Last month, I caught up with the team from PFM platform, Strands Finance, to chat about what they’ve been up to since demoing at FinovateEurope last year.
Overview
- Developing PFM solutions since 2007
- Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in U.S. and Spain
- 50 employees worldwide
Clients
- Bank of Montreal
- BBVA
- ING
- Post Finance
Product highlights
1) Widgets
Strands Finance offers 15 different widgets that users can drag and drop on any page of their financial institution.
The company has found that the new widget design is especially popular with gen-Y users.
2) Categorization engine
The proprietary categorization has a 90%+ accuracy rate at launch of a client’s PFM after it is tweaked to recognize businesses in certain geographic regions. Its algorithms use vendor names, transaction codes and text strings to determine an appropriate category for a purchase. Transactions are categorized into over 80 categories. Customers can edit, split categories, or create custom categories.
3) Timeline view on expense analysis feature
Specific ranges of time are easily selected by using drop down and slider features.
4) Community comparison feature
Compare and contrast saving and spending habits with the average bank client. Users can drill down into details and filter by demographic information such as zip code, county, or city and narrow the search to specific spending categories.
5) Mobile/Tablet
The native app is simple to use, and it retains most of the capabilities as the online version. It is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
What’s new?
Since presenting FinovateEurope last year, Strands Finance has added features such as a financial calendar and net worth analysis.
What’s next?
Strands Finance is developing a product marketing intelligence tool that will help banks analyze transactions and deliver personalized product recommendations. It has also started working on a wealth management solution that will provide users a picture of their overall wealth within the PFM.
