Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Azimo, Backbase, Currency Cloud, CustomerXPs, Dyme, EquityZen, eToro, FICO, Infosys, Lending Club, LendingRobot, MyOrder, Ormsby Street, Patch of Land, Prosper, TokBox, Tradeshift, True Potential, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • Tradeshift Closes $75 Million Series D Round, Boosts Valuation to $500 Million.
  • Finovate Debuts: EquityZen Lets Wealth Managers Invest in Pre-IPO Companies.
  • Backbase Announces New CFO Leonore Van Waiij.
  • MyOrder, Wirecard Helps Power Shared Spending Functionality for GRPPY App.
  • Dyme Unveils Prototype of Facebook Saving Chatbot.

On FinDEVr

  • FICO Launches Falcon Assurance Navigator to Help Universities Monitor Federal Grant Spending.

Around the web

  • Chartis names CustomerXPs an Enterprise Solution player in the 2016 RiskTech Quadrant for Enterprise Fraud Tech.
  • Patch of Land Adds Institutional Investors to Real Estate Platform.
  • Prosper hires investment banks to explore raising more funds.
  • NuData Security Selected Best AntiFraud Solution at CardNotPresent Expo.
  • TechCrunch: Lending Robot makes Lending Club investing easy as setting screen brightness.
  • Tokbox launches its video broadcast solution for producers.
  • Banking Technology: Goldman Sachs to use technology from Infosys to power its new digital bank, GS Bank.
  • Business Insider features Finovate alums Azimo, eToro, Currency Cloud, and Zopa in list of potential future U.K. fintech unicorns.
  • True Potential wins Best Use of Technology at Money Marketing Awards 2016.
  • CreditHQ announces special freelancer rate.

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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Buzz Points Lands $1.8 Million in Funding

Buzz Points Lands $1.8 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Buzz Points, Funding

BuzzPointsHomepage

BuzzPointsMobileCommunity-focused rewards program Buzz Points pulled in $1.8 million from seven unnamed investors this week according to the company’s Form D filing with the SEC. This brings the Austin-based company’s total to $28.3 million since launching in 2009 as fisoc, Inc. Previous investors include Greycroft Partners and Discover Financial Services.

The company debuted the Buzz Points mobile app at FinovateFall 2015. The app offers targeted marketing campaigns that enable community bank customers to use their mobile device to purchase, manage, and redeem points and offers with local businesses across the country. Consumers receive discounts based on their personal spending habits and Buzz Points uses geolocation to determine nearby, relevant offers.

The company boasts partnerships with Discover and Malauzai and recently added Thrive Credit Union as a client. According to a 2014 article in the Wall Street Journal, Buzz Points had a valuation of $65 million at the time of its $19 million Series D round in 2014.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CardFlight, DefenseStorm, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Flybits, Kabbage, Markit, MX, NYMBUS, OutsideIQ, PayPal, Praesidio, Temenos, Token, Trulioo, UpGuard, Xero

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

  • Flybits Earns Gartner Cool Vendor Recognition in its Platform-as-a-Service 2016 Report.
  • UpGuard Brings Better Vulnerability Detection to ServiceNow.

The latest from FinDEVr New York 2016 presenters

  • Infoworld feature on AI shares insights from OutsideIQ CEO Dan Adamson.
  • Markit partners with BitSight Technologies to enhance its Know Your Third Party (KY3P) platform.
  • NYMBUS Acquires R. C. Olmstead to Enhance Core Data Processing.
  • The WSJ calls PayPal “the new face of banking.”

Alumni updates

  • MX to power Homeownership Preservation Foundation’s digital money management app.
  • Cater Allen Private Bank to implement new core banking system from Temenos.
  • Trulioo enhances address validation in Global Gateway.
  • Token Facilitates PSD2 Compliance with New Payment Network.
  • Kabbage Named a CNBC Top Disruptor.
  • Fragmob and CardFlight Announce Integrated Partnership.
  • Xero featured as one of first New & Notable Apps on Google Apps Marketplace.
  • Banking Technology reports that Temenos is nearing a core banking software deal with Iran’s Ayandeh Bank (Future Bank).

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

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Scalable Capital Begins Onboarding U.K. Clients Ahead of July Launch

Scalable Capital Begins Onboarding U.K. Clients Ahead of July Launch
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Scalable Capital

ScalableCapitalHomepage

Investment management platform Scalable Capital took a step today to becoming a more global company by onboarding its first U.K. clients.

laptop-phone_onlineA group of select clients on the waiting list will be guided through Scalable Capital’s risk assessment module before their funds go live on the platform. The Germany-based company received approval from the FCA in February and will open up to the general U.K. public in early July.

Scalable Capital seeks to make investment management available to everyone with a flat fee structure of 0.75% p.a. The company differentiates itself with risk management technology that lets clients select from more than 20 different risk categories. Scalable Capital uses Monte Carlo simulations to determine if the client’s portfolio selections will breach their risk limit and automatically rebalances their portfolio until it fits within their specified tolerance.

In March, Scalable Capital raised $7.9 million to grow its client base and expand into additional markets. The company now boasts $12.4 million in total funding. Co-founder and Co-CEO Erik Podzuweit, along with Co-founder and U.K. Managing Director Adam French debuted Scalable Capital at FinovateEuorpe 2016 in London.

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Alpha Payments Cloud Selected for Wells Fargo Spring Startup Accelerator

Alpha Payments Cloud Selected for Wells Fargo Spring Startup Accelerator
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alpha Payments Cloud

FinovateSpring 2015 Best of Show winner Alpha Payments Cloud is one of two early-stage payments companies that Wells Fargo chose to participate in the spring 2016 class of its semi-annual startup accelerator.

During the six-month program, the Singapore-based startup receives an investment ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 and mentorship to help refine its AlphaHub solution that lets banks, merchants, and payment service providers access any payment type or solution provider via a set of APIs. Additionally, the accelerator will help test AlphaHub and guide them through the process of bringing it to market. While the amount of the investment Alpha Payments Cloud received is undisclosed, the company’s valuation stands at $100 million.

About Alpha Payments Cloud’s participation, CEO Oliver Rajic says, “Working with Wells Fargo allows us to learn from one of the world’s most significant and experienced banks and managed service providers (MSPs) and draw upon its deep knowledge pool to continue to evolve our solution and stay ahead of the game.”

EyeVerify, a FinovateEurope 2016 Best of Show winner, is a Wells Fargo Accelerator success story. The Kansas City-based company is a graduate of Wells Fargo Accelerator’s inaugural class of 2014. Earlier this year, the banking giant announced it will deploy EyeVerify’s biometric authentication technology to corporate clients with commercial bank accounts.

Alpha Payments Cloud most recently took the stage at FinovateEurope 2016 in London where it demonstrated how banks, merchants and payment service providers can access more than 250 third-party solutions with the AlphaHub API. In February, the company partnered with Sentenial’s Nuapay to add SEPA Direct Debit functionality to the AlphaHub solutions library.

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Finovate Debuts: IBM’s Wealth Management Solution Gives Advisors an Edge

Finovate Debuts: IBM’s Wealth Management Solution Gives Advisors an Edge
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finovate Debuts, IBM

Computer technology giant IBM launched in 1911 as Computer-Tabulating-Recording-Company (CTR) and was renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.

At FinovateSpring 2016, the company’s presenter Rob Stanich, global wealth management offering manager, began the demo saying, “We come to you from a tech startup based in New York… it’s called IBM; maybe you’ve heard of us.” He jokingly adds, “It took us only 100 years to get here.”

Stanich then explains that they’re doing something new within IBM called Client Insight for Wealth Management powered by IBM Watson, a solution to help advisers segment clients, predict life events and identify product and portfolio recommendations. While IBM has been working in the wealth management industry for some time, this is the company’s first API-based predictive analytics solution for the wealth-management industry.

FADashboardFinancial adviser dashboard

Company facts:

  • Headquartered in Armonk, New York
  • 300,000 employees
  • 2015 revenue of $81.7 billion
IBMPresentersAlex Baghdjian, senior offering associate, financial markets & wealth management, and Rob Stanich, global wealth management offering manager, presented at FinovateSpring 2016.

IBMPresenter1We chatted with Rob Stanich, IBM global wealth management offering manager, about the new offering:

Finovate: What problem does Client Insight for Wealth Management powered by IBM Watson solve?

Stanich: Client Insight for Wealth Management powered by IBM Watson is an industry-leading, cognitive- and predictive analytics-based solution for wealth management firms, fund providers, and self-directed investment firms of all sizes trying to gain or maintain a technology edge. Unlike any other platform in the industry, CIWM delivers data preparation with an established data schema, integrated, pre-built advanced analytical models, and APIs to deliver insights to any wealth management dashboard. 
Our current offering has the some of the following capabilities:

  • Segmenting and micro-segmenting by behavior to better understand client
  • Predicting life and financial events to personalize offers, deliver alerts, and provide better service to drive loyalty
  • Predicting client attrition to protect revenue and wallet share
  • Understanding client-product propensities to better address client need’s and expand client relationships
  • Tailoring news and alerts to streamline financial adviser prep before client meetings
ClientProfileClient Profile screen

Finovate: Who are your primary customers?

Stanich: We currently service financial advisers and branch managers at large warehouses, self-directed brokerage firms, and mutual fund wholesalers. We are also going to be reaching the Registered Independent Adviser market through some soon-to-be announced partnerships.

BranchManagerThe Branch Manager dashboard

Finovate: How does Client Insight for Wealth Management powered by IBM Watson better solve the problem?

Stanich: We found that there really is this dearth of cognitive and analytics capabilities in wealth management. A lot of our clients want to get started, but have so many other issues affecting them—from new regulations to run the firm’s initiatives–that they haven’t been able to heavily invest in providing their financial advisers with advanced cognitive and analytics solutions. We’re here to solve that problem by providing a pre-built solution that can be stood up within a 12 week timeframe and immediately provide real capabilities and a real ROI.

And they’re not just buying the current capabilities of Client Insight for Wealth Management, but will benefit from IBM’s continuing investment in our roadmap, which will over time expand to cover such topics as prospecting, account aggregation, and adviser-succession planning. Not to mention that our solution will be applying some exciting new and advanced deep-learning techniques from IBM Research as well as integrations to other IBM application families within our Commerce and Watson divisions.

Finovate: Tell us about your favorite implementation of your solution.

Stanich: Our favorite implementations are the ones where we see the client planning to use the solution to assist financial advisers in fully servicing their client’s financial needs. For example, we find a lot of large banks who have clients’ mortgages and checking accounts wanting to also provide [their] financial planning through a financial adviser. If we can have a client’s needs better serviced all in one place–from financial planning, lending, to credit card needs–then it’s a deeper relationship between a client and firm and an overall better client experience.

Finovate: What in your background gave you the confidence to tackle this challenge?

Stanich: I’ve worked on Wall Street and in technology for 20 years now and have witnessed a lot of the major changes we now consider business-as-usual, from the rise of the self-directed brokerage firms in the 1990s to the current rise of the robo-advisers. Nonetheless, I’m a big believer that we’ll never lose financial advisers entirely. They’ll be more like the expert users of some of the same technology coming into the self-directed business today. We’ll augment these professionals to be “smarter” in the same way technology is revolutionizing medicine today, yet we still need doctors to exercise judgement. Change is always disruptive and causes a lot of hand-wringing, but I think we all see the transition happening around us already.

Finovate: What are some upcoming initiatives from Client Insight for Wealth Management powered by IBM Watson that we can look forward to over the next few months?

Stanich: We have some big partnerships that we’ll be announcing soon and some really great functionality on the docket to be released. We’ve already started getting feedback from clients, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Mainly, we’ll be focusing on the account-aggregation space, financial planning, and prospecting. Our solution is only going to keep getting better and better.

Finovate: Where do you see IBM’s Client Insight for Wealth Management a year or two from now?

Stanich: The vision for Client Insight for Wealth Management is to enable an adviser to service more clients with the same or better level of personalization as servicing their existing book of business, and improve the overall quality of that book. For self-directed firms, the vision is to deliver a more personalized level of service digitally, by arming them with some of the same advanced predictive and cognitive analytics becoming prevalent in other industries.

Finovate: What kind of metrics or facts about IBM’s Client Insight for Wealth Management can we share with our readers?

Stanich: It is the wealth management industry’s first pre-built, cognitive and analytics solution. We also have similar industry-specific offerings in banking, insurance, trade surveillance, and regulatory compliance.

Rob Stanich, global eealth management offering manager, and Alex Baghdjian, senior offering associate, financial markets & wealth management, presenting at FinovateSpring 2016:

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Splitit Launches Shopify Plugin

Splitit Launches Shopify Plugin
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: PayItSimple, SplitIt

SplititHomepage

Splitit (formerly PayItSimple), a startup that lets consumers pay for a large ticket over time, has partnered with Shopify to offer merchants access to its payments-plan technology via plugin.

The plugin, now available on Shopify’s app store, allows merchants using Shopify to integrate Splitit into their checkout process. The Splitit tool—enabling Visa and MasterCard cardholders to split purchases into interest-free, monthly payments by leveraging the customer’s existing credit—offers access to Shopify’s 275,000 merchants in 150 countries.

This announcement comes after the New York-based company’s integration with ecommerce platforms WooCommerce and Magento. According to the company, merchants using Splitit on these platforms have seen an average increase of 20% on overall sales within the first two months of implementation.

Founded in 2013, Splitit launched as PayItSimple at FinovateFall 2014. Earlier this month, the company made inroads into the medical billing industry by teaming up with DOCPAY to set up interest-free medical payment plans for patients.

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CrowdFlower Closes on a $10 Million Round Led by Microsoft

CrowdFlower Closes on a $10 Million Round Led by Microsoft
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CrowdFlower, Funding

CrowdFlowerHomepage

Data collection and cleaning platform CrowdFlower closed on $10 million in funding led by Microsoft Ventures. Also participating in the Series D round are Canvas Ventures and Trinity Ventures.

CrowdFlower’s funding now totals $38 million. The company will use the funds to speed adoption of CrowdFlower AI. 

The company gave a Best of Show-winning presentation at FinovateFall 2014 where it demonstrated how its on-demand workforce cleans and labels financial transaction data. Banks upload their data, define their task, and launch their job. CrowdFlower’s taskforce steps in to do what a computer can’t. The crowdsourced workforce completes micro-jobs to fill in holes in incorrect or incomplete data. The company leverages this effort in its recently launched CrowdFlower AI that combines human intelligence with machine learning to create what the company calls, Human-in-the-Loop, a product that uses active learning to make machine learning more viable.lukas_biewald

In a blog post, company CEO and founder Lukas Biewald (pictured right) says, “There are always places where algorithms struggle … . We’ve made it easy to automatically identify where machine learning is struggling and send them back to CrowdFlower jobs for humans to label.”

Founded in 2009, the San Francisco-based company’s customers include LinkedIn, Intuit, Flickr, and eBay.

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Token Facilitates PSD2 Compliance with New Payment Network

Token Facilitates PSD2 Compliance with New Payment Network
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Token

TokenHomepage

Palo Alto-based Token launched a new payment rail to help banks comply with Europe’s Revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2), a framework that provides the legal foundation for a European Union-wide, single market for payments.

The new network, which is based on programmable tokenization technology, integrates with a bank’s core APIs, policies and procedures. Token helps banks monetize their APIs by offering access to third parties while limiting disintermediation and security risks associated with opening its APIs.

Token CEO Steve Kirsch created the company to “meet the needs of payments in the digital age.” Kirsch noted that a bank’s “over-reliance on out-dated networks and third-party service providers is not only commercially counterproductive, [but] also a security nightmare.”

transactionflowToken uses smart tokens, a digital representation of money, to secure the transaction flow and keep banks in control of the entire process. Here’s how it works:

  1. When the user makes a purchase, the merchant requests a token. The user’s bank processes the request through its Token Layer, confirms the user’s credentials, and approves the purchase.
  2. The user receives and digitally signs to accept the token on their mobile device. The bank receives and confirms the user’s signature.
  3. The approved token is sent to the merchant.
  4. The merchant sends the bank the Token ID and payment request.
  5. The transaction settlement occurs instantly through Token if both banks are Token-enabled. Otherwise, it goes through the bank’s legacy rails.

Token was founded in 2015 by CEO Steve Kirsch. The company debuted at FinovateSpring 2015 (video below) and also appeared at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 where the company’s VP of Development Bill York gave a presentation titled, The Future of Payments is Now.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Betterment, CrowdFlower, Dashlane, Fiserv, Flybits, IBM, Insuritas, Kabbage, Kony, Malauzai, Malauzai Software, NICE Systems, Ripple, SplitIt, Token, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • “Token Facilitates PSD2 Compliance with New Payment Network”
  • “CrowdFlower Closes on a $10 Million Round Led by Microsoft”
  • “Finovate Debuts: IBM’s Wealth Management Solution Gives Advisers an Edge”
  • “MOX Pay from Malauzai is First to Unveil RDC as Payment Option”

On FinDEVr

  • “Flybits Earns Gartner Cool Vendor Recognition in its Platform-as-a-Service 2016 Report”

Around the web

  • TechCrunch: Dashlane launches a password-management tool for the enterprise.
  • AppsTechNews chats with Kony CTO Bill Bodin on the pace of enterprise app change.
  • “Kabbage Named a CNBC Top Disruptor”
  • Benzinga profiles Betterment CEO Jon Stein.
  • Me/CU to deploy account-processing platform and digital banking suite from Fiserv.
  • Insuritas to power insurance solution for Patelco CU.
  • NICE Actimize teams up with Mphasis to provide anti-fraud, enterprise risk, and compliance solutions.
  • Volate Technologies launches solution for “plug and play” integration with Ripple.
  • ACI Worldwide partners with U.K.-based Raphaels Bank to provide access to the Faster Payments Scheme.

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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Ripple’s New Partnership Lets Banks Test Blockchain and Ripple Integration

Ripple’s New Partnership Lets Banks Test Blockchain and Ripple Integration
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Ripple

RippleHomepage

Distributed open source payment network Ripple has extended its partnership with Expertus Payment Platform to offer banks a way to explore use of the blockchain and Ripple’s distributed ledger for real-time payments.

The two companies originally partnered in April to provide a real-time payments product that offers lower costs, fee transparency, and better liquidity management. The combined solution has the capability to process all payment types 24 hours a day/seven days a week and is designed to support exponential growth. According to Expertus president Jacques Leblanc, “Several banks have already joined the program and have realized the benefits of blockchain.”

The testing service promises minimal process disruption and makes integration easy by plugging into a bank’s existing infrastructure. Steve Mollenkamp, head of channel sales at Ripple, says the newly launched pilot program “will contribute to the growth of the Ripple network, enabling even more financial institutions to improve their cross-border payments.”

Ripple launched in 2012 to offer banks a way to transact directly with each other without the need for a central authority. This lowers operational costs, enhances transparency, and paves the way for real-time transactions. The San Franciso-based company launched the Ripple Network at FinovateSpring 2013.

Last month, Deloitte announced a full integration with the Ripple protocol and Santander became the first U.K. bank to do blockchain-based international payments using Ripple.

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Seven Alums Make the Fortune 500 List

Seven Alums Make the Fortune 500 List
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CenturyLink, Fiserv, MasterCard, NCR Corporation, PayPal, Qualcomm, VISA

Fortune500Homescreen

Fortune Magazine released its famed list of 500 companies, a ranking of top U.S.-based companies by revenue. This year, seven Finovate and FinDEVr alums made the cut. Here are a few quick facts about these seven companies:

  • Almost half ranked in the upper half of the list
  • Combined revenues of the alums make up almost $88 million
  • Companies represent 170,000 employees
  • This is the first time on the list for both PayPal and Fiserv

Qualcomm (Firethorn)

  • Rank: #110 (up from #113 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $25.3 million
  • 17th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 33,000 employees
  • Headquartered in San Diego, California
  • Ranked #448 on Fortune’s Global 500 list
  • FinovateFall 2009 demo

CenturyLink

Visa

  • Rank: #204 (up from #238 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $13.9 million
  • 8th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 11,300 employees
  • Headquartered in Foster City, California
  • Ranked #47 on Fortune’s list of World’s Most Admired Companies
  • FinDEVr San Francisco 2014 demo

MasterCard

  • Rank: #294 (up from #308 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $9.7 million
  • 8th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 11,300 employees
  • Headquartered in Purchase, New York
  • Ranked #11 on Fortune’s list of Change the World
  • FinDEVr San Francisco 2014 demo

PayPal

NCR

Fiserv

*This was PayPal’s first year as a stand-alone company. The company’s CEO Daniel Schulman explains what the honor means to the company in a short video.

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