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SuiteBox Appoints Isaac Young as CTO

By David Penn Posted on July 18, 2016
Categories: SuiteBox

With more than 10 years experience in financial services technology, Isaac Young will be the new CTO for SuiteBox. Young comes to the New Zealand-based fintech startup after working with global banks like Commerzbank, Rabobank, and UBS. At SuiteBox, he will be responsible for directing the company’s integration initiatives with large channel partners.

“It is a key strategy of ours to bring on channel partners through which the SuiteBox offering can be deployed to large groups of financial advisers,” SuiteBox CEO Ian Dunbar said. “Isaac’s global technology management experience makes him ideally suited to leading these critical projects.” As a software architect for major financial services firms, Young helped design, develop, maintain core banking platforms, automated trading systems, and other critical systems. He was educated at Victoria University of Wellington, where he earned a bachelor of science in chemistry.

SuiteBox CEO Ian Dunbar demonstrated his company’s platform at FinovateEurope 2016 in London.

The SuiteBox platform gives financial professionals a secure, virtual workspace in which to engage their clients. The technology supports video conferences, document collaboration and screen sharing, meeting recording, e-signatures, and embedded web forms. Available as a standalone solution as well as an API, SuiteBox reduces reliance on emails and databases while increasing the quality of client engagement especially for financial professionals with a growing, and/or geographically diverse, client base.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, SuiteBox demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2016. In May, the company announced a partnership with Midwinter to give investment advisers new tools to make compliance easier, and in April, SuiteBox took home the Best Technology award at the Melbourne Showcase. That was the company’s second award-winning performance of the year, having won the Mobile category of the KPMG Fintech Innovation Challenge in January.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on July 18, 2016
Categories: Braintree, Chain.com, Concur, CSI globalVCard, Expensify, Guardian Analytics, Lending Club, Markit, Moneyhub, Ripple, Sberbank, Simple, SuiteBox, Walletron

On Finovate.com

SuiteBox Appoints Isaac Young as CTO

MoneyHub Teams Up with Unbiased to Help People Manage their Finances

Expensify Unveils ReceiptBurner and Price-to-Beat

Finovate Debuts: Walletron Helps Brands Build a Presence in Digital Wallets

Around the web

Concur to deploy SilverRail API to enable European travelers to search, plan, and schedule travel by rail.

CSI globalVCard moves global partnership-operations team to Dallas; Nan Dawson promoted to SVP of partnership operations.

Lending Club announces new Chief Capital Officer, Patrick Dunne.

CoinTelegraph names Braintree, Chain, and Ripple as three companies that will shape the future of money.

Markit Unveils Chartworks Suite

Sberbank Capitalizes On Pokémon Go Marketing Opportunity

Over the last year, 50 new customers added Guardian Analytics Wire to protect their customers from the Business Email Compromise scam.

Simple celebrates its 7th anniversary, now with 300,000 customers and a little over 300 staff.

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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Neustar Taps Former Walmart Executive Venkat Achanta as First Chief Data Officer

By David Penn Posted on July 15, 2016
Categories: Neustar

Cloud-based information services specialist Neustar hired former Walmart Chief Data Officer Venkat Achanta to be its Chief Data and Analytics Officer. Achanta will develop and manage Neustar’s identity and attribution platform

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Steven Wolfe Pereira called Achanta “a real thought leader” and pointed out that attracting top data-science talent is no easy feat. Pereira said that the position, newly created for Achanta, was a “great match” in part because of the way data science interacts with the entire company, from marketing and financial services to security and telecommunications.

Achanta comes to Neustar after working as Chief Data Officer for Walmart since 2014 where he was responsible for enterprise-wide data and analytics delivery and platforms. Before that, Achanta served as SVP, global head of analytics and big data at AIG; vice president of enterprise data services at Capital One; and VP, global product development and delivery for Experian. Achanta has a bachelor of science in computer science and systems engineering from Andhra University; and MBAs from the National University of Singapore and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In his role as chief data and analytics officer for Neustar, he will report to company CEO and president, Lisa Hook, who called Achanta “uniquely qualified to lead Neustar’s data science innovations.”

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, Neustar demonstrated its PlatformOne solution at FinovateSpring 2016. The company announced in June that it would split into two companies—one based on call-routing for telecoms and the other on information services. This month, Neustar reported that it was working with Experian to make data onboarding easier for marketers by combining its strength in real-time information services with Experian’s vast national consumer database.

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Yandex.Money Releases Apple Watch Payments App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 15, 2016
Categories: Yandex

In a move that expands payment methods for its users, digital payments company Yandex.Money launched an app for the Apple Watch this week. The app allows users to top up their mobile money accounts, make transfers, receive payment alerts via push notifications, and view their Yandex account balance.

The Yandex.Money mobile app, available to users in Russia, was released on iOS in 2011. It can be used to pay for thousands of goods and services, including those linked to a bank payment account. The company also offers apps for Android, Windows 10, and Windows phones.

Demand for mobile payments seems to be increasing; in fact, AC&M Consulting reports that more than 12 million users in Russia complete payments through mobile devices. However, as the Wall Street Journal depicts, the market is becoming increasingly diluted. On top of Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, banks and merchants have started offering their own payment solutions, such as MasterCard’s Masterpass which launched yesterday for in-store payments; the Wells Fargo Wallet, which launches Monday; Chase Pay, and more.

At FinovateSpring 2013 Yandex launched Twym, an application that allows Yandex.Money users to instantly transfer money in Rubles via Twitter. Money can be sent via a Tweet that includes @twymru, the recipient’s Twitter username, and the payment amount.

Yandex.Money powers the largest online payment service in Russia. In April, the company launched NFC payment capability for Android phones that conducts the transaction via a virtual MasterCard.

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Kabbage Revamps App to Enable Mobile Onboarding for Loan Applications

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 15, 2016
Categories: Kabbage

Alternative financing provider Kabbage unveiled a major mobile update this week. The Atlanta-based company revamped its iOS app to allow small businesses to apply for funding on their mobile devices.

Kabbage launched a native app in 2013 to help customers manage and track their financing. The company has since grown to serve 80,000 small businesses.

Underlying the mobile application process are tools such as driver’s license recognition, bank account verification, and TouchID authentication. After users become qualified, they can continue to manage, track and access funds from within the app.

Kabbage said it hopes the new release will “fundamentally transform the borrowing experience.” The company now drives $7 million per month in loan originations from mobile devices. The app will be available on Android later this summer.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Kabbage unveiled the Kabbage Card, a payment card that lets small business owners carry a financing tool in their wallet to pay for supplies needed to keep their business running. The company’s CTO Andy Badstubner presented at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 on how to integrate into the Kabbage platform.

Last month, the Kabbage partnered with Scotiabank which will co-brand small-business loans in Mexico and Canada. Scotiabank joins Santander and ING, both of whom already selected Kabbage to power their online business loans.

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CREALOGIX Wins Best Web Development at Systems in the City Awards 2016

By David Penn Posted on July 15, 2016
Categories: CREALOGIX

In 2015, CREALOGIX CEO Dr. Mike Bradford won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Systems in the City. Today we learn that the Swiss digital banking software innovator is back in the Systems in the City winner’s circle, having earned top honors for “Best Web Development”.

“The winning of the award means a huge amount to the entire CREALOGIX team,” said Ben Mann, head of web development for CREALOGIX. “It is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the company as a whole, as well as serving as a challenge for us in the year ahead, to continue to be at the forefront of quality web development in the fintech arena.”

Specifically, CREALOGIX won accolades for its implementation of its Digital Banking Hub with Tilney Bestinvest, a U.K. brokerage firm with 240 financial planners, 120 investment managers, and 20 billion pounds under management. With newly added features to improve the platform’s utility to brokerages, CREALOGIX’s Digital Banking Hub offers wealth managers the ability to readily integrate personalized advice into all systems.

Nominees for the Systems in the City Awards are made by members of London’s financial services sector, including stockbrokers, wealth managers, and investment bankers. An independent panel of “prominent City professionals” determines the final award. CREALOGIX’s Bradford said that the award helped highlight his company’s “technical excellence and position at the forefront of fintech in the U.K.”

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, CREALOGIX demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2016. The Systems in the City award news comes just a week after the announcement that CREALOGIX had partnered with fellow Finovate alum, Entersekt, to build a new authentication solution. The company began the year by forging a digital banking partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 15, 2016
Categories: Braintree, CREALOGIX, CSI globalVCard, FIS, Kabbage, Klarna, Luxoft, Micronotes, Neustar, NIIT Technologies, PayStand, Yandex

On Finovate.com

CREALOGIX Wins Best Web Development at Systems in the City Awards 2016

Yandex.Money Releases Apple Watch Payments App

Neustar Taps Former Walmart Executive Venkat Achanta as First Chief Data & Analytics Officer

Kabbage Revamps App to Enable Mobile On-Boarding for Loan Applications

Around the web

NIIT Technologies announced financial results for the quarter ended in June 30, 2016, with a revenue increase of 4.5% over the same period last year.

Micronotes Releases Retain To Predict and Prevent Customer Attrition

Luxoft partners with Deloitte to launch project overview dashboard.

FIS teams up with Payment Alliance International (PAI) to take FIS Cardless Cash nationwide.

Inc’s look at global payment options features Braintree, PayStand, and CSIglobalVCard.

Klarna adds online fashion startup Lyst to its client roster.

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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Ready Your Innovations, FinovateAsia 2016 Now Accepting Applications!

By Erika Sanchez Posted on July 14, 2016
Categories: Finovate Marketing, FinovateAsia 2016

We may be in the heart of summer, but for the Finovate team, the fall season is already on our mind.

The application window for companies looking to demo their latest fintech innovations at FinovateAsia 2016 in Hong Kong this November is now open! And that’s a big deal for fintech players of all shapes and sizes looking to launch or make serious inroads in Asia. Finovate is a powerful platform to:

Drive product adoption of the latest and most cutting-edge in fintech.
Showcase new technology in front of an influential audience of high-level financial and banking executives; press and industry analysts; venture capitalists; regulators; and entrepreneurs.
Garner press recognition, find customers, network with peers, raise funding, and discover partners.

If this describes you and your technology, then FinovateAsia is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

FinovateAsia debuts in Hong Kong at PMQ for a day of fintech innovation and high-quality networking. The conference will be held on November 8. Our signature seven-minute live demos spotlight innovations in fields ranging from biometrics and the blockchain to mobile payments and investment management.

If making an impact in Asia fits with your strategic plan, please email us at asia@finovate.com for more information about applying to present your technology at FinovateAsia this fall. And if you’re looking to be a part of the live audience, register today and take advantage of special launch-week tickets available only through the end of this week.

We hope to see you join us in Hong Kong!

FinovateAsia 2016 is sponsored by: InvestHK/startmeup.hk and more to be announced.

FinovateAsia 2016 is partners with: FemTechLeaders, Harrington Starr, Korea FinTech Forum, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and more to be announced.

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Fintech Fundings: 38 Companies Raise $220 Million the Second Week of June

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 14, 2016
Categories: Funding

For the second week in a row, the number of deals reported, 38, was just one below the weekly record. In all, fintech companies worldwide raised $222 million the second week of June. Nine deals were for undisclosed sums and $500,000 was reported as debt, although two were convertible notes. There was an odd cluster of fundings around the $2 million mark with 10 of the 29 deals (with known amounts) landing between $1.8 and $2.5 million.

Five Finovate alums combined to raise nearly $100 million, 42% of the week’s total:

Tradeshift received a $75 million Series D giving the trade platform a $500 million valuation
CrowdFlower tapped Microsoft to lead a $10 million round to further its big data analytics
Bento for Business landed $7 million for its digital business banking platform
Buzz Points grabbed $1.8 million for its credit- and debit-card loyalty program
Alpha Payments Cloud joined Wells Fargo’s latest accelerator class, receiving an equity infusion of $50,000 to $500,000

The total number of deals YTD stands at 627, nearly double last year’s 321. Total dollars raised YTD is now $16.4 billion, more than twice the $7.5 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 4 June to 10 June 2016:

Tradeshift
Trading platform
Latest round: $75 million Series D
Total raised: $174 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, enterprise, trade finance, invoicing, billing, expense management, accounting, payables, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

zipMoney Payments
Alt-lender and payments
Latest round: $20.6 million Post-IPO Equity
Total raised: $121.6 million Post-IPO, including $100 million Debt
HQ: Perth, Australia
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, payments, point-of-sale financing, POS
Source: Crunchbase

Jiff
Enerprise health benefits platform
Latest round: $17.7 million Series C
Total raised: $65.7 million
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Healthcare, insurance, employee benefits, HR
Source: FT Partners

nCino
Bank operating system
Latest round: $15.67 million
Total raised: $64.67 million
HQ: Wilmington, North Carolina
Tags: Institutions, CRM, loan origination, workflow, content management, analytics, BI
Source: Crunchbase

NexusCrowd
Real estate crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $15.5 million
Total raised: $15.5 million
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumer, SMB, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Ascend Consumer Finance
Alt-lender
Latest round: $11 million Series A
Total raised: $12.5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

CrowdFlower
Data analytics platform
Latest round: $10 million Series D
Total raised: $38 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Insitutions, advisers, big data, machine learning, analytics, BI, Finovate alums
Source: Finovate

trueEX
Executation platform for interest rate swaps (IRS)
Latest round: $9.21 million
Total raised: $33.7 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Institutions, trading, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Notarize
Electronic notary service
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $10.4 million
HQ: Boston, Massachusetts
Tags: SMB, lending, legal, compliance
Source: Crunchbase

Bento for Business
Digital business banking platform
Latest round: $7 million Series A
Total raised: $9.5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, small business, online banking, payments, debit cards, prepaid, expense control, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

InvoiceFinance
Invoice financing
Latest round: $3.9 million Seed
Total raised: $3.9 million
HQ: ‘s-hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Tags: SMB, lending, alt-lender, commerical loans, trade finance, billing, invoicing, cash flow, working capital
Source: Crunchbase

FlexReceipts
Digital receipts
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: California
Tags: SMB, B2B2C, payments, personal financial management (PFM), spending, marketing
Source: Crunchbase

PaymentWorks
B2B payments platform
Latest round: $2.5 million Convertible Note
Total raised: $4.03 million
HQ: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tags: SMB, payments, invoicing, billing, bill payment
Source: Crunchbase

Satago
Invoice financing
Latest round: $2.3 million
Total raised: $3.4 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, lending, alt-lender, commerical loans, trade finance, billing, invoicing, cash flow
Source: Crunchbase

Muume
Mobile point-of-sale platform
Latest round: $2.3 million Series A
Total raised: $2.3 million
HQ: Cham, Switzerland
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, mPOS, merchants, acquiring, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Bunker Protect
Insurance marketplace for contract labor
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, insurance, contract-related, 1099 workers
Investors: Hiscox, Route 66, American Family, Comcast
Source: Crunchbase

CreditVidya
Alt-credit score
Latest round: $2 million Series A
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Institutions, lenders, credit reports, underwriting, credit
Source: Crunchbase

ePaylater
Consumer point-of-sale financing
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, lending, alt-lending, underwriting, credit
Source: Crunchbase

FollowIt
Real estate listings
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Woolloomooloo, Australia
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, home buying, discovery, lead generation
Source: Crunchbase

KrazyBee (Finovation Tech Solutions)
Alt-lender
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, underwriting, point-of-sale financing
Source: Crunchbase

Buzz Points (owned by Fisoc)
Debit and credit card rewards
Latest round: $1.86 million
Total raised: $1.86 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: B2B2C, institutions, payments, marketing, loyalty, marketing, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

AppFront
Mobile point-of-sale apps
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: B2B2C, SMB, payments, mobile, mPOS, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

GrowthDeck
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $1.45 million
Total raised: $1.45 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, equity, stock, peer-to-peer, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

NettCash (owned by Mozido)
Mobile wallet & payments
Latest round: $1.3 million
Total raised: $1.3 million
HQ: Harare, Zimbabwe
Tags: Consumer, payments, mobile, merchants, acquiring, mPOS
Source: Crunchbase

Insly
Insurance management software
Latest round: $1.13 million Seed
Total raised: $1.16 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, insurance agents, brokers, process management
Source: Crunchbase

Risk Focus
Risk management for capital markets
Latest round: $500,0000 Debt
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Institutions, compliance, risk mananagement, trading, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Besepa
Direct debit platform
Latest round: $340,000 Seed
Total raised: $630,000
HQ: Madrid, Spain
Tags: Consumer, SMB, funds transfer, payments, debit, billpay
Source: Crunchbase

Payfully
Receivables financing for AirBnB hosts
Latest round: $300,000 Convertible Note
Total raised: $300,000
HQ: Brooklyn, New York
Tags: Consumer, SMB, lending, alt-lending, invoice financing
Source: Crunchbase

PocketSuite
Payment and management tools for small businesses
Latest round: $120,000 Seed
Total raised: $395,000
HQ: San Francisco, California
Accelerator: Y Combinator
Tags: SMB, payments, billing, invoicing, accounting bookkeeping
Source: Crunchbase

Alpha Payments Cloud
Payments platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $12+ million
HQ: Singapore
Accelerator: Wells Fargo
Tags: Institutions, SMB, payments, hub, merchants, credit/debit cards, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

BLender
P2P lending platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Capsilon
Document and data management for mortgage companies
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $21.4+ million
HQ: California
Tags: Institution, mortgage banking, brokers, process management
Source: FT Partners

Chamasoft
Bookkeeping tool for investment groups
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Nairobi, Kenya
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Kwanji
FX comparison site
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: $1.93 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, foreign exchange, shopping, lead generation, price comparison, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

mergims
Mobile prepaid account
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $160,000
HQ: Kigali, Rwanda
Tags: Consumer, payments, underbanked, prepaid, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Tokhelp
Fundraising software for charitable institutions
Latest round: Undisclosed Series C
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Goiania, Brazil
Tags: Nonprofits, payments, merchants, acquiring, mobile
Source: FT Partners

VugaPay
Mobile payments
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $25,000+
HQ: Kigali, Rwanda
Tags: Consumer, payments, mobile, prepaid
Source: Crunchbase

Zuora
Billing solutions
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $242.5 million
HQ: Foster City, California
Tags: SMB, billing, invoicing, payments, accounts-receivables management, bookkeeping
Source: Crunchbase

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Betterment Surpasses $5 Billion AUM, Hires Amy Shapero as CFO

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 14, 2016
Categories: Betterment

Founded in 2008, Betterment was one of the first online wealth-management services to launch, entering into the industry well before the first fintech nerd uttered the word robo-adviser. In January of 2015, the New York-based company’s assets under management (AUM) totaled $1 billion. Today, a year-and-a-half later, it has burgeoned to more than $5 billion. As Fast Company reported, “That milestone is modest by the standards of wealth-management giants like Fidelity, but a first for an independent robo-adviser like Betterment.” By comparison, Fidelity claimed $2,036 billion AUM at the end of 2015.

To help manage the new growth, the company has brought on Amy Shapero (pictured) as CFO. Shapero brings experience as CFO for CRM company Sailthru and also worked at information-services company Digital Globe and fintech company Spot Trading.

Even though Betterment has no minimum balance requirements, the average account tops $29,000, and the largest amount invested by a single individual is $10 million. According to an article on WealthManagement.com, Betterment CEO Jon Stein anticipates the company will eventually go public but first wants to add new revenue streams by launching more products, such as the turnkey 401(k) service, Betterment for Business, it launched in January.

At FinovateFall 2011, Betterment CEO Jon Stein launched the company’s Multiple Goals feature. Betterment has raised $205 million from 14 investors. After the company’s $100 million Series E round earlier this year, its valuation rose to $700 million.

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Mudra Bank Chooses i-exceed’s Appzillon for Mobile Banking App

By David Penn Posted on July 14, 2016
Categories: i-exceed

i-exceed technologies has paid off with a mobile app, Mudra Mitra, that provides both banking services and information. Using Appzillon, the app was able to go live “in record time” on both mobile phone and tablet interfaces and is now available for download at both the Apple iTunes and Google Play stores.

Pointing to the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in obtaining financial assistance, i-exceed Managing Director Joseph John praised Mudra Bank for being the “financial support provider for the bottom-of-the-pyramid customers” and “filling the void” between would-be business owners and the financing they need to get started. “i-exceed looks [forward to] a long-term association with Mudra Bank in their journey of fostering entrepreneurship,” John said.

Mudra CEO Jiji Mammen highlighted the app’s user-friendliness and said more features would be added over time with the goal of creating “an end-to-end solution for the borrowers to access micro finance in a hassle-free manner.” Mudra, which stands for Micro Unites Development & Refinance Agency, was created by the Indian government to help support the country’s micro-enterprise industries with micro and small business loans.

Headquartered in Bangalore, India, i-exceed demonstrated its Appzillion app-development platform at FinovateAsia 2013, and participated in FinDEVr New York earlier this year. The company, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in May, announced a partnership with Mindtree in February, the same month it earned a spot in Gartner’s 2016 look at MADP vendors around the world.

Looking to make a splash in Asia with your latest fintech innovation? Join us this fall as FinovateAsia moves to Hong Kong for a one-day conference on November 8. Email us at asia@finovate.com for information on presenting. Want to be a part of our audience of fintech professionals? Visit our FinovateAsia registration page and save your spot today.

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Finovate Debuts: Student Loan Genius Gives Employers Tools to Help Millennial Workers Tackle Debt

By David Penn Posted on July 14, 2016
Categories: Finovate Debuts, Student Loan Genius

A generation ago, employers were enlisted in the movement to help employees save for their retirement. Today, Student Loan Genius is inviting employers to do the same thing when it comes to millennial workers and student loan debt. The Austin, Texas-based startup has built a platform that allows employers to match their employee’s student debt payments, as well as help them manage the balance between paying off debt and saving for retirement.

“We are working with great organizations like Teach for America, Twilio, BP3 in Austin to help shave off tens of thousands of their student loans,” Student Loan Genius founder and CEO Tony Aguilar said. Aguilar, who was the first person in his family to go to college, is also the first person in his family to be saddled with potentially crushing student loan debt. He even carries the amount—$100,000—etched on a business card.

Left to right: Co-founders Emiliano Villarreal and Tony Aguilar demonstrated Student Loan Genius’s Genius Match 401k Contribution feature at FinovateSpring 2016 in San Jose.

The Student Loan Genius solution is straightforward. Clients create an account on its website and answer a set of questions to provide basic information to see what possible repayment programs may be available (i.e., veterans discounts, better terms based on higher credit score, etc.). The platform pulls data from outstanding student loans from various loan servicers and uses algorithms to determine the optimal repayment plan. The plan also projects forward so the student can see the difference in savings between repayment alternatives.

At FinovateSpring, Student Loan Genius unveiled its Genius Save feature. This feature helps clients manage the challenge of trying to repay debt and save at the same time. Genius Save, as Aguilar explained it, allows companies to attach a student loan benefit to their 401(k) contribution. This enables young workers in particular to focus on paying back debt as quickly as possible, while not losing out on the benefits of saving for retirement as they begin earning an income. “With the flip of a switch,” Aguilar said of his hypothetical millennial employee during his FinovateSpring presentation earlier this year, “she’ll have an additional $170,000 at retirement just by doing what she does every single month: pay her student loans.” Student Loan Genius estimates an average annual savings of more than $3,000 with its platform.

Student Loan Genius is in the process of rolling out pilot projects with financial services companies like Prudential. Just this week Student Loan Genius announced a new partnership with TrendKite, a PR analytics firm that will offer the Student Loan Genius benefit to all of its employees and their immediate family members. “For us, taking care of our team means reaching outside of our office walls and doing whatever we can to make [our employees’] lives better,” VP of People at TrendKite Jennifer Cantu said. “When we saw the data, we knew student loan benefits were a requirement, not an option.”

Company facts:

Founded in 2013
Headquartered in Austin, Texas
Employs 14
Investors include Gibraltar Ventures, Kapor Capital, Capital Factory, and Village Capital
Provides benefits to 45 organizations in the United States

We spoke by phone with Student Loan Genius Director of Marketing and PR Jovan Hackley during FinovateSpring 2016 and followed up with a few questions by email.

Finovate: What problem does Student Loan Genius solve?

Jovan Hackley: Our Genius Platform helps companies and employees significantly reduce the nation’s nearly $1.3 trillion in student loan debt that the Congressional Budget Office projects will double to $2.4 trillion by 2024.

Finovate: Who are your primary customers?

Hackley: Our primary customers are companies and our users are their employees with student loan debt.

Finovate: How does the Student Loan Genius platform tackle the problem of student loan debt?

Hackley: The Student Loan Genius Platform is the only holistic solution for helping employees pursue freedom from student loan debt. The platform includes:

Genius Advisor [enables] online tool access and one-on-one advising to help employees find the best repayment plan and scenario for their goals.

Genius Pay lets employees make student loan payments directly from payroll

Genius Match allows employers to make a direct contribution toward paying down an employee’s student debt.

Genius Save helps employees increase their funds/401k by using their student loan payment as a trigger.

Overall, the benefit helps employers attract and retain top talent and helps employees pay down student loans.

Finovate: Do you have a favorite feature of the platform?

Hackley: My favorite part of our technology is Genius Save, which not only helps build wealth, but also shows employees the long-term impact of reducing their student debt.

Finovate: What in your background gave you the confidence to take on this challenge?

Hackley: Our CEO is a former financial planner who helped millennials achieve financial wellness. The spreadsheets, insights, and presentation he developed were the foundation for helping the thousands of users we work with today.

Finovate: What are some upcoming initiatives from Student Loan Genius that we can look forward to over the next few months?

Hackley: Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing how some of the largest companies and partners are leveraging student loan benefits to create financial wellness. This is in addition to a few new platform/benefit enhancements.

Finovate: Where do you see Student Loan Genius a year or two from now?

Hackley: Our aim is to be the student-loan benefit-provider for companies across the nation and a key player in creating the legislative progress that ends the personal financial crisis of student [debt] that faces millions of Americans.

Check out the demo video from Student Loan Genius

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