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During Finovate Fall 2018, leading fintech research analysts took to the stage for 7 minutes each to present key opportunities for banks and other financial services providers. Featuring:
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This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Financial data expert MX landed a new Colorado-based client this week. Ent Credit Union will integrate MX’s digital money management (DMM) technology into its Money Insight tool.
DMM gathers and augments the data, then presents financial insights to clients to help them better manage their money and meet their financial goals. Money Insight allows users not only to track their accounts at Ent Credit Union, but it also aggregates their account information from other financial institutions, allowing them to have a unified view of finances in a single place.
Ent’s more than 300,000 members, who can access the tool for free, can also use DMM to track spending, manage debt, and create budgets. Describing the mission of the tool, Ent’s VP of Electronic Banking, Tanan Miles, said, “It’s just one more way we’re delivering on our credit union’s mission to improve our members’ financial quality of life.”
“…We’re basically helping people get to know their finances better than their Amazon shopping cart,” said Nate Gardner, chief customer officer at MX. “…We know financial clarity and guidance are key to delighting members. The MX data platform gives Ent powerful tools that make that happen – increasing member loyalty while driving profitable growth,” he added.
MX was founded in 2010 and is partnered with more than 1,800 financial institutions and 43 of the top 50 digital banking providers. Headquartered in Lehi, Utah, MX is a six-time Finovate Best of Show winner, having most recently presented at FinovateFall 2017, where it demoed Discovered Accounts.
Account onboarding specialist Agreement Express recently inked a large contract with Florida-based Independent Financial Partners (IFP).
The deal comes in advance of IFP launching its broker-dealer technology that will allow advisors to run their business on their own. IFP will leverage Agreement Express’ Automated Broker Transitions platform. The technology will enable advisors to digitally pre-populate new account forms. Once clients sign the form and it has been approved by the compliance team, the account will automatically be opened at one of IFP’s four custodians: Pershing, Charles Schwab, Fidelity or TD Ameritrade. Overall, Agreement Express will help transition clients in a matter of days instead of months, will provide a complete audit trail, and will minimize human form-filling errors.
“Generally, hybrid RIAs don’t have the latitude or financials to be able to implement expensive technologies that otherwise would positively impact advisors’ businesses,” said IFP CEO William Hamm. “On the other hand, independent broker-dealers not only have control of their own destiny, but they are also able to better control and enhance their revenue lines. As such, IFP has been able to invest in systems to support the advisor experience we’ve always wanted to provide.”
Founded in 2001, Agreement Express helps financial services companies create and manage a consistent onboarding experience across channels, as well as leverage consumer data to create a personalized user experience. In addition to its Automated Broker Transitions Platform, the company also offers Risk Scorecard for Payments Underwriting and One-Click Merchant Onboarding.
At FinovateFall 2016, Agreement Express debuted the newest version of its wealth management offering, an onboarding solution that helps advisers interact with clients in a nonintrusive, compliant manner. Earlier this spring, the company received an undisclosed amount of funding, boosting its total to more than $1 million. Among the company’s clients are National Bank of Canada, Questrade, and M&T Bank. Mike Gardner is CEO.
Courtesy of a new partnership between financial services technology solution provider Fiserv and DadeSystems, more banks will be able to access automated account receivables (A/R) technology which they can offer to their commercial clients as either a SaaS or standalone solution.
“Businesses spend too much time manually posting payments to invoices – a process prone to error and costly in terms of time and resources,” VP of Product Management for Fiserv’s Payments Management Solutions division, John Dangoia said. “By offering DadePay AR Automation, we empower financial institutions to further enrich customer relationships by reducing the need for businesses to manually enter payments into their accounts receivable systems.”
Miami, Florida-based DadeSystems leverages machine learning, advanced optical character recognition technology, and its own patented, AI-based algorithms to automate the invoice-to-cash application process. The company’s DadePay AR Automation solution captures both paper and electronic incoming payments automatically, matches them to open invoices and updates the companies’ ERP systems. DadePay also features a mobile AR app and an ePayment portal. Combined, the suite provides faster payment processing with greater efficiency and cash collection, and lower fees.
“Many businesses are demanding new types of electronic payment and data analytics services,” President and CEO of DadeSystems, Bill Zayas, said, “yet their treasury and finance departments are slowed down by manual and outdated processes. Through this relationship with Fiserv, banks can help their business customers overcome these obstacles with technology from a provider they know and trust.”
In its most recent Finovate appearance, Fiserv demonstrated an integration of Samsung SDS biometric authentication and collaboration technology into its Commercial Center: Security solution. The authentication methodology leverages non-duplicative biometric data – fingerprint, voice, and facial scan – to make the user experience more seamless and secure. Real-time video chat, e-signatures, and annotated screen sharing are among the features available via Samsung’s digital collaboration features.
Headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Fiserv was founded in 1984, and had global revenues of $5.7 billion in 2017. Trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol “FISV,” the firm has a market capitalization of $33 billion.
As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.
A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on October 29 and 30, 2018 in Hong Kong. Register today and save your spot.
UNPay’s UN Smart Cashier integrates functions of a retail cashier and dynamic advertisements on one platform. It can optimize sales processes and aggregate e-marketing services.
Features
Why it’s great
Enables businesses to showcase gender-appropriate advertisements to maximize sales. It also links to associated accounts for payments and loyalty points for enhanced convenience.
Presenters
Yulong Hu, Co-Founder
Hu is a serial entrepreneur in entertainment, electronic commerce, and payment industries and is the founder of the first domestic electronic coupon platform, “LuckyMoney.”
Ernest Lo, Singapore Country Manager
Lo is a veteran in e-payments and holds a MSc in Telecommunications from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
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This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Consumer-facing financial health company Credit Karma unveiled plans for an auto insurance comparison tool. Starting today, members in California and Texas can determine if they are paying too much for car insurance based on how much similar members are paying for comparable coverage.
The move aims to help members make the best decision about their auto insurance, coverage that Credit Karma estimates Americans overspend on by $21 million each year. The new tool builds on Credit Karma’s Online Vehicle Center. Launched in November of last year, the Online Vehicle Center is an informational dashboard that helps consumers manage and organize their vehicle-related finances and information by leveraging driver and vehicle data from the DMV.
The Online Vehicle Center tool received significant traction since launching just under one year ago; more than 8 million members, 8% of Credit Karma’s total user base, have synced their vehicle information with the platform. The new comparison aspect of the tool leverages DMV information and combines it with data from credit bureaus and public insurance filings to estimate insurance quotes. Unlike traditional insurance quote comparisons, which require users to input 30 to 40 fields of data, Credit Karma generates a comparison in real-time.
“We built the auto experience to help put money back into the pockets of our members. With our refinance experience, we’ve helped our members save nearly $150 million on their auto loans in under a year,” said Kenneth Lin, founder and CEO of Credit Karma. “We plan to do the same for insurance.”
Another aspect of the new tool that’s worth mentioning is the education piece. Credit Karma will offer users an interactive experience that shows how certain factors such as moving violations and credit score can impact rates. The San Francisco-based company said that it plans to roll out the new tool to users in more U.S. states “in the coming months.”
At FinovateSpring 2009, Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin demonstrated the company’s platform, which offers free credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion, and seeks to serve as a hub for users to monitor their financial health. Since it was founded in 2007, the company has expanded not only into vehicle information management and monitoring but also identity monitoring and tax filing. Most recently, Credit Karma acquired mortgagetech startup Approved to move beyond its basic mortgage rates comparison tool.
Loyalty and engagement platform provider Larky is starting off the fall with a trio of new partnerships. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company announced this week that it has launched three new client programs, teaming up with Canada’s Encompass Credit Union, BayCoast Bank of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and Tulsa-based Oklahoma Central Credit Union.
“With our location-based platform, the audience of a financial institution can receive mobile notifications when they are near a specific location where there is a special offer or the FI wants to promote a specific product or service,” explained Larky CEO Gregg Hammerman. “This encourages local purchasing at the most convenient time for the user, while increasing cross-selling opportunities for the FI.”
Founded in 2012, Larky helps community-based financial institutions engage with their customers in the digital and mobile worlds that are increasingly the channels of choice in both financial services and ecommerce. The company’s engagement platform enables FIs to provide highly-contextual, digital rewards and offers to their members and customers, including community-building discounts to local merchants. The solution also helps firms boost non-interest income, with Larky clients reporting an increase of 4% to 8% in interchange revenue due to increased use of their credit and debit cards.
Larky demonstrated its Android app and white-label mobile and web solutions at FinovateFall 2014. In a busy year of making friends and forging partnerships, Larky teamed up with Fort Dodge Family CU in March, and CFE FCU of Florida in July, helping both credit unions generate more cross-selling opportunities and offer location-based rewards to members. Larky began the year expanding its relationship with core processing solutions provider Sharetec, extending its technology through the latter’s network of credit union customers.
Larky has raised $2.4 million in funding, and includes North Coast Technology Investors, Ann Arbor SPARK, the First Step Fund, and the Michigan Angel Fund among its investors.
On Finovate.com
Around the web
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Automated sales tax tools company DAVO Technologies landed a fresh round of funding this week. The amount was undisclosed, but adds to the company’s previously-raised $5 million in venture and seed rounds.
The strategic investment, which DAVO anticipates will fuel expansion, was led by Anania & Associates Investment Company (AAI). As part of this expansion, DAVO has added to its Board of Directors and boosted its operations team. Since this growth mandated the need for a larger location, the company relocated to a 5,500 square foot office space as its Maine-based headquarters.
In addition to the funding, DAVO will also benefit from AAI’s human resources and financial back office services. “The investment comes with much needed infrastructure support provided by Anania & Associates,” said Owen Brown, CEO of DAVO. “The depth of experience they bring adds enormous value. In addition the investment allows us to build upon our commitment to excellence and to expand our platform’s feature and functionality set.”
Founded in 2011, DAVO demoed its flagship product at FinovateFall 2015. During the demo, the company’s CEO Owen Brown showed how DAVO Sales Tax automatically and passively collects, files, and pays sales tax on a merchant’s behalf. Since then, DAVO launched Sweep & Save, a cash management tool that automatically sets funds aside daily and returns them for businesses to meet monthly needs such as bills and equipment leases. Additionally, the company’s new Savings Club automatically sets funds aside and returns them in December to help businesses meet end-of-the-year needs such as holiday expenses and bonuses.
Over the past year, DAVO has experienced an average of 20% month-over-month customer acquisition growth via Clover, Square, Revel, Poynt and QuickBooks Online. The company plans to launch a new website, along with new product releases, in the fourth quarter of this year.