Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

FinovateSpring 2015: Fintech Across America & Beyond

FinovateSpring 2015: Fintech Across America & Beyond
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015

Finovate_SP15_FINAL

With FinovateSpring just over the horizon, we took a look at where the 72 presenting companies will be traveling from before they arrive in San Jose on 12/13 May.

We’ll be hosting companies from 23 states and six countries.

It turns out that 17 of the companies are already based in Silicon Valley and will not need to travel far to get to the City National Civic Center on Tuesday morning. The company with the longest travel distance is Persistent Systems, which is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India.

No matter what your commute to Finovate’s eighth event in the Silicon Valley looks like, you should be getting excited to come check out what’s new in fintech.

Still don’t have your ticket? Pick one up soon.

You can check out more information about the presenting companies on the FinovateSpring event page or browse our Sneak Peek blog series.

FinovateSpring 2015 is sponsored by The Bancorp, CapitalSource, City National Bank, Envestnet, Financial Technology Partners, Hudson Cook LLP, KPMG, Kyriba, Life.SREDA, and Zions DirectTV.

FinovateSpring 2015 is partners with Aite Group, American Banker’s Association (ABA), Bank Innovators Council, Bankers Hub, BayPay Forum, bob’s guide, Breaking Banks, California Bankers Association, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, ebankingnews, Filene Research Institute, fin-tech.org, HotWire, Javelin Strategy & Research, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SME Finance Forum, and Western Independent Bankers.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, iSignthis, MasterCard, MaxMyInterest, Motif Investing, PaySimple, Place2Give, Taulia, Vanguard, Wealthfront, Xero

Around the web

  • Xero’s new feature helps businesses manage their data with a new dashboard that displays a variety of benchmarking metrics.
  • Pymnts talks with Eric Remer, founder and CEO of PaySimple, about its holistic payments solution.
  • Taulia launches mentorship program for women.
  • iSignthis inks agreement with SolidTrustPay to provide identity and authentication services.
  • MasterCard acquires Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) for $600 million.
  • Business Solutions profiles security specialist, Arxan Technologies.
  • The Economist features MaxMyInterest, a solution for “yield-hungry savers.”
  • Nasdaq’s Street Authority contrasts Vanguard with “robo-advisers” including Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Motif Investing, and Wealthfront. Join Vanguard in San Jose in May for FinovateSpring 2015.
  • Place2Give launches Nepal Relief Fund.

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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FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 7

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 7
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015, FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek

FSStageImageSP7

It’s hard to believe FinovateSpring 2015 is just two weeks away. We’re getting excited about greeting familiar faces in the fintech community and eager to see the wide variety of fintech to be demoed 12/13 May. Register here to join us.

Today’s Sneak Peek introduces 15 more presenters.

Here’s a catalogue of the entire Sneak Peek series:

AvokaLogoAvoka’s frictionless digital engagement platform eases the pain of online transactions for financial organizations.

Why it’s great
Avoka gets real-world results.

  • Founded: 2002
  • HQ: Broomfield, CO

CBWBankLogoCBW Bank will show Yantra’s ONE Card platform that provides a secure and convenient alternative to traditional bank accounts for financial institutions, program managers and corporate clients.

Why it’s great
Yantra rebuilds plumbing, standardizes and normalizes data across channels, and embeds compliance.

  • Founded: 1892
  • HQ: Weir, Kansas

CloudLendingLogoCloud Lending Solutions‘ CL Exchange increases the volume of loans for all non-bank lenders.

Why it’s great
Cloud Lending Solutions uses an auction marketplace to bring borrowers and lenders together.

  • Founded: 2012
  • HQ: San Mateo, CA

ContextRelevantLogoContext Relevant’s automated behavioral predictive analytics software is solving Wall Street’s most daunting challenges for large financial institutions.

Why it’s great
Context Relevant works in real time.

  • Founded: 2012
  • HQ: Seattle, WA

DealstruckLogo2015Dealstruck’s web and mobile managed-asset-based line of credit offers flexible capital to small businesses.

Why it’s great
Dealstruck uses intuitive interfaces, advanced integration with existing technologies, strategic financial institution partnerships and easy-to-understand functionality.

  • Founded: 2013
  • HQ: Carlsbad, California

DriveWealthLogoDriveWealth’s Brokerage-as-a-Service offers mass retail investors low cost access to the world’s most desired asset class.

Why it’s great
DriveWealth offers a full-stack investing platform.

  • Founded: 2012
  • HQ: Chatham, New Jersey

DwollaLogo2015Dwolla’s platform of innovation, authentication and directory tools offer government, businesses, and consumers the ability to disseminate personal information when sending or receiving payments.

Why it’s great
Dwolla charges just $0.25 per transaction or is free for transactions $10 or less.

  • Founded: 2008
  • HQ: Des Moines, Iowa

DynamicsLogo2015Dynamics produces and manufactures intelligent, powered payment cards.

Why it’s great
Dynamics’ intelligent payment cards enable users to earn exclusive rewards faster than traditional cards.

  • Founded 2007
  • HQ: Cheswick, Pennsylvania

EncapLogo2015Encap Security ‘s strong authentication solution powers user verification and transaction security.

Why it’s great
Encap Security works with any and every access point of any bank.

  • Founded: 2013
  • HQ: Palo Alto, California

EyeBuyLogoEyeBuy’s TV and video monetization platform enables consumers to purchase products on impulse that they see on TV.

Why it’s great
EyeBuy’s technology recognizes products on TV and video.

  • Founded: 2014
  • HQ: Rancho Murieta, California

FISLogoFIS Mobile’s mobile banking feature solves the mobile innovation gap for financial institutions.

Why it’s great
FIS Mobile enables banks to expand their card services to consumers’ mobile devices.

  • Founded: 2006
  • HQ: Jacksonville, Florida

KabbageLogo2015Kabbage’s Kabbage Card offers access to working capital for small businesses.

Why it’s great
Kabbage gives small businesses immediate access to their funds.

  • Founded: 2009
  • HQ: Atlanta, Georgia

KnoxLogo2015Knox Payments is a payment processing platform that uses customers’ bank account credentials, not their credit card.

Why it’s great
Knox enables merchants to process payments across all platforms for just $0.18.

  • Founded: 2014
  • HQ: Richmond, Virginia

LendingTreeLogoLendingTree is an intelligent personal finance platform that simplifies the complexities in loan shopping to save borrowers money.

Why it’s great
LendingTree uses brand equity, proprietary technology and complex algorithms.

  • Founded: 1996
  • HQ: Charlotte, North Carolina

LendKeyLogoLendKey is an online lending technology platform for consumers and financial institutions.

Why it’s great
LendKey offers a transparent loan shopping experience.

  • Founded: 2007
  • HQ: New York City, New York

Stay tuned on Thursday when we’ll introduce the remaining presenters.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Authentify, Credit Karma, Kony Solutions, Lighter Capital, On Deck Capital, PayPal, peerTransfer, Prosper, Tradier, Trunomi

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • After being acquired by Prosper in January, American Healthcare Lending has changed its name to Prosper Healthcare Lending.
  • Early Warning’s Authentify xFA wins Gold for Authentication Product of the Year at Info Security’s 2015 Global Excellence Awards.
  • Lighter Capital closes twice as many deals in Q1 of 2015 than it did in all of 2014.
  • On Deck expands small business lending in Canada.
  • Trunomi adds new chief architect, Kartik Venkatesh.
  • Tradier teams up with Apex Clearing Corporation to bring brokerage solutions to digital RIAs.
  • peerTransfer adds 56 new schools to its client base in Q1 2015, bringing its total to 650+ educational providers worldwide.
  • VentureBeat: PayPal brings its One Touch payments to the web.
  • Credit Karma wins gold medal in the Financial Services/Banking division at the 2015 Edison Awards.
  • UST Global and Kony launch new mobile app for Blue Cross of Idaho members.

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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Alt-Lender EZBOB Deepens Pockets by $46 Million

Alt-Lender EZBOB Deepens Pockets by $46 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: EZBOB, Funding, Wonga

EZBOBHomepage

U.K.-based alternative lending company EZBOB this week announced it pulled in $46 million in funding. The full amount of the Series C round was supplied by Oaktree Capital and brings the company’s total funding to $66.5 million.

According to The Telegraph, EZBOB will use the new funds to refinance existing debt and increase its loan offerings to small businesses.

This is the company’s second large announcement this year. In February, EZBOB purchased Everline, Wonga’s lesser-known small business finance arm. Both EZBOB and Everline are now rolled up underneath an umbrella group, Orange Money.

Combined, the two companies have furnished U.K.-based SMEs with more than 6,000 loans totaling $83+ million.

Orange Money, which offers an average interest rate of 16%, does not view its services as competitive toward traditional banks. Orange Money CEO Tomer Guriel says, “We’re complementary to the banks and are there to provide access to capital for business owners that have been rejected by their bank.”

EZBOB demonstrated its online application process at FinovateEurope 2014 in London. Wonga debuted its iPhone app at FinovateFall 2010 in New York.

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SigFig Brings on New Advisory Board Members and $1 Million in Funding

SigFig Brings on New Advisory Board Members and $1 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, SigFig

SigFigHomepage

Robo-adviser platform SigFig today announced it added five members to its advisory board. Four of the new board members are investors in Nyca Partners, which furnished the San Francisco-based company with $1 million in new funding.

SigFig founder and CEO Mike Sha says he is more excited about the connections that Nyca has to offer than the funding it supplied.

SigFig, launched in 2007 as Wikinvest, has since garnered a total of $30 million in funding.

According to SF Gate, SigFig tracks around $350 billion in assets for its users. The company declined to comment on its total amount of assets under management.

SigFig demonstrated its automated investment platform at FinovateFall 2011.

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Credit Karma Now Serves Americans with Thin Credit Files

Credit Karma Now Serves Americans with Thin Credit Files
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Credit Karma, Credit Reporting

CreditKarmaHomepage2015

In the U.S., 15 million adults have no credit score because they are new to the country or have a short financial history. While such “thin-file” credit customers could create a Credit Karma account, they could do little else on the platform until recently.

This week, the free credit-report service is rolling out its Thin File customer experience to help these customers take action to create good credit.

The San Francisco-based company will enable thin-file consumers to:

  • Review the information in their credit profile
  • Learn how to build their credit history
  • View recommendations for credit cards and loans that might help build credit

Additionally, they have access to Credit Karma’s tools such as an interest rate calculator and personal spending tracker.

Credit Karma debuted at FinovateSpring 2008, the first Bay Area Finovate conference. It has since built out its platform with multiple tools, offers from partners, and a PFM offering.

Serving more than 21 million users, Credit Karma has raised $195 million in financing and was valued at $1 billion after its September 2014 funding round of $75 million.

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FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 5

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 5
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: DarcMatter, Digital Insight, Emailage, FinovateSpring 2015, FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek, Hedgeable, Moven, RAGE, Shoeboxed

FinovateSpring2014StageZenPayroll

FinovateSpring’s 72 fintech innovators have 3 weeks left to perfect their live demos before debuting their new technology on stage 12/13 May in San Jose, Calif. That means there’s still some time left for you to pick up a ticket and take a closer look at the types of technology you’ll see demonstrated live at San Jose’s City National Civic.

Today, we’re featuring seven companies:

Check out the previous installments of our Sneak Peek series below. And stayed tuned for Part 6 on Thursday:

DarcMatterLogoDarcMatter is an online platform solving inefficiencies in the alternative-investments market through enhanced capital connectivity, data-driven investing, and advanced syndication.

Features:

  • Institutional-level access to prescreened and compliant alternative investments
  • Issuers are empowered to raise capital on their own
  • Over $100 billion of investor capital

Why it’s great
DarcMatter provides an infrastructure for the alternatives market and enhances the capital process from start to finish.

DarcMatterPresenter1Presenters

Sang Lee, CEO & Founder
Formerly an investment banker in the energy field at WestLB and BNP Paribas, Lee has accrued a wealth of expertise in financial regulation, business, and financial structuring.
LinkedIn

 

DarcMatterPresenter2Stan Solodkyy, CTO
Solodkyy has experience from integration of financial institutions with the SWIFT network to providing software consultancy to world-leading brands.
LinkedIn

 

DigitalInsightLogoDigital Insight will illustrate the use of beacons within its mobile banking app, creating a more personal, relevant, and contextual experience based on a user’s location.

Features:

  • Personalizes a user’s experience in banking branches
  • Provides financial institutions relevant, timely information to engage with users more effectively

Why it’s great
Digital Insight is designing more personal, relevant, and contextual experiences based on knowing a user’s location.

DILabsPresenters

Marshall Yuan, Senior Product Manager, DI Labs
Yuan is senior product manager at DI Labs where he leads experimentation in new solutions to help financial institutions engage and delight their end users.
LinkedIn

DIPresenter2Ronald Leung, Engineering Lead, DI Labs
Leung is the engineering lead at DI Labs where he has been working with financial institutions to build innovative solutions and user experiences.
LinkedIn

 

 

EmailageLogoEmailage uses email as a key data-element for detecting fraud trends across industries and regions. Emailage’s machine-learning algorithms detect fraud in real time.

Features:

  • Analyze any email address on any web site
  • 90% confirmed fraud has not been previously detected
  • Real-time fraud score based on current trends

Why it’s great
No sensitive, transactional data is ever shared or stored by Emailage. It requires only an email address to provide an extremely precise risk assessment.

EmailagePresenterPresenter

Amador Testa, Chief Product Officer
Testa is Emailage’s CPO and has 15 years experience in financial fraud prevention. Prior to Emailage, Amador was a leader for AMEX and Citigroup.
LinkedIn

 

HedgeableLogoHedgeable is a robo-adviser on steroids.

Features:

  • Advanced portfolio customization and sophistication
  • Downside risk protection
  • Access to alternatives

Why it’s great
First generation robo-advisers are cookie-cutter, like Altavista; Hedgeable is innovating like Google.

HedgeablePresenter1Presenters

Matthew Kane, Co-founder & Chief Ninja
Kane is co-founder and CTO of Hedgeable where he leads all product, design, UI/UX, development, and strategy initiatives.
LinkedIn

HedgeablePresenter2Michael Kane, Co-founder & Head Sensei
Kane is co-founder and CEO of Hedgeable where he leads all investment-management and business-development duties. Previously at Bridgewater Associates.
LinkedIn

 

 

MovenLogo2015Moven is a disruptive digital experience and debit card designed to provide real-time feedback so users can build better money habits and save more.

Features:

  • Frictionless account onboarding with incremental prospecting
  • A real-time financial wellness experience driving customer engagement
  • A global, agile, and scalable platform for international banks

Why it’s great
Moven has created real-time, contextualized notifications to gamify savings and create a behaviorally driven experience that goes beyond traditional goal-based paradigms.

MovenPresenter1Presenters

Brett King, CEO, Founder
King is an Amazon best-selling author, well-known industry commentator, host of the BREAKING BANK$ radio show and founder of revolutionary mobile-based banking service Moven.
LinkedIn

MovenPresenter2Alex Sion, President, Co-founder
Sion is President of Moven and an adviser on digital strategy and disruption to global financial leaders such as HSBC, Citi, and Barclays.
LinkedIn

 

 

RageFrameworksLogo

RAGE Frameworks’ LiveCredit is a flexible, scalable origination and servicing solution that enables the design and launch of any financing product, end-to-end, from origination to underwriting to booking and service.

Features:

  • Dynamic Product Configurator enables new products without custom coding
  • Scalable origination and servicing
  • Enables flexible financing, accounting and compliance

Why it’s great
Its framework-based approach empowers unprecedented flexibility and market-leading, time-to-market deployment.

RagePresenter1Presenters

Nick Adams, Vice President, Risk Solutions
Adams runs business development for LiveCredit and is a 10+ year veteran of startups and multinational companies. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and an MBA in finance from Northeastern.
LinkedIn

RagePresenter2Aashish Mehta, SVP, Business Banking Solutions
Mehta is responsible for all LiveCredit business operations. He sits on the management team and has been with RAGE for nearly 10 years.
LinkedIn

 

 

ShoeboxedLogoShoeboxed is launching the next banking standard. The pioneers in email and mobile receipt-capture now open the door to receipt data for financial institutions.

Features:

  • Automated receipt-capture for consumers and small businesses
  • Item-level extraction of purchase details
  • Turnkey implementation for financial institutions

Why it’s great
Receipt-capture is becoming a standard banking feature, giving access to previously unattainable data.

ShoeboxedPresenter1Presenters

Tobi Walter, COO, Co-founder
An investment banker-turned-entrepreneur, COO Walter oversees the business and corporate development efforts of Shoeboxed.
LinkedIn

ShoeboxedPresenter2Alex Anderson, Business Development Manager
Anderson oversees the planning and implementation of strategic banking and accounting partnerships.
LinkedIn

 

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Britain’s Second Largest Mobile Wallet, Yoyo, Pulls $10 Million in Funding

Britain’s Second Largest Mobile Wallet, Yoyo, Pulls $10 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Yoyo

YoyoHomepage

YoyomobileapployaltyU.K.-based Yoyo announced a $10 million Series A round of funding today, bringing the startup’s total to $15 million. The round was led by Imperial Innovations, an affiliate of Imperial College, where Yoyo piloted its mobile payments app. Investors Taavet Hinrikus, Philip Riese, and Michael Tobin also contributed.

The startup will use the funding to bolster engineering and expand its team.

Yoyo also plans to expand internationally and hopes to launch at five U.S.-based colleges by the end of 2015. Yoyo piloted operations at Imperial College in London. The mobile wallet is now available at 15 other British universities, where Yoyo payments total up to 50% of all transactions on campus.

Yoyo’s platform, which is aimed at closed environments such as universities and airlines, sees 150k transactions per month. This earns it a spot as one of Britain’s largest mobile wallets, second only to Starbucks’ payment app.

The mobile payments app boasts convenience, and its built-in reward system keeps customers coming back. Yoyo has a stickiness rate of 80% and, on average, its users spend more than non-users.

We covered Yoyo in our Finovate Debuts series earlier this year. The company unveiled its mobile wallet technology at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

 

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MoneyStream Launches to Public, Receives $3.2 Million in Funding

MoneyStream Launches to Public, Receives $3.2 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, MoneyStream

MoneyStreamHomepage

iPhoneUpcomingMoneyStream not only launched its bill pay-focused PFM platform in the U.S. today, but also received its first round of funding.

The $3.2 million round was led by 60-year-old H&R Block, and marks only the second time the tax and accounting company has invested in a startup. H&R Block’s first investment was in 2011 when it furnished an undisclosed amount to Wipit, which demonstrated its Boost Mobile Wallet at FinovateSpring last year.

Bruno Bowden and Kim Polese also contributed to MoneyStream’s Series A round.

MoneyStream helps consumers avoid late payments and overdraft fees by providing cash- and bill-management tools enabling them to look ahead and make financial predictions. The startup analyzes historical account activity to predict their future balance and alert them if they could come up short. In addition to offering a single place to view all bills, the free service also enables users to pay bills directly from MoneyStream’s platform.

Founded in 2012, the company debuted at FinovateFall 2014 in New York. Mike Bertrand is CEO.

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CurrencyFair Springs $10.7 Million More in Funding

CurrencyFair Springs $10.7 Million More in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CurrencyFair, Funding

CurrencyFairHomepage

Q: Why is Ireland a great place to invest?
A: Because their capital is always Dublin’

Jokes aside, currency-exchange marketplace CurrencyFair received its recent $10.7 million (€10 million) in funding for a deeper reason than its Irish roots. Octopus Investments led the round and previous investor, Frontline Ventures, also contributed.

The Series A installment comes after five angel rounds, a venture round, and a seed round, and brings the company’s total funding to $15.4 million. The company plans to use the funding to expand with the growing market and broaden its focus beyond the European and Asia Pacific regions in which it already operates.

Founded in 2009, CurrencyFair functions on a P2P exchange model, whereby consumers negotiate their own exchange rate with others who seek the opposite exchange. CurrencyFair’s exchange platform occasionally beats the interbank exchange rate, since the P2P model insulates consumers from currency-exchange fees.

CurrencyFair competitor, TransferWise, has raised just over $58 million and recently announced a partnership with cloud-based accounting company Xero.

Brett Meyers is CEO and co-founder of CurrencyFair. The company debuted its iPhone app at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

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Finovate Debuts: Using Financial Media Solutions’ MAPPS to Create Videographics

Finovate Debuts: Using Financial Media Solutions’ MAPPS to Create Videographics
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Financial Media Solutions

FMSHomepage

Financial Media Solutions’ MAPPS videographic production tool enables advisers to create short videos that present financial information to their clients. Videographics are a logical shift from PDF documents, since many clients are shifting to the mobile channel and find it difficult to gain information by reading a PDF on their smartphone.

Using video to convey financial information is a good alternative, but is generally expensive. With MAPPS, advisers have an inexpensive way to create compelling videographics for their clients.

Facts:

  • Based in Switzerland
  • Founded in 2011
  • Self-financed, less than $100,000
  • 6 employees
  • 2 clients

When synced with the adviser’s audio commentary, the videographics capture and maintain the client’s attention. This ultimately helps clients understand and retain information about their portfolios.

Unlike traditional video production, MAPPS is affordable and does not require specialized skills. It enables advisers to create a videographic in five steps:

1) Create a sequence
Upload data from Excel to create a chart. If the adviser frequently follows the same sequence in many of their videos, they can create and store templates for future use.

2) Add analysis to the sequence
Add text, images, and animations to explain a concept or analyze the information in the chart.

3) Write, record, and edit commentary
The adviser records in his or her own voice, and uploads the recording.

4) Set and synchronize timing
Place charts, words, and graphics to pace with the commentary flow

5) Preview and publish
Once the video is finalized, advisers can add it into their mobile app and/or send it directly to their clients.

The result is a video similar to the following:

The ideal video length is 90 seconds or less. According to MAPPS, 80% of consumers watch videos until 90 seconds, after which 40% of people quit watching.

Benefits to Mapps

1) Brings communication to the mobile channel, where many customers prefer to receive information
2) Does not require significant funds, time, or skill to create videos
3) Tailors content to each client and personalizes the connection with the adviser’s voice

The first firm to take MAPPS live experienced a 50%+ response rate from clients, which was 40x greater than received previously.

Financial Media Solutions demonstrated MAPPS at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

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