Ping Identity Unveils Security, Usability Upgrades to IDaaS Platform

Ping Identity Unveils Security, Usability Upgrades to IDaaS Platform

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Ping Identity launched a series of enhancements to its Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) technology to improve security and ease-of-use for end users. Ping Identity founder and CEO Andre Durand said the upgrades would “(ensure) that enterprises can create trusted mobile experiences with very little friction, while also supporting IT’s need to move quickly without compromising quality.”

On the security side, key upgrades to the platform include secure, privileged access and support for Windows Remote Desktop, including multifactor-authentication support. To improve usability, Ping Identity has built a consistent UX across mobile devices and improved the UI both for PingOne and the PingOne cloud. FIs and other organizations will benefit from opportunities to co-brand or white-label Ping’s mobile multifactor authentication as well.

“Mobility, combined with unrelenting phishing attacks, have caused multifactor authentication to evolve from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have,'” Durand said. “But it can’t come at the cost of the seamless experience people have come to expect.”

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Ping Identity demonstrated its PingFederate, Cloud Identity Connectors, and integrations with third-party solutions at FinovateEurope 2012. This February, Ping Identity announced a series of new features to its Ping Federate solution, including elastic scalability, which enables IT to dynamically change the size of AWS and OpenStack environments, and contextual multifactor authentication, that gives IT the ability to change system access requirements under various circumstances.

Ping Identity was acquired by private equity firm, Vista Equity Partners, in June for an undisclosed sum. The company had raised more than $128 million in funding prior to being purchased.

eMoney Advisor’s emX Pro Fuels Wealth Planning Solution for Waddell & Reed Advisors

eMoney Advisor’s emX Pro Fuels Wealth Planning Solution for Waddell & Reed Advisors

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eMoney Advisor, acquired by Fidelity Investments in 2015 for $250 million, is offering advisers the tools they need to compete against the robo-advisers that seem to be taking over wealth management. This week, financial planning firm Waddell & Reed has partnered with eMoney to leverage its emX Pro platform.

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Waddell & Reed will deliver emX Pro, along with solutions from Envestnet and Docupace, to its network of 1,800 financial professionals to enhance planning, proposal, and processing for advisers and their clients. Ed O’Brien, CEO of eMoney Advisor, said that emX Pro will help Waddell & Reed advisers to “build deeper, more collaborative client relationships, expertly plan investment portfolios and deliver sound financial advice while helping make sense of their business’s big-picture, including a view of assets held away.” O’Brien adds that using emX Pro gives the advisers “a distinct competitive advantage.”

Founded in 2000, eMoney debuted emX at FinovateFall 2014. emX delivers a suite of interactive wealth management tools to help advisers identify business opportunities and deliver an experience to serve a client’s financial planning needs, from basic to advanced.

eMoney is based in Radnor, PA and serves 37,000 financial professionals. The company, whose top clients include TD Ameritrade, RBC Wealth Management, MetLife, Mass Mutual, New York Life, and Allstate, has 360+ employees and $1.7 trillion in assets under management. In March, eMoney Advisor brought on Ed O’Brien as CEO, taking the seat of the company’s founder, Edmond Walters.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Ping Identity Unveils Security, Usability Upgrades to IDaaS Platform.
  • defi SOLUTIONS to Launch Full-Service Analytics and Reporting Platform by Year’s End
  • Coinbase Lands $10.5 Million in Strategic Investment from Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ

Around the web

  • Misys honored by Celent Model Bank Awards for its work with Russia’s Alfa-Bank.
  • Holvi launches new debit card, Holvi Business MasterCard.
  • Risk Ident CEO Roberto Valerio writes about fighting account-takeover fraud.
  • Ixaris helps Amadeus build prepaid B2B wallet.
  • WattzOn unveils three new web and mobile tools for monitoring and managing utility bills.
  • The Street: Lending Club ‘Platform Investors’ Are Slowly Returning Despite Recent Hiccups
  • Buzz Points joins Jack Henry’s Symitar Vendor Integration Program.
  • iSignthis integrates with XM.COM to deliver due diligence Digital KYC service.
  • ProfitStars Ranked Among Top-50 Providers in MSPmentor 501 Global Edition.

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.

I’ve Got 99 Fintech Problems and a List Ain’t One

I’ve Got 99 Fintech Problems and a List Ain’t One

With apologies to Jay-Z (and a hat tip to The Middle Ground which, unbeknownst to me, came up with a better twist on his lyrics), we point you to the latest reference for those looking to solve real financial services problems.

The fintech wizards at Singapore’s MAS recently published a list of 100 problems in financial services. The problem 100 fintech problems tocstatements, and suggested enabling technologies, were crowdsourced from around the world. The list is as an aid for participants in its 2016 hackcelerator (which has a 31 July deadline for submissions for the S$20,000 prize), but it’s also a good reference for anyone in the fintech startup space.

While I’ve seen bigger lists (in 2014, we published a report with more than 1,000), the MAS version covers more diverse topics than most, addressing regulatory bottlenecks, trade finance opportunities, financial inclusion, along with the usual payments and consumer banking issues. Check out the table of contents (inset) and the full PDF here.

Ripple Adds Multi-Sign Functionality to its Consensus Ledger Technology

Ripple Adds Multi-Sign Functionality to its Consensus Ledger Technology

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Is the new multi-sign feature on the Ripple Consensus Ledger (RCL) the answer to preventing security breaches like the cyber-heist that cost the Bangladesh Bank more than $100 million?

That’s how Ripple sees it. Pointing to the problem of “outdated single-signature methods” of legacy payment networks, Ripple has introduced new multi-sign functionality for its RCL. Combined with the inherent transparency of the consensus ledger, the additional layer of control gives financial institutions another tool to combat fraud and unauthorized transactions. Pointedly, Ripple notes, this tool is not available via SWIFT, which is a major problem for FIs and a potential source of opportunity for companies like Ripple.

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CEO Chris Larsen demonstrated the Ripple network at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

“The new features found in distributed fintech solutions, such as multi-signing, are not available in traditional systems like Swift,” Ripple asserts. “Blockchain technology delivers a more robust and distributed security architecture for banks.” The multi-sign functionality on RCL will enable account holders to require more than one stakeholder to sign off on transactions. These signatures can be required from other users, other institutions, and/or other devices, making it that much more difficult for someone to make an unauthorized or fraudulent transaction.

And because Ripple’s multi-sign is “enforced by the RCL” rather than the FI itself, there is a greater chance of detecting fraud—particularly internal fraud—than with those traditional methods even if they rely on some measure of multi-signing. Ripple adds that multi-sign functionality won’t end with the RCL; the company also plans to make the technology an added feature of its Interledger Protocol (ILP).

Founded as OpenCoin in 2012, and rebranding as Ripple in 2015, the company’s founder and CEO Chris Larsen introduced the Ripple network at FinovateSpring 2013. Ripple announced that it added seven banks to its list of FIs testing cross-border payments using its technology in June, the same month the company received a BitLicense to trade virtual currencies in New York.

 

StockTwits Has a Big Week: New Funding, New CEO

StockTwits Has a Big Week: New Funding, New CEO

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StockTwits, a social network for stock market investing, returned from the U.S. Fourth of July holiday with a double bang. The San Diego-based company today announced it not only closed on new funding, but also appointed a new CEO.

The $2 million funding round was led by Social Leverage and brings the company’s total to $13 million. StockTwits will use the funds to boost engagement by adding premium features and content such as video to help engage users. IanRosenThe company counts 1.5 million active users each month, 60% of whom are under the age of 44.

Driving this change is Ian Rosen (pictured right), who has been appointed CEO of StockTwits effective July 6. Rosen has served as an adviser to the company since 2013 and is taking the seat of Howard Lindzon who founded StockTwits in 2008. Lindzon has filled the role of executive chairman. Rosen most recently served as CEO of Even Financial, a supply-side platform for online lending. Prior to that he was general manager of MarketWatch, a financial media business.

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At FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, Lindzon showed off the company’s API that provides financial institutions real-time data on stock market sentiment. The company plans to further leverage and grow how it uses this data. Speaking to TechCrunch, Lindzon said, “Data business is doubling this year and we are focused on widening the top of the brand funnel with some new ideas.”

In addition to its FinDEVr presentation, StockTwits has also presented at FinovateEurope 2011 where it debuted its blog network and StockTwits Connect. The company is the inventor of the CashTag, a method of linking a company stock to a feed using a dollar sign, for example $AAPL.

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FinDEVrSV16-LogoV2(wdate)Our FinDEVr New York developer showcase was a success! FinDEVr Silicon Valley will be held October 18 & 19 in Santa Clara. Register today and save.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Quovo Teams Up with Totum Wealth to Improve Client Account Aggregation for Wealth Managers

The latest from FinDEVr New York 2016 presenters

  • Markit chooses corporate events data from Wall Street Horizon for its research, analysis, and news interface, Markit Hub.

Alumni updates

  • PYMNTS talks to Token CEO Steve Kirsh about how Token helps banks comply with the EU’s PSD2.
  • Forbes looks at how Intuit QuickBooks is hiring app developers to help it improve the user experience.
  • Temenos to Power Wealth Management Solution for Standard Chartered.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

NICE Unveils New Recording Technology for Skype for Business

NICE Unveils New Recording Technology for Skype for Business

NICE_homepage_July2016

Now your Skype for Business conversations can be recorded for quality assurance purposes, too.

NICE unveiled the new edition of its recording technology for Microsoft’s Skype for Business communications platform. Designed to help financial institutions meet increasingly challenging regulatory and compliance standards, NICE Skype for Business supports dynamic, selective recording that is customizable to specific compliance policies. In addition, the technology features advanced search and monitoring, automated capture and retention, and instant retrieval.

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Left to right: Jade Kahn, marketing strategy manager; Elad Hoffman, director of sales, EMEA; and Audelia Boker, director of demand generation, EMEA, demoed NICE’s real-time authentication at FinovateEurope 2015.

Calling the new recording functionality a “natural extension” of the company’s commitment to helping financial markets meet compliance needs, NICE Executive Vice President Chris Wooten said, “More broadly, we expect Skype for Business to disrupt the enterprise-based unified-communications market across the board in coming years.” The new solution builds upon NICE’s six-year relationship with Skype for Business predecessor Microsoft Lync.

With more than 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries using its technology, NICE counts more than 80 of the Fortune 100 among its customers. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Raanana, Israel, NICE has made recent headlines as an enabler of smaller tech companies. NICE participated in the $3 million, Liberty Global Ventures-led investment in fellow Finovate alum, CallVU, in June, and acquired customer experience specialist, inContact, for $940 million in May. Also in May 2016, NICE announced that its automation technology was deployed to fight credit card fraud at Italian bank, Banca Popolare di Sondrio.

Jumio to Power KYC & AML Services for Krypto Commerce

Jumio to Power KYC & AML Services for Krypto Commerce

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Mobile authentication company Jumio announced this week it will provide anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) services for Krypto Commerce.

The Spanish crypto-currency company will use Jumio’s NetVerify to validate applicant identities for its new PoolMiner’s card, an online-only prepaid debit card for crypto-currencies. Rubén Arcas, project director at Krypto Commerce said that while “compliance and security are critical to our proposition,” he doesn’t want to compromise by offering “a clunky verification system that doesn’t provide a good user experience.” Arcas goes on to say that Jumio, which accepts IDs from 200+ global territories, is perfect for Krypto Commerce’s needs.

The new card is available to users in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, South America, Russia, and will soon be open to U.S. users. New applicants scan their passports and answer a few questions to confirm identity.

Palo Alto-based Jumio demoed NetVerify at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. Presenters David Pope and John McIntosh showed how scanning a government-issued ID facilitates the onboarding process. The company announced last month that NetVerify is powering identity verification for Switzerland-based bob Finance, which enables clients to check their credit score for free.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Jumio to Power KYC & AML Services for Krypto Commerce
  • NICE Unveils New Recording Technology for Skype for Business
  • Ripple Adds Multi-Sign Functionality to Consensus Ledger Technology

Around the web

  • New York Times DealBook looks at new payday options such as PayActiv.
  • ACI Worldwide taps Marco Bravo as VP for Latin America.
  • PYMNTS talks to Token CEO Steve Kirsh about how Token helps banks comply with the EU’s PSD2.
  • Clari5 Enterprise Fraud Management from CustomerXPs named Best Fraud Detection Product Award at Operational Risk Awards held by Operational Risk magazine and Risk.net.
  • David Foss officially appointed new CEO at Jack Henry.
  • ThreatMetrix sees 52% YOY revenue growth, now serves 17 top global FIs.

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.

MaxMyInterest Celebrates Third Anniversary with Support for TD Bank

MaxMyInterest Celebrates Third Anniversary with Support for TD Bank

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Max, the intelligent cash-management solution for high-net-worth individuals, announced its third anniversary last week with news that the platform now supports TD Bank accounts. This brings the total number of checking and brokerage accounts supported by Max to ten, with more on the way.

In an email, the company reflected on 2015, highlighting some of the year’s biggest highlights: Max built its Common Application, which makes managing multiple accounts easier, and its Advisor Dashboard gives advisers the ability to better work with clients on the platform. 2015 was also the year that Max added support for accounts from FIs including Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, and US Bank. “We see an exciting year ahead and look forward to helping our members continue to more effectively manage their cash,” the email read.

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(Left to right): CEO Gary Zimmerman (founder) and Richard Wu, director of engineering, demonstrated MaxMyInterest at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

MaxMyInterest helps to mass affluent and high net worth investors and to make the most of their cash in this low-interest rate environment. The technology dynamically allocates the client-cash to make sure  it is earning the highest possible interest rate as well as ensuring that cash levels per account remain below FDIC limits. The platform also provides investors with other cash-management tools such as a monthly cash sweep and an intelligent funds transfer solution that makes it easier for investors to allocate funds between different accounts. The company says that those using its platform typically earn 0.7 to 0.9% more than they currently earn at traditional banks. Read our Finovate Debuts feature on MaxMyInterest for more.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York City, MaxMyInterest demonstrated its intelligent cash-management solution at FinovateFall 2014. The company launched its client-invitation feature in May, making it easier for advisers to onboard clients, and last fall, MaxMyInterest was honored by UBS, earning a finalist spot in its Future of Finance Challenge.

 

Twilio to Help Amazon Web Services Deliver SMS Messages

Twilio to Help Amazon Web Services Deliver SMS Messages

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Twilio announced this week that it was partnering with Amazon Web Services to help deliver SMS messages via Amazon’s Simple Notification Service (SNS). And while details remain scant, Twilio told TechCrunch that Amazon’s SNS will “leverage the benefits of Twilio’s Super Network.”

“Amazon Web Services truly embodies the spirit of iteration upon which Twilio was built,” Twilio CEO and co-founder Jeff Lawson said. “With this latest collaboration, we’re strengthening the communications ecosystem with scalable, efficient tools that ensure the best option for delivering a message is available.” AWS VP for Mobile and IoT Marco Argenti pointed to the importance of “efficient, scalable technology solutions” that help developers build great apps instead of simply “managing infrastructure.” He added that the two companies would “continue to work together to help empower developers to communicate with their users seamlessly across devices.”

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Marc Boroditsky, VP and GM of authentication at Twilio, demonstrated Authy OneTouch authentication at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

This week’s announcement represents a continuation of Twilio’s relationship with Amazon and Amazon Web Services. Twilio has long used AWS to host its platform, and Amazon was one of the investors in Twilio’s $130 million Series E round last summer. Moreover, the news comes just days after Twilio’s successful initial public offering which saw its stock climb by more than 90% on its first day of trading last Thursday. Twilio trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TWLO and closed at $28.79 on its opening day after being initially priced at $15 per share. Twilio’s market capitalization is $2.8 billion.

A specialist in cloud communications, Twilio’s technology enables developers to add voice, messaging, and video functionality to their mobile apps and web sites. Twilio demonstrated Authy One Touch at FinovateFall 2015, and presented its technology at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco later that year. The cloud communications company was founded in 2008, is headquartered in San Francisco, and has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Germany, Estonia, and Columbia. Last month, Twilio was named to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list for 2016 for its third consecutive year. Read more about the company’s Authy division in our Finovate Debuts feature from earlier this year.