True Link Financial Lands $3.6 Million Investment

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, TrueLink Financial
With an investment of $3.6 million, True Link Financial has more than doubled its total capital, which now stands at more than $7 million in combined equity and debt financing. The company's latest investment comes courtesy of a quartet of investors: Kapor Capital, Initialized Capital, Symmetrical Ventures, and the Ziegler Link-Age Longevity Fund. While much of the fintech world remains mesmerized by the millennial market, True Link Financial CEO and co-founder Kai Stinchcombe believes that baby boomers—and increasingly genX-ers—are where it's at. "We think seniors are the most exciting market in financial services today," Stinchcombe said. "Half of the wealth in the U.S. is owned by people 59 years and over, and as baby boomers retire, the tidal wave is only growing." Fom left: Kai Stinchcombe, CEO, and Claire McDonnell, COO, demonstrating the True Link Card at FinovateSpring 2014. True Link Financial said that the funding will help the company's…

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Envestnet | Yodlee to Support Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Business

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Envestnet, Yodlee
In October, Envestnet | Yodlee reported the full integration of Yodlee's technology into the Envestnet platform. A month later, the company has announced the full integration's latest win: a partnership that will put Envestnet | Yodlee's data aggregation, reconciliation, and digital apps at the core of Morgan Stanley's wealth-management business. Anil Arora, Envestnet | Yodlee CEO, cited the partnership as evidence of his company's ability to sell "more comprehensive solutions to large sophisticated financial institutions." Managing more than $2 trillion in client assets, Morgan Stanley will integrate digital apps and data-aggregation technology from Yodlee and data-reconciliation solutions from Envestnet. "We look forward to building value for Morgan Stanley's advisers and clients with our combined market leading technology," Arora said. Katy Gibson, VP, product applications, demonstrated Envestnet | Yodlee's dynamic intelligence technology at FinovateFall 2016. The news from Envestnet | Yodlee comes as the company ramps up its relationships with wealth…

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Backbase, CoverHound, Envestnet, Misys, OurCrowd, Thinknum, TrueLink Financial, Yodlee
On Finovate.com "Fintech Trending: The API-ification of Banks" Envestnet | Yodlee to Support Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Business. True Link Financial Lands $3.6 Million Investment. Around the web Backbase to power commercial banking platform for Metro Bank. Crowdfund Insider features OurCrowd’s Jon Medved. ICCREA Banca leverages Misys Summit. CNBC interviews Thinknum co-founder Justin Zhen. Coverhound announces new partnership with pay-per-mile auto insurance innovator, Metromile. 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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Fintech Trending: The API-ification of Banks

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fintech Trending
It's a developer's world and we just live in it. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are not new to banking, but they are certainly becoming more accepted. It's a trend we've seen across the financial services industry, and even incumbent players are getting into the game. Over the past couple of weeks, we've seen a stack of news indicating the demand for APIs is alive and well. Peruse online and hard-copy publications and you'll find a lot of support for developers: see Citigroup's launch of its developer hub; Dwolla's (FS 2015) shift in focus from consumer app to becoming a platform; and the launch of Monitise's (FF 2007) FINkit platform. This is the end of the banks vs. startups era. Banks are now leveraging startups to help them compete against other financial institutions. The reason comes down to simple economics. In general, it is more efficient for a company to focus…

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Fintech Trending: Making Fintech Great Again?

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fintech Trending
For fintech followers, one of the most interesting things about President-elect Donald Trump is the fact that his most prominent Silicon Valley supporter was and is Peter Thiel, the self-described "conservative libertarian" co-founder of Finovate alum, PayPal. Good evening. I’m Peter Thiel. I build companies and I’m supporting people who are building new things, from social networks to rocket ships. I’m not a politician. But neither is Donald Trump. He is a builder, and it’s time to rebuild America. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel addressed delegates at the Republican National Convention in the summer of 2016. Where I work in Silicon Valley, it’s hard to see where America has gone wrong. My industry has made a lot of progress in computers and in software, and, of course, it’s made a lot of money. But Silicon Valley is a small place. Drive out to Sacramento, or even just across the bridge to…

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Finovate Debuts: Test Driving iBank Marketing’s Wallet+

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finovate Debuts, iBank Marketing
iBank Marketing's Wallet+ PFM goal-saving platform aims to give banks a tool to help their clients create and achieve their short-term financial goals. During the company's demo at FinovateFall 2016 in New York, Senior Manager Masato Kubota said, "Wallet+ removes the stress for target achievement and offers a new user experience by creating an ecosystem with your customers and their savings." Using popup notifications, Wallet+ offers users suggestions to help them reach their savings targets. The app also shares special offers in the form of coupons to help customers save extra money toward their goals. By offering financial and non-financial services, Wallet+ creates a new marketing channel to reach customers. Company facts: Founded in 2016 Headquartered in Japan Wallet+ is available in the Apple app and Google Play stores iBank Marketing's Kenichi Nagayoshi, CEO; Masato Kubota, senior manager; and Teppei Fujiwara, manager, presented Wallet+, an app for goal savers, at…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CustomerXPs, Featurespace, Fiserv, iBank Marketing, LendingTree, LiftForward, Turnkey Lender, Vantiv
On Finovate.com "Finovate Debuts: Test Driving iBank Marketing’s Wallet+"" "Fintech Trending: Making Fintech Great Again?" Around the web LendingTree acquires credit card comparison and education provider, CompareCards. Fiserv adds new UX and UI to its Unified Wealth Platform. Featurespace earns ranking in Deloitte 2016 U.K. Technology Fast 50. Forrester Research names Vantiv a leader in its report on global commerce payment providers. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) grant Turnkey Lender a fintech award in the SME category. CustomerXPs ranked 31 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2016. LiftForward lands $100 million in debt capital. 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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Veridium Brings Hand Recognition Authentication to Mobile-Only Dutch Bank, bunq

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Hoyos Labs, Veridium
Courtesy of a new partnership with authentication specialist Veridium (formerly known as Hoyos Labs), mobile banking customers of bunq, a mobile-only Dutch bank, will have access to 4 Fingers (4F) biometric authentication. The technology, 4 Fingers TouchlessID, is part of VeridiumID, and will be the first implementation of hand-recognition software in financial services. Founder of bunq, CEO Ali Niknam, praised 4F as an "easy-to-use and safe banking experience," and called deploying "the latest technology and biometric authentication solutions" part of fulfilling his mobile-only bank's commitment to "giving people control over their money again." Veridium COO Todd Shollenbarger added that Veridium's "flexible, secure, and extendable" solution would scale well as bunq grew and expanded into new countries. 4F uses the rear camera on a smartphone to simultaneously capture the four fingerprints of the index, middle, ring, and little fingers. The four prints are compared to those stored and when the match…

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Finovate/FinDEVr Alums Featured Among Monitise FINkit Platform Partners

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BehavioSec, Currency Cloud, Envestnet, Fastacash, FICO, MasterCard, Monitise, Yodlee
Monitise is launching its FINkit partner program with a roomful of fintech heavyweights. FINkit is a cloud-based platform and toolkit that enables banks to collaborate with fintech firms and gain access to technologies and services such as tokenization, geolocation, biometric security, and digital wallets. In addition to founding partner and fellow Finovate alum MasterCard (F14, FD14), Monitise has signed up another 12 founding FINkit members including another six Finovate/FinDEVr alums: BehavioSec (F15, FD15) Currencycloud (F16, FD15) Envestnet | Yodlee (F16, FD16) Experian (F16) Fastacash (F14) FICO (FD16) HID Global iGeolise LivePerson MYPINPAD Syniverse WorldFirst Mark Barnett, president of MasterCard U.K. and Ireland, says FINkit is "a fantastic platform for banks and partners to come together in a live production environment to deliver innovative services—securely, reliably, and quickly." Nick Cheetham, Monitise-FINkit managing director, says the kind of collaboration enabled by FINkit is "vital" and warned against allowing new technologies to "stagnate…

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P2P Lender Zopa to Launch Challenger Bank

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Zopa
Joining the likes of U.K.-based Monzo, Atom, Starling, and Tandem, P2P lending company Zopa announced yesterday it has applied for a banking license. "We want to offer consumers even more choice, which is why, subject to regulatory approval, we have decided to launch a next-generation bank to complement our existing peer-to-peer products," the bank said in a statement on its website. Founded in 2005, Zopa, a pioneer in P2P lending, was the first to launch a P2P lending platform in 2007. This week the company announced it has applied to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its banking license, a process expected to take up to two years. The new bank will offer FSCS-protected deposit accounts to savers and overdraft alternatives to borrowers. Being structured as a bank will allow Zopa to "create new and innovative savings and borrowing products" that existing Zopa clients will…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Algomi, BioCatch, Boku, Juvo, LendingTree, Markit, MasterCard, Monitise, Pirean, Quovo, SafetyPay, Thomson Reuters, Veridium, Zopa
On Finovate.com "P2P Lender Zopa to Launch Challenger Bank" "Finovate/FinDEVr Alums Featured Among Monitise FINkit Platform Partners" "Veridium Brings Hand Recognition Authentication to Mobile-Only Dutch bank, bunq" Around the web Co-founder of Markit, Rony Grushka, joins Algomi's board of directors. FinDEVr alum Quovo launches its account-authentication API. Juvo teams up with Cable & Wireless to provide mobile credit services in the Caribbean. Mastercard partners with Ratnakar Bank to launch Masterpass QR in India. Thomson Reuters unveils its Thomson Reuters Pricing Service Evaluation Score (TRPS) to support pricing transparency. LendingTree acquires credit card comparison and education provider, CompareCards. Pirean wins security innovation of the year at the U.K.'s 2016 IT Industry Awards. SafetyPay to power payment solutions for Payzoff. NatWest deploys BioCatch behavioral biometrics technology. Boku provides direct carrier billing in Japan for Spotify. This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow…

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Finovate Debuts: Overbond Leverages Technology to Reimagine Bond Issuance

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Overbond
Leveraging the power of technology to make raising capital in the bond market easier and more efficient for large companies is the goal of Overbond, the Toronto-based startup launched in 2015. The firm's technology enables companies to access both investor and dealer networks directly for the first time. CEO Vuk Magdelinic, co-founder, calls Overbond "a little bit like eBay meets Funding Circle." Even though bond-issuance is the "lifeline" of finance, Magdelinic notes that the processes and technology supporting this $2.6 trillion industry are far from state of the art. He said: We talk with inside investors who tell us they are getting inundated with hundred-plus phone calls a week regarding new bond issues. Issuers have lost confidence [as to whether] they are getting the best price possible on their bonds. And regulators have caught on and said flat-out that the process isn't competitive and transparent enough. Overbond's platform replaces a…

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