Blog - Page 1146 of 1287

HelloWallet Sees Growth, 7 Million U.S. Workers To Benefit From PFM

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 16, 2011
Categories: HelloWallet

Earlier this week, HelloWallet announced the success of its PFM service designed for the employees of Fortune 500 companies: "(HelloWallet) sold over 200,000 memberships to leading employers since launching their full application in May."

The startup also announced new partnerships with employee benefits providers that collectively serve over 7 million U.S. workers, which will roll-out through 2013. The adoption and enrollment of this service among employees is also impressive:

"Average take-up rates among Fortune 500 employer partners of HelloWallet also continue to exceed industry standards, now up to an average 20 percent enrollment rate within 3 months of launching."

To learn more about HelloWallet, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo here.

Design: BillShrink Uses Splash Page to Introduce New Corporate Website and Truaxis Name

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 15, 2011
Categories: BillShrink, Website Usability & Design

You may not be changing your corporate name like BillShrink (press release), but you can use their technique any time you do a major website remodel. Throw a splash page on top of your old design highlighting the change(s), then redirect users to the new site (note 1).

The explanation on the splash page will reassure users that they have not landed on a fake site. And it provides an opportunity to highlight improvements and do some brand reinforcement.

You could use the same technique with major promotions, but the key word is MAJOR. It should be used VERY sparingly, or you will annoy customers while diluting its effectiveness.

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Truaxis/BillShrink splash page (15 Sept. 2011)
Note: In this case, BillShrink is still operating its old site. So consumers clicking on the right button will be sent to <billshrink.com>. Merchants and financial institution visitors…

Micronotes & Yodlee Power Logout Promotions at 1st Advantage Credit Union

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 15, 2011
Categories: Micronotes

Last week, Bank Technology News reported how 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union transitioned away from banner ads during online banking sessions due to low clickthrough rates.

In place of banner ads, the CU implemented KulaX from Massachusetts-based Micronotes: "(KulaX) presents three questions, targeted to a specific user and designed around a specific product. The questions are presented only when the user logs out. The technology can use either transaction data gathered by the bank or its own analysis engine to target its questions. KulaX tracks responses and the actual use of the offers it presents."

The Credit Union has also partnered with Yodlee: "In addition to cross-selling bank products, Micronotes can present merchant-funded offers through another product it has developed with the vendor Yodlee Inc. called Yodlee Offers." According to Yodlee, the merchant-funded rewards will be more data-intensive and thus better targeted. Both Micronotes and Yodlee will be presenting…

Simplifying Product Search: PickHealthInsurance.com Delivers Relevant, Clean Results in Seconds

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 14, 2011
Categories: Sales Techniques, Service, Website Usability & Design

It's been years since we did a deep dive into what I call "site search," trying to find answers using a banking site's own search and navigation tools. While things have gotten much better, most financial sites still have plenty of room for improvement (note 1).

And it doesn't seem like a monumental problem. Even a large bank has how many retail products? 50? 100? Even if five times that, it's TINY compared to other ecommerce sites. Amazon.com has 9,070 results just for "toaster."

Consumers should be able to quickly find appropriate banking products by inputting four or five data points: age, ZIP code, family size, home ownership, annual income (for credit products), and average balance (for deposit products). Then, a list of relevant products should be returned in tabular format with a clear link to more details.

To see how this works, stripped of all ads and…

Less than 100 Tickets Remain for FinovateFall Next Week in NYC — Get Yours Now!

By finovate Posted on September 13, 2011
Categories: FinovateFall2011

FinovateFall is less than a week away and we're getting close to selling out like last year (despite expanding to a larger venue). There are less than 100 tickets left and they're selling fast so please register asap to lock in your spot if you want to attend.

Over 60 fintech companies will be demonstrating their latest innovations to a packed house at Pier 92 in Manhattan next Tuesday and Wednesday. The audience is the largest and most influential that we've ever seen at a Finovate event with over 900 people already registered. A small sample of the organizations attending includes:

Accenture Adobe Akamai Technologies Alliant Credit Union Ally Financial American Banker American Express ANZ Apple FCU Ascent Venture Partners Bank of America Bank of Queensland Bank Systems & Technology BankNews Barclays Barlow Research BB&T BBVA BBVA New Ventures Benchmark Capital Bessemer Venture Partners Best Buy BusinessWeek Canaan Parters Capital…

Less than 100 Tickets Remain for FinovateFall Next Week in NYC — Get Yours Now!

By finovate Posted on September 13, 2011
Categories: FinovateFall 2011

Launching: Cake Health is a New PFM for Healthcare

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 12, 2011
Categories: Launches, Personal Financial Management

Healthcare expense management continues to be a pain-point for most consumers. Today, Cake Health launched a "Mint for healthcare" which uses similar technology to automatically download healthcare transactions and use the data to manage insurance reimbursements and other aspects of healthcare.

The company also launched a mobile app that syncs with the desktop version and uses the camera to upload documentation to the system (screenshot below). The startup impressed the expert panel at TechCrunch Disrupt, where it launched today.

Launching: Openbucks Gift Card Payment Network

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 12, 2011
Categories: Alt Payments, Launches, Prepaid/gift cards

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt, Openbucks announced its "gift card" payment network which works like an ATM switch; you can use whatever value you have in a participating gift card to buy something at any participating online retailer.

For example, you could use the $20 in your Subway card (a beta participant) to buy virtual goods at online games. Eventually, they want to expand beyond the purchase of digital goods.

The product is targeted to those that don't have debit or credit cards, especially heavy game-playing teenagers. "Gift cards" would be added to the payment options at checkout at the gaming site.

doxo Adds Sound Community Bank to Network of Providers

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 12, 2011
Categories: Doxo

Last week, doxo, a digital billing and statement organization system, announced that Seattle-based Sound Community Bank has joined its network.

"Sound Community Bank clients can now receive paperless statements and other documents from their bank directly in their doxo digital file cabinet. With doxo, Sound Community Bank significantly reduces the costs associated with printing and mailing documents, while offering their clients a convenient free tool for managing their account without paper."

In addition to managing their account, Sound Community Bank clients can also use doxo to store personal documents such as medical records and receipts. To see how doxo works, watch its demo from FinovateSpring 2011.

Heated Tech Frenzy During Next Two Weeks

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 9, 2011
Categories: Strategies

This is my favorite time of year. The kids are back in school, we finally get summer in Seattle (yep, the weather again), and there are 150+ tech product/company launches in the next 12 days.

First up are the general tech events next week in the Bay Area: TechCrunch Disrupt and Demo. Then the following week, it's fintech's turn with our Finovate in NYC Sept. 20/21 and the SIBOS Innotribe competition in Toronto. And don't forget, BAI Retail Delivery is just around the corner, Oct. 11-13 in Chicago.

It will be interesting to see if there will be an innovation du jour this year. Unlike a few years ago, when mobile, online PFM, and social media all hit the scene at the same time, it's harder to put labels on the class of 2011.

But in many ways, this month's launches are more important than what we…

Balance Financial Updates iPhone App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 9, 2011
Categories: Balance

Yesterday, Balance Financial unveiled a new iPhone app update that's available to those currently using Balance's services:

"Their new iPhone app compliments basic web access to Balance and includes a dashboard of activity, ability to contact your bookkeeper, alerts, payment history and photo bill pay."

Devin Miller, CEO, says the most popular feature of the app is the photo bill pay, which comes in handy when clients receive one-time bills that occur outside of monthly payments:

"The bill will be sent to the users Balance account for processing and the assigned Personal Bookkeeper will ensure the bill is properly reviewed and processed. Balance software has an integrated image processing component that examines each bill image and automatically files and reviews the bills before payment." The app is now available in the Apple App Store for 99 cents. For more information on Balance Financial, come see its live demo at FinovateFall…

Five Finovate Alumni Listed in Inc. 1000

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 9, 2011
Categories: BancVue, Billeo, Braintree, Lendio, Q2ebanking

Last week, Inc. Magazine released its list of the 5000 fastest-growing, private U.S. companies. Five* Finovate alumni made the list, all in the top 1000. Three made the top 500 and one was in the top 50.

Braintree Rank: 47 Description: Assists businesses in processing payments by providing a merchant account, payment gateway, recurring billing service, and helping with PCI compliance. 3-year revenue growth: 40x 2010 revenue: $4.6 million 2007 revenue: $100,000 Employees: 27 Employee growth: 25 Founded: 2007 Braintree's FinovateSpring 2011 demo

Lendio Rank: 309 Description: Helps business owners find capital by matching them with banks, lenders, or other funding sources. 3-year revenue growth: 11x 2010 revenue: $8.6 million 2007 revenue: $740,000 Employees: 45 Employee growth: 24 Founded: 2005 Lendio's FinovateSpring 2011 demo

Q2ebanking Rank: 377 Description: Offers secure online banking, payment, and…