Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Prosper Freshens Up the Retail Investor Experience

Prosper Freshens Up the Retail Investor Experience
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Prosper

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Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Prosper launched a revamped user experience for its retail investors today. The San Francisco-based company’s enhanced investor dashboard offers two new tools:

  • Auto-invest: within seconds Prosper applies the user’s saved criteria to invest on their behalf
  • Portfolio customization: users select a predefined, target investment mix or create their own custom mix

Prosper

After testing it out on my own account, I can vouch for the new dashboard’s more intuitive navigation and easier view of portfolio diversification. There’s one thing still missing from the investor experience, however. Prosper still lacks a native mobile app that caters to investors; however, to the company’s credit, its site has been mobile-friendly for some time, and a native mobile app was launched for borrowers last year following its $30 million purchase of BillGuard last September.

This redesign is Prosper’s second move to attract new investors, after the company raised rates by a weighted average of 0.29% last month. The new efforts come at a time when Prosper has struggled to balance interest from investors and borrowers. Earlier this month, after experiencing waning investor interest, the company dropped relationships with LendingTree and Credit Karma, formerly leveraged to attract new borrowers.

Prosper presented at FinovateSpring 2009 as well as the inaugural Finovate in 2007.

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Kabbage and Scotiabank Ink Partnership

Kabbage and Scotiabank Ink Partnership
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kabbage

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Small business lending platform Kabbage added a big name to its list of bank partners today. The Atlanta-based company announced it has teamed up with Scotiabank, a Canadian bank that contributed to the alt-lender’s $135 million funding round last October.

The partnership licenses Kabbage’s lending technology to Scotiabank, which will co-brand loans offered to small business customers in Mexico and Canada. Through the agreement, Kabbage will automate the onboarding process, underwrite and service the loans, and provide ongoing monitoring throughout the life of the loan. Scotiabank will keep the majority of loans on its balance sheet; Kabbage will have the option to buy a minority share.

Scotiabank will pilot the new offering in Mexico with 12-month term loans, and in Canada with 6-month term loans. The bank is using a phased-in approach and will launch for current, non-borrowing small business customers starting next month.

Scotiabank is the third international bank and the first bank in Canada to select Kabbage to power its online business loans in the past six months. Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein says that the global reach “demonstrates the scalability of Kabbage to power lending for organizations worldwide.”

At FinovateSpring 2015 Kabbage unveiled the Kabbage Card, a payment card that lets small business owners carry a financing tool in their wallet to pay for supplies needed to keep their business running. The company’s CTO Andy Badstubner presented at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 on how to integrate into the Kabbage platform.

Founded in 2009, Kabbage maintains similar partnerships with ING and Santander. A few weeks back, the company was featured on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list and last month achieved a milestone by extending $2 billion in loans in five years.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FICO, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Mambu, Markit, MX, Personal Capital, Plaid, Thomson Reuters, Trulioo, Yodlee

FinDEVrSV16-LogoV2(wdate)Our FinDEVr New York developer showcase was a success! FinDEVr Silicon Valley will be held October 18 & 19 in Santa Clara. Register today and save.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Markit Agrees to Acquire Prism Valuation.
  • Goldman Sachs Leads $44 Million Investment in Plaid.
  • Mambu Unveils FinTech Startup Program.

The latest from FinDEVr New York 2016 presenters

  • Personal Capital Brings on Former Yodlee CFO.
  • FICO acquires cybersecurity firm QuadMetrics, announces plans for “enterprise security scores.”

Alumni updates

  • Let’s Talk Payments asks if fintech startups should be able to access bank data in the wake of Plaid’s $44 million Series B.
  • MX Adds Cash Flow Feature to MoneyDesktop Platform.
  • Trulioo expands to South America as part of Canada’s Fintech Mission to Brazil.
  • Thomson Reuters named 2016 European Tax Technology Firm of the Year by International Tax Review.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CustomerXPs, FIS, Kabbage, Lendio, NYMBUS, Plaid, Prosper, Rippleshot, Thomson Reuters, Toshl, Tyfone

On Finovate.com

  • In Third Deal in Four Weeks, NYMBUS Acquires Sharp BancShares.

On FinDEVr

  • Hyperwallet Expands Offerings in Partnership with Choice Bank.

Around the web

  • Operational Risk Magazine names Clari5 from CustomerXPs Best Fraud Detection Product at the 2016 OpRisk Awards.
  • Banking CIO Outlook names Tyfone a Top 10 Mobile Banking Solution Provider for second year in a row.
  • Let’s Talk Payments asks if fintech startups should be able to access bank data in the wake of Plaid’s $44 million Series B.
  • Thomson Reuters unveils compliance solution, Checkpoint State Clear Comply.
  • FIS wins Most Innovative Tech Company, Maverick of the Year, and Woman of the Year at American Business Awards.
  • The American Bankers Association endorsees Rippleshot’s Sonar card-compromise-detection tool.
  • Toshl launches Finance 2.0 app for Android.

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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MX Adds Cash Flow Feature to MoneyDesktop Platform

MX Adds Cash Flow Feature to MoneyDesktop Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: MX

Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 1.31.55 PM

Money-management solutions provider MX launched a new feature to bolster its suite of MoneyDesktop offerings, which include budgeting, account aggregation, transaction history, etc. The new addition is called Cash Flow and offers a better way for users to visualize how money moves in and out of their account throughout the month.Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 4.11.37 PM

Cash Flow combs a user’s transaction history for deposits into and payments out of their accounts that occur on a regular basis. Both the calendar and line graph views of the tool show a future-cast of their projected balance each day and help them see the impact of additional recurring payments. The Utah-based company’s CEO Ryan Caldwell said that the new technology offers customers “the ability to not only track data, but also take action on their own financial data.”

MXCashFlow

Highlights of Cash Flow include:

  • Quickly capture recurring debits and credits (rent, mortgage, utility bills, paychecks)
  • Match transactions to specific events to help predict account behavior
  • View transactions on a line graph or calendar
  • View financial trajectory on a monthly or yearly basis

Founded in 2010, MX is a five-time Best of Show winner at Finovate. The company most recently demoed at FinovateFall 2014 where it launched Helios, a cross-platform framework for fintech. The company partners with 650 financial institutions and 35 digital, online, and mobile banking providers.

MX has also been successful in presenting at the FinDEVr developers conference. At FinDEVr San Francisco 2015, the company’s CTO Brandon Dewitt gave a presentation titled, How You Build Something Is More Important Than What You’re Building.

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Reverse Takeover IPO Places ayondo on the Singapore Exchange

Reverse Takeover IPO Places ayondo on the Singapore Exchange
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ayondo, Mergers & Acquisitions

AyondoHomepageIn a $117 million (S$158 million) reverse takeover (RTO) deal, brokerage and social trading platform ayondo will be listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after finalizing an agreement with Starland Holdings, a Singapore-based property developer.

A reverse takeover occurs when a private company acquires a public company in order to bypass the complicated IPO process. Frankfurt-based ayondo stated that it opted for a reverse takeover because of “volatility in financial markets.” The company’s press release says, “In such market conditions, an RTO provides greater certainty as key terms such as funds raised and valuation are agreed between buyer and seller, and not necessarily subject to prevailing market conditions as is always the case in an IPO. The RTO route also offers ayondo other advantages, such as lower listing costs.”

Starland anticipates the deal will help the company “expand its business in line with its diversification strategy into the fintech business” and will offer “more consistent and sustainable financial growth.” The purchase will be completed through the issuance of new shares of Starland. The finalization of the takeover is conditional, pending approval of shareholders.

AyondoDemoayondo debuts ayondo 3.0 at FinovateEurope 2013 in London

ayondo was founded in 2008 with a mission to revolutionize retail trading. The company’s brokerage platform lets users copy the moves of top traders to optimize returns. At FinovateEurope 2013, ayondo unveiled the newest version of its service, its London brokerage, and a trader career training curriculum. Last month, the company brought on Rick Fulton as CFO.

According to Singapore news site e27, ayondo is the first fintech company (and third tech company) to IPO via the SGX.

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ThetaRay Signs with ING Netherlands to Detect SME Lending Fraud

ThetaRay Signs with ING Netherlands to Detect SME Lending Fraud
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ING Bank, ThetaRay

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Big-data analytics company ThetaRay inked an agreement today with ING Netherlands that combines its Advanced Analytics solution for fraud detection with ING’s existing risk engine.

The partnership will empower ING to uncover new SME lending fraud by detecting anomalies through its transactional and organizational data. Beate Zwijnenberg, director of fraud and cybersecurity for ING Netherlands, says that ThetaRay impressed the company by “rapidly identifying a number of transactional anomalies.” She describes the company’s precision in detecting fraudulent activity as “truly innovative.”

ThetaRay’s algorithms help financial services organizations protect against cybersecurity threats, enhance operational efficiency, and detect risk. At FinovateFall 2015, Theta Ray’s fraud and credit risk algorithms were demoed. Udi Solomon, VP of product, began the demo saying, “We are able to take any type of structured or semi-structured data source to automatically and in just a few seconds… to detect the first signs of anomalous activity.” He continued by showing how the algorithms help banks leverage their big data.

thetaraydemoUdi Solomon (VP, Product) demoes ThetaRay at FinovateFall 2015.

ThetaRay, headquartered in Israel and the United States, has raised a total of $25 million from investors including Alibaba and General Electric. Mark Gazit is CEO. Last fall, the company was named Most Innovative Industrial Internet Technology at GE’s Minds + Machines 2015.

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Ledger Launches Newest Hardware Wallet: Nano S

Ledger Launches Newest Hardware Wallet: Nano S
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Ledger

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Blockchain hardware-solutions company Ledger announced a new hardware wallet today. A successor to the HW.1 and Unplugged wallets, Ledger’s Nano S differentiates itself by offering a built-in OLED display and by adding protection for Ethereum fund transfers.

The Paris-based company created the Nano S after spending 18 months improving the Nano, Ledger’s best-selling product. It connects to any computer through USB—allowing users to send and receive payments, check their accounts, manage multiple addresses—and even supports the FIDO Universal Second Factor standard.

Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 9.53.48 AMThe built-in OLED display on the Nano S allows the user to double-check and confirm each transaction by tapping the buttons on the device. While the Nano S includes built-in apps for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, it also supports other blockchain-based currencies.

Priced at 58€ ($66), the Nano S comes with a set of Chrome applications to help users manage their wallets. It is available for pre-order today and will be shipping at the end of July.

At FinovateEurope 2016 Ledger CEO Eric Larchevêque debuted Ledger Blue, a touch-screen smartcard for developers. Ledger Blue offers a second display that connects to devices via BLE, NFC, or USB and thwarts malware attacks by delivering the correct payment address.

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Personal Capital Brings on Former Yodlee CFO

Personal Capital Brings on Former Yodlee CFO
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Personal Capital

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ArmsbyOnline wealth-management platform Personal Capital today announced it has brought on former Yodlee CFO, Mike Armsby (pictured), as its new CFO. Armsby, a Harvard MBA grad, has previously served as CFO of View, a high-tech glass supplier, and PowerLight, a solar development company.

The California-based company has also promoted three current executives:

  • Jay Shah is now CEO of Personal Capital Advisors, an RIA which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Personal Capital; Shah retains his role as chief operating officer of the parent firm.
  • Mark Goines is now vice chairman.
  • Paul Bergholm is now chief administrative officer.

In a funding round that boosted its valuation to $500 million, Personal Capital raised $50 million last month, with another $25 million pending. The company’s CEO Bill Harris said the new executives are “key to powering our next phase of hyper-growth.” Earlier this spring, the company announced it had exceeded $2 billion assets under management, up from $1.6 billion in November of last year.

At FinovateSpring 2014, Personal Capital launched One Click Investment Proposals. The company’s CTO Fritz Robbins gave a presentation titled Data-Driven Retirement Planning at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

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Cachet Financial Solutions to Power Mobile Deposit for Malauzai Software

Cachet Financial Solutions to Power Mobile Deposit for Malauzai Software
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Cachet Financial Solutions, Malauzai

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Mobile deposit-capture specialist Cachet Financial Solutions teamed up with community financial institution (CFI) technology-provider Malauzai to deliver mobile-deposit capabilities to Malauzai’s clients.

Austin-based Malauzai has integrated Cachet’s Select Mobile Deposit API into its MOX Everywhere Suite to help CFIs offer customers a way to deposit checks by taking a photo. Cachet’s solution works well with Malauzai’s needs: It allows individual CFIs to define separate business groups and to set up different sets of deposit limits and rules for each group. This way a financial institution can increase a customer’s deposit limits over time.MalauzaiDemo

This news comes after Malauzai CPO Robb Gaynor launched MOX Pay at FinovateSpring 2016 last month. MOX Pay allows CFIs to extend their current business-service offerings with a mobile wallet option that empowers business customers to publish payment-centric mobile apps.

Last year, Malauzai counted one million downloads of its SmartApps. The company has more than 400 banks and credit union clients covering 7 million logins from 400,000+ active end users.

Based in Minnesota, Cachet Financial Solutions debuted Select Mobile Money at FinovateFall 2014. The company partnered with PAYTOO mobile wallet last month to power the startup’s mobile account-opening process.

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Stock Gifting Platform Stockpile Acquires SparkGift

Stock Gifting Platform Stockpile Acquires SparkGift
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, Stockpile

Screen Shot 2016-06-16 at 1.58.40 PM

Just in time to remind you of what would make a great Father’s Day gift, stock gift card company Stockpile acquired SparkGift, a startup behind a similar stock egifting idea.

Stockpile will transfer SparkGift’s customer base onto its own brokerage platform for free in the next three months. Upon transferring, SparkGift customers will receive new features, including 99-cent stock trades, an iOS app, and the ability for kids and teens to independently check their own accounts and place trades (with their moms’ and dads’ permission, of course).

Stockpile CEO Avi Lele describes SparkGift as “an innovator in personalizing and democratizing the stock market for the millennial generation” saying that the San Francisco-based startup “shares Stockpile’s mission of making investing accessible to everyone.”

Palo Alto-based Stockpile allows users to buy fractional stock shares starting at $10. In 2015 the company partnered with Blackhawk Network to offer physical gift cards in denominations of $25, $50, and $100 at select U.S. retailers.

Founded in 2010, Stockpile CEO Avi Lele and Chief Commercial Officer Dan Schatt launched the company at FinovateSpring 2014 in a demo that won Best of Show.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Cachet Financial Solutions, Corezoid.com, defi Solutions, Malauzai Software, myInvenio, Patch of Land, Personal Capital, Stockpile, Yodlee

On Finovate.com

  • Stock Gifting Platform Stockpile Acquires SparkGift.
  • Corezoid Goes AWS with its Platform-as-a-Service Core Banking Technology.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions to Power Mobile Deposit for Malauzai Software.
  • Personal Capital Brings on Former Yodlee CFO.

Around the web

  • Gartner names Cognitive Technology a 2016 Cool Vendor in Analytics for myInvenio.
  • Times Realty news looks at why Patch of Land is choosing not to adopt Title III Crowdfunding rules.
  • defi Solutions announces new Chief Technology Officer.

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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