scale in the difficult world of consumer credit where one misstep can sink you (RIP Nextcard).

But they’ve also been willing to give back. Laplanche personally introduced us to a potential strategic partner several years ago. He did it purely as a friendly favor. It was long past the point where he had anything to gain from that introduction.

So, yeah, it’s been hard to watch the s***storm of the past 10 days. I was preoccupied with FinovateSpring during the worst of it last week, but I’ve been soaking up the various articles the past few days. I agree with Peter Renton’s post today: Lending Club must overcome some serious challenges in the short-term. But to say that the marketplace lending model is broken (paywall warning), or to jump to the conclusion of a fundamental flaw in the entire fintech industry is just so much hyperbole.

lc ytd stockFrom what I can discern, Lending Club had a relatively minor disclosure issue. And while LC lost major trust-points (albeit a HUGE issue), it’s important to note there were ZERO financial losses for anyone involved other than shareholders (see inset) and fired LC execs. A single bad consumer loan would produce more financial damage to LC lenders than this whole sordid situation.

What does this mean for the future of P2P lending? Well, it’s bad for LC short-term. But for other players, the situation is mixed. Less volume going through the LC platform means more loan demand for other players. But it’s a two-sided market, and clearly some institutional money is pulling back, so it may be harder to fund loans. That means rates go up, which will spike lender returns, bringing more capital back into the system. Money always flows to the best risk-adjusted return. So marketplace lending survives.

And what does all this mean to the other fintech players? We had 72 demos at FinovateSpring last week. Exactly zero of them are impacted negatively by the LC situation. The primary P2P loan-play, Best of Show winner Lending Robot, is probably helped by volatility. As the “Mint for individual P2P lenders,” that YC alum acts as a front-end to multiple loan platforms (see their demo here).

You could argue that the stock-price decline of Lending Club puts a damper on future fintech IPOs. That is probably true for U.S. consumer lending marketplaces like Prosper (which recently laid off 28% of its workforce, which, remember, had doubled in 2015). But serious investors don’t view fintech as one homogeneous field. Returns from angel investing in Hip Pocket or UBS’s recent investment in SigFig, have no correlation with the stock market return of a single public marketplace lender.

So yes, one high-flyer falls back to earth, but that’s not an indictment of an entire, highly diversified industry.

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The Art of Mobile Banking Engagement

The Art of Mobile Banking Engagement
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Blend, Hip Pocket, Mobile Banking, Mortgage, Refi & Home Equity, Moven, Roostify, Simple

Customer engagement word cloudIt’s been fascinating to watch mobile banking take hold. The path has been much the same as online (desktop) banking a decade earlier, but at about double the pace (at least in the parts of the world that are highly banked).

Modern online banking started 21 years ago this month, when Wells Fargo began web banking in May 1995. It took 12 years before Mint came along and made it all look good and introduced the masses to more advanced concepts such as account aggregation, goal-oriented online budgeting, and expense tracking.

Mobile banking, which got its start in the post-iPhone App Store era (2008), took only about five years before it was “Minted” by Simple and then others. And in fewer than eight years mobile banking is already far better than desktop by almost every measure. From touchID access, to location awareness, to that very useful camera for depositing checks, there is just no way desktop online banking can compete.

But we have just barely scratched the surface of its biggest advantage: the always-on, always-with-you benefits. Account and transaction security is one of the first features having huge impact both on consumers (peace of mind, less hassle) and financial institutions (fewer false negatives, lower fraud costs, less customer-service expense).

Another area where huge benefits exist? Proactive communications about finances. Simple, Moven and Capital One’s Level Money are on the forefront with tools that help mobile customers know where they stand BEFORE they drop another $12 for a fancy cocktail or $35 on Uber.

And while monitoring spending in real-time has big theoretical benefits, it’s universally loathed by most consumers as the ultimate buzz-kill, kind of like having your parents hovering over you at point of sale. A more exciting always-on benefit is guidance to achieve bigger aspirations, like replacing your aging vehicle, trading up from your dinky apartment, or buying a house.

Take home buying. Many of our readers have been through this multiple times. But do you remember how little you knew about it back in the day? It’s a daunting task today even forHip_Pocket_Art0 the financially savvy.

That’s why I love tools that help people understand all aspects of the home-buying process: the mortgage, the purchase, and dealing with all of the ancillary expenses. We’ve seen a number of companies working on various aspects of the mortgage process. And next week at FinovateSpring, you’ll be treated to demos by two of the new breed of mortgage startups: Blend Labs which powers mortgage processing on the back-end and Roostify which helps consumers through the process.

And as luck would have it, last week Mark Zmarzly from Hip Pocket visited Seattle to present at a CU event, and was able to spare a few minutes to meet me for coffee. Mark wowed the crowd when he demo’d at FinovateSpring last year. Hip Pocket’s first product is a mobile app that allows anyone to input mortgage rate and monthly payment to see how their company stacks up against its peers (see inset).

The Hip Pocket mortgage app is a compelling value-prop for users, and potentially a great lead-gen tool for banks and credit unions. While Hip Pocket has had some great traction since then, it is still looking for additional seed funding to build more tools and fine-tune its customer-acquisition model. Hip Pocket is in a sweet part of the market—mobile mortgage (MoMo)—and is at a point in their company arc where relatively small dollars can make a big impact. They are a great candidate for “bank strategic seed funding.”

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Fintech Fundings: 17 Companies Raise $4.8 Billion Week Ending April 22

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money_scrabbleDue to the massive $4.5 billion funding at Alipay’s Ant Financial, we just set the one-week record for fintech venture funding with $4.79 billion (of which $125 million was debt). However, for the first time this year, there were fewer than 20 deals during the week. But with 39 deals last week and 17 this week, it could hardly be called a slowdown.

The total number of deals YTD stands at 419, nearly double last year’s 223. Total dollars raised YTD is now $13.6 billion, 2.5x the $5.5 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

Here are the fintech deals by size from 16 April to 22 April 2016:

Ant Financial
Online payment services division of Alipay
Latest round: $4.5 billion Series B
Total raised: $4.5 billion
HQ: Hangzhou, China
Tags: Consumer, merchants, SMB, payments, mobile, funds transfer, P2P, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

SocietyOne
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $125 million, $25 million Series C and $100 million Debt
Total raised: $158.5 million including $100 million Debt
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer loan marketplace, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Kueski
Alt-lender in Mexico
Latest round: $35 million ($10 million Series A, $25 million debt)
Total raised: $40.1 million
HQ: Guadalajara, Mexico
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, payday loans
Source: Crunchbase, Press Release

Forter
Ecommerce payments fraud technology
Latest round: $32 million Series C
Total raised: $50 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, payments, merchants, fraud, security
Source: Crunchbase

Acorns
Small-dollar investments provider
Latest round: $30 million Series D
Total raised: $61.96 million
HQ: Newport Beach, California
Tags: Consumer, savings account, desposits, investing, millenials, payments, mobile, Paypal (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

Transactis (OfferIQ)
BillerIQ bill presentment and payment solution
Latest round: $30 million Series E
Total raised: $66.7 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Enterprise, payments, billpay, invocing, billing, white-label
Source: Crunchbase

Tuliu.com
Land purchase and sales management platform
Latest round: $23 million Series B
Total raised: $23 million
HQ: China
Tags: Real estate, mortgage, land purchase, discovery
Source: Crunchbase

Platform Black (GLI Finance)
Invoice finance marketplace lender
Latest round: $7.2 million
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Basingstoke, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, lending, credit, underwriting, trade finance, factoring, accounts receivables, invoice financing, investing
Source: PYMNTS.com, Startups.co.uk

Castle
Rental payment and management platform 
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, landlords, commercial real estate, merchants, payments, Y Combinator (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

ClassWallet
Payment and procurement plaftform for the education market
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $4.04 million
HQ: Miami, Florida
Tags: Governmet, education, payments, billing, invoicing, expense reimbursement, purchasing
Source: Crunchbase

BrickVest
Online real estate investment platform
Latest round: $1.44 million
Total raised: $2.44 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, investing, credit, commercial real estate, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Modalku
Small business marketplace lender
Latest round: $1.2 million Seed
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, merchants, acquiring, purchase finance
Source: Crunchbase

Tricount
Group expense manager
Latest round: $560,000 Seed
Total raised: $560,000
HQ: Brussels, Belgium
Tags: Consumer, payments, personal finance, budgeting, PFM, millenials
Source: FT Partners

CodiPark
Payment and access solutions for off-street parking
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $780,000
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, SMB, merchants, acquiring, payments
Source: FT Partners

Konfio
Online micro-business loans
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Mexico City
Tags: SMB, small business, lending, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

MCX Stock Exchange
Commodity exchange in India 
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Enterprise, investing, futures, commodities, trading
Source: FT Partners

Rapid Ratings
Ratings service for public and private company financial health
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: New York City
Tags: Enterprise, investors, advisors, investing, information services, analytics
Source: FT Partners

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Fintech Fundings: 39 Companies Raised $930 Million Week Ending April 15

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized

money_keyFor the third time this year, we broke the single-week record of number of deals. This week we hit 39, three more than the previous high of 36 (the week ending Mar 17). This week the total capital raised was a whopping $932 million (or $680 million not counting the $253-million Bats Global IPO). The total also included $46 million in debt.

That makes it 15 straights weeks with at least 20 deals worldwide.

The total number of deals YTD stands at 402, nearly double last year’s 204 (through April 17). Total dollars raised YTD is $8.8 billion, and is double the $4.4 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

Two Finovate alums raised fresh capital:

Here are the fintech deals by size from 9 April to 15 April 2016:

Bats Global
Equities markets operator
Latest round: $252.7 million IPO
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Lenexa, Kansas
Tags: Enterprise, trading, stocks, assets, exchanges
Source: FT Partners

XP Investimentos
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $130 million
Total raised: $229 million
HQ: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, stocks, advisors
Source: Crunchbase, FT Partners

Net1 UEPS Technologies
Alt-payment system provider
Latest round: $107.7 million
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Johannesburg, South Africa
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, consumer, payments, mobile
Source: FT Partners

Affirm
Alt-lender at the point-of-sale
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $420 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, merchants, acquiring, purchase finance
Source: Crunchbase

Licaifan
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $51 million Series C
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bejing, China
Tags: Consumer, P2P lending, peer-to-peer, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Omni Prime
Mobile alt-lender
Latest round: $46 million Series C
Total raised: $87 million
HQ: Shanghai, China
Tags: Consumer, credit, underwriting, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Chedai.com
Automotive lending platform
Latest round: $34 million Series A
Total raised: $34 million
HQ: Shanghai, China
Tags: Consumer, credit, underwriting, vehicle loans, auto lending
Source: Crunchbase

Vestmark (Wilmark Associates)
Wealth managment platform
Latest round: $30 million Private Equity
Total raised: $31.7 million
HQ: Wakefield, Massechuessets
Tags: Advisers, wealth management, retirement planning, trading, stocks
Source: Crunchbase

Lend Street Financial
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $28 million Debt
Total raised: $31.2 million (includes $28 million Debt)
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, debt restructuring, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Eligible
Payment infrastructure for healthcare
Latest round: $25.2 million Angel
Total raised: $25.2 million
HQ: Brooklyn, New York
Tags: SMB, insurance, enterprise, payments, health care, benefits, developers, APIs
Source: Crunchbase

Viva Republica 
P2P money transfers
Latest round: $23 million Series A
Total raised: $24 million
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Tags: Consumer, peer-to-peer, payments, money transfer, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

Varthana
Student lending
Latest round: $14 million Series B
Total raised: $18.43 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, credit, underwriting, student loans
Source: Crunchbase

Wolt
Mobile payments for restuarants
Latest round: $12.4 million Series B
Total raised: $26.05 million
HQ: Helsinki, Finland
Tags: SMB, payments, merchants, mobile, acquiring, debit/credit cards, B2B2C
Source: Crunchbase

Nauto
Automobile collision recording for insurance claims
Latest round: $12 million Series A
Total raised: $14.85 million
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, insurance, automobiles, fraud
Source: Crunchbase

ThinCats Australia
Small business marketplace lender
Latest round: $10 million Debt
Total raised: $10 million Debt
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: SMB, P2P lending, peer-to-peer, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Even
Alt-lender
Latest round: $9 million
Total raised: $12 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Pave
Alt-lender
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $308 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, millendials, lending, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Borro
Alt-lender using high-end luxery items for security
Latest round: $5.9 million
Total raised: $177.5 million
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Consumer, credit, pawn, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Emailage
Fraud protection for financial institutions
Latest round: $5.67 million
Total raised: $5.67 million
HQ: Chandler, Arizona
Tags: Enterprise, security, fraud protection, email, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase, Finovate

Viewpost
Online invoicing and payments platform
Latest round: $5.13 million Debt
Total raised: $54.47 million
HQ: Orlando, Florida
Tags: SMB, payments, billing, invoicing, accounts payable, accounting, bookkeeping
Source: Crunchbase

Sardex.net
Connected commerce platform
Latest round: $3.42 million
Total raised: $3.42 million
HQ: Campiano, Italy
Tags: SMB, credit, commerical lending, commerce
Source: Crunchbase

Squirrel
Alt-lender
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: New Zealand
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, mortgage
Source: FT Partners

Total Expert
Marketing platform for mortgage and real estate brokers
Latest round: $3 million Series A
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Tags: SMB, brokers, mortgage, lending, marketing, real estate, home buying
Source: Crunchbase

Plastiq
Mobile bill payments
Latest round: $2.85 million
Total raised: $21.2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, mobile, payments, billpay
Source: Crunchbase

Sixup
Student loan marketplace
Latest round: $2.5 million Debt
Total raised: $6 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, student loans, lending, underwriting, education finance
Source: Crunchbase

Habito
Digital mortgage broker
Latest round: $2.2 million Seed
Total raised: $2.2 million
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Consumer, lending, mortgage, home buying, credit, underwriting,
Source: Crunchbase

Waves
Blockchain platform
Latest round: $2 million Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: Consumer, SMB, blockchain, trading, contracts
Source: Crunchbase

BitKan
Bitcoin trading services
Latest round: $1.6 million Series A
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: Shenzen, China
Tags: Consumer, payments, cryptocurrency, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

RenewBuy
Car insurance renewal service
Latest round: $1 million Angel
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: Gurgaon, India
Tags: Consumer, automobiles, insurance, lending, price comparison, lead gen, discovery
Source: Crunchbase

Kredx
Invoice factoring marketplace
Latest round: $750,000 Seed
Total raised: $750,000
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: SMB, consumer, factoring, trade finance, invoicing, investing, P2P, peer-to-peer credit
Source: Crunchbase

PesaBazaar.com
Insurance portal
Latest round: $396,000 Seed
Total raised: 421,000
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
Tags: Consumer, insurance, price comparison, quotes, discovery, lead generation
Source: Crunchbase

Accrualify
Accounting tools to for invoicing, payments and vendor management
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: San Mateo, California
Tags: SMB, accounting, billing, invoicing, accounts payables, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Aire
Alt-credit score
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Enterprise, consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, credit score
Source: Finovate

Cloud9 Technologies
Trader voice and messaging services
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: New York City
Tags: Enterprise, brokerages, traders, equities, stocks, investing
Source: FT Partners

Deal4Loans
Lending portal
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Delhi, India
Tags: Consumer, lending, price comparison, discover, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Kickfurther
Crowdfunded inventor marketplace
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Watchung, New York
Tags: Consumer, SMB, investing, working capital finance, trade finance, P2P, peer-to-peer
Source: FT Partners

Kraken Bitcoin Exchange
Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $6.5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, cyrptocurrency, payments, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

Lenden Club
P2P lending platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, P2P lending, peer-to-peer, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Tandem
Digital bank
Latest round: Undisclosed Series B
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Consumer, lending, banking, deposits
Source: Crunchbase

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