Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram

Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Actiance

Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 9.41.52 AM

Now that Instagram has launched separate profiles for businesses, social network-compliance company Actiance has stepped in to help banks engage in their own Instagram accounts in a compliant way.

The California-based company expanded Actiance Socialite to help banks and other companies monitor account activity, archive posts, and generate analytics from the post-image engagement and comments. Because business activity on Instagram is classified as advertisements, and comments are considered business records, a company’s Instagram posts are subject to regulatory scrutiny. Socialite helps banks retain data and instantly search and retrieve posts and images if necessary.

Joanna Belbey, social media and compliance specialist at Actiance, said, “Forward-thinking companies are increasingly using Instagram and other social channels to connect with digital audiences … . Actiance Socialite makes it easy for companies to support new channels, such as Instagram, as they enter the enterprise and make the most of their communications data for both regulatory and business purposes.”

Actiance helps banks and financial institutions manage, secure, and ensure compliance across applications and social media platforms. The company last presented at FinovateFall 2012 where it debuted Socialite. Actiance has raised almost $44 million from 7 investors since launching in 1998. Earlier this year the company brought on Naresh Bansal as its new CFO.

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Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisors

Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisors
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Sezzle

Sezzle_homepage_July2016

A pair of former PayPal vets are joining Team Sezzle.

Sezzle_ScottGuilfoyle

Scott Guilfoyle and Annick Fuchs will serve as advisers for the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based payments innovator. Guilfoyle, who was SVP and CTO of PayPal from 2008 to 2012, will join Sezzle as an adviser. Fuchs, former head of legal at PayPal, will be Sezzle’s new legal adviser.

In addition to his work with PayPal, Guilfoyle (right) was CIO of LendingTree, CIO of General Electric, and CIO of Consumer Products at Bank of America. Sezzle plans to leverage Guilfoyle’s diverse background to take on “the giants of payment processing,” said Sezzle CBDO Paul Paradis. Fuchs (below), who launched her law firm fuchsLAW this spring, pointed to her background in fintech in general and payments in specific as one reason why Sezzle was a good fit. “The plans and stage of the company match perfectly with what we specialize in at fuchsLAW.”

Sezzle_AnnickFuchs
       

Founded in 2016, Sezzle demonstrated its Sezzle Pay solution at FinovateSpring 2016. The company uses bank sign-on and ACH rails to provide lower-cost, immediate payments for retailers. And in charging 1.5% plus 15 cents, Sezzle is half the cost of credit and debit card processing. Sezzle Pay also enables rewards through debit card purchases, providing a 1% reward for consumers that pay via the platform.

Sezzle earned a semifinalist spot in the 2016 Minnesota Cup, the biggest, statewide, new-venture competition in the country. Currently in fundraising mode, Sezzle picked up an investment from Brussels-based E-Merge in June, the same month the company made major additions to its technology team.

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Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO

Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Zopa

Zopa_homepage_July2016

With more than 20 years’ experience in software and management, most recently as CTO for online gaming firm PokerStars, Ronen Benchtrit becomes the new chief technology officer for Zopa. Benchetrit will direct Zopa’s overall, growth-oriented technology strategy.

“I believe that Zopa is leading by example, with great innovative products and an award-winning team,” Benchetrit said. “I hope to use my experience and skills to drive rapid growth for Zopa, making it accessible to an ever-growing number of customers and leading Zopa as a fintech pioneer.”

Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana praised Benchetrit’s record in promoting business growth, as well as his IT and technical skills, and says the new hire is “yet another building block in our drive to continue and accelerate Zopa’s growth in changing the landscape of consumer financial products.”

Before his work at PokerStars, Benchetrit was senior R&D projects manager and architect for Avaya. He was also vice president of R&D and co-founder of Trinity Computing Systems, and spent six years as a software engineer and team leader for the Israel Defense Forces. Benchetrit holds degrees in computer science from Mamram—IDF Computer Science Academy and The Open University of Israel—and graduated from the Cranfield Leadership Programme at Cranfield University’s School of Management in 2013.

Founded in 2007, Zopa demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2008. In May, the company began offering auto-loan refinancing through its Zopa CarReFi program and in February, Zopa launched three new lending products: Classic, Access, and Plus to replace a number of existing solutions. The company has raised more than $56 million in funding, and includes among its investors Augmentum Capital, Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Wellington Partners.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BehavioSec, Braintree, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Kabbage, PayPal, Xignite

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

Dev news

The latest from FinDEVr New York 2016 presenters

  • Institutional Investor features Xignite and PayPal CEOs in the 2016 Tech-50 list of fintech technologists.
  • CoinTelegraph names Braintree as a company that will shape the future of money.
  • Markit Unveils Chartworks Suite.
  • Inc’s look at global payment options features Braintree.

Alumni updates

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

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

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Fintech Fundings: 35 Companies Raise $470 Million the Third Week of June

Fintech Fundings: 35 Companies Raise $470 Million the Third Week of June
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

15143285 - antique store cash register buttons close

For the third week in a row, the number of deals flirted with the single-week record of 39. This week, 35 fintech companies worldwide raised $469 million the second week of June. Included were three Finovate alums:

The total number of deals YTD stands at 662, double last year’s 338. Total dollars raised YTD is now $16.8 billion, $9 billion more than the $7.8 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 11 June to 17 June 2016:

Fenqile
Consumer microlender
Latest round: $235 million Series D
Total raised: $335 million
HQ: Shenzen, China
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, alt-lending, purchase finance, ecommerce, installment loans
Source: FT Partners

Payoff
Credit card payoff loans
Latest round: $46.76 million Series C
Total raised: $71.56 million
HQ: Costa Mesa, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, alt-lending, loans, personal financial management
Source: Crunchbase

Shanghai Suntime Information Technology
Financial data provider
Latest round: $35 million ($140 million valuation)
Total raised: $35 million
HQ: Shanghai, China
Tags: Institutions, investing, trading, information, analytics, Ant Financial (investor)
Source: FT Partners

Better Mortgage
Mortgage lender
Latest round: $30 million Series A
Total raised: $30 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, lending, home buying, real estate purchase
Source: Crunchbase

LEAGUE
Digital health insurance platform
Latest round: $25 million Series A
Total raised: $25 million
HQ: Wilmington, Delaware
Tags: SMB, consumer, healthcare, benefits, insurance, health savings accounts, billing, payments
Source: FT Partners

FinLeap
Fintech company builder
Latest round: $23.6 million Series A
Total raised: $23.6 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: SMB, banking, insurance, payments
Source: Crunchbase

ClearTax (ClearSharp Technology)
Income tax prep
Latest round: $12 million Series A
Total raised: $15.4 million
HQ: New Delhi, India
Tags: Consumer, tax preparation
Source: Crunchbase

PromisePay
Payments for marketplaces
Latest round: $10 million Series A
Total raised: $12.25 million
HQ: Collingwood, Australia
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, credit/debit cards, POS, point-of-sale, acquiring, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

Tapp Commerce
Alt-payments
Latest round: $9 million Series A
Total raised: $9 million
HQ: Turku, Finland
Tags: Consumer, payments, mobile, ecommerce, barter, virtual currency, bitcoin, P2P, person to person
Source: Crunchbase

Overbond
Bond issuing platform
Latest round: $7.5 million Seed
Total raised: $7.5 million
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, investing, fixed income
Source: Crunchbase

Software Group
Banking and payments software
Latest round: $5.6 million
Total raised: $5.6 million
HQ: Sofia, Bulgaria
Tags: Institutions, banking, payments, lending
Source: FT Partners

Greytip Software
Cloud-based HR and payroll
Latest round: $5.21 million
Total raised: $5.21 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: SMB, payments, payroll, HR benefits, employees, insurance
Source: FT Partners

Huddle Money
P2P financial platform
Latest round: $4.4 million Seed
Total raised: $4.4 million
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, insurance, payments, funds transfer
Source: Crunchbase

Bipsync
Research management software for investors
Latest round: $4.2 million
Total raised: $5.7 million
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Advisers, institutions, investment information
Source: FT Partners

Invoice Cycle
Invoice-backed lender
Latest round: $4 million Seed
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, lending, underwriting, trade finance, factoring, alt-lender
Source: Crunchbase

Cachet Financial Solutions
Remote deposit capture
Latest round: $2.55 million Convertible Note
Total raised: $26.86 million
HQ: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tags: Institutions, B2B2C, mobile, deposit, checking accounts, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

CardsMobile
NFC-based mobile payments
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: St. Petersburg, Russia
Tags: Consumer, SMB, merchants, mobile, payments, acquiring
Source: Crunchbase

StockTwits
Investment information platform
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $14.4 million
HQ: Phoenix, Arizona
Tags: Consumer, investing, information, trading
Source: Finovate

MarketLend
P2P trade finance loans
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: SMB, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing, factoring, invoice loans
Source: Crunchbase

Valiant Finance
Business loan marketplace
Latest round: $590,000 Seed
Total raised: $590,000
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: SMB, lending, commercial loans, price comparison, lead generation
Source: Crunchbase

Symbid
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $550,000 Debt
Total raised: $550,000 Debt
HQ: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tags: Consumer, SMB, peer-to-peer, P2P, investing, stock ownership
Source: Crunchbase

Frontera
Alt-investing in emerging markets
Latest round: $500,000 Series A
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Consumer, advisers, investing, venture capital
Source: Crunchbase

Sezzle
Payment via bank transfer (ACH)
Latest round: $500,000
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tags: SMB, ACH, payments, bank transfers, merchants, point of sale (POS), checking accounts, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Bee Card
Basic consumer bank accounts
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $4.85 million
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, prepaid debit card, deposits, underbanked, millennial, mobile, billpay
Source: FT Partners

Earnup
Consumer debt-repayment optimization
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: FT Partners

eCreditHero
Consumer credit repair
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, debt repayment, restructure
Source: FT Partners

Everlance
Expense and mileage tracker
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, personal financial management (PFM), expense reports, employees
Source: FT Partners

Meet Albert
Financial advice for consumers
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: Los Angeles, California
Tags: Consumer, personal financial health, education
Source: FT Partners

Remedy
Consumer medical bill analysis
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, billpay, personal financial management (PFM), healthcare, insurance
Source: FT Partners

WiseBanyan
Consumer financial adviser
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Accelerator: FinLab
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, investing, financial planning, wealth management
Source: FT Partners

Bidollar
P2P foreign exchange 
Latest round: $44,000 Seed
Total raised: $44,000
HQ: California
Accelerator: WOW Aceleradora
Tags: Consumer, SMB, peer-to-peer, P2P, foreign exchange (fx), remittances, exchange rates, price comparison
Source: Crunchbase

Oval Money
Financial planning and savings app
Latest round: $28,000 Grant
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Accelerator: NTT DOCOMO
Tags: Consumer, education, underbanked, savings accounts, deposits, mobile banking, millennials
Source: Crunchbase

KiaKia
Consumer lending
Latest round: $12,000 Angel
Total raised: $12,000
HQ: Nigeria
Tags: Consumer, lending, alt-lending, credit, payday, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Lend
P2P lending platform
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Switzerland
Tags: Consumer, lending, peer-to-peer, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Navicure
Medical claims management and payments
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Duluth, Georgia
Tags: SMB, healthcare, insurance, payments, billing, accounting, analytics, BI
Source: FT Partners

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Image licensed from 123rf

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Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger

Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Polly Portfolio

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 2.58.51 PM

What do you do when you need a friend to geek out with about financial news and investment-portfolio decisions? Create a bot, of course! Polly Portfolio, wealth management technology platform for asset managers, launched an investment chatbot for Facebook Messenger this week. The free bot, named Polly Chat, engages the user in a conversation about recent financial news headlines and creates a financial profile and customized trade ideas based on the user’s responses.

PollyChatIn a blog post, the New York-based company said that it created Polly Chat because “it only makes sense to build a chat bot when you have something to chat about. We do.” The company went on to explain that large financial firms have teams of research analysts who are very knowledgeable about economic developments but lack the ability to communicate the news to clients in an interactive way. Polly Portfolio added, “Our investment chat bot is a new interface to deliver on the basic premise: that investors should—and can—have a say in investment decisions without doing all the work.”

Users can either build a customized investor-profile with a five-minute chat, or they can take the time to interact with questions about all 50+ news headlines. Here’s the link to get started.

Founded in 2014, Polly Portfolio’s CEO Jasen Yang (founder) and COO & CFO Tom McCosker debuted Polly Sophograph at FinovateSpring 2016. Sophograph incorporates client opinions into dynamic investment models which create a recorded, auditable conversation around investment research.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Actiance, BehavioSec, Boku, CardFlight, Lendio, Lighter Capital, Misys, NCR Corporation, NICE Systems, Polly Portfolio, Ripple, Sezzle, True Potential, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger
  • Check out this week’s FinDEVr APIntelligence.
  • Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO
  • Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisers
  • Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram

Around the web

  • Boku expands carrier billing service with new partnerships in Germany.
  • NCR and Wells Fargo partner to develop next-generation ATM technology.
  • Mizuho Financial Group to pilot Ripple for cross-border payments.
  • NICE Actimize teams up with Tableau Software to combine business intelligence with financial crime-compliance technology.
  • True Potential opens multi-asset portfolios to adviser market.
  • Lendio partners with Townsquare to promote its alternative small business financing solutions.
  • Misys relocates Texas office from Richardson to Plano to expand operations.
  • CardFlight reports that more than 64% of its merchants are now EMV-enabled, more than 3x the national average.

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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Capriza Raises $23 Million in Series C

Capriza Raises $23 Million in Series C
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capriza

Capriza_homepage_July2016

In a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, enterprise-mobility specialist Capriza has raised $23 million in new capital. Participating in the round, which takes the company’s total to $73 million, were existing investors Charles River Ventures, Harmony Partners, and Tenaya Capital, as well as new investors Entre Capital and Vintage Investment.

“In the last 24 months, we have made enormous strides, and this latest round of funding is a testament to our momentum and our world-class customer list,” Capriza CEO Yuval Scarlat said. “The world is shifting from mobile-first to mobile-only, and we believe organizations who make mobile applications a priority today are the ones that will win.”

Capriza_stage_FF2014

Left to right: Stephen Insdorf, senior solution engineer, and Ivan Prafder, VP, regional business development demonstrated the Capriza platform at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Capriza demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2015. The company specializes in turning business workflows into mobile applications without requiring coding, APIs, upgrades, or integrations. The technology enables legacy applications to be used on multiple channels including tablet, smartphone, and desktop. Capriza’s solutions are compatible with widely used applications like Oracle, Salesforce, and SAP, and can also be custom-configured. For more, check out our Finovate Debuts profile of Capriza from earlier this year.

Recent headlines for Capriza include earning a finalist spot in the City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge sponsored by Amazon web services in June, and news of the company’s new CMO, Lance Walter, hired in May. The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge is an initiative to help local governments become more efficient through innovative technologies in areas ranging from city planning to healthcare. Capriza made it to the finals with its enterprise-mobility platform, which helped the City of Los Angeles build a suite of mini-mobile apps called Zapps for its 48,000 employees and city officials

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BlueVine Increases Maximum Credit Line, Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer

BlueVine Increases Maximum Credit Line, Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BlueVine

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 9.17.01 AM

Small business financier BlueVine hired a new chief revenue officer and made changes to its business lines of credit and invoice-factoring this week.Sager

CRO Eric Sager (pictured) comes to BlueVine with experience as head of sales at Square, and as a principal with Bain & Company. Sager said that he has spent his career “working to help small businesses succeed,” and added that “access to timely and cost-efficient working capital” is one of their main struggles.

Palo Alto-based BlueVine has increased its maximum credit line for invoice factoring from $250,000 to $500,000; the maximum revolving line, Flex Credit, has risen from $30,000 to $50,000. The company, which is on track to fund $200 million in working capital this year, launched Flex Credit in April to expand beyond invoice factoring.

Founded in 2013, BlueVine debuted at FinovateFall 2014 where the company’s CEO Eyal Lifshitz and VP of Operations Edward Castaño demoed invoice factoring. BlueVine has raised $64 million in 7 funding rounds including an undisclosed sum from CitiVentures in April.

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MaxMyInterest Unveils Laser App Integration to Speed Onboarding

MaxMyInterest Unveils Laser App Integration to Speed Onboarding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: MaxMyInterest

MaxMyInterest_homepage_July2016b

MaxMyInterest unveiled a new integration to make it easier for financial advisors to bring smart cash management to their clients. Leveraging forms automation and management technology from Laser App Software, advisors will be able use their own CRM systems to “pre-onboard” clients to the Max platform. The client’s new Max account is linked to the advisor, whose read-only access to cash balance data ensures a holistic overview of cash and other accounts.

According to founder and CEO Gary Zimmerman, the integration helps advisers who are using leading CRM platforms to add MaxMyInterest as an option for their clients. Robert Powell, VP marketing and sales for Laser App, calls the technology a “one-of-a-kind front-end system” and says the partnership is a “great opportunity for us to learn from leading innovators.”

MaxMyInterest’s intelligent cash-management platform helps savers earn higher yields while maintaining FDIC protection. Like a robo-adviser intelligently rebalancing a stock portfolio, MaxMyInterest tracks interest rates and reallocates cash toward higher-yielding accounts as part of an automated monthly optimization. Customers can also move cash between accounts on their own using MaxMyInterest’s Intelligent Funds Transfer feature. The company reports that those saving with Max “typically can earn 0.70% to 0.90% more than traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ banks” and favorably compares its 0.99% average to the national average of 0.11%

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York, MaxMyInterest demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014. The company celebrated its third anniversary this month, announcing support for TD Bank, and launched its client invitation Feature—another onboarding enhancement—in May. Read more about MaxMyInterest in our Finovate Debut profile.

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Finovate Debuts: Civic’s Identity Verification App Launches Public Beta

Finovate Debuts: Civic’s Identity Verification App Launches Public Beta
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Civic, Finovate Debuts

Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 1.52.50 PM

Identity network and fraud prevention company Civic offers a service that helps consumers confirm the use of their identity in real time. Today the company beta-launched its free consumer-facing app, marking the public availability of its identity network.

Civic debuted at FinovateSpring 2016 to help solve the person-not-present (PNP) problem (yes, CEO Vinny Lingham coined that phrase). “We’ve created a real-time identity-alerts service,” Lingham said at the start of his demo. He went on to explain how the company seeks to help consumers manage their identities by having more control over the use of their Social Security number.

Civic users receive a $1 million identity-theft-protection policy, plus access to a free identity-theft consultant-hotline. Both services are good for the life of their membership. Users receive a push notification or email each time their Social Security number is used with one of Civic’s partners. Civic’s partners currently include background checking services GoodHire and Onfido. The company is working to add more.

For more advanced security, users can request to approve or deny a transaction using a two-way authentication process on the mobile app. Banks that pay Civic a small fee receive an alert when the consumer denies a transaction, notifying them of potentially fraudulent purchases.

1_Account_Creation

Company facts:

  • Headquartered in Palo Alto, California
  • Founded in 2015
  • $2.75 million in funding raised
27162806296_e2609a6ee8_kCivic CEO Vinny Lingham and CTO Jonathan Smith demonstrated Civic’s Identity Verification app at FinovateSpring 2016.

Lingham_HeadshotWe interviewed Civic’s CEO Vinny Lingham, an entrepreneur who has founded three startups, including digital gift-card platform Gyft. Prior to founding Civic, Lingham was senior vice president of product development at First Data.

Finovate: What problem does Civic solve?

Lingham: There are a few problems with how Americans currently use identity numbers:

  • The Social Security number system was not built for identifying people uniquely, it was built to track Social Security benefits. Over the course of time, it has become the standard for identifying someone, which has evolved into a situation in which people can easily impersonate someone else remotely. There are no barriers for someone to use your Social Security number online or provide your Social Security number over the phone.

  • If your Social Security number has been used by someone else, then you have no way of knowing. If you have signed up and pay for services to protect your identity, you are alerted [only after] the fraud has taken place, not as it’s happening. Civic’s vision is to give control back to the user by allowing them to confirm the use of their Social Security number. We see a world where your Social Security number will not need to be a number you hide; you could print it on your business cards if you like, but if anyone tries to use it, you would have the ability to verify and stop the transaction before it happens.

3_Name

Finovate: Who are your primary customers?

Lingham: Civic appeals to anyone with a Social Security number who is seeking control over their personal data. Our service is ideal for individuals looking for a fresh and free alternative to traditional identity-theft-protection companies. Our mission is to provide members with real-time identity alerts and protection so that they can stop identity fraud before it happens.

Finovate: How does Civic solve the problem better?

Lingham: While there are many services that offer various types of identity protection, Civic is the only company that gives the user control over their own identity AND provides the service for free—making our overall approach to identity theft unique within the industry.

Finovate: Tell us about your favorite implementation of your solution.

Lingham: We have partnered with background checking companies such as Onfido and GoodHire, which allow consumers to be notified when background checks are conducted on them.

6_KBA

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

Lingham: The previous company that I founded, Gyft, is one of the leaders in mobile and digital gift cards. Gift cards happen to be one of the biggest categories for online fraud, and we had to build robust systems to deal with it. After witnessing the challenges of online fraud, I realized that identity theft is a major problem, which is why we have so much fraud online. I set out to solve this problem.

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

Lingham: We have some really exciting technology developments in the pipeline that will give members a greater level of privacy and identity protection that has not been previously possible. We are excited to roll out these developments later this year.

Finovate: Where do you see Civic a year or two from now?

Lingham: Although we have a long-term vision for the company, right now, we want to ensure members trust us to help secure their personal information and monitor the use of their identities. Once we can win in that space, we believe that we can build a multitude of products that will change the way that society functions.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BlueVine, Capriza, Civic, Cortera, D3 Banking, Malauzai Software, MaxMyInterest, P2BInvestor, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • MaxMyInterest Unveils Laser App Integration to Speed Onboarding
  • Finovate Debuts: Civic’s Identity Verification App Launches Public Beta
  • BlueVine Increases Maximum Credit Line, Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer
  • Capriza Raises $23 Million in Series C

Around the web

  • Mashable features P2Binvestor CEO Krista Morgan for something outrageous she said at FinovateSpring 2013.
  • Institutional Investor features entrepreneurs from 4 Finovate alums in the 2016 Tech-50 list of fintech technologists.
  • More Than 25 Financial Institutions Select Malauzai’s SmartwebApps for Desktop
  • Cortera appoints Bob Maguire as chief revenue officer.
  • Zopa names Ronen Benchetrit as CTO.

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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