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Jemstep, an online investment guidance startup that tracks over $170 million in investments, announced today it received $6 million in funding.
This installment from private investors completes Jemstep’s Series A funding, bringing the total up to $10.5 million.
The California-based startup plans to use the funding for product development, growth, and corporate recruitment.
To learn more about Jemstep, watch its FinovateSpring 2010 demo.
Iowa-based SmartyPig, a social savings innovator, made two announcements today:
GoalSaver features include:
In addition to benefitting banks, GoalSaver is also available to industries such as insurance, prepaid cards, and merchants who need layaway solutions.
To learn more about SmartyPig, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.
Plastyc’s UPside Visa named winner in sixth annual Paybefore Awards.
Yesterday, I mentioned Capital One’s self-service travel notification process. Another aspect of the service is a follow-up email before you head out of town (see below).
I like the email for a couple reasons:
The bank even tells you to call collect. Nice.
Capital One could jazz up the message with more color and snappier copy (note 2), but it gets the job done.
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Capital One email to customers who’ve told them they are traveling internationally (31 Jan 2012)
Note: Sent the day before scheduled departure
Notes:
1. Picture credit: Greeting card at Zazzle.
2. I’m surprised Capital One doesn’t use this opportunity to reinforce its travel rewards, mobile app, and zero FX fees.
3. We’ve tackled remote banking customer service and messaging a number of times in previous issues of our Online Banking Report. The last one was Live Help earlier this year.
FinovateEurope 2012 is less than a week away and we are very excited to return to London to showcase the best new innovations in financial technology from across the globe.
On next Tuesday, dozens of cutting-edge startups and leading established companies (check out the list of presenters) will take the stage to debut their latest and greatest ideas via Finovate’s signature fast-paced, demo-only format
We blew past last year’s attendance total of 450 last week and tickets have continued to sell strongly (there are still a few left if you want to register).
In case you’re curious about who is attending this year, here is a small sample of the organizations that have already registered:
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If you want add your organization’s name to this list and join our top-notch audience to watch the future of European finance and banking technology debut live next Tuesday, please register soon before it is too late. We’ll see you in London!
FinovateEurope 2012 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting & The Bancorp Bank
FinovateEurope 2012 is partners with: BankerStuff, BankInnovation, Celent, Deutsch Startups, Finance on Windows, The Financial Services Club, The Financial Services Innovation Centre, Juniper Research, and PYMNTS.com.
FinovateEurope 2012 is less than a week away and we are very excited to return to London to showcase the best new innovations in financial technology from across the globe.
On next Tuesday, dozens of cutting-edge startups and leading established companies (check out the list of presenters) will take the stage to debut their latest and greatest ideas via Finovate’s signature fast-paced, demo-only format
We blew past last year’s attendance total of 450 last week and tickets have continued to sell strongly (there are still a few left if you want to register).
In case you’re curious about who is attending this year, here is a small sample of the organizations that have already registered:
|
|
|
If you want add your organization’s name to this list and join our top-notch audience to watch the future of European finance and banking technology debut live next Tuesday, please register soon before it is too late. We’ll see you in London!
FinovateEurope 2012 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting & The Bancorp Bank
FinovateEurope 2012 is partners with: BankerStuff, BankInnovation, Celent, Deutsch Startups, Finance on Windows, The Financial Services Club, The Financial Services Innovation Centre, Juniper Research, and PYMNTS.com.
Portal software startup Backbase announced today that it partnered with Australia-based Sandstone:
“Backbase provides powerful Web
2.0 e-business technology that will underpin Sandstone’s next generation online banking solutions…. Backbase Forms will enable Sandstone BankFast customers to easily create and edit forms for customer-facing business applications.”
Sandstone will market the Backbase Bank 2.0 and Forms technology throughout Australia and New Zealand.
To learn more about Backbase and Sandstone, come to FinovateEurope February 7 in London or watch Backbase’s FinovateFall 2011 demo.
StockTwits now powered by Revere Data.
I’ve always disliked toll-free (telephone) customer service. You have to find the number, identify yourself repeatedly, choose from confusing categories, then wait on hold until you finally get the honor of pleading your sorry case to someone who has all the power. I usually end up feeling like an idiot or a third grader asking for a bathroom pass.
Before the Internet, call center service was a necessary evil. Going forward, let’s get rid of it. Self-service, whether completely automated or “guided” by real humans, saves money, and done right, can be a more satisfying customer experience.
Back to my sample of one. When I have a question, I always look for the webform, email address, or even the live chat button; anything that keeps me from dialing 1-800-IMAFOOL.
But when you want to do something at your bank that’s relatively complicated, such as investigate a suspicious charge, change your credit limit, etc., it can be difficult to figure out how to do that on your own. That’s why I like Capital One’s “Ask a question…” box in the middle-right of all its credit card management pages (see first screenshot).
Today, I wanted to tell the bank I might be using its card internationally. I was already logged in to pay my bill, so I simply typed “travel” in the right-hand box (see first screenshot) and a link to the correct online form was delivered in the “answers” section (see second screenshot). It worked just like I expected.
So kudos to Capital One for making it easy to navigate to the right page, and more importantly, handling the entire travel notification process online. Of course, I’d prefer the bank just tracked me automatically via GPS (note 2), but we’ll get back to that another time.
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Capital One aids do-it-yourselfers with a prominent search box on every page (28 Jan 2012)
Search results for “travel”
Notes:
1. Western Electric ad from 1959 (from eBay)
2. At FinovateEurope next week, one of the presenting companies, Finsphere, offers just such a technology. Capital One, you should give them a call.
Last week, Lodo Software announced that it partnered with Arvest Bank to update its online banking service:
“Lodo’s solution will help Arvest deliver an improved and personalized online experience that allows bank customers to monitor and manage their finances with greater convenience and control.”
Arvest Bank will also join Lodo’s advisory board to guide the future direction of Lodo products.
To learn more about Lodo Software, watch its FinovateEurope 2011 demo.
Crowdsourcing.org features Rebirth Financial.HelloWallet receives $12 million in funding.