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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…

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

By finovate Posted on February 24, 2011
Categories: FinovateSpring 2011

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!

Ally Bank Bain Capital Partners Bank…

ING Direct Advertises on Mint.com Email Alerts

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 23, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Alerts & Messaging, ING Direct, Mint

ING Direct (USA) has been a prominent sponsor within Mint's online PFM. However, this is the first time I've noticed the bank advertising via email alert. And specifically, the direct bank is pitching its fee-free Electric Orange Checking account on the bottom of an email alert about a fee on my U.S. checking account. Excellent timing!

It's unusual to see an ad on a Mint.com alert. I spot-checked a dozen or so during the past two months, and this is the only one with any direct marketing. But if it works, I'm sure we'll see more of it. Context-sensitive advertising is what the Web has been built on.

Mint.com email "fee charged" alert (16 Feb. 2011)

ING Direct landing page focusing on lower fees (link)

Alumni Updates — Week of February 14th, 2011

By finovate Posted on February 23, 2011
Categories: Acculynk, GoalMine, Pageonce, SecureKey, TSYS, Yodlee, Zecco

First Data selects Acculynk's online PIN debit service. Acculynk's PaySecure is available to over 3,000 US e-commerce merchants. http://bit.ly/finovate216113 GoalMine introduces accounts for children. Now you can open an account under UTMA for your child or the child of a loved one. http://bit.ly/finovate216111 Pageonce hits four million users, up from just one million a year ago. h ttp://bit.ly/finovate2161134 SecureKey receives undisclosed investment from Intel Capital. SecureKey develops hardware to encrypt debit and credit card transactions. http://bit.ly/finovate216115 TSYS and CASSIS enter into mobile NFC partnership to enable merchant payments, loyalty programs, coupons and rewards. http://bit.ly/finovate218113 Yodlee announces its global reach has surpassed 26 million individuals. http://bit.ly/finovate218111 Zecco launches Zecco Mobile Lite an iPhone app to manage your Zecco brokerage account. http://bit.ly/finovate216112

U.S. Bank Set to Launch Fee-Based Remote Deposit Capture for Retail Customers March 14

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 21, 2011
Categories: Fee Income, Pricing, Remote Deposit Capture, US Bank

Five months after we first spotted the link (see previous post, note 1), U.S. Bank is telling online banking users that they'll be able to use the new PC-based, remote-deposit function on March 14. Customers will use standard all-in-one scanner/printers to submit checks.

The bank has decided to launch with a $0.50 per-item fee for retail customers. While I'm all for fees for value-adds, my response is mixed on this one.

The fee makes sense in many ways:

Value: The customer receives a very real time savings here, and many would burn that much in gas, driving over to a branch. So $0.50 sounds pretty reasonable. Changing perceptions: It's good to start weaning customers off the belief that every new feature is provided free of charge. Fairness: Customers that use the service, pay for its costs. That's fair pricing for everyone. Optional: No…

Discover Card Pushes Paperless with $30k Sweeps after Login

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 16, 2011
Categories: Credit/Debit Cards, Discover Card, Login/logoff marketing

Getting customers to go paperless is not easy. That's why only 15% have enrolled even though more than three times that number pay the bill electronically.

Discover Card is working to change that with a well-executed sweeps. The graphics are impressive (see below) and the dollar amount ($30,000) is enough to get your attention. But what I really like are the three benefits of going paperless listed at the bottom of the screen:

View online statements 3-5 days earlier than paper Get an automatic email reminder 6-7 days before your payment is due Access and download up to 24 months of password-protected statements

Analysis
While this is a great effort (Grade = A), I think Discover would be better off dividing the prize pot into ongoing monthly prizes for anyone who is paperless. That reinforces the behavior over time.

Also, I'd add one more benefit to…

Alumni News — Weeks of January 24, 31, and February 7, 2011

By finovate Posted on February 15, 2011
Categories: Betterment, Bling Nation, Cardlytics, CashEdge, DebtGoal, eRollover, Fiserv, Guardian Analytics, Lending Club, mFoundry, Mint.com, Mozo, On Deck Capital, Plastyc, PopMoney, Silver Tail Systems, SmartyPig, The Receivables Exchange

To see Finovate alumni company news in real-time, follow our feed on Twitter here.

Betterment and Mint.com partner for "set it and forget it" investment accounts. The accounts have no minimum balance. http://bit.ly/finovate210111
Bling Nation rolls out the "fan connect" platform in Chicago. The Chicago rollout is part of a broader national rollout to come. http://bit.ly/finovate210112
Cardlytics and NetSpend partner to bring reward offers to the underbanked. The partnership will create opportunities for targeted offers to reach users of prepaid debit cards. http://bit.ly/finovate28112
Cardlytics wins Red Herring Global 100 winner. -- Cardlytics is a pioneer in in-statement merchant-funded rewards. http://bit.ly/finovate27114
CashEdge and NYCE join forces to provide person to person payment technology. Popmoney will now be available to 3,000 NYCE financial institution clients. http://bit.ly/finovate211112
ClairMail announced that revenue tripled in 2010. The company attributes the growth to the launch of their mobile connectivity architecture in early 2010. http://mwne.ws/finovate28115
DebtGoal…

American Express Wants to Power Your iTunes Purchases

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 15, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, American Express, Apple, Bill payment, Credit/Debit Cards

How much does the average American Express cardholder spend in the iTunes store each month? A lot. And how often do you go to iTunes and change your default card? Never. Is it worth $5 to have your card powering an iTunes account? To American Express it is.

I'm sure the card company's spreadsheet shows a payback within a year or two on incremental interchange alone. But more important is the added stickiness these frequent Apple purchases give to the card. Plus, it can't hurt to associate your brand with the most valuable tech company on the planet.

The fine print
To earn the five-song credit, cardholders must make a purchase with their Amex card between Feb. 10 and March 15. That earns a statement credit equal to five song downloads. It doesn't say which song price-point is used in the calculation, but I'm guessing the standard $0.99.

Relevance to…

The 43 Financial Sites With the Most Unique U.S. Visitors in January per Compete

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 14, 2011
Categories: Compete, Metrics & Market Research

Every month, Compete publishes a list of the 1,000 websites with the most U.S. monthly unique visitors. In January 2011, 43 were financial sites (banking, payments, brokerages, cards, credit reports, lending, or personal finance). Of the 43, 14 were banks (see note 1).

For a little context, Google topped the list with 145 million. The largest banks were similar to Apple (34 mil), Twitter (28 mil), Flickr (21 mil), or Yelp (12 mil).

Company Traffic Type 1. paypal.com 30 mil Payments 2. chase.com 25 Bank (#1) 3. bankofamerica.com 24 Bank (#2) 4. intuit.com 20 Personal finance 5. wellsfargo.com 16 Bank (#3) 6. capitalone.com 13 Bank (#4) 7. citibank.com 12 Bank (#5) 8. hrblock.com 12 Tax 9. lowermybills.com 8.5 Personal finance 10. americanexpress.com 8.4 Cards 11. taxactonline.com 7.7 Tax 12. discovercard.com 7.3 Cards 13. taxact.com 7.3 Tax 14. wachovia.com 6.2 Bank (#6) 15. fidelity.com 5.6 Investments 16.…

American Express Now Offers Basic PFM Functions

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 10, 2011
Categories: American Express, Credit/Debit Cards, Personal Financial Management

I was pleasantly surprised today to find that American Express has slipped basic PFM (personal financial management) functionality into its online card management area (note 1). The company allows the user to tag transactions and view results in graphical format (see screenshots below).

According to the FAQ, each transaction can have up to five tags. And each user can create up to 200 unique tags to apply to transactions.

Significance: Combined with the categories automatically assigned to each transaction, American Express is now offering basic PFM services. Although a little clunky--a three-click process is required to add a tag--it's a nice addition and something every online banking service should support.

How it works
1. Click the "Add Tags to Transactions" link on the right side of the Statements & Activity area (below):

2. Select a transaction(s) and apply an existing tag or create a new one,…

FinovateEurope 2011 Guide Available (Free)

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 8, 2011
Categories: Finovate, FinovateEurope 2011

Our first Finovate Europe concluded a week ago today. It was personally a great experience, and from the feedback on our survey, it seemed to go over well with attendees and presenters alike. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

If you'd like a PDF copy of the attendee guide, it's now available free-of-charge at our Online Banking Report website (registration required if you are not already an OBR subscriber).

The guide contains a one-page synopsis of each of the 35 demoing companies. We'll also be posting full-length videos of each demo at Finovate.com later this month.

#Finovate Tweet stream from @netbanker (1 Feb. 2011)
Following is my live tweet stream from the Feb. 1 event, rearranged into alphabetic order by demoing company:

FinovateEurope kicks off with Chris Skinner doing 7 minutes on financial innovation; love the Susan Boyle tie-in AcceptEmail is showing its interactive ebilling platform; average recipient…

Prioritizing Financial Information Flow

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 7, 2011
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Google, Strategies

I'm just finishing an enjoyable novel by Cory Doctorow, Makers. It chronicles two inventors operating in the United States 15 to 20 years from now (the actual time period is not revealed) after another economic/tech downturn, similar to the 1999/2000 dotcom crash.

Readers will recognize most of the technology and information services used, e.g., email, IM, blogs and Twitter. But Doctorow's vision for these services a decade or two into the future is quite enlightening.

One area that's much improved over today's practices is the use of technology to prioritize the avalanche of information bombarding users. Here's a passage from the book:

He'd been tuning his feed watchers...for nearly a decade, and this little PR item rang all the cherries on his filters, flagging the item red and rocketing it to the top of his news playlist, making all the icons on the sides of his screen bounce with…