Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avoka, BBVA, Configo, Doxo, Fiserv, Meniga, Realty Mogul, VISA

On Finovate.com

  • Digital Experience Specialist Configo Launches Cloud Environment.

Around the web

  • Spanish bank IberCaja deploys digital banking technology from Meniga.
  • Fiserv to help prepare European banks for transition to real-time payments.
  • BBVA and Samsung partner to bring iris scanning technology to smartphones.
  • VISA announces bank partnerships in preparation for Visa B2B Connect commercial launch in 2018.
  • Everest Group names billpay service specialist doxo to list of Top 40 FinTech Trailblazers.
  • FST Media interviews Avoka Chief Experience Officer Derek Corcoran.
  • RealtyMogul wins Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year in the Consumer Services category.

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.

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Friday Fun: Searching for “Mobile Banks”

Friday Fun: Searching for “Mobile Banks”
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Mobile Banking, Search Engine Marketing

If you could choose one banking term to dominate in Google searches, “mobile bank” would be near the top of your list. In the past two months, Google has served 1 million searches for the term (see chart above). And not surprisingly, 75% were conducted from mobile devices.

So who’s on the first page today? When searching “mobile bank” from my Seattle IP address I expected to see the usual mega-banks. And yes, they were there. Among organic results (see desktop screenshot below, mobile search results were similar), US Bank was #2, BofA was #3 & #4, PNC was #5 (despite no branch network in Washington state), Citizen’s Bank was #7 (also with no branches here) with Key Bank, Union Bank, and TCF finishing off the first page.

Nothing too surprising there, other than perhaps the omission of Chase and Wells, which evidently need to boost SEO efforts. But what did surprise me was who finished #1 AND #6, BankMobile from Customers Bank. Next year, the mobile bank is expected to be spun-off in a $110 million merger with Flagship Community Bank, which is wisely keeping the BankMobile name.

Bottom line: Thinking about it, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the results. BankMobile has 1.8 million mobile accounts, ranking it among the 10 largest U.S. mobile banks (after BofA, Chase, Wells, US Bank, Capital One, Discover, Amex and perhaps Barclays and/or TD Bank), I guess Google had it right after all. Enjoy your weekend!

Author: Jim Bruene (@netbanker) is Founder & Senior Advisor at Finovate as well as Principal of BUX Advisors, a financial services user-experience consultancy. 

Google search results for mobile bank (17 Nov 2017, Seattle IP address)

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Kabbage Expands Small Business Funding with $200 Million Credit Facility

Kabbage Expands Small Business Funding with $200 Million Credit Facility
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kabbage

Alternative credit company Kabbage has a lot to be thankful for this week. The Atlanta-based startup received a new $200 million revolving credit facility from Credit Suisse this week. This brings Kabbage’s total debt funding to $750 million.

Kabbage emphasized that this credit facility diversifies its funding sources, which will help it scale faster and bolster its growth. Specifically, the new funds will help the company serve more and larger small businesses while offering higher lines of credit with longer terms.

Global rating agency DBRS gave investment-grade ratings to the the top two classes of the transaction, which earned ratings of A and BBB. Both classes are collateralized with assets originated through Kabbage’s automated
underwriting technology. This marks the first time DBRS has rated one of Kabbage’s credit facility transactions.

Deepesh Jain, Kabbage’s Head of Capital Markets, commented on the rating from DBRS, saying, “To earn an investment-grade rating requires a rigorous evaluation of not only our lending models, automated risk analysis, and successful history of reducing bad debt to an industry-low, but also our operational processes—from exceptional customer service to unmatched technology development.”

Kabbage has served more than 125,000 small business customers since it was founded in 2009. This week, KPMG ranked Kabbage number 10 of 50 in its list of Fintech 100 for 2017. Earlier this Fall, CB Insights listed the company in its round-up of Top-Targets for European banks. That same week, Kabbage earned its place on the Inc. 5000 list. The company most recently demoed its Kabbage Card small business line of credit at FinovateSpring 2015. Check out our video interview with Kabbage’s COO and co-founder Kathryn Petralia at FinovateFall 2017 last month.

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Coinbase Custody Helps Institutional Investors Securely Store Digital Assets

Coinbase Custody Helps Institutional Investors Securely Store Digital Assets
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase

 

Who knows how much more appreciation in the price of bitcoin will be required to encourage notorious crypto-currency skeptic and JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to endorse investing in digital assets. But when he does, a new company launched by Coinbase called Coinbase Custody will be there to make sure he does it the right way.

“By some estimates there is $10B of institutional money waiting on the sidelines to invest in digital currency today,” Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post this month. He highlighted the number of hedge funds that have been set up solely to trade and invest in bitcoin and other digital assets, as well as the growing number of family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and others examining ways to add digital currencies to their portfolios. He also noted that the primary obstacle to broader investment in these assets is the ability to store client’s digital assets safely.

With Coinbase Custody, Armstrong has set out to meet a set of factors – ranging from strict financial controls with audit trails to multi-user accounts and exceptional cyber and physical security – he believes FIs require in order to trust a digital asset custodian. He pointed out that because Coinbase “already store(s) billions of dollars worth of digital assets” for its customers – and currently serves “thousands of institutions” on its U.S. digital currency exchange, GDAX – Coinbase is an ideal partner for FIs looking to securely store digital assets. “Our goal with Coinbase Custody is to help dramatically accelerate the flow of institutional money into digital currencies over the coming years,” Armstrong wrote.

Institutions that sign up for Coinbase Custodian will get access to an early version of the solution to be released in 2018. The product is exclusively for institutional investors with a minimum of $10 million in deposits. Coinbase presently charges an initial set-up fee of $100,000 plus a fee of 10 basis points per month on assets stored.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase demonstrated its Instant Exchange platform at FinovateSpring 2014. In August, the company closed a $100 million Series D round led by IVP, which took Coinbase’s total funding to $217 million and a valuation of $1.6 billion. Named to KPMG/H2 Ventures Fintech 100 for 2017’s Leading 50, Coinbase introduced its Instant Purchases option in October, which enables users to buy digital assets directly using a U.S. bank account.

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ForwardLane Launches New AI APIs

ForwardLane Launches New AI APIs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ForwardLane

ForwardLane has introduced a pair of new artificial intelligence APIs that apply natural language processing and deep learning AI to help financial market professionals better manage research data as well as improve communication among advisors and end investors.

“The two APIs empower the world’s leading asset managers, wealth mangers, and insurers augment the capabilities of their star performers and bring a consistently high-quality, personalized experience to their clients,” ForwardLane CEO Nathan Stevenson said in a statement. “It ties humans with machines for exciting new solutions.”

ForwardLane CEO Nathan Stevenson demonstrating the company’s wealth management solution at FinovateSpring 2016.

The two API frameworks are Personalized Insights and Expert Conversation. Personalized Insights helps professionals working in advisory, sales, and distribution automate and augment the research and preparation process ahead of client meetings. The API leverages natural language processing to read client profile information and complies configurable human business data with commentary. This provides “high-touch customization” for all of an asset manager’s clients while giving professionals a prioritized client list, and guidance on which research content to share and why.

Expert Conversation is designed for institutional finance and enables on-demand access to company and market intelligence. Financial professionals and individual investors can use the technology to query the firm about how market-related issues and the company’s investment strategies can affect their portfolios.

Headquartered in New York City, ForwardLane demonstrated its cognitive productivity solution for wealth management at FinovateSpring 2016. The company’s technology combines “massively scalable” machine intelligence with institutional-grade risk analytics supported by more than 14 years of actionable investment insights derived from the company’s data aggregation platform. The result is a system for RIAs, IFAs, family offices, and other wealth managers that learns over time, providing the kind of “personalization at scale” that has enabled users to boost client loads up to 3x.

A graduate of the FinTech Innovation Lab’s mentoring program, ForwardLane has raised more than $1 million in funding, and includes Thomson Reuters among its investors. The company was founded in 2015.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blend, Coinbase, Ellevest, Featurespace, ForwardLane, Kabbage, Overbond, PayPal, Unison, WealthForge

On Finovate.com

  • Coinbase Custody Helps Institutional Investors Securely Store Digital Assets
  • Kabbage Expands Small Business Funding with $200 Million Credit Facility.

Around the web

  • Overbond offers U.S. corporate issuers and institutional investors real-time access to its platform.
  • PayPal and Synchrony Financial expand strategic consumer credit relationship.
  • U.K.-based Featurespace to open office in Atlanta in November.
  • WealthForge Debuts Its First Regulation A Offering with New Investor Workflow
  • GoBankingRates features Blend, Unison, and Ellevest in its 10 Startups to Watch in 2018 list.

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.

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Actiance Acquired by K1 Capital Management

Actiance Acquired by K1 Capital Management
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Actiance, Mergers & Acquisitions

Communications compliance and analytics company Actiance has made its exit this week. The California-based company has been acquired by K1 Investment Management, an investment firm focused on acquisition-based growth opportunities.

K1 will join Actiance with its rival, Smarsh, which specializes on archiving compliance. The combined company will reach more than 6,500 financial services companies, including the top 15 global banks. Neil Malik, Managing Partner at K1, said, “This combination of capabilities from Actiance and Smarsh provides the industry with a means to get ahead – and stay ahead – of compliance trends, while introducing the latest communications technologies to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the modern enterprise.”

The service can be deployed in the cloud, dedicated, on-premise, and hybrid and will offer capture, compliance, archiving, and supervision support across a range of communication channels, including email, social media, mobile messaging, instant messaging/collaboration, encrypted chat and voice communications. K1 plans to enhance the service by investing in product capabilities, increasing flexibility in deployment options, accelerating expansion in Europe and developing a joint channel partner program.

Kailash Ambwani, CEO of Actiance said that the new combined entity is “incredibly well-positioned” to address the growing compliance needs of financial services firms. He added, “Together we will enhance our combined sales and distribution capabilities, offer our customers additional resources and services, and accelerate our product development.”

Founded in 1998, Actiance most recently demoed at FinovateFall 2012 where it showcased Socialite, an active social compliance tool. Last month, the company launched a Safe Landing program for continuous compliance and in August, Actiance introduced a compliance and archiving solution for WeChat and WhatsApp. Before today’s acquisition, the company had raised $43.6 million.

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PayStand Scores $6 Million in Series A Funding

PayStand Scores $6 Million in Series A Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, PayStand

In a round led by BlueRun Ventures and featuring participation from Cervin Ventures, Serra Ventures, TiE, and Capital for Founders, B2B payment platform PayStand has raised $6 million in Series A funding. The company says that it will use the additional capital to build up its account receivable systems and help launch its new free accounts payable product line – which entered beta availability today. The Series A takes PayStand’s total capital to more than $8 million.

With self-driving cars and rockets to Mars on one side of the balance and paper checks and spreadsheets on the other, PayStand founder and CEO Jeremy Almond made clear which side of history his company was on. Pointing out that “most U.S business payments still run on manual, pre-internet systems,” Almond said, “PayStand takes the best of automation, customization, and blockchain technology to finally bring B2B payments into the Digital Age.”

PayStand CEO and founder Jeremy Almond during his FinDEVr presentation, Comparing the Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Payment Types.

BlueRun Ventures General Partner Jonathan Ebinger added that PayStand’s emphasis on back-office payments in the enterprise “melds seamlessly into our investment themes of digital transformation.” Saying “we see big things ahead for PayStand,” Ebinger added that PayStand represents many of the best practices and “key financial processes that are vital to our economy.”

PayStand also announced the beta availability of its new AP solution. The technology automates the accounts payable process, eliminating the need for paper checks while providing full data tracking throughout the entire cash cycle to maximize visibility and control. The early-access AP release is free to all beta participants.

Founded in 2013, PayStand leverages blockchain and SaaS technologies to provide a smart billing and B2B payment network based on digitization and automation. The company’s Payments-as-a-Service helps businesses lower time-to-cash, cut costs, and generate additional revenue. Headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, PayStand participated in our first developer’s conference, FinDEVr 2014 in Silicon Valley. At the event, Almond presented “Comparing the Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Payment Types,” as an introduction to his company’s multi-payment network technology.

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KPMG, H2 Ventures Unveil Fintech 100 for 2017

KPMG, H2 Ventures Unveil Fintech 100 for 2017
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AdviceRobo, AutoGravity, Coinbase, Kabbage, Kensho, Klarna, Kreditech, Lending Club, Leveris, Moneytree, Nubank, On Deck Capital, SecureKey, Sensibill, SoFi, Stash, ThetaRay, Token, Trusona, VATBox, Wave, Xero

It’s that time of the year once again: KPMG and H2 Ventures have teamed up to introduce their Leading Global Fintech Innovators roster, the Fintech 100 for 2017. The judges for this year’s Fintech 100 included more than 20 professionals from KPMG and other organizations with expertise in IT, data analytics, capital markets, financial services, and more.

This year 11 Finovate/FinDEVr alums made the Leading 50, with another 12 alums making the Emerging 50. New entrants to the KPMG/H2 Ventures roster include SoFi and Revolut among the Leading 50. All 12 the alums on the Emerging 50 are making their first appearance. See the full list.

Some of the highlights from the 2017 Fintech 100 include the observation that five of the roster’s top 10 companies are from China, as are the top three companies on the list: Ant Financial, ZhongAn, and Qudian (Qufenqi). The U.S. has a pair of companies in the top five: Oscar and Avant, and Europe and the U.K. each have one company in the top ten: Kreditech and Atom Bank, respectively.

Speaking of Asia, the Asia-Pacific region has 30 fintech companies in the top 100. The United States has 19 companies – the most from any single country – and the U.K. and EMEA areas have 41 companies in the list. The U.K. and EMEA region are also responsible for the highest number of companies on KPMG/H2 Ventures’ Emerging 50 list with 26.

With regard to sectors within fintech, the Fintech 100 breaks down as follows:

  • 32 lending companies
  • 21 payments companies
  • 14 transaction and capital markets companies
  • 12 insurance/insurtech companies
  • 7 wealth management/wealthtech companies
  • 6 cybersecurity/regtech companies
  • 4 blockchain/digital currency companies
  • 3 data and analytics companies

Alums from the Leading 50

Alums from the Emerging Stars

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Actiance, CREALOGIX, Econiq, PayStand, Ripple, Unison, Veridium

On Finovate.com

  • PayStand Scores in $6 Million Series A Funding
  • Actiance Acquired by K1 Capital Management

Around the web

  • American Express, Santander UK, and Ripple team up to support blockchain-enabled, cross-border, B2B payments.
  • Veridium announces partnership with Walla to pilot digital banking model in sub-Saharan Africa that uses biometrics for authentication.
  • Econiq wins Honorable Mention at annual BankNews Innovative Solutions Awards for its Conversation Hub.
  • Best of Show winner Unison unveils 2018 expansion plans.
  • CREALOGIX announces expansion into Asia-Pacific with new offices in Singapore.

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.

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Betterment Celebrates the Season of Giving with New Share Donation Feature

Betterment Celebrates the Season of Giving with New Share Donation Feature
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment

Robo advisory platform Betterment made an announcement today that it is not only making it easier to give to charities, it is also giving consumers more reasons to do so.

Starting November 28, on Giving Tuesday, Betterment investors will be able to donate shares of long-term investments from their taxable accounts directly to charitable organizations. While the act of giving may grant users a warm heart, Betterment has made a point to emphasize the self-serving part of the equation– tax benefits. Investors who donate can eliminate capital gains tax on the contributed shares and can also deduct the value of the gift on their tax return. To make the process as easy as giving cash, the company does four main things:

  • Tracks how much of your account is eligible to give to charity (i.e., it sorts for stocks that you’ve held for more than one year)
  • Estimates the tax benefits before you complete your gift
  • Moves assets of up to $1 million from your account to a charitable organization’s account without any paperwork
  • Emails a tax receipt after the donation is complete

At launch, investors can give to eleven charities, including UNICEF USA, Wounded Warriors Family Support, Hour Children, Against Malaria Foundation, DonorsChoose.org, GiveWell, Save The Children, Feeding America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, World Wildlife Fund, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Betterment is soliciting user requests for new charities to be added.

Founded in 2008, Betterment CEO Jon Stein debuted the company’s Multiple Goals feature at FinovateFall 2011. This summer, the New York-based company received a $70 million investment from Sweden’s Kinnevik, bringing Betterment’s total capital to $275 million and boosting it up to a valuation of $800 million.

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EyeLock Partners with ViaTouch to Bring Iris Authentication to Smart Shelf Vending

EyeLock Partners with ViaTouch to Bring Iris Authentication to Smart Shelf Vending
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: EyeLock

Iris-based biometric authentication specialist EyeLock has signed an agreement with ViaTouch Media that will integrate EyeLock’s iris recognition technology within ViaTouch’s smart-shelf vending solution, Vicki.

Calling the new partnership a “major breakthrough,” EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus said the agreement was the culmination of years of working with leaders from a variety of industries to bring embedded security solutions to market. “This win is indicative of the many potential commercialized applications for iris authentication,” Demitrieus said. “The ViaTouch partnership underscores an innovative approach to protecting consumer identity and transaction security.”

EyeLock’s iris authentication will be deployed as part of the interface for Vicki (ViaTouch Intellishelf Cognitive Kinetic Interactions), a smart shelf vending machine with an AI-enabled shopping assistant. Formerly known as Lisa, Vicki engages consumers by authenticating them, learning their preferences, providing loyalty, rewards, and discounts, and using smart shelf technology to note what products shoppers are viewing as well as  which they are selecting and deselecting. The virtual clerk-powered machine communicates using directional speakers so that only the person standing in front of it can hear the conversation.

The company said EyeLock-enabled machines will be available early in the second quarter of 2018. ViaTouch Media CEO Tom Murn said the solution, which will be operated on First Data online payment networks, will “create the most secure AI iris authentication self-checkout payment solution in the world.”

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, Eyelock demonstrated its USB-powered Iris Identity Authenticator, myris, at FinovateFall 2014. A majority-owned subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation, the company announced a trio of new patents last month, affirming the company’s innovations in iris and facial imaging, biometric matching, and visual guidance in gaze alignment.

“We continue to achieve significant technical breakthroughs that have served as significant barriers to market-wide adoption of iris authentication technology,” EyeLock CTO Jeff Carter said. “With each successful patent, we are able to expand our IP to deliver the fastest, most cost-effective and easy-to-use solutions that our end users require.”

EyeLock has spent much of 2017 forging major partnerships that will bring its full suite of hardware and software access control solutions to customers throughout North America and around the world. In October, EyeLock teamed up with Australian security solutions vendor, CSD (Central Security Distribution), and in August, the company signed a licensing agreement that will enable the company to build iris authentication solutions for Qualcomm Technology’s Qualcomm Mobile Security platform. A May partnership with STANLEY Security, an integrated security solutions provider and division of Stanley Black & Decker, rounds out a busy year of partnerships for EyeLock.

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