Start Your Hong Kong Fintech Week with FinovateAsia 2016

Start Your Hong Kong Fintech Week with FinovateAsia 2016
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2016

finovateasia2013_attendees

The Finovate team has arrived in Hong Kong in preparation for FinovateAsia 2016 this Tuesday, 8 Nov. And we’re looking forward to a full day of live demonstrations of some of the most compelling innovations in fintech. Tickets are still available and we hope to see you here at PMQ on Tuesday as our 35 presenting companies demo their technologies live on stage.

This year, we are especially excited to be a part of InvestHK’s Hong Kong Fintech Week, which features discussions and presentations on the blockchain, the rise of regtech, as well as a hackathon and ample opportunities for networking among attendees. It’s a great setting for professionals from every corner of the fintech world, and we hope you’ll be on hand to be a part of it.

FA2016-V1rev

So for everyone who’s making plans to be with us in Hong Kong on Tuesday, here are a few tips and reminders to help you make the most of your FinovateAsia experience:

  • When: Tuesday, 8 November 2016
  • Why: To introduce the latest fintech innovations developed by 35 companies from countries including Singapore, Switzerland, Canada, India, Australia, Spain, Korea, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, and Israel, as well as Hong Kong and the United States.
  • How: With our unique, 7-minute demo-only format and networking opportunities both during and after the conference, FinovateAsia is designed to enable our presenters to show their technologies live before a professional audience. At the same time, our agenda ensures that our attendees have every opportunity to meet, ask questions, and network with our demoing companies.

Whether you will be here in Hong Kong joining us or following all the action from afar, you can catch every demo of the event by following our Live Twitter feed @Finovate. We’ll share pictures from the stage, information on the presenters, and interesting background on the demoing companies. And if you want to take to Twitter to share your own insights and ideas about the technologies on stage, please be sure to add #Finovate to your tweets to make them easier for everyone to see.

We’re happy to answer any questions you might have about FinovateAsia. Check out our responses to some of the most common queries in our FinovateAsia FAQ. For more, feel free to email us your question at asia@finovate.com.

FinovateAsia 2016 is sponsored by: DBS Bank (Hong Kong), InvestHK/Hong Kong Fintech Week, and KPMG.

FinovateAsia 2016 is partners with: Aite Group, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, Banking Technology, BeFast.tv, Big Data Made Simple, Byte Academy, Celent, CoinTelegraph, CrowdFundBeat, Cyberport, FemTechLeaders, Finolab, Fintech Finance, Fintech News Singapore, The Fintech Times, Harrington Starr, Hong Kong Economic Times, The Hong Kong Foreign Financial Institutions Association, IDC Financial Insights, Korea FinTech Forum, Miss FQ, SME Finance Forum, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Verdict Financial.

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Fintech Favorites

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bizfi, CAN Capital, EyeVerify, Fintech Favorites, Kabbage, Lending Club, On Deck Capital, Zopa

Alt lending

  • On Deck Capital (F12), Kabbage (F15), and CAN Capital (F13) agree to disclose SMB loan pricing.
  • Lending Club (F09) partners with MileagePlus to offer borrowers and investors a way to earn award miles when they borrow or invest.
  • American Banker: Bizfi (F15) Hires Former Lending Club Exec as New CEO.

Fintech in Asia

  • Let’s Talk Payments projects AsiaPac as a clear winner in revenue growth in its fintech outlook for 2017.
  • Invest HK launches Hong Kong Fintech Week 7-11 Nov 2016 and features FinovateAsia 2016 on Tuesday, 8 Nov.
  • HSBC collaborates with Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company to launch fintech R&D lab.
  • Ant Financial, which acquired Finovate Best of Show winner EyeVerify (F16) this year, invests in Thai mobile money innovator, Ascend. See EyeVerify at FinovateAsia this week in Hong Kong.
  • Shanghai-based China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) joins R3 consortium.
  • SBI Ripple Asia and Japan-based SBI Holdings introduce blockchain-oriented consortium of 42 Japanese banks and financial services institutions.
  • Fintech investment firm Senjo Group opens new global headquarters in Singapore.
  • Malaysia to expand funding options for SMEs with registration of xis’s new P2P platform operators scheduled to go live in 2017.

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Launching: “The Guarantors” Helps NYC Renters Qualify for an Apartment

Launching: “The Guarantors” Helps NYC Renters Qualify for an Apartment
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Insurance, Launches, Loans & Credit, Renter services, Youth market

theguarantor-homepage

As a blogger/analyst/entrepreneur, it’s a mixed blessing when someone delivers on a market need you’ve been ranting about (here and here). You feel vindicated and you have a blog post that writes itself, but it knocks one thing off the top of your businesses-to-start list.

So begrudgingly, I introduce you to The Guarantors, an N.Y.C.-based startup that is stepping up to meet the needs of renters trying to qualify for an apartment in New York City, and eventually other markets such as Boston, Chicago and California. I was directly involved in one such qualification excercise two months ago.

The company essentially acts as your parent (if your parents could fill out reams of paperwork within 12 hours, were extremely well heeled and backed by surety bonds), stepping in to co-sign and guarantee your rental agreement. To make landlords trust the stand-in parent arrangement, the startup backstops its guarantees with insurance from The Hanover Insurance Company. If the renter does not fulfill the terms of the lease, The Guarantors, makes the landlords whole. It is a brilliant idea, and perfect for financial institutions to license or build themselves.

The only problem is cost. Depending on risk profiles, The Guarantor charges U.S. citizens 5% to 7% and international renters 7% to 10% of the annual rent, about 3 to 4 weeks’ rent to backstop a 12-month lease; leases up to 18 months are a higher rate). But by eliminating deposits that can equal that amount or more, it can be cash-flow-positive to the renter. Though, unlike a deposit, that money is gone for good. So it doesn’t help first-time renters without the initial cash surplus of two-month’s rent. However, a financial institution offering the service could loan the renter all or part of that. There is no cost to the landlord.

The company, currently operating in NYC, is open only to renters with a 630 or higher FICO score and annual income at least 27x the rent. Alternatively, the company allows co-signers with at least 45x the monthly income, or liquid assets of 75x the monthly rent, to guarantee the guarantee. Applications are approved with 12 hours.

The company launched in 2014 and spent 18 months nailing down the insurance deal with Hanover. It has taken a seed investment of an undisclosed amount from nine investors (50 Partners, Alven Capital, Arnaud Achour, Fides+Ratio, Kima Ventures, Partech Ventures, Residence Ventures, Silvertech Ventures and White Star Capital).

Bottom line: Renter financing/assistance is a promising new lending/customer service for financial institutions. You not only get new customers, new loans, new checking accounts, a foothold in the millennial market, a unique service to offer employers, satisfied renters (and their parents), but also become a local hero with write-ups in every newspaper, blog, and housing forum in your market. And, with a phone call or two, you will be on the nightly TV news every fall when it’s “apartment hunting” season.

Contact The Guarantors now and offer to be their first distribution partner outside New York City, or their first strategic investor. And if you are Wells Fargo, Capital One, American Express, or Chase, just buy them outright already.

Have a fantastic weekend all!

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Entersekt Brings Biometric Authentication to FirstBank’s Mobile App

Entersekt Brings Biometric Authentication to FirstBank’s Mobile App
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Entersekt, Security & Privacy

entersekt_homepage_november2016

When it comes to mobile banking, the only thing more important than providing customers with a first-rate app is making sure that it has first-rate security as well.

To this end, FirstBank—with more than $15 billion in assets and more than 120 locations in Colorado, Arizona, and California—has selected biometric authentication technology from FinDEVr alum Entersekt to provide security for its iOS mobile banking app. In deploying Entersekt’s Transakt solution, FirstBank will give its mobile banking customers the ability to use Touch ID to authenticate as well as Transakt’s unique digital certificate identifier which the company says turns the mobile device “into a trusted second factor of authentication.”

firstbank_homepage_november2016

Launched in 2014, FirstBank’s mobile banking app has been “incredibly well received” by customers, says bank COO Jim Reuter. “Adding one-touch authentication will further enhance what is already one of the most progressive, easy-to-use mobile banking technologies on the market.” FirstBank plans to add biometric authentication functionality to its Android-based mobile app soon.

“The security benefits are obvious to everyone,” Entersekt CIO Gerhard Oosthuizen explained, “but users are justifiably wary of tired authentication technologies like one-time passwords that slow them down and do not necessarily provide the required protection, particularly on mobile.” Oosthuizen sees his company’s technology as a way for “digital-savvier banks” to gain a valuable edge over their competitors “by engineering attractively low-friction mobile interactions that nevertheless inspire confidence and trust.”

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Entersekt demonstrated its transaction authentication and mobile app security solutions at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2014 as part of its presentation, “Securing Mobile Applications through Transport Layer Diversity.” In September, Entersekt announced a new reseller agreement with Minneapolis-based security firm, Blue Bay Technologies. And in August, Entersekt forged a partnership with Finovate alum Backbase that will make Entersekt’s authentication solutions available via Backbase’s Open Banking Marketplace.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BioCatch, Neustar, Xendpay

Around the web

  • New Xendpay Business services provides SMEs with”pay what you want” option for international money-transfer fees.
  • BioCatch upgrades behavioral biometrics offering to enhance online and mobile performance in the enterprise.
  • Neustar unveils Fraud Detection Solutions product to help integrate multiple identify-verification ecosystems.

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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Live Safe and Prosper: The Themes of FinovateAsia 2016

Live Safe and Prosper: The Themes of FinovateAsia 2016
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2016

fa2016themesnew001-2

Let there be no doubt as to trends driving fintech innovation. Providing greater security and encouraging better financial health—if not prosperity—are among the major organizing principles for fintech innovators around the world. And this is especially true for those CEOs bringing their teams to demo at FinovateAsia 2016 next week.

FA2016-V1revThere’s still time to pick up your ticket. Join us in Hong Kong, on 8 November for our day-long exploration of tomorrow’s financial technology today. See live demonstrations of next-generation biometric authentication solutions, and aggregation tools that bring better data to bear on everything from e-commerce and credit decisioning to investment planning and wealth management. After demos are done, we’ve set aside time to make it easy to meet and network with our presenting companies, your fellow attendees, and other industry professionals.

FinovateAsia 2016 will feature 35 companies on stage at PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong. Learn more about the demoing companies in our Sneak Peek series, and be sure to visit our FinovateAsia FAQ page for further information about the companies and the event. You can also email us your questions at asia@finovate.com. See you in Hong Kong on November 8th!

FinovateAsia 2016 is sponsored by: DBS Bank (Hong Kong), InvestHK/Hong Kong Fintech Week, and KPMG.

FinovateAsia 2016 is partners with: Aite Group, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, Banking Technology, BeFast.tv, Big Data Made Simple, Byte Academy, Celent, CoinTelegraph, CrowdFundBeat, Cyberport, FemTechLeaders, Finolab, Fintech Finance, Fintech News Singapore, The Fintech Times, Harrington Starr, Hong Kong Economic Times, The Hong Kong Foreign Financial Institutions Association, IDC Financial Insights, Korea FinTech Forum, Miss FQ, SME Finance Forum, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Verdict Financial.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Algomi, Avoka, Boku, Fiserv, Overbond, Thomson Reuters, Yoyo

On Finovate.com

  • Live Safe and Prosper: The Themes of FinovateAsia 2016

Around the web

  • Algomi partners with Euronext to develop corporate bond trading network.
  • Fiserv adds SAS endpoint protection from CrowdStrike to its cyber security suite.
  • Top U.K. mobile wallet Yoyo picked by Caffé Nero for its mobile payment and loyalty rewards program.
  • Avoka unveils new analytics module, Transact Insights, to support digital account opening.
  • New partnership with Swisscom enables Boku to provide carrier biting for users of Spotify.
  • Overbond integrates fixed-income market-data from Thomson Reuters.

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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US Bank’s Way-Too-Long Customer Survey

US Bank’s Way-Too-Long Customer Survey
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Metrics & Market Research, US Bank

usbank-survey

A few months ago I received an email (above) from US Bank where I’m a long, long-time customer. It was a simple request for my opinion on the bank’s products and services. I was slightly put off by the wordy intro, which concluded with a 31-word sentence telling me how important my opinion was. But that’s just the editor in me. As I was about to press the Begin Survey button, I noticed that I was about to enter a 25-minute questionnaire hell. That was all I needed to know, I left it undone and went on to other things.

Twenty-five minutes! That’s just too long for any normal customer. Ideally, keep online surveys to 5 minutes at most or you risk losing the attention and thoughtful answers of your respondents. If you really need a half-hour of your customers’ time, provide some type of thank-you gift, even if it’s just a chance to win $500. Otherwise it’s almost insulting to ask for that much time with no reciprocation.

Bottom line: While you are not going to lose customers with a lengthy survey, you probably won’t get valid results due to so many dropouts. But you most certainly will irritate a good portion of the recipients. Don’t do it.

 

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FinDEVr Flashbacks: Full Presentation Videos Now Live

FinDEVr Flashbacks: Full Presentation Videos Now Live
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: 1787fp, Alloy, FinDEVr 2016 Silicon Valley, IBM, Lleida.net, MX, OCR Labs, WiseBanyan

findevrvideosimg

It’s FinDEVr Silicon Valley like you’ve never seen it before—on video! If you missed out on last month’s conference and want to catch the latest in fintech developer trends, or if you just want to re-live the moments from the show, you’re in luck.

All of the presentation videos from the conference are available for free on FinDEVr.com. Not sure where to start? Take a peek at these award-winning companies:

Tuesday crowd favorite: MX

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/hw0d7cgo71

Wednesday crowd favorite: OCR Labs

 

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/9lvl2gcv90

Media favorite: 1787fp

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/mrgdjy1eii

 

Favorite alum: Lleida.net

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/7czixwworr

Favorite debut: WiseBanyan

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/azeph9q4ag

Favorite established company: IBM

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/neerlm3mo4

Favorite startup: Alloy

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/u0s9cmd4va

 

We’ll see you next year or at FinDEVr New York on March 21 & 22, 2017!

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Strategic Insight Buys BrightScope for Reported $35+ Million

Strategic Insight Buys BrightScope for Reported $35+ Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BrightScope, Mergers & Acquisitions

brightscope_homepage_november2016

Financial information and technology company BrightScope, one of our earliest alums, has been acquired by data and business intelligence provider, Strategic Insight. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. But RIABiz reports that the acquisition was financed by Genstar Capital and notes “outside sources peg the deal at $35 to $40 million.” Commenting on the news, Strategic Insight CEO Joel Mandelbaum said, “BrightScope is well known for its unique retirement data and its technology innovation. We are excited by the opportunity to add retirement data to our portfolio and accelerate our commitment to the asset-management industry.”

The acquisition comes in the wake of a pair of other recent pickups for Strategic Insight, Market Metrics and Matrix Solutions. Both deals were designed to add to the company’s access to investment data and to be able to get that data to its clients efficiently and quickly. Interestingly, BrightScope’s attempt to acquire Market Metrics earlier this year was thwarted by Strategic Insight’s parent company, Asset International, which picked up the company for $165 million.

In addition to its four divisions—SI Data, SI Research, SI Intelligence, and SI Interactive—Strategic Insight produces a set of investment/asset management-related publications including, PLANSPONSOR, PLANADVISER, Chief Investment Officer, Global Custodian, and The Trade. Strategic Insight was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Boston, San Francisco, Samford, Connecticut, as well as around the world, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. The firm has more than 250 U.S. FIs as clients including Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Nomura, TIAA-CREF, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

BrightScope co-founder Mike Alfred noted that the acquisition comes at a time of “tremendous change” in the financial services business, and said working with Strategic Insight “will give us the platform and products to meet the evolving needs of our customers.” This point was echoed by RIABiz, which noted in its reporting that changing investment styles and new regulations are forcing many asset-management-related firms to re-evaluate the way they do business. “We see all the changes coming, like the move to passive investing and the new DOL rules,” Alfred told RIABiz. “We knew we had to get bigger or not be in the business,” he said.

Founded in 2008 by brothers Mike and Ryan Alfred, and headquartered in San Diego, California, BrightScope demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2009. Prior to its acquisition by Strategic Insight, the company had raised $6 million in funding from investors including Steelpoint Capital Partners.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, CardFlight, Fiserv, iSignthis, Ixaris, Thomson Reuters

On Finovate.com

  • FinDEVr Flashbacks: Full Presentation Videos Now Live

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide teams up with Turkish Bank U.K. to connect to the U.K. Faster Payments system.
  • CardFlight partners with Security Card Services to provide SwipeSimple to SCS merchants.
  • Digital KYC service from iSignthis to automatically verify key controllers with Ixaris.
  • Thomson Reuters unveils cloud-based audit solution, Checkpoint Engage.
  • Jim Grech appointed as new Chief Information Officer at Fiserv.

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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