“BrightScope, which provides background on 450,000 advisors based on reports from the Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA, is adding a section to its Advisor Pages that will let consumers write reviews about advisors – a concept akin to popular consumer websites like Yelp or Tripadvisor.com.”
Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)
Finovate Alumni News– October 3, 2011
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- Rebirth Financial introduces its new platform.
- FreeCreditScore.net profiles PayNearMe.
- Pittsburgh’s Smart Business looks at how Dynamics CEO Jeff Mullen has founded and grown the company.
- James Varga from miiCard reflects on FinovateFall.
- BlueRidgeNow.com recommends using findabetterbank.com to avoid banking fees.
- New Zealand Herald discusses Rod Drury’s success with taking Xero public.
- Entrepreneur looks at how Dwolla’s services compare to big bank’s small business services.
- Bobber Interactive and Bundle are making finance interesting with social engagement.
- The San Francisco Chronicle reports LearnVest is 1 of 30 most valuable startups in New York.
- Bank Technology News cites that Citi is the first bank to publicly launch a site designed using Yodlee’s FinApp platform.
- Mint.com discusses the value of CreditSesame’s Credit Badge.
- The Spokesman-Review discusses the popularity of P2P lending sites Prosper and Lending Club.
- The Paypers features Samurai from FeeFighters, an online payment gateway.
- Loren’s World blog lists Expensify as 1 of 5 best apps for business women.
- USA Today lists BillFloat as a good alternative to a payday loan.
- DeadlineNews.com names FamZoo as a “site to see.”
- Balance Financial launches version 1.2 of its mobile app in the Apple app store.
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.
Bobber Interactive and Bundle Are Making Finance Interesting with Social Engagement
Earlier this week, Bank Technology News wrote about the gamification of finance. The article describes Capital One’s promos in Zynga’s CityVille (a FarmVille-like game), then looks at Seattle-based Bobber Interactive’s new GoalCard:
“Users set up their accounts and access funds with a Visa debit card issued by Meta Financial Group Inc.’s MetaBank Inc. and offered by Plastyc Inc. They are encouraged to share their financial goals with their Facebook friends, and they get points and rewards for transacting and sharing the application with others.”
New York-based Bundle is also highlighted in the article for its spending tracker and comparison platform:
“Bundle, which is backed by Citigroup Inc., analyzes card transaction data to help customers track their spending. It also compares their spending to various demographic groups based on aggregated data provided by Citi and other sources.”
Both Bobber Interactive and Bundle demonstrated their platforms at FinovateFall last week. Full-length videos will be posted within the next two weeks. In the meantime, check out Bobber Interactive’s FinovateSpring 2010 demo and Bundle’s FinovateSpring2011 demo.
eToro Wins 3 World Finance Awards
At the beginning of this month, eToro won three World Finance Awards:
“(eToro) was selected as the Best Social Trading Network, Best Mobile Trading Platform, and Best Trading Software Provider by the World Finance Awards. eToro was selected following an email poll of 40,000 industry decision-makers due to its innovation, originality and quality of product, as well as proof of market development and excellence in client representation.”
The goal of the World Finance Awards is to identify organizations that implement best practices in the financial and business world.
Finovate Alumni News– September 30, 2011
Reuters advises opening a BankSimple to avoid bank fees.
- Fox Business News interviews Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital, on the startup’s services.
- Digital Stock Market recommends using Yodlee or Mint to help control your spending.
- eToro makes its blog available as a WebTrader widget.
- SmartMoney discusses Personal Capital’s advisor video chat feature.
- Q2ebanking adds its mobile app to the Android marketplace.
- Xero wins K2 Quality award for SaaS.
- SecondMarket puts itself up for sale using its own site, SecondMarket.
- Wall Street Survivor announces the winners of the August Stock Game Giveaway.
- Lifehacker advises using BrightScope to analyze your 401(k) during a “financial bootcamp day.”
- eToro wins 3 World Finance Awards.
FinovateFall 2011 Live Twitter Transcript
- Here we go, Finovate number 10 starts in 10 minutes. Lots of cool tech coming! Follow the #finovate hashtag for next 2 days.
- Weemba is launching a “reverse lending” system that puts borrowers in control. Only lenders they authorize can contact them. Link
- Demyst.Data is launching a lender predictive analytics system to grow portfolios through better segmentation. Link
- Google is showing its new Advisor that is designed to improve the search experience for mortgages, credit cards, etc. Link
- Google is showing how you can easily compare terms and conditions. It is inviting banks to talk to them to participate.
- Betterment is launching goal-based investing to its simple investing platform. Link
- Betterment is showing how to create multiple goals with different asset allocations. This is a great, understandable investment UI.
- Segmint is launching SegmintSocial, a platform for financial institutions to interact with customers on Facebook. Link
- Segmint is demoing a bank dashboard and live chat-like user interface to engage customers in Facebook.
- Kabbage is debuting its SocialKlimbing system that uses social activity as part of the credit evaluation process. Link
- Kabbage is demoing the social and sales analytics around an eBay merchant’s store in order to assess the merchant’s risk and increase credit.
- RobotDough is launching an “antivirus for your portfolio” that monitors a brokerage account for accounting red flags. Link
- RobotDough has massive coverage: it is worldwide on 130 stock exchanges, has 45,000 companies worldwide, and has options coverage coming soon.
- RebirthFinancial is showing a new way for lenders to analyze small businesses. JAS (pronounced jazz) is a neural network rating system. Link
- Rebirth Financial is looking to popularize a small business predictive model– there is a big need for that.
- CreditSesame is launching its “badges of financial responsibility” to “certify credit worthiness” to the world. Link
- TandemMoney is launching a system for users to “borrow” from themselves, then repay. This helps to minimize interest. Link
- TandemMoney is demoing the “loan” process that uses a “plain talk promise” to disclose exactly what’s going on.
- Equifax is demoing a freemium service that shows “Places” on its mobile app and has real-time access to your credit file. Link
- Equifax is showing how you can use its mobile app to determine “neighborhood safety” based on credit scores. It also has a “credit report” lock toggle.
- Transecq is showing its ENTERSECT out-of-band transaction authentication system using a mobile phone. Link
- Transecq is using push-based notifications rather than an SMS message for the 2nd-factor authentication.
- Balance Financial is demoing a bill upload process using an iPhone camera. It also launches a FaceTime chat with the personal bookkeeper. Link
- Balance Financial’s app has receipt uploads that are managed with help of a personal bookkeeper at $40 per month.
- Micronotes is showing its new KulaX cross-sell engine 1st Advantage Credit Union on stage demoing it Link
- 1st Advantage FCU says it gets three times the number of leads using Micronotes compared to the traditional method of direct marketing.
- PersonalCapital is launching its company today at Finovate, calling itself an “investment management for the Internet age.” Link
- Personal Capital is demoing an investment management UI which really pops, showing an “investment checkup” with fee projections.
- Personal Capital demonstrates its free service using an iPad app with FaceTime connection to your financial advisor. It ends its demo with an iPad giveaway.
- Kony is showing its new mobile commercial banking application that streamlines approvals and transactions. Link
- MyCyberTwin is debuting an “emotionally responsive AI virtual agent” that is able to use emotion, smile, frown, etc. Link
- MyCyberTwin is demoing a fully automated avatar deployed on Australia’s NAB. It captures customer mood and responds to what they really want.
- CashStar is launching its Digital Gifting platform where the iPhone app turns card points into mobile gift cards. Link
- Authentify is launching 2CHK for a secure, 2-way window into user accounts for review, approval, or cancelation of transactions. Link
- Backbase debuts its Retail Bank of the Future, and suggests products that “other peo
ple like you use” (Similar to Amazon.com’s recommendations). Link
- Andera is showing its new FortiFI system that scans new account applications submitted to over 500 financial institutions. The system discovers fraud patterns. Link
- Andera is demoing a fraud app made on BankSimple app. Side note: this is the first Finovate company with masked man driving the laptop!
- eToro is launching “Copy.Me,” a store where you can find the top traders to follow and copy their trades. Link
- The best jokes delivered at Finovate so far: eToro’s Yoni Assia (high school copying) and Kabbage’s Marc Gorlin (naked tweeting).
- Yodlee is showing its new “Dynamic Consumer Experience” with a large “deals” section in the upper-right. Link
- Yodlee is showing a goal-oriented profiling tool, Smart Credit, in its FinApp Store. Real-time PayPal payments can be used to pay bills.
- BillGuard is demoing its new “Antivirus for Bills,” a crowd-sourced database with information on bad charges to inform all users of the fraud. Link
- BillGuard is demoing a Yodlee-powered daily scan on credit card transactions across all your cards. It flags potential issues and likely fraud.
- BillGuard today is launching “BillGuard browser extension,” so far it has found fraudulent charges on 20% of cards– this adds up to $350,000 in savings.
- BillGuard is launching a collaborative industry working group to track fraudulent charges.
- modoPAYMENTS is showing its full-service mobile payments service using a live helmet cam at a local bar. Link
- So glad that modoPAYMENTS the helmet cam demo worked!
- cbanc Network is showing a “social network-like” system for bankers to work with each other to tackle issues. Link
- cBanc uses a virtual currency to incent bankers to upload answers and solutions to the network so that others can “buy” the solutions.
- cBank has 2,900 participating financial institutions and 3,000 solutions and answers in the system, including exam sharing. It even has a method to NOT share the information with competitors.
- cBank Network is launching vendor opportunities today such as advertising, review responses, surveys, etc.
- SigFig is a “second set of eyes for your portfolio.” It can set up a meeting with your adviser within the system.
- SigFig is showing its system for avoiding trading fees, showing a real example where the user could save $150k per year. Link
- Mootwin is showing its new mobile investment management and trading system with real-time updates. Link
- Experian is demoing its new myID privacy and identity monitoring system. Link
- Experian myID will help you opt out from tracking services. This helps get your name and mobile phone number removed from data aggregation services.
- Experian myID can be white-labeled for financial institutions.
- Plastyc is showing its new savings account attached to Upside prepaid account. It includes goals and achievements. Link
- Plastyc is showing its systematic savings tools and cash-back rewards to incent savings (currently 6% rate).
- Dynamics is launching Chip & Choice, enabling advanced EMV applications without the need to update point of sale terminals. Link
- Dynamics drops its card into a glass of water to show that it can go through the washer, nice.
- FinovateFall 2011 day 2 starts off with T8 Webware.
- T8 Webware is launching Grip, a mobile banking app with aggregation to monitor all accounts. It also includes receipt upload. Link
- T8 Webware built its own aggregation engine. The app carries a fee of $0.99 for each month used.
- Swipely is launching a “loyalty for main street,” platform that is linked to customer credit and debit cards. Link
- CREALOGIX is launching CLX.SentinelDisplay, a USB device with keypad, display, and a hardened browser for out-of-band authorizations. Link
- CREALOGIX also includes complete data confidentiality: when the USB device is disconnected, nothing about the session remains on the PC.
- ACI Worldwide and MShift are unveiling their Mobile Enterprise Banker,” a business banking app for tablets. Link
- ACI and MShift are demoing on the iPad, showing how an urgent push notification from a bank overrides an “Angry Birds” session– nice visual.
- FuzeNetwork is launching Swipe2Pay to make a cash payment or deposit to a bank by swiping a card at a retailer’s point of sale. Link
- Fuze Network is demoing actual point of sale transactions where “any card” works. The system is live at ACE now.
- FreeMonee is showing its new card-linked offers system to provide simple cash back rewards. Link
- MitekSystems is debuting “Mobile Balance Transfer” for banks to acquire new credit card customers. Link
- Mitek is demoing “point.shoot.transfer.save.” Users take a photo of a credit card statement, the tool extracts the APR/balance, then uploads the information to the issuer for an offer.
- Mitek is showing what happens in the back office when an image is received and how it is evaluated.
- Truaxis (formerly BillShrink) is demoing its new platform that delivers personalized discounts via web, mobile, and email. Link
- Truaxis says that the majority of its users want “Netflix-like” recommendations for purchases. There is great potential for banks to showcase this information.
- LearnVest is creating the 1st online ‘financial fitness center’. Its goal is to make financial planning more accessible to women. Link
- LearnVest has put 250,000 users through its “financial boot camp” in past 3 months. It is showing a PFM with a “Gmail look and feel.”
- LearnVest is demoing a “financial advice center” with costs $130/yr or $4.99 for 1-day.
2, Session 2
- Cartera Commerce unveils its Local Offers solution, part of its card-linked offers service. Link
- Cartera Commerce is demoing its merchant self-service interface.
- FamZoo is showing its system for teaching kids good money habits via co-branded FamZoo Virtual Family Bank. Link
- FamZoo is demoing how kids and parents interact through its online interface, manage spending, incent savings/giving, and create rewards.
- FamZoo is launching a “partnership edition” today, a private branded version for banks, credit unions, and advisors.
- oFlows is launching a broad-based paperwork solution; allowing for the digitization of all types of paper-based transactions. Link
- oFlows is demoing the upload of a voided check to handle account verification on-the-go.
- InComm and CorFire are showing a new mobile platform for retailers to personalize the consumer payment experience. Link
- InComm and CorFire are demoing an offer delivered in-store on a mobile device. It then uses a mobile barcode to pay at the point of sale.
- planwise is debuting its company at Finovate today. It is designed to help consumers understand their financial plans. Link
- planwise offers “Secure Share” to provide the ability to share parts of your financial plans with others– this is a much-needed online finance feature.
- Jingit is launching a transactional ad platform where consumers can earn cash for engaging with brands. Link
- Jingit is demoing how it works with an online music store: “instant earn/instant spend.” It is working with US Bank for cash-back rewards.
- LighterCapital showing its new Revenue Loan that offers “debt-like risk with equity-like returns.” Link
- Ligher Capital is showing its two-question loan application–that should raise eyes. It is also discussing real “Tomato Battle” funding.
- Lighter Capital is launching “social security” with partners. It combines “light-weight lending platform” with social media-based decisioning.
- MasterCard is showing its new Small Business Controller, part of the inControl suite to create unique payment products. Link
- MasterCard is demoing virtual card creation by small businesses with real-time alerts to employees.
- BankSimple is showing its user interface publicly for the first time today, focusing on speed and simplicity. Link
- BankSimple features a “Safe-to-spend” balance that is “red flagged” in the upper left corner of the main page. It is also demoing a “Goggle-fast” natural-language search.
- BankSimple is “helping users learn from their transactions”. It is demoing fast bill-pay with real-time processing.
- BankSimple is demoing a goal setup. Users can pause, lock, resume, or manually add to it. It is also showing a mobile interface that was “designed before online UI.”
- PayNearMe is launching its new automobile-loan payment service using cash at local stores such a 7-Eleven. Link
- PayNearMe is demoing with a Monopoly board and a toy cash register–a Finovate first.
- PayNearMe demos making payments for rent and utilities with a mobile bar code scanned at a 7-Eleven.
- CarryQuote is showing its Intellicast system to quickly publish investment research to mobile and tablet apps. Link
- CarryQuote is launching a “conference feature” to connect with customers before, during, and after investment events. It also has real-time updates.
- FeeFighters is launching the Samurai payment gateway, the “simplest way to accept payments online.” Link
- FeeFighters is demoing how to add its gateway to a webpage. It uses “intelligent routing” of payments to ensure the lowest cost.
- Wall Street Survivor is launching a new interface catering to investing beginners. It uses missions to educate the learning investors. Link
- Wall Street Survivor is the “largest fantasy stock market online,” with 350,000 registered users.
- Wall Street Survivor is demoing a stock trading “mission” with virtual cash and points to reward users. It also includes Facebook integration.
- miiCard is showing “Assured Identities” to serve as “drivers license/passport checks” for the online world. Link
- miiCard is designed to reduce high levels of “financial cart” abandonment, showing how it can be integrated into a banking site.
- DoughMain is launching a family financial management platform and three age-relevant financial game sites. Link
- DoughMain is showing a financial homepage for pre-teens with a service that includes a prepaid card. It also has a gift card purchase cart.
- DoughMain is looking to offer versions for banks.
- Bundle is using actual spending data to help “cut through the noise” of user-review sites like Yelp. Link
- Bundle is demoing its advanced “search results filtering” to hone in on restaurants that attract repeat customers.
- Transparency Labs is working on the transparency genome to decode and explain financial “fine print.” Link
- Transparency Labs is demoing how it can break down the “fine print” and uncover fees and important conditions, showing it in a dashboard.
- Transparency Labs also monitors existing agreements and sends alerts when the “fine print” changes.
- ActivePath and Cardlytics are teaming up to deliver in-statement offers delivered directly to clients via email. Link
- Cardlytics and ActivePath are showing “active mail” within Gmail. It includes an “offers” tab within the emailed bank E-Statement.
- The Cool House of Financial Media is launching eyeOpen, a financial matching service that provides the best-fit in financial products. Link
- The Cool House of Financial Media is demoing a consumer profiling session with eyeOpen, and recommends products based on what other people liked.
- IN
D Group is launching IND Innovation, a new online and mobile platform that includes a “bank feed.” Link
- IND Group is demoing mobile P2P payment with a QR code. It supports “mobile first” banking.
- Offermatic is reinventing “daily deals” by making them relevant and easy to redeem through bank card linkage. Link
- Offermatic is offering “guaranteed net new profitable customers.” It is demoing a dashboard of metrics for merchants with zero cost to the merchant.
- Offermatic is launching Dynamic Offers, the first system that pegs the value of a discount to the value of the customer. It also track repeat purchases.
- ReadyForZero is showing a new system with loan repayment automation and data sharing. Link
- ReadyForZero found that its users pay down debt twice as fast as non-users; its designed to reduce credit losses for banks/card issuers.
- Bobber Interactive is launching its GoalCard app on Facebook. Link
- Bobber Interactive’s social-game-based system is geared towards GenY; asks “who would you rather loan $50 to?” using Facebook tools.
- Bobber Interactive “is helping Gen-Y win at money” ($200 billion market).
- That’s it– FinovateFall is a wrap…see you in the networking hall!
FinovateFall 2011 in the Press
Bobber Interactive’s GoalCard Encourages Savings with a Social Twist
“A cash management tool that simplifies daily spending, provides real-time budgeting, and incentivizes goal achievement. Cardholders engage in a highly interactive debit loyalty and cash-back rewards program grounded in their personal savings goals. GoalCard’s engagement engine and accelerated feedback loops drive a dynamic relationship across cardholder “save-spend” transaction activity. GoalCard is integrated within Facebook to amplify the social and viral user experience, publicly vesting cardholders in their own success. GoalCard’s platform deliberately reinforces behavior critical to a sustainable card program (viral acquisition, time to initial load, direct deposit, spending mix, dormancy response time, fraud profiling).”
ReadyForZero Helps Reduce Bank Credit Losses By Working With Borrowers
“ReadyForZero’s online program reduces bank credit losses and lowers collection costs by helping average borrowers better understand, manage, and pay down their debts. By using real-time data about a person’s financial situation, ReadyForZero delivers personalized payment and behavioral recommendations that can immediately save people time and money while at the same time improving retention and reducing credit losses.”
Offermatic’s Free Rebate Tool Generates Tailored Promotional Offers
“With Free Rebate, any merchant – small or large, online or offline – can offer compelling automatic rebates to its customers and grow sales at no cost. No integration is required and it is easy to set up: you can create your Free Rebate offer in less than 5 minutes.
This model enables merchants to get a great promotion to increase sales from current customers at no cost, while Offermatic gets new customers for its service.”
IND Group Reinvents How Banks Can Communicate With Clients
“Its “wow” innovation is a new online and mobile banking platform, which is reinventing the way a bank can communicate with its customers. Use of natural language, simplicity, usability and data visualization are the key differentiating factors. Easy-to-use main features include the account and transaction visualization, wizard-type money transfers and investments, zero-effort personal finance management, online sales engine and support center.
Through IND’s use of iPhone and Android applications, mobile banking is more than just the extension of online banking features. We think the capabilities of the mobile should be fully used, like GPS location, camera, and the fact that it is always online.”
The Cool House of Financial Media’s eyeOpen Service Matches Consumer with Financial Products
“eyeOpen introduces matching technology in the financial world. The eyeOpen technology enables the business models of a free internet-based financial planner that lets users put information from several sources onto a single screen and then recommends suitable products.
In order to get a match for a suitable mortgage, the consumer answers 13 simple questions. Based on his profile, he will be presented with the option that over 1,000 people like him have chosen, and also with 3 product choices based on what over 500 financial advisors would advise people like him. The algorithm behind this model crunches over 2 million data points per consumer and is based on extensive market research.”