Blog - Page 1163 of 1289

U.S. Bank Launches Both PC and Mobile Remote Deposit

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 15, 2011
Categories: Mobile Banking, Remote Deposit Capture, US Bank

I was surprised to see the news release that U.S. Bank had upgraded its Firethorn-powered mobile banking app to include mobile remote deposit. I've been following the development of the bank's PC-scanner-based remote deposit option which also launched yesterday, and I'd never seen the mobile option mentioned (previous post).

True to form, when I logged in to my account online and clicked on the "Make a Deposit (New)" link, there was still no mention of the mobile option. However, I was greeted with the news that I was now eligible to use the bank's new PC scanner-based program at a cost of $0.50 per deposit.

I went through the simple online enrollment process (see below), but didn't test an actual deposit because I don't have a scanner attached to my laptop.

Bottom line: Congratulations to US Bank for being the second major bank to support both mobile…

FinovateEurope 2011 Demo Videos Now Available

By finovate Posted on March 15, 2011
Categories: FinovateEurope 2011

Six weeks ago, on February 1, thirty-five companies took the stage in London to demo their latest fintech innovations at our first FinovateEurope conference to an audience of 450 executives from companies like Santander, AXA, RBS, RBC,
Lloyds, Deutsche Bank, PayPal, Forrester, CIBC, TSYS, Microsoft, Accel
Partners, Rabobank, ING, Barclays, BBVA, Standard Chartered,
PostFinance, Raiffeisenbank, Yahoo!Finance, WSJ Europe and Celent.

Each company was given just 7 minutes to demonstrate their latest innovation (no slides allowed). The videos on their new innovations are now available free for anyone to check out in the Finovate Video Archives.

The companies (HQ locations in parentheses) were:

AcceptEmail (Netherlands) Backbase (Netherlands) Boku (US) BusinessForensics (Netherlands) Capital Access Network (US) Cardlytics (US) Cortal Consors (France) eToro (Cyprus) eWise (US/UK) Fidor (Germany) Figlo (Netherlands) Finantix (Italy) FriendsClear (France) HelpMyCash (Spain) IND Group (Hungary) Ixaris (UK) Linxo (France) Liqpay.com (US/Ukraine) Lodo Software (US) LoveMoney (UK) Meniga (Iceland) …

FinovateEurope 2011 Demo Videos Now Available

By finovate Posted on March 15, 2011
Categories: FinovateEurope 2011

The companies (HQ locations in parentheses) were:

South Carolina Federal Credit Union Launches In-Statement Merchant-Funded Rewards

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 10, 2011
Categories: Cardlytics, Digital Insight, Intuit, Rewards Programs

If you are looking for an example of how to promote your rewards program, take a lesson from 140,000-member South Carolina FCU. The company just launched an in-statement merchant-funded rewards program called Simple Perks (press release) for its 58,000 online banking customers.

The CU posted a great 2-minute video showing how the program works (see second screenshot). It also posted a quality supporting blog entry, "Are you a 'clipper' or 'clicker' (note 1).

The new rewards program is delivered through the CU's PFM dashboard powered by Intuit's Personal FinanceWorks (see third screenshot). The rewards program is powered by Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based startup we've written about several times (previous posts).

Bottom line: Regardless of whether you personally think rewards programs pollute the online banking experience, this is a genie that's not going back in the bottle. Targeted advertising…

Piggymojo Hooks up with Brooklyn FCU to Power "Impulse Savings"

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 8, 2011
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, SMS

Last June, we wrote about Piggymojo's unique "impulse saving" tool designed to help couples motivate each other to save (previous post). Basically, you text your spouse when you save cash during the day, e.g., drinking the company's free swill instead of trekking to Starbucks.

The concept is great, but it needs direct integration to financial accounts so those "virtual saves" are translated into actual dollars sitting in a savings account.

Today, the Brooklyn-based startup announced the first financial institution integration with Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union. The program is being funded in part with a $300,000 CFSI grant to gauge whether the program helps lower-income members to increase their savings (press release). Four other projects shared in the $1.5 million total grant (details).

Weekly summary of savings activity via Piggymojo (7 March 2011)

Longer-term tracking

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Note: For more info,…

Customer Service Tips: Google Verifies Contact Info via Interstitial Page

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 8, 2011
Categories: Google, Service

From time to time (2x per year?), Google drops an interstitial after login to verify that it has the correct email address and mobile phone number on file.

While financial institutions are far more likely to have current contact info on their online banking customers, it's still advisable to check in annually to verify contact info, especially with the growing importance of mobile.

And while you are at it, ask customers for alternate email address(es) and phone number(s).

Google interstitial page displayed after logging in to Gmail (7 March 2011)

Alumni News, Weeks of February 21st and February 28th, 2011

By finovate Posted on March 8, 2011
Categories: Betterment, Bill.com, eToro, eWise, Fiserv, Intuit, Lending Club, Lodo Software, MiiCard, Outright.com, P2P Lending, Striata

To see our alumni news feed in real time, visit us on Twitter. Bank of Internet will use Intuit's FinanceWorks. http://mwne.ws/finovate2241 Betterment reduces fees on retirement accounts. http://bit.ly/finovate224114 Service enhancements at Bill.com. Clone invoices ease automated payments. http://bit.ly/finovate224112 eToro completes $8.3 million funding round led by Spark Capital. eToro has 1.5 million users in 130 countries worldwide. http://bit.ly/f1G99d eToro launches new user tools, and deposit bonuses. New eToro users can get a bonus of up to $500 to try Forex trading. http://bit.ly/finovate34112 eWise is moving to Denver. The company processes electronic payments and is moving to attract employees. http://bit.ly/finovate22311 Fiserv acquires M-Com to enhance mobile banking and payments capabilities. http://bit.ly/finovate34117 Kiboo got a makeover. The new interface focuses on usability and design. http://bit.ly/finovate34111 Lending Club exceeds $200 million in cumulative peer-to-peer loans. The combined Lending Club and Prosper volume is now approaching the half-billion dollar mark. http://bit.ly/finovate34118 Lodo…

Launching: Balance Financial Introduces Hybrid Billpay/PFM/Bookkeeper

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 3, 2011
Categories: Bill payment, Launches, Online Resources (ORCC), PayTrust, Personal Financial Management, Small Business

Internet-enabling every service and device on the planet creates fascinating new business opportunities. And we are seeing our share of them in the fintech space (note 1). Knowing how to deliver the proper blend of personal service and automation is an area of extreme importance to financial institutions: The optimal solution varies by customer, by product, and even by time of day.

One relatively neglected area involves premium services that offer state-of-the-art tech married to specialized human service, for a fee. Large banks have private banking departments that handle the bills and day-to-day finances of households with millions in assets. But those that fall outside the private banking threshold are generally offered free, self-service tools available to everyone.

Back when only 10% to 20% of households were online, that distinction was necessary. But now that 60% to 70% or even more of a bank's households use the Internet,…

New Online Banking Report Published: Merchant-Funded Rewards Programs

By Jim Bruene Posted on March 1, 2011
Categories: Cardlytics, Credit/Debit Cards, Fee Income, Online Banking Report, Rewards Programs

While I like a deal as much as the next person (note 1), I've never been much of a coupon clipper. To me, coupons are a hassle to collect, impossible to organize, and mildly embarrassing to redeem.

But I love frequent flyer miles. Once registered, they pile up automatically, are maintained at the airline or card site, and there is no stigma to redeeming them. However, miles are pretty worthless unless you spend a lot and have the flexibility to use them during the off season.

That's why financial rewards programs have moved away from a sole reliance on airline miles and towards broader programs with cash and merchandise rewards. However, with falling fee revenues, especially interchange, these programs are becoming harder to justify cost-wise.

But customers have grown to expect them, especially the big-spending households that drive banking and card profits (note 3). And this…

Launching: Hearst’s Manilla Wants to be Your Online Hub for Bills, Statements, Rewards and Subscriptions

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 28, 2011
Categories: Bill payment, Electronic Bill Payment & Presentment, Electronic Statements, Launches, Personal Financial Management

Manilla, a new account aggregation service from Hearst Corporation, launched today at Demo. Here's the official announcement and its demo video is embedded below.

Manilla currently aggregates accounts in four categories (more are on the way):

Household for keeping track of bills Finance for keeping track of bank accounts and credit cards Subscriptions for keeping track of magazine subscriptions Travel for tracking mileage programs

In the first screenshot below, I've added an account in the finance category (American Express, which is shown as pending) and one in the travel section (American Airlines, which displayed the account balance immediately). I have yet to add a household bill or a magazine subscription.

In the second screenshot, you can see what it will look like after the account has been populated with many accounts (this is an example directly from the Manilla website).

The service…

FinovateSpring 2011 — Last Day to Save $200 on Your Ticket!

By finovate Posted on February 25, 2011
Categories: FinovateSpring 2010

FinovateSpring is right around the corner and with it a ton of new fintech innovation. Over the last few weeks we've been chatting with all the companies that applied to demo their latest and greatest at the event and the quality is incredibly high. And while that means tough choices for us, it means a great show for you!

If you're interested in seeing the newest financial technology ideas in security, mobile, small business, personal finance, lending, credit, marketing, invoicing, billing, payments and much more, then please plan on joining us in San Francisco on May 10th & 11th to watch the future of fintech unfold on stage.

This year the event will have an expanded 2-day format and a new, larger location (since the show last year sold out after growing 50% over the previous year). A few of the organizations already registered are:

Ally Bank Bain Capital Partners…