Online Banking Report Looks at New Security Technologies that Promise More Peace of Mind

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Authentium, Best of the Web, ING Direct, Online Banking Report, Security & Privacy, Trusteer

image With bad news pouring down from all corners of the financial services world, it’s a difficult time to be a bank marketer no matter what condition your financial institution is in (see note 1).

imageBut besides sending reassuring emails to your customers, highlighting your strong balance sheet on your website (see inset), and for the few with blogs, dropping the occasional rosy post into the RSS or Twitter feed (note 2), what’s a banker to do?

When fear is rampant, little things can make a difference. Your customers have long been nervous about banking online. Most aren’t afraid enough not to use it, but lingering doubt remains.

Now might be a great time to follow the lead of ING Direct, Firstrade, and Muriel Siebert and introduce a software solution that provides extra security for online banking. While it won’t make a Fannie Mae shareholder any happier, it’s reassuring in these times that at least there are no crooks stealing your username and password.

obr_bestofwebOnline Banking Report publishes Security 4.0 (note 3)
In the latest Online Banking Report, we look at several promising software solutions that allow even malware-infested users to connect safely to their bank. Both solutions earned OBR Best of the Web designations (note 4): 

  • Rapport from Trusteer, now being distributed by ING Direct in the United States and Canada (previous post here)
  • SafeCentral from Authentium, being distributed by Firstrade and in testing at several major banks (Finovate Startup demo video here)

Online Banking Report: Security 4.0 Tabl of Contents Sep 2008We also take a closer look at Bank of America’s SafePass (previous post here), which is an easy way for customers to add an extra security layer to their login, although it won’t prevent certain malware to hijack the session. See the inset for the complete Table of Contents.

Online Banking Report subscribers may download it now here. Others may download abstract here, or purchase here. Cost is US$495. 

Notes:
1. But be thankful if your financial institution is not in the headlines right now. I’m in the hometown of WaMu and the headlines this morning were not pretty.
2. Blog post from Verity CU on 16 Sept.; Twitter update from First Federal today   
3. Our fourth full Online Banking Report on security/privacy; previous reports were #119, #93/94, and #48. 
4. OBR Best of the Web awards are given periodically to pioneering online banking features. It is not an endorsement of the company or product, just recognition for what we believe is an important development. Trusteer and Authentium were the 71st and 72nd recipients of the designation since we began awarding them in 1997.

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Wachovia’s Initial Foray into Social Media is Impressive, Now Twitter That

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Service, Social Media, Twitter, Wachovia

Link to Wachovia Twitter page Taking a page from Wells Fargo’s playbook, Wachovia has ventured into social media, giving Twitter a try (see screenshot below and previous Twitter coverage here). The bank has sent 94 updates (aka Tweets) via its Twitter page since it began Aug. 18 and has amassed 340 followers.

But more importantly, they are leveraging the minimal customer-support expense to support Twitter (see note 1) with a nifty badge on its Contact Us page (see inset and screenshot below). That little bit of online marketing, demonstrating the Web-savviness of the banking colossus, is probably worth 1000x whatever goodwill they earn actually talking to customers via Twitter.

Wachovia Contact us page with Twitter badge 17 Sep 2008

Analysis
I’ll admit, I was expecting the usual corporate marketing-speak. But Wachovia is actually using the medium very well. So far, the bank has provided a realistic mix of low-key promotional items such as the following “Ike update” with real customer service response (see second example below).

Example 1 (earlier today): Promotional Tweet today mentioning the bank’s Hurricane Ike response with link to more info, e.g., <tinyurl.com/4vbbyn>: 

image

Example 2 (this morning): Responding to a customer complaint: 

image

This last message is directed back to a customer who posted a complaint about Wachovia in his public Twitter stream. Wachovia could have sent it privately, but they elected to respond publicly.

This is surprisingly bold, considering that the bank risks elevating the issue. For example, anyone following Wachovia’s updates can click on bastille71’s username and see that she is upset about a $250 overdraft charge. It’s unlikely anyone outside bastille71’s friends would have known about that had Wachovia not responded publicly via Twitter.

Twitter user bastille71 But anyone who really believes in social media will argue that the bank has far more to gain by demonstrating real commitment to solving customer problems.

Looking further at the above example, bastille71 (inset) has 135 followers on Twitter, her own blog, and who knows how many friends on Facebook. What are the chances that if Wachovia ends up refunding her $250, bastille71 (aka Miss Rehobeth) will write it up in her blog, Twitter it, and even talk about it with her co-workers and friends? 

And if you need more ROI than that, Wachovia has already received a good payback on its Twitter investment (note 1) with a nearly full-page article in American Banker last week during an otherwise not-so-positive news cycle for banks. In addition, the customer service innovation made several blogs and of course the bank’s been Twittered about in a positive way.

Note:
1. There’s no real cost to using Twitter other than staffing it with a social-media-savvy customer-service rep and someone in marketing/PR to look over his or her shoulders. 

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Rate Surfer and MyMoney to Demo at Finovate 2008

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Facebook, Finovate, Fiserv, Rate Surfer

image

Finovate takes place four weeks from today (Oct. 14), and we’ve already surpassed last year’s attendee total. Luckily, we booked a bigger space, so there will be more bankers and tech execs to network with and everyone in the audience will have a seat at a table to park that laptop, Blackberry, iPhone, or whatever.

But the space isn’t unlimited and if we continue the sign-up pace of the past few weeks we’ll sell out well before Oct. 14. So, don’t wait too long, register here (see note 1).  

When we announced the Finovate lineup, there were three companies that chose to remain secret. Two of those are now being named (note 2):

  • Rate Surfer which participated in the TechCrunch50 DemoPit last week (post here)
  • MyMoney from Fiserv’s Galaxy unit, a Facebook application that allows users to check their bank balance and transactions from within their Facebook account (post here)

Note:
1. Clients with annual subscriptions to our All-Access Online Banking Report are eligible for a conference discount; email [email protected] for your client discount code.

2. The 24th company is in stealth mode and will be revealed on or very near the conference on Oct. 14.

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Expensify Launches Decoupled Credit/Debit Card Using Prepaid Model

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Expensify, Launches, Personal Financial Management, Prepaid/gift cards

image Like Rate Surfer, which we wrote about yesterday, Expensify launched its new employee expense-management system from the TechCrunch50 DemoPit this week.

The San Francisco-based startup (note 1) combines a payment card with a Web-based expense manager and uses cellphone cameras to upload pictures of receipts to match against purchases. It’s a banking triple play: card, online, and mobile.

The target market is smaller businesses that want to automate expense report preparation, approval, and reimbursement to their employees.  

How it works
The heart of Expensify is a prepaid, decoupled credit card. I know that doesn’t make sense, but here’s how it works: 

  1. Sign up for an Expensify MasterCard prepaid debit card.
  2. Load it with value from any credit or debit card, Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. 
  3. Make purchases with the Expensify MasterCard.
  4. As each purchase clears, the prepaid balance is lowered, triggering an automatic “top off” charge of an equal amount to the consumer’s credit card, thereby returning the prepaid balance back to the original level.

Metabank is the issuer; here are terms and conditions.

Analysis
At first blush Expensify sounds pretty amazing. An expense management card that rides on top of your regular card, with mobile and Web-based integration. Brilliant, until you start thinking about costs. There’s that pesky thing called interchange. What Expensify has done is create two card transactions instead of one, doubling the amount of interchange paid.

To cover the extra interchange and create some revenue for itself, Expensify levies a 3% transaction fee on the cardholder. Although the card is otherwise relatively fee-free, that’s a significant surcharge.

Why would anyone pay 3% extra in order to use the Expensify card when they already have a credit card? The company believes that small businesses will pay the fee in order to get the expense-manager features and to help employees separate business expenses from personal ones. Businesses could have multiple Expensify cards tied to different categories of expenses (see screenshot below).

A business with just $1000/mo in expenditures would pay $360 per year. In addition, the business would tie up several hundred dollars in a prepaid account, because the only charges cardholders can make must not exceed the prepaid balance held in the Expensify account. 

I think the expense-management concept is good, especially with the mobile receipt integration, but it’s just too expensive in its current format. The founders should try to move to an ACH-based “topping off” process and remove the transaction fees. 

But regardless of how this specific product performs, the integration of payments, online and mobile, is a huge trend. If Expensify is nimble enough, they may be able to ride the wave.

Expensify homepage (10 Sep 2008)

image

Note:
1. Since I didn’t see contact info on their website, here’s what the founders provided at TechCrunch50: Expensify, 548 Market St. #61434, San Francisco, CA 94104, Phone: 801.745.9064

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My Best Interest Announces Rate Surfer from TechCrunch50 DemoPit

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Conferences, Credit/Debit Cards, Rate Surfer

image In addition to the 51 companies chosen in advance to demo at TechCrunch’s annual conference, 120 more companies (note 1) are in the DemoPit. The DemoPit is an area outside the main hall where the companies that didn’t make the final cut to be on stage have a table where they can showcase their companies to attendees. And one lucky company, the one that collects the most tokens from attendees, will appear as company number 52 on stage in the last session tomorrow.

There were several financial services companies in the DemoPit Monday including Billeo, Expensify, and LoanKrunch. Today, there was just one, Rate Surfer from My Best Interest. Although the service will not go live until its debut at Finovate next month, the company today showed it to the public for the first time. It also added a downloadable demo program to its website if you want a sneak peek (note 2).

What it does
Rate Surfer is a credit card manager. It uses account-aggregation technology to import balance and rate data from all your credit cards. It then uses that data to help users initiate and track credit card balance transfers across their credit cards. Although not without rough edges still to work out, it could potentially save users hundreds of dollars in interest every year by helping them take advantage of transfer opportunities.

Main Rate Surfer page from its demo software (9 Sep 2008) 

image

Notes:
1. There are 120 total companies, but each gets just a 12-hour day in the DemoPit, so there are 40 companies each day. Although, the Monday companies were given an extra day due to a wifi outage that plagued the hall much of Monday. In addition to these companies, there were 33 exhibitor tables and 22 TechCrunch alumni with tables, including Cake Financial and last year’s winner Mint.

2. It’s a 67MB download.

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Shryk Launches iThryv, Online Banking for Youth, at TechCrunch50

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Conferences, Launches, Personal Financial Management

imageimage

Two huge tech conferences opened today in California with 124 companies launching new products this week in front of a combined audience of more than 2,500 (see note 1). At DEMOfall in San Diego, 72 companies are launching new products today and tomorrow. In San Francisco, 52 companies launch at TechCrunch50 today through Wednesday.

Eight of the 124 companies are related to financial services:

We’ll cover several of these companies, plus several in the TechCrunch50 DemoPit, starting with iThryv.

iThryv kicks of TechCrunch50
imageI made it down from Seattle this morning just in time to catch the first demo. I’m glad I got up early because it just so happened to be the only personal finance/banking-related finalist. Oklahoma City-based Shryk kicked off TechCrunch50 (note 2) by unveiling its online banking platform aimed at the 12- to 20-year-old crowd. The new service is called iThryv and it will be marketed directly to banks and credit unions who will customize and brand it for their own customer base.

iThryv will be integrated directly to the bank, or its core processor, so that real-time banking data can be displayed in various widgets. In addition to account info, iThryv also includes the following modules and features:

  • Goal-oriented savings, including rewards for reaching milestones
  • A spending & savings score that does for savings what a credit score does for loans
  • Make $ area where budding entrepreneurs can learn more about starting a business
  • Learn area for financial education

The company has a two-fold approach to getting iThryv into the market:

  • Licensing the platform to banks for a fixed fee plus per-user fees
  • Giving the platform to schools to incorporate into their curriculum

According to the founders, the service is currently being considered by several financial institutions, but it is not yet available online.

iThryv homepage (8 Sep 2008)

iThryv homepage 8 Sep 2008

 iThryv savings score graphed (8 Sep 2008)

image


iThryv “Make $” tab (8 Sep 2008)

image


Notes:
1. TechCrunch reported approximately 1,700 attendees; DEMOfall, 800.

2. iThryv was originally scheduled to present third, but were moved up to first when Ashton Kutcher was late for his scheduled demo of his startup, Blah Girls.

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Person-to-Person (P2P) Lending Update

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Lending Club, Loanio, Loans & Credit, Metrics & Market Research, P2P Lending, Prosper, Zopa

image Now that we are well past the mid-point of 2008, it’s a good time to look at where we are with one of the most talked-about online financial subjects of the decade: person-to-person or social lending.

Currently, two U.S. companies are actively originating unsecured, multi-purpose P2P loans (note 1): 

  • Prosper: Through July, the leader in the market is running 10% ahead of its 2007 loan-origination pace. The company has funded $55 million and is on pace to do just under $100 million for the year. Website traffic is up 15% compared to a year ago (see graph below) and through July there have been 13% more loan listings (see previous coverage here, Finovate 2007 Best of Show video here; monthly volume reports here).
  • Zopa: The company, which isn’t technically person-to-person (the loans are originated by six credit union partners) but definitely has a social aspect to its loan program, has not revealed any numbers, but they list 475 loans on the “browse all borrowers page.” Assuming average loan size of $8000 to $9000, they are doing less than $1 million per month. Zopa is using Google AdWords to pitch “instant approval” with a credit score of 640+ (see screenshot below), an aggressive marketing move, especially combined with the 8.49% APR touted on the landing page (see screenshot below; previous coverage here; FinovateStartup 2008 Best of Show video here).

In addition, three more P2P lenders appear very close to launching or relaunching:

  • imageLending Club: The company, launched in May 2007, has been essentially closed to new business since March as they retooled loans into securities for regulatory reasons. However, the company is scheduled to present at our Oct. 14 Finovate conference, implying that they will be out of their quiet period by then (previous coverage here; Finovate 2007 video here).
  • Loanio: The startup appears to be very close to launching based on an a Sept. 3rd email sent to its house list announcing the launch “in just a few weeks” and adding in parenthesis (yes, we mean it this time!). The company will likely be the first to offer a co-borrower loan application (previous coverage here; Finovate Startup video here).
  • Pertuity Direct: The newest competitor in the space is Pertuity Direct which we wrote about last week. Its website claims a Sept. 15 launch, and we look forward to seeing their first public demo at Finovate on Oct. 14.  

Finally, several companies are looking to launch P2P services in 2008 or 2009, including Globefunder, Community Lend (Canada) and one we just heard about today, Swap-A-Debt.

Forecast revision
Last December we published our second detailed Online Banking Report on Person-to-Person Lending. In that report, we predicted just under $200 million in originations this year. However, due to the inactive period at  Lending Club, the delay in Loanio’s launch, and the more conservative approach by Prosper lenders, we are lowering the 2008 forecast by 25%, with an expected total of $135 to $150 million for the year as follows:

  • Prosper ($95 to $105 million)
  • Lending Club ($25 to $30 million)
  • Zopa ($5 to $10 million)
  • Loanio ($1 to $5 million)
  • Pertuity Direct ($1 to $5 million)

P2P lending traffic from Compete (July 2007 through July 2008)

image


Zopa AdWords ad on “loanio” search
(4 Sep 2008, 1 PM PDT from Seattle IP address)

Google results from "loanio" search 4 Sep 2008


Landing page (4 Sep 2008, link here)

Zopa landing page from Google ad 4 Sep 2008

Notes:
1. Specialists are involved in the student loan piece (GreenNote and Fynanz) along with Virgin Money and Loanback which help with person-to-person loan documentation and servicing. 

2. Top-right graphic from April 2008 ABC News segment on Lending Club and person-to-person lending.

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Will eWallets Make a Comeback on the iPhone?

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Apple, Credit/Debit Cards, iPhone, Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments

image Since the July opening of Apple’s App Store, we’ve been tracking the apps in the Finance category (see previous coverage here). But there are also several apps in the Productivity category of interest to financial institutions: the eWallets.

Ilium's eWallet for iPhoneThere are two wallets available in the U.S. iTunes store:

  • eWallet from Ilium Software: #46 in popularity in Productivity with a cost of $9.95 and rated 3.5 stars (out of 5) across 143 reviews (see inset)
  • Memengo Wallet: #48 in Productivity with a $0.99 cost and rated 4 stars across 43 reviews (website)

Web-based eWallets never took off because of security concerns and because they provided only marginal improvements in desktop productivity. However, a mobile version has more utility owing to sticky notes with password reminders and credit card info, helpful to users away from their desks.

How it works
Storage of usernames and passwords for websites is the primary use of eWallet, but it also has a Finance category (see inset above) where users can store credit card numbers and contact info (see screenshots below).

That info is helpful when using a card to make a purchase online or through the mobile phone. It’s also a great place to store the info in case the card itself is lost or stolen.

Financial institution opportunities
While these apps haven’t gained an overwhelming following, a financial institution could offer a free version that highlights its own card offerings while providing storage space for other card numbers. That way, you get your logo on the iPhone instead of Mint, Wesabe, or some other financial institution. 

The bank-branded eWallet could also include a financial calculator and direct connection to online banking.

Ilium iPhone eWallet showing credit card info    eWallet showing credit card detail

 Note:
1. For more info see our Online Banking Repot on Mobile Money & Payments.

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Pertuity Direct to Launch Person-to-Person (P2P) Lending Service

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Launches, Loans & Credit, P2P Lending, Pertuity

“>Link to website Last September, we wrote about the launch of Washington D.C.-based Pertuity Direct. At the time, the startup was showing some interesting social-personal finance tools such as Dare to Compare, which allowed users to compare their financial situation to their peers and national norms (see “before” screenshot below). It looked like another online PFM play.

But it turns out the company’s true business model is person-to-person lending (aka social or P2P lending) where it will compete with Prosper, Lending Club, Loanio, and others (see note 1). Its URL redirects to a non-functional placeholder page (below) that includes only an email signup (note 2).

Here’s the company description of its strategy:

Pertuity Direct is bringing the next generation of social lending to the Web – integrating simplicity, liquidity and automatic diversification into the social lending model.

The founder is Kim Muhota, an ex-banker out of PNC Bank. Pertuity Direct, which is currently closed to the general public, will demo its new product at our October Finovate conference.

Current: Pertuity Direct placeholder page with email signup
(26 Aug 2008)

Pertuity Direct temporary homepage 26 Aug 2008


Before: Pertuity Direct website before redirect put in place
(see note 1, 26 Aug 2008)

Previous Pertuity Direct homepage

Notes:
1. For more on the P2P lending space, see our Online Banking Report on Person-to-Person Lending.

2. You can see the previous website content by following a deeper link available from Google.

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Intuit Launches Quicken Beam: Free Text-Message Alerts & Balance Inquiry

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Intuit, Launches, Mobile Banking, Personal Financial Management

image Intuit joined the messaging race with the beta release of Quicken Beam. The free service sends users text-messaged balance-and-activity alerts from most U.S. bank, credit card, and credit union accounts. Users may also query the service for balance plus last five transactions by texting “Bal” to the short code 636363.

Currently, the service runs independently of Quicken and can be used by anyone free of charge. According to the official press release, the service was developed in Intuit Labs.

What’s innovative
It’s not a new feature. Quicken Online (see second screenshot below), along with most major banks and personal finance specialists (Mint, Rudder, Wesabe), already supports text-message alerts (see note 1). But this is a relatively low-cost way to hook users early on with an extremely simple service, then migrate them to more robust Intuit services later on (Quicken, QuickBooks, TurboTax).

And the Quicken stamp of approval means a lot when turning over your log-in credentials to a third party. If you want to talk to the company about Quicken Beam, Intuit will be demo’ing the latest features of Quicken Online at our Finovate Conference in October. 

Financial institutions that lack text-message support might consider linking customers to Quicken Beam. Yes, you are turning customers over to another financial provider, and yes, your compliance folks will hate it. But customers are going to do it whether you want them to or not. You might as well get credit for making a solid recommendation. And realistically, using Quicken Beam is unlikely to hasten anyone’s exit from your bank or credit union.

Qucken Beam homepage (25 Aug 2008) 

Quicken Beam homepage 25 Aug 2007

 Text messaging in Quicken Online (25 Aug 2008)

 Text messaging in Quicken Online

Notes:
1. Geezeo really differentiated itself with mobile capabilities in its May 2007 launch. 

2. For more information, see our Online Banking Report on Personal Finance Features.

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Rudder (formerly SpendView) Launches New Mint-like Personal Finance Site

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Launches, Personal Financial Management, Rudder

image There's a new challenger in the online PFM space, aptly named start-up Rudder which is headquartered in Houston, TX (see note 1). The company was founded in 2007 and launched last year under the name SpendView (note 2).   The company raised $2 million in January from Meakem Becker Venture Capital. The founder is Nikhil Roy. 

What's innovative
While it's a bit busy for my tastes, Rudder's homepage is aesthetically pleasing, and more importantly, lays out a number of remarkable benefits that every financial institution should be able to deliver on:

  • Finances in your inbox: emphasizes that it's pushing info to you, not relying on your obsessive monitoring of a website
  • Paying bills on time: They don't just help you pay the bills; Rudder makes sure you pay them ON TIME, a huge difference in terms of consumer benefits
  • Think forward: Everyone has a sense of what they really have in the bank after upcoming expenses are met, but Rudder actually does the math for you and shows you what's truly "free cash" in your account after accounting for upcoming payments
  • Every morning: Rudder provides a personal-finance heads-up each morning so you can go about your day without thinking about your finances
  • Safe & secure: Self-explanatory, but cannot be overlooked

Clearly, Rudder has been studying how Mint grabbed an early following with great design, advanced functionality, and a brash point of view. However, it won't be able repeat Mint's PR coup last year of winning at TechCrunch40 and our Finovate 2007 (see note 4). Rudder has scheduled its public debut at competing techfest, Demo Fall, running Sept. 7-9 and unfortunately were not on our radar screen until after the Finovate 2008 lineup was set (note 5).

What it means
You gotta love Web-based startups. It took a decade for Wells Fargo to move from delivering plain old statement info on its website to offering rudimentary personal finance functionality in My Spending Report.

But less than two years after Wesabe (note 2) kicked off the Personal Finance 2.0 era, we have dozens of cool personal finance companies looking to make a name for themselves. Mint (note 2) is the most hyped (see coverage), but there are also great things going on at Geezeo, Jwaala (note 3), Buxfer, ClearCheckbook, Mvelopes, and, of course, Quicken Online, which has Coke-like brand awareness.

And don't rule out the incumbent financial institutions. PNC Bank (post here) and Frost Bank (post here) have both introduced novel accounts that incorporate advanced personal finance functions. And Bank of America has offered full-service PFM functions since late 2006 with Yodlee-powered MyPortfolio.   

Rudder homepage with five key benefits highlighted (21 Aug 2008)

image

Your "real" balance widget
I love the focus on what you really have in your account, after netting out all the known bills in the coming month. Here's the graphical feedback Rudder provides.

image

Notes:
1. Rudder seems like a good name for a financial management app. What do you think Jeffry?

2. The previous version, SpendView, is still live at <spendview.org>, but the original spendview.com now redirects to rudder.com.

3. See Wesabe and Mint demo their latest features at the upcoming Finovate 2008. Mint won Best of Show at Finovate 2007.

4. Jwaala was Best of Show winner at Finovate Startup, April 2008.

5. Attention startups: It's never too early to make an introduction and get on our Finovate watch list. We're already putting notes together for 2009. Contact Online Banking Report/Netbanker editor Jim Bruene. 

6. For more info on the space, see our Online Banking Report on Personal Finance

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Finovate 2008 Conference Demo Lineup Announced

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Conference Calendar, Conferences, Finovate

image After looking at more than 100 companies, we’ve selected 24 finalists to present at our second annual Finovate Conference Oct. 14 in New York City (registration here). Three will emerge as Finovate Best of Show companies joining  last year’s winners: Mint,Mortgage Marvel from Mortgagebot, and Prosper (note 1).  

In a single action-packed day, we’ll see several financial startups launch, a few major product overhauls revealed, and a pile of new features shown to the public for the first time. It could be the single biggest “news day” in the history of online finance. Besides the amazing presenter lineup, the audience will contain many well-known industry analysts, members of the press, and banking and technology execs. Here are the subjects that will be covered:

  • Person-to-person lending
  • Lead generation in financial services
  • Personal financial management and online banking
  • Mobile banking and payments
  • Payments/billing
  • Investing and retirement planning online
  • Security technologies
  • Social media and Web 2.0

Finovate 2008 Lineup (alphabetic order, note 2)
Below is a list of all 24 companies. In all, seven of the companies presented at our sold-out Finovate 2007; three are graduates from Finovate Startup last April; and 14 are new to Finovate. But all 24 will be demonstrating substantial new products and/or features. 

Companies announced Sept. 16 and Sept. 23, 2008:

About Finovate 2008

Press: Members of the media should contact Jim Bruene, [email protected] to secure a press pass.

Note:
1. Winners are selected by audience vote.
2. The list does not include two stealth startups and one company to be named later.

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