Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

FinovateEurope Dawns 9-10 February 2016

FinovateEurope Dawns 9-10 February 2016
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2016

FEUBookletIMG

We’re not even half way through the year, but it’s already time to grab your calendar and turn to 2016.

The sixth annual FinovateEurope will again be held at Old Billingsgate Market Hall in London on 9/10 February 2016. Register here to save your spot.

Last year, 72 companies conducted live demos of their newest technology in front of a record crowd of almost 1,300. With interest and funding of European fintech at an all-time high, we expect to see even more innovation in 2016. To get an idea of what you’ll see, check out the demo videos from FinovateEurope 2015.

FEU15VideoArchives

For a limited time, we’re offering £995 presale pricing, so the best time to pick up your tickets is now. This is our lowest offer, discounted £400 off the list price. Since tickets are fully refundable until the end of 2015, there’s no risk in securing your ticket now.

Questions about the event? Check out the FAQ section of the event website or contact europe@finovate.com.

See you in London next year!

FinovateEurope 2015 is sponsored by The Bancorp, FT Partners, iBe, KPMG, and Life.Sreda.

FinovateEurope 2015 partners include Bank Innovators Council, BankersHub, bobsguide, Breaking Banks, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, Datamonitor Financial, Financial Services Club, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Hotwire, Mapa Research, Mercator Advisory Group, and The Trading Mesh.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Bitcoin-based P2P Lending Platform Bitbond Raises $670,000

Bitcoin-based P2P Lending Platform Bitbond Raises $670,000
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bitbond, Funding

BitbondBrowseloans

Global bitcoin-lending platform Bitbond today announced receipt of $670,000 (€600,000) in an angel funding round. Combined with its $220,000 (€200,000) seed round in August 2014, the startup’s funding now totals just under $900,000.

Early investor, Point Nine Capital, led the round, and a host of angel investors also contributed. Business angels include:

  • Florian Heinemann
  • Uwe Horstmann
  • Christian Vollmann
  • Felix Jahn

The Berlin-based company counts 10,000+ registered users from 120 countries. Bitbond’s goals for the new funding are to grow its user base and increase activity in emerging markets underserved by traditional lenders.

Since launching to the public in July 2013, Bitbond has originated more than 600 loans through its platform.

Bitbond’s mission is to make global borrowing and lending more accessible, and it does that by using bitcoin to create a global market for small business loans.

You can find an in-depth look at Bitbond’s platform in our Finovate Debuts series.

At FinovateEurope 2015 in London, Bitbond debuted its Autoinvest feature that uses an algorithm to allocate lenders’ funds automatically and according to their preferences.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Azimo, Coinbase, Digital Insight, Fiserv, Intuit, Lendio, LifePay, Lighter Capital, Malauzai Software, Misys, PayNearMe, PayPal, Sekur.me, WePay

On Finovate.com

  • Bitcoin-based P2P Lending Platform Bitbond Raises $670,000
  • WePay Closes $40 Million Series D Round Led by FTV Capital
  • Misys Launches FusionBanking Essence Islamic

Around the web

  • SEKUR Me debuts Apple Pay for online purchases featuring universal buy-button and one-click mobile payments.
  • Intuit launches Sync with PayPal to help SMBs simplify tasks with QuickBooks online data-integrations.
  • LifePay announces plans to expand into Southeast Asia in wake of ipoxPro acquisition.
  • The Guardian highlights Azimo as a “well-established” alternative to banks regarding money-transfer overseas.
  • NYSE’s new Bitcoin Index is powered by Coinbase.
  • Anheuser-Busch Employees Credit Union to deploy online- and mobile-banking solutions from Digital Insight.
  • Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union adds processing and additional solutions from Fiserv.
  • Community Banks and Credit Unions go live with Touch ID in mobile banking through Malauzai Software.
  • Arxan appoints Sam Rehman as chief technology officer.
  • Nerdwallet features Seattle-based Lighter Capital.
  • Bankless Times talks with Brock Blake, Lendio CEO, about the company’s success.
  • PayNearMe to offer its cash payment service to Telinta’s service-provider customers.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Ripple Labs Reels in $28 Million, Eyes Asia Expansion

Ripple Labs Reels in $28 Million, Eyes Asia Expansion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Ripple

RippleScreenshot

Back in January, we speculated about a funding round for Ripple Labs. Today, the organization behind the Ripple Protocol officially announced it closed the venture round, which totals $28 million. Added to the three rounds the company received in 2013, the San Francisco-based company’s total funding stands at $37 million.

Major investors in the new round include:

  • IDG Capital Partners
  • Venture arm of CME Group
  • Seagate Technology
  • AME Cloud Ventures
  • ChinaRock Capital Management
  • China Growth Capital
  • Wicklow Capital

This global mix of venture capital and strategic investors aligns with Ripple’s focus on banking in tandem with worldwide corporate treasury use-cases. Dave Morton, senior VP, finance and treasury at Seagate Technology says, “With its real-time settlement capabilities, we recognize the opportunity for Ripple to reduce money-transfer costs, create transparency, and increase working capital in corporate treasury use-cases.”

Larsen plans to use the funds to expand into Asia and facilitate customer onboarding by supporting more access to liquidity in the Ripple system. Also supporting the Asia expansion effort, IDG Capital partner’s Li Feng will join Ripple Labs’ board of directors. Feng was an early investor in Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi and CreditEase.

According to Chris Larsen, CEO and co-founder of Ripple:

Our mission is to modernize decades-old payments infrastructure with IP-based technology so value moves around the world as freely, easily, securely and transparently as information on the web today. Financial institutions, market makers and corporations are laying the foundation for this internet of value, contributing and providing liquidity for global payments. With investors like CME Group and Seagate joining the fold, we’re well positioned to accelerate adoption amongst these key customers.

Ripple seeks to create another set of rails for international money-transfer by functioning as a distributed-payments technology that connects the world’s disparate financial networks to securely transfer funds in any currency in real time.

Ripple Labs debuted as OpenCoin at FinovateSpring 2013.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Avoka, Bill.com, BillGuard, Cloud Lending, Coinbase, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, D3 Banking, INETCO Systems, Intuit, Jumio, Kabbage, Kony Solutions, Kreditech, MasterCard, On Deck Capital, PayItSimple, PayPal, planwise, Prosper, Ripple, TransferWise, Trulioo, ValidSoft, Venmo, WePay, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • PayItSimple Pulls in $10 Million Line of Credit
  • Ripple Labs Reels in $28 Million, Eyes Asia Expansion
  • P2P Lending Meets High Street Banking as Metro Bank Partners to Lend via Zopa
  • Credit Sesame Raises $16 Million in New Funding
  • Planwise Raises $750,000, Nearly Doubling Total Capital

Around the web

  • Fox Small Business News names 11 Finovate alums in list of Hot Fintech Startups to watch.
  • Edenred México S.A. incorporates INETCO’s Insight software platform.
  • D3 Banking taps Jeffrey Walker as chief information security officer.
  • MasterCard launches P2P payments service, MasterCard Send, to help businesses reimburse rebate consumers without checks.
  • nTrust to deploy ID verification technology from Trulioo.
  • North American Savings Bank (NASB) partners with ACI Worldwide for online, mobile banking and billpay.
  • Avoka, Bill.com, BillGuard, CoinBase, Credit Karma, Jumio, Kabbage, Kreditech, OnDeck, Prosper, TransferWise, Trulioo, Venmo and WePay earn spots on Inc.com’s “20 Financial Technology Startups You Need to Know.”
  • ImageWare selects ValidSoft’s voice biometrics solution.
  • Kony teams with Citrix, to offer customers a mobile app solution from mobile design and development to enterprise mobility operations.
  • Altifi.com features Cloud Lending Solutions’ Cloud Lending Exchange.
  • ZD net: Intuit tightens PayPal integration with data synchronization app.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayItSimple Receives $10 Million Line of Credit

PayItSimple Receives $10 Million Line of Credit
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, PayItSimple

PayItSimpleHomepage

Installment-based payment platform PayItSimple is off to a good start this week. The company announced today it received a $10 million line of credit from New York-based Simpel Management.

The funds will be used to enable merchants on the PayItSimple platform to offer their customers an interest-free way to purchase large ticket items in multiple installments using their existing credit cards. While customers pay over time, merchants receive the entire payment up front.

PayItSimpleCheckout

For an in-depth view of how it works, check out our previous coverage.

PayItSimple debuted at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateSpring 2015 in the Press

FinovateSpring 2015 in the Press
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015

FinovateSpring2015PressIMG

As always, we had a blast watching the 71 companies demo their new tech live in front of the FinovateSpring audience in San Jose. It’s almost as fun to relive the conference through post-event press coverage and Twitter highlights.

Below is the press coverage so far. We’ll be adding articles as they are published throughout the next few weeks. If we missed your coverage, please send an article link to julie@finovate.com).

Aite
2015 FinovateSpring Spree
by David Albertazzi’s
Link

American Banker
Accenture Teams with Moven to Develop Digital Banking Tools
by Jacob Passy
Link

Mitek Debuts ID Scanning Tech for Account Opening
by Penny Crosman
Link

New Banking App Aims for the Instagram Set
by Mary Wisniewski
Link

Asaahi
Finance and IT of fusion, hear how far to Finovate founder (in Japanese)
by Miyaji Yu
Link

Investment net settlement in the IT venture wave application of the U.S. financial (in Japanese)
by Miyaji Yu
Link

Bank Innovation
CIBC First to Launch Funds-Transfer for Apple Watch
by JJ Hornblass
Link

In the Bank Account of the Future, Context is King
by Philip Ryan
Link

Moven Preps PayPal Integration, Global Growth
by Philip Ryan
Link

Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance blog
Finovate, a Glimpse into Your Money-Tech Future
by Barbara Friedberg
Link

Beyond the Arc blog
Finovate 2015 Day 1: video commentary on financial innovation and fintech
by Steven Ramirez
Link

Finovate Spring 2015: Fintech innovation for banking and wealth management
by Steven Ramirez
Link

The Latest in Financial Services Innovation from Finovate
by Steven Ramirez
Link

Video interview with JP Nicols, Bank Innovators Council
by Steven Ramirez
Link

Biometric Update
SayPay Technologies, VoiceVault to deliver voice-biometric payments solutions
by Justin Lee
Link

Boston Financial Data Services
Friction is the Enemy of Speed
by Matthew Gould
Link

CBanque
FinovateSpring marque le retour du PFM
Link

CMO.com
What You Missed At Finovate: Social Banking Experiences
by Michael Hinshaw
Link

CU Times
Community FIs Out-Innovating Big Banks: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Finovate Emphasizes Engagement: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Finovate Presenters Share Innovations: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Mobile Tech Innovation Vital: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Payment Technology in the Cards: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Sizing Up Small Business Lending: Onsite Coverage
by Roy Urrico
Link

Dwolla blog
5 of our Favorite Demos from Finovate Spring
by Mariah Young
Link

The Financial Brand
3 Fintech Innovation Trends Banking Should Watch
by Steven J. Ramirez
Link

New Moven App Encourages Savings, Eliminates Product Silos
by Jim Marous
Link

Financial Services Club
Brett King’s Moven 4.0 wins Best in Show at Finovate
by Jim Marous
Link

Finextra
Moven and Accenture team up to sell digital tools to banks
Link

The Fintech Blog
My Take on Finovate
by Michael Halloran
Link

Finovate blog
FinovateSpring 2015 Best of Show Winners Announced
by David Penn
Link

Forbes
Moven Takes Its Mobile Banking Global with Accenture
by Tom Groenfeldt
Link

iontuition blog
Credit Sesame, iontuition join forces to empower students
Link

Javelin Strategy & Research blog
Dear Fintech, Give People Meaningful Experiences, Not Gold Stars
by Meg Cain
Link

Finovate Showed That Fintech is Becoming Personal. Will Banks Have the Confidence to Be “Creepy,” Too?
by Ian Benton
Link

Lazy Man and Money
Who Wants In on the DRAFTApp Private Beta?
Link

Lend Academy
Cloud Lending Solutions Launches Loan Application Exchange
by Ryan Lichenwald
Link

Let’s Talk Payments
Breaking: Finovate Announces the Winners of its FinovateSpring 2015
Link

PFM App Moven Joins Forces with Accenture to Transform Digital Banking Solutions
Link

This Cloud Solution Provides Apple Pay-Like Payment Experience to Android Users
Link

Mitek Blog
Cool. Fast. ID Verification.
by Amber
Link

Mobile Payment Magazine
Dream Payments Mobile POS Device Presented @Finovate
by Peter Goggin
Link

Mobile Payments Today
Stratos upgrades digital card-issuance strategy
Link

Money Marketing
Ian McKenna: Dispatches from Finovate (Day one)
by Ian McKenna
Link (sign-up wall)

Ian McKenna: Dispatches from Finovate (Day two)
by Ian McKenna
Link (sign-up wall)

MoneySummit
Essential Fintech Reading: 9-15 May 2015
by Jon Ogden
Link

Nerd Wallet
NerdWallet Gets $64 Million on Road to $1 Billion Valuation as Money Pours Into Fintech
by Michael Halloran
Link

Payment Law Advisor
Finovate Summary
by Davis Wright Tremaine
Link

The Paypers
Accenture and Moven partner for digital banking solutions
Link

PYMNTS.com
Kabbage’s Next-Phase Finserv Solution for SMBs
Link

Mitek’s New Mobile Tech Verifies Driver’s Licenses
Link

SizeUp blog
Beyond the Arc: Emerging Theme of Small Business in Fintech with SizeUp FI
Link

The Street
Wells Fargo, Schwab Mingle with Disruptive Financial Tech Start-Ups at Finovate
by Michael HalloranFollow
Link

Taxes.about.com
10 Emerging Financial Technology Apps with a Tax-Angle
by William Perez
Link

TechCrunch
Credit Monitoring and Debt Management Service, Credit Sesame, Raises $16 Million
by Sarah Perez
Link

Vouch Raises $6 Million Series A for its Social Network for Credit
by Sarah Perez
Link

Visible Banking
Moven Demoes its Impulse Saving App on the Apple Watch
by Christophe Langlois
Link

Wall Street Journal Blog
Vouch Raises $6 Million for Loans Backed by Borrower’s Social Network
by Lizette Chapman
Link

WealthManagement.com
Finovate Spring 2015: 72 Startups Demonstrate New Fintech Products
by Ryan W. Neal
Link

Finovate Spring 2015: 7 Wealth Management Innovations, Day 1
by Ryan W. Neal
Link

Finovate Spring 2015: 7 Wealth Management Innovations, Day 2
by Ryan W. Neal
Link

Wharton Magazine
Finovate 2015: Reporter’s FinTech Notes
by Paulynn Yu
Link

William Mills Agency Blog
FinovateSpring 2015, Day 1: Afternoon Recap
by William Mills III and Steven J. Ramirez
Link

FinovateSpring 2015, Day 2: Afternoon Video Recap
by William Mills III & Steven J. Ramirez
Link

FinovateSpring 2015, Day 2: Morning Video Recap
by William Mills III & Steven J. Ramirez
Link

FinovateSpring 2015, Video Interview with Beyond the Arc and CCG Catalyst
by Steven J. Ramirez
Link

FinovateSpring 2015, Video Interview: Beyond the Arc and Fin Mason
by Steven J. Ramirez
Link

Live Blog at FinovateSpring 2015, Day 1
by William Mills III and Steven J. Ramirez
Link

Live Blog at FinovateSpring 2015, Day 2
by William Mills III and Steven J. Ramirez
Link

Morning Video Recap, FinovateSpring 2015
by William Mills III and Steven J. Ramirez
Link

Yodlee Interactive blog
Highlights from FinovateSpring 2015: Fintech Innovators and Yodlee Sense
by Jenna Cheng
Link

A huge thank-you to everyone who spent their nights and weekends covering the event!

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Outski Debuts 401(play) Employee Incentive

Outski Debuts 401(play) Employee Incentive
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015, Outski

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2015.

FS2015_Outski_logoIn our final presentation of FinovateSpring 2015, Outski demonstrated how it helps employers incentivize their employees to use their vacation days:

Outski has developed a program called 401(play) that motivates participants to prioritize PLAY in their lives by lifting the barriers to taking great vacations. 401(play) is brought to users through their employer, allowing the allocation of direct deposit dollars to their personal Vacation Savings Account. The Outski platform promotes interactive planning with goal-based savings to help people live happier, healthier, and more enriched lives with a focus on financial responsibility. As a robust planning tool with rich data implications, 401(play) can market numerous financial products in practical and easy-to-understand ways that improve the financial wellness of customers.

Presenters: CEO Greg Nickolson and Ryan Nelson, EVP business development

IMG_9627

IMG_9638

Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C), Direct to Business (B2B), licensed

Metrics: With a staff of 8, Outski has more than 7,000 registered users, and has raised more than $500,000 in seed funding.

HQ: Tucson, Arizona
Founded: October 2013
Website: outski.com
Twitter: @OutskiTravel

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

CUneXus Demoes Comprehensive PreScreened Lending Platform

CUneXus Demoes Comprehensive PreScreened Lending Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CUneXus, FinovateSpring 2015

CUneXusLogo

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2015.

CUneXus showed off cplXpress:

Our cplXpress platform allows lending institutions to empower their customers with perpetual loan approval across multiple product lines. This unique and timely solution grants consumers ongoing insight into their personal buying power, and immediate access to preapproved loan offers at every touchpoint. No loan application necessary. Our advanced risk assessment and pricing engine generates a highly personalized and targeted menu of offers based on each individual’s unique financial profile, then communicates these offers within the institution’s online banking, mobile banking, branch, call center, direct mail, and email channels. We are demoing a selection of new online and mobile interfaces, as well as unveiling our latest mobile document delivery, e-signature, and point-of-sale lending capabilities.

Presenters: CUneXus’s Dave Buerger, co-founder and CEO, and Darin Chong, co-founder and COO

IMG_9613

IMG_9623

Product Launch: December 2013

Metrics: Founded by a dynamic group of seasoned ex-bankers, CUneXus is privately funded with headquarters 45 minutes north of San Francisco in beautiful Sonoma County. The company’s cplXpress lending automation platform was launched in 2014 and has generated over $100 million in consumer loans in its first nine months of service, a metric projected to grow exponentially in 2015. CUneXus was recently recognized as one of just ten companies to watch on KPMG’s global report of “The Best Fintech Innovators of 2014” and has been selected to participate in Silicon Valley’s renowned Plug & Play Fintech accelerator program for 2015.

Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), licensed, white-label

HQ: Santa Rosa, California
Founded: October 2011
Website: cunexus.com
Twitter: @cunexus

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Trizic’s Accelerator Enables Financial Firms to Scale Investment Advice

Trizic’s Accelerator Enables Financial Firms to Scale Investment Advice
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015, Trizic

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2015.

TrizicLogoTrizic debuted its Accelerator that delivers investment advice:

Trizic Accelerator is an elegant, cloud-based digital investment advisory platform. It comprises two elements: a beautifully simple, customized online experience for investors, and a powerful, back-end console that automates portfolio management, securities trading, rebalancing, compliance reporting, and client billing.

Using Accelerator’s sophisticated technology, financial firms will be able to serve clients across all mobile devices, in a more scalable and productive way by augmenting, not replacing, their high-touch, full-service business models.

At left: Brad Matthews, Trizic CEO and founder

IMG_9601

IMG_9607

Product Launch: October 2014

Metrics: 15+ employees, 30 financial firm clients, and a pipeline of prospective users
Product distribution strategy: Business-to-Business (B2B), through financial institutions

HQ: San Francisco, California
Founded: October 2012
Website: trizic.com
Twitter: @TrizicCo

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Emailage Offers Instant Fraud Scores for Websites

Emailage Offers Instant Fraud Scores for Websites
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Emailage, FinovateSpring 2015

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2015.

EmailageLogoEmailage debuted its browser-extension:

Emailage is focused on providing customers with multiple ways to access our toolset. Our new browser extensions allow customers to easily get a real-time fraud score from any webpage. Enabling these extensions allow customers to assess fraud risk scores from Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer seamlessly. The Emailage browser-extension places an icon next to any email address on the page, which can be clicked for instant analysis of the risk associated with the email.

Emailage Presenters: Jennifer Coughenour, director of sales, and Amador Testa, chief product officer

IMG_9568

IMG_9572

Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B)

HQ: Chandler, Arizona
Founded: May 2012
Website: emailage.com
Twitter: @Emailage

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

EyeBuy Debuts System to Monetize Television

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015

This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2015.

EyeBuyLogoEyeBuy launched its platform that enables consumers to instantly purchase what they see on TV:

EyeBuy is showcasing the ability to “see” logos, brands, people, products, etc. streaming across your TV/video screen and enable the viewer to instantly purchase or engage that item, on the spot, in near real-time, with a single click. Engagement options included capturing gift cards, card-linked offers, coupons, RFI, vouchers and purchasing.

Presenting Todd Coulter (CEO & Founder)

Product Launch: May 2015

Metrics: $150,000 raised; 4 employees
Product distribution strategy: direct to business (B2B), through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms, licensed

HQ: Rancho Murieta, California
Founded: December 2013
Website: eyebuytv.com
Twitter: @toddcoulter

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook