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Alumni News — Week of May 30, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 6, 2011
Categories: Betterment, BrightScope, ChargeSmart, Check Point, ClairMail, Corduro, Credit Sesame, Currensee, Doxo, Dwolla, Enloop, Geezeo, Guardian Analytics, HelloWallet, Hidden Levers, Lending Club, Lendio, PayNearMe, Prosper, Robot Dough, SecondMarket, Simple Tuition, Sybase 365, TradeKing, Tyfone, UBank

Betterment Medill Reports discussed the benefits of Betterment and Currensee, claiming that the social networking craze changes the way some people invest. Link BrightScope BrightScope announced the top 10 treasury inflation protected securities funds in America's 401ks. Link ChargeSmart

Fox News' Studio 10 reviewed ChargeSmart, PlasticJungle, and Bills.com and found a number of money saving tools and ideas. Link Check Point Software Technologies Check Point Software Technologies won The Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2011 Award from The Association of Support Professionals for its exceptional web support design, implementation, and customer experience. Link ClairMail ClairMail announced record customer expansion with a 300% year-over-year growth in users. Link Corduro

The New York Times reported that Corduro's cloud platform challenges PayPal and Square's mobile payment services. Link Credit Sesame The Wisdom Journal depicted Credit Sesame's services as more than just credit scores. Link Currensee See Betterment above. doxo doxo explained how…

What is the ROI of banking innovation?

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 3, 2011
Categories: Fee Income, Pricing, Strategies

An executive on the front lines of product development at a major financial institution recently asked me this question:

How can I prove that innovation really matters to the bottom line?

I've been a "product guy" my whole career so I take it for granted that "building a better mousetrap" eventually trickles down to a boost to the bottom line. That worked at Microsoft, Apple and Caterpillar (my first job).

But they are manufacturing companies. That better mousetrap, be it Win95, the iPod, or a D10 tractor, brought in direct, usually profitable, revenues.

It's harder if you are a retailer. If the Gap spends a million dollars to improve search and discovery on its website, will it really sell enough extra jeans and sweaters to make the investment back, let alone earn an acceptable return?

Banks are both retailers (branch and online) and manufacturers (checking accounts, loans). But today, the…

Cash is Still King at PayNearMe

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on June 2, 2011
Categories: PayNearMe

Imagine this scenario: You'd like to visit a friend who lives three hours out of town but

your car is in the shop so you need to take the train. To purchase the ticket ahead of time, you'd like to pay online or over the phone instead of at the Amtrak station. But here's the kicker-- you don't have a credit or debit card. How are you supposed to buy the ticket if you can only pay with cash? The solution is easy, and it's called PayNearMe. Founded by Danny Shader in 2009, PayNearMe is a Mountain View, CA-based company that enables consumers to buy online and pay offline at 7-Eleven stores. Using this service, consumers can pay off loans with cash, purchase goods from other retailers, and even pay for services such as transportation. To get a better idea of more possibilities, see PayNearMe's FinovateFall 2010 and FinovateSpring 2011 demos,…

Alumni News — Week of May 23, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 31, 2011
Categories: Aptys Solutions, Backbase, Betterment, Bill.com, Boku, Capital Access Network, Credit Karma, Doxo, Dwolla, edo Interactive, Expensify, Kabbage, Lending Club, LendingKarma, Lendio, Lodo Software, Monitise, Mortgagebot, PayDivvy, PayNearMe, peerTransfer, ProfitStars, Robot Dough, SecondMarket, Smarty Pig, Striata, ThreatMetrix, TILE Financial, TradeKing, Tyfone, Wikinvest, Wonga, Xero, Zecco, Zopa

Aptys Solutions
Aptys Solutions signed with Banker's Bank, a top check depositor with the Federal Reserve Link

Backbase
Backbase to host webinar on how to use social media in financial services Link

Betterment

Betterment announced a growth of over $10M under management and over 4000 customers in first year Link Betterment celebrated its first birthday Link

Bill.com
Bill.com is working to improve its mobile offering for small and midsized businesses Link

Boku
Mobile Entertainment explained how Boku will revolutionize pay-by-mobile for digital goods Link

Capital Access Network
CNBC explained how Capital Access Network solves the need to use financial creativity Link

Credit Karma
WiseBread Blog interviewed Credit Karma CEO Link

doxo

doxo's first fan video was posted online Link Oregon employees were the first to give its members doxo's online file cabinet Link TechFlash highlighted the benefits of using doxo to achieve paperless business Link 2Minute Finance interviewed doxo at…

Launching: BillGuard’s “Anti-virus for Credit Cards”

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 26, 2011
Categories: Credit/Debit Cards, Launches, Personal Financial Management

Fintech made a good showing at TechCrunch's semi-annual Disrupt conference in NYC. Of 32 startups that launched on stage, three were financial-related:

Spenz: A mobile PFM (Disrupt demo) InvoiceASAP: A mobile invoicing app with accounting integration (Disrupt demo) BillGuard: A transaction-monitoring service (Disrupt demo)

And both InvoiceASAP and BillGuard (discussed below) were selected to come back on the third day and compete, along with four other startups, for the top prize in front of an all-star panel of judges. The judges selected BillGuard runner-up behind GetAround, a clever peer-to-peer car rental service which wowed the crowd, also taking home the People's Choice award. _____________________________________________________________________________

BillGuard overview
_____________________________________________________________________________

The TechCrunch judges and analysts went gaga over BillGuard. Everyone wanted to use the service, and most wanted to invest in the company.

However, the company recently landed a $3 million Series…

Spend Grow Give: TILE Financial’s New Learning Environment

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 25, 2011
Categories: TILE Financial

During FinovateSpring last week, I spent a lot of time talking with demoing companies about their new products and services. I was impressed by the overall utility of the products and the friendliness of the entrepreneurs. Over the next few months, I'll be profiling a number of the companies that presented last week. Amy Butte, former CFO of the New York Stock Exchange, founded NYC-based TILE Financial in 2008 with a goal to help financial institutions hold onto the $1.5 trillion in assets projected to be inherited during the next 10 to 15 years. TILE seeks to help young adults establish a financial identity, learn to follow a budget, and understand financial terms and concepts. It's also meant to facilitate a dialogue with their parents, grandparents or other funder, and their financial advisor. Through TILE's Spend Grow Give interface, the topics of money and finance are expected to transition from…

New Online Banking Report Published: Creating Fee-Based Online & Mobile Banking Services

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 23, 2011
Categories: Online Banking Report, Pricing

The scariest thing about being a banking industry analyst, besides boring your family & friends, is looking back at the advice you handed out 5, 10 or even 15 years ago. While I've had my share of hits and misses, one thing I've been particularly adamant about, is the need to create fee-based online financial services. Sadly, this is one that's been completely ignored so far (see note 1).

If U.S. financial institutions had charged an average of $1 per month per user (note 2) over the past decade, it would have generated $10+ billion in incremental profits, much of which would have been reinvested into the channel.

Had that happened, we'd already have:

Ironclad security Highly personalized 2-way alerts & messaging Integrated PFM and credit monitoring Responsive online/email customer service Killer mobile banking and iPad apps And much more

But what matters now is where…

Alumni News — Week of May 16, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 20, 2011
Categories: Alumni News, Bill.com, BrightScope, ClairMail, eRollover, Finantix, Intuit, iPay Technologies, Kapitall, Kashoo, On Deck Capital, Outright.com, SecondMarket, TradeKing, Wonga

Bill.com Practical Ecommerce listed Bill.com as 1 of 19 tools for online bookkeeping and invoicing Link

BrightScope BrightScope announced the top 10 commodities funds held in America's 401k plans Link Frazier & Deeter, FD Alliance, BrightScope and SignatureFD conducted a national webinar on BrightScope's tool that rates employee benefit plans. Link ClairMail

ClairMail reported record growth with a record number of customer acquisitions and a 300% increase in user growth Link eRollover eRollover announced its Facebook Early Retirement Vacation Sweepstakes Link Finantix Wealth Management 360 highlighted Finantix's Finovate Europe demo Link
Intuit Intuit reported an increase of internet banking users by 9% and bill pay users by 23% Link iPay Technologies

iPay Technologies reached 1 Million users of its P2P electronic payment service, with almost 8 million payments processed to date Link Kapitall Kapitall implemented an alert system for current news on stocks and funds. These new alerts…

FinovateFall: Last Chance to Save $300 on Sep. 20-21 Event

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 19, 2011
Categories: FinovateFall 2011

Thanks to everyone who made FinovateSpring a success just a week ago (my Twitter transcript here). But innovation doesn't stand still, so we are already collecting applications and selling tickets for FinovateFall in New York City.

In fact, if you want to save on your fall ticket, register by the end of the day Friday (May 20) to receive $300 off regular ticket prices. Based on early results, it could be the biggest Finovate yet.

Last year, the conference expanded to two days (selling out 3 weeks in advance) and the audience loved it. Once again, each day will be packed with our unique blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the demoing companies. With each company receiving just 7 minutes onstage, FinovateFall is the only place to see dozens of fintech innovations in such…

FinovateFall: Last Chance to Save $300 on Sep. 20-21 Event

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 18, 2011
Categories: FinovateFall2011

Last year, the conference expanded to two days (selling out three weeks in advance) and the audience loved it. Once again, each day will be packed with our unique blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the demoing companies. With each company receiving just seven minutes onstage, FinovateFall is the only place to see dozens of fintech innovations in such…

Zong: A Payments Company Name to Remember

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 17, 2011
Categories: Facebook, Mobile Payments

Editor's note: This guest post was written by Daniel Thomas, a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry and a principal consultant with Mindful Insights LLC. He's been involved in strategy and product development for Online Resources Corporation, ARINC, and TeleCheck. He recently authored a report on merchant-funded in-statement rewards for Online Banking Report.

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Admittedly, my online game prowess is more closely aligned with Pong and Donkey Kong than the latest complex and socially intricate diversions. Back in the day, computer games garnered only a single payment transaction: when it was actually purchased. But today, in order to reach the next level, buy virtual pets or beat your opponent a half a world away, a player/avatar/consumer will typically transact multiple times per month in order to buy Facebook credits or other virtual currency (cash, coins, gems, etc.).

These transactions can often occur in the heat of…

Finovate Spring 2011 Live Twitter Transcript

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on May 17, 2011
Categories: FinovateSpring 2011

Here's the transcript from our Netbanker live Twitter feed during Finovate Spring last Tuesday and Wednesday.

The entries are in reverse chronological order.

PayNearMe also demoing multiple bill payment at 7-eleven and finally international remittance via Ria; great role play on stage! PayNearMe demoing three obligations paid via a cash transaction at the 7-eleven store; first a Progreso Financiero payday loan pmt Corduro demoing a use-case where a non-profit can take donations/payments on-the-go; launching today MobilizeYourArmy.com Corduro "Square meets Paypal meets your wallet" mobile payments solution Launching OpenCuro network today, so that the codes can be generated from within a bank's secure site OpenCuro launching new online payment system with increased privacy & security; uses one-time random alpha-numeric code Ideon also launching system for FI to create new value-added CDs, speeds time-to-market "minutes, not months" Ideon launching Choice Savings, a certificate of deposit sales system where user can create a…