Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Trustly Extends Direktbetalning Product to Online Housing and Apartment Rentals

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Trustly

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Sweden-based Trustly recently unveiled its online payment solution for house and apartment rental classified ads listed on Blocket, Sweden’s version of eBay.

This capability is being added to Trustly’s original offering, Direktbetalning, which was limited to purchasing and selling goods on the Blocket platform. You may recall Trustly’s FinovateEurope 2013 demo, where COO Carl-Henrik Somp was selling his right shoe.

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The new offering helps solve the pain point faced by home renters who are pressured into paying rent for a new home or apartment one month in advance, only to discover that it was a scam.

Direktbetalning solves this problem in a similar way in which it does for goods sold online. Trustly holds the rent money until the day after the rental period begins, then pays it out to the landlord. If fraud occurs, rent money goes back to the tenant. It works like a small escrow, the only difference being that the payment is done in real time and payment is sent directly to the bank account of the recipient.

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Trustly currently supports all major banks in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Spain. To learn more about Trustly, watch its FinovateEurope 2013 demo where it debuted Direktbetalning.

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Finovate Alumni News– August 9, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Biletu, Braintree, Google, HelloWallet, Holvi
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgThe Economist mentions Holvi as a financial company facing regulation that prevents it from lending.
  • HelloWallet unveils research department.
  • Fast Company lists Braintree as 1 of 10 companies with “developer cred”.
  • Google Wallet to end NFC functionality for storing gift and loyalty cards by the end of the month.
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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Tradeshift Adds Features to “Humanize” Project Workflow

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Tradeshift

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Online invoicing startup Tradeshift announced updates to its platform yesterday that extend its reach beyond just e-invoicing. 

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The new update, called Collaborative Workflow, will enable users to collaborate on tasks and automate workflow, making Tradeshift a more holistic platform for businesses. It attempts to “humanize” the workflow process by:

1) taking the platform mobile
2) automating repetitive tasks
3) allowing multiple users to collaborate on a single project, giving each user a profile picture to associate with their name.

Check out Tradeshift at FinovateEurope 2012 where it demoed its Instant Payments feature.

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NICE to Acquire Causata to Enhance Customer Experience Management

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: NICE Systems

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NICE, a company that focuses on enhancing interactions with end customers, is about to make it easier for organizations to understand and improve the customer experience.

That’s because the Israel-based company announced it will acquire Causata, a customer experience management company.

As a part of the partnership, NICE will integrate Causata’s Hadoop-based technologies into its Customer Engagement Analytics platform. This will:

    • create customer profiles by analyzing their activities over multiple channels
    • converge self-service digital channels (i.e. web and mobile) with assisted-service channels to better manage the customer experience
    • enable banks to provide agents with the complete context of a customer interaction
    • improve real-time decisioning with predictive analytics and machine learning

The acquisition is expected to close in a few days.

To learn more about NICE, check out their demo from FinovateSpring 2013.

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Finovate Alumni News– August 6, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Allied Payment Network, ERN, Expensify, GoBank, Interactions, Kabbage, MasterCard, Moven, On Deck Capital, Simple, SocietyOne, TransferWise, Wealthfront
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgERN raises another $1 million, acquires two UK companies.
  • Expensify announces additional approval modes.
  • TMC selects Interactions’ Virtual Assistant applications for a 2013 Speech Technology Excellence Award.
  • The Financial Brand looks at NeoBanks: Moven, Simple, GoBank.
  • Reuters article features Wealthfront as a platform of choice for how millenials manage money.
  • MasterCard partners with United Bank for Africa to provide Nigeria’s first personalized debit card.
  • BrightFunds announces that it is now an official contributor to Triple Pundit.
  • The Economist talks with TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus about technological innovation in Estonia.
  • Kabbage and On Deck Capital both featured in Fit Small Business column on raising money for an existing business.
  • Allied Payment Network partners with Access Softek to provide Picture Pay mobile bill pay technology.
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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ERN Raises Another $1 Million, Acquires Two UK Companies

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ERN

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Recently, the big data trend has been pulsing through fintech and beyond. To further prove this, data insights company and creator of looop, ERN, recently announced $1 million in funding and the acquisition of two companies.

This seed funding, combined with the $1.6 million it announced in July and the $2 million it received late last year, brings the London-based company’s total funding to $4.6 million. All investors are unnamed, high-net worth individuals.

ERN acquired two U.K.-based consulting companies that were both purchased with a combination of undisclosed fees and stock:

    1. Inspired Analytics
    2. Elucidata

ERN also mentioned in its news release that it is preparing to announce its first commercial customer.

To learn more about ERN, check out its FinovateEurope 2013 demo video.

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Higher One Acquires PayDivvy’s Social Bill Management Solution

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: PayDivvy

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PayDivvy’s social bill management services will soon be available to college and university students on the Higher One platform.

That’s because Higher One, a tech services company for college campuses, has purchased PayDivvy’s software. Now that the year-long acquisition process is complete, Higher One will enable its client base of college students to split and track bills and share expenses using PayDivvy’s social bill management services. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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While the technology is well-suited for expense tracking and splitting among college roommates, Higher One has future plans to open the service to non-college students, in order to retain users after they graduate.

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PayDivvy’s founders, Mike Melby and Ray Tamblyn, have left to pursue other ventures, but the team of engineers at PayDivvy will still work with Higher One.

To learn more about PayDivvy, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

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An Update on Q2 and a Look at its Partnership with Geezeo

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Geezeo, Q2ebanking

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We recently chatted with Austin-based Q2 (formerly Q2ebanking) to find out what its team has been up to since demoing at Finovate. We also wanted to get a closer look at the recent announcement of its partnership with PFM solutions provider, Geezeo.

Q2 Overview

    • Headquarters: Austin, TX
    • Employees: 360 with plans to hire 40 more by year end
    • Funding: $20 million
    • Number of FI clients: Just under 400
    • Clients include: Umpqua Bank, Urban Partnersip Bank, and Eli Lilly FCU
    • End users: Just under 3 million
Since FinovateSpring 2011
At FinovateSpring 2011, Q2 demoed its Risk & Fraud Analysis to help FIs defend against account takeover in ACH, wire, and external transfers. Since then, the Austin-based company has been quite busy. Here is a sample of what it has been up to:

1) Enhanced security: Q2 is the only online banking provider that has built its own security solution into its platform.

2) Q2Clarity: This new solution provides bank executives with easy-to-digest visuals of how their customers are using online and mobile banking platforms. Graphs show logon rates, mobile device usage, and more.

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3) Tablet: A step further into mobile development allows end users to perform daily banking tasks, including mobile bill pay, remote deposit capture, and mobile enrollment.

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Geezeo partnership
Geezeo first took the Finovate stage in 2007 with a followup appearance at FinovateFall 2010, where it demoed its Enterprise Marketing Platform alongside SapientNitro.

Integrating Geezeo’s PFM with Q2’s e-banking platform will provide users easy access to their spending summary. Financial institutions will have the option to customize how they want Geezeo’s PFM to look inside their online banking experience. For example, it can appear on a sidebar on the homepage, or be located under a separate tab.

People’s Bank of Alabama is the first to adopt this new platform, and Q2 is in the process of on-boarding additional customers. 

What’s next
Q2’s next innovation will focus on Big Data marketing. Retail banks will be able to use data gathered from client interactions to cross-sell and up-sell to customers.

Q2 demoed at FinovateSpring 2011. Check out the demo video here.

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Finovate Alumni News– August 2, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Bills.com, Digital Insight, Intuit, Intuit Financial Services, Kofax, LendUp, Lighter Capital, On Deck Capital, TSYS
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNetbanker looks at LendUp and BillGuard as 2 innovators creating services to protect the elderly from spam.
  • Kofax acquires data integration software provider Kapow Technologies.
  • Startup Owl features Lighter Capital and On Deck. Check out Lighter Capital at FinovateFall in NYC.
  • Bill.com’s two-factor authentication brings security to SMBs.
  • Thoma Bravo completes billion-dollar acquisition of Intuit Financial Services, re-launched as Digital Insight.
  • Net Element International integrates its Aptito POS payments platform with TSYS.
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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Finovate Alumni News– August 1, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Check Point, Kabbage, ProfitStars, The Currency Cloud, Zopa
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgKeyBank names ProfitStars software operations strategic partner of the year.
  • Payment Eye interviews Currency Cloud CEO, Mike Laven.
  • Checkpoint Technologies partners with Mobile Labs.
  • Zopa sets record for P2P Lending in UK, amassing a total £20m lent for July.
  • ACI Worldwide again wins SWIFT Certified Application accreditation for its ACI Money Transfer System.
  • Meet the Innovators of FinovateFall 2013.
  • Kabbage announces it’s made 80k advances over 2 years, with an advance volume 4X higher than nearest direct competitor.
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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Finovate Alumni News– July 31, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BBVA, Dwolla, FIS, GoBank, LearnVest, TSYS
  • Netbanker: BBVA Compass bundles microbiz checking with PAYware mobile card processing.
  • FIS brings mobile, eBanking, remote capture and more to Sterling Bank.
  • GoBank announces plan to promote its mobile-first bank account in more than 500 Barnes & Noble bookstores on college campuses.
  • Pymnts.com interviews Allen Friedman of TSYS Acquiring Solutions on the role of EMV in a cardless world.
  • NYT features how LearnVest is bringing financial planning to the masses.
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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Using BillGuard’s New iPhone App to Solve Mystery Credit Card Charges

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard

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With BillGuard’s help, consumers can now view their credit and debit card balances, recurring charges, and potentially fraudulent charges, all on their iPhone.

The New York-based company recently launched an iPhone app, which it calls a “Smart Inbox for Money,” to help users identify suspicious and fraudulent charges on their credit and debit card statements.

The app takes a more active approach compared to the desktop platform. The new mobile experience is a beautiful way to view credit and debit card transactions, and it uses push notifications to encourage logins. Watch the video at the bottom of the post for an overview of the mobile experience.

Here’s a quick look at my experience with the app, researching potentially fraudulent charges from an unknown merchant:

1) Users can sign up directly from the app. Since I already have an account, I was prompted to set up a 4-digit PIN. Once inside, you can add credit and debit cards by entering your account credentials.

2) An overview of one of my three card accounts:

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3) The Priority section alerts me to charges that others have marked as suspicious or where BillGuard does not recognize the merchant (see below):

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3) When I follow up to determine if this charge is fraudulent, I’m presented with four options. I selected, Help me recognize this:

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4) Then I’m presented with four options to begin some detective work. In this case, I Googled the merchant name.

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Thankfully, Google solved the mystery, but I could have also emailed or texted my friend who was with me on the afternoon the charge occurred.

5) After discovering that the charge is from Flathead Lake Brewing Company, I selected Name this merchant to add to the merchant information to BillGuard’s database. 

To date, the startup has scanned almost a billion transactions.

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Below is the pricing structure for BillGuard’s app, which Apple chose to feature in the App store today as New and Noteworthy. 

Until August 31, BillGuard is holding a launch special that will allow users to load up to 10 cards on the platform for a one-time fee of $9.99. Beginning in September, the same service will cost $45/ year.

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Aside from its direct-to-consumer offering, the New York-based company also offers BillGuard Resolve for merchants and BillGuard FI for banks which won Best of Show  at FinovateSpring 2012.

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