Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Aspire, Backbase, Behalf, CRMNEXT, Entersekt, EyeVerify, Fiserv, inSpirAVE, Jack Henry, Kabbage, Kore, mBank, Meniga, ProActive FinTech, Sindeo, Strands, Swych, TransferWise, wipro, Xentral Station

On Finovate.com

Behalf Raises $27 Million in New Funding Backbase Partners with Entersekt to Deliver Authentication Technology Check out this week's FinovateFall Sneak Peeks: Strands Xentral Station Kore CRMNEXT ProActive Sindeo Aspire Swych EyeVerify Teams Up with BioConnect to Boost Payment Security.

Around the web

PittsburghPost-Gazette feature on local fintech incubator SteelBridge Laboratories quotes Om Kundu, CEO of InSpirAVE. See InSpirAVE at FinovateFall in New York next week. Massachusetts-based Randolph Savings Bank re-ups with Fiserv for front- and back-office technology. Wipro announces partnership with Stibo Systems to offer Master Data Management (MDM) solutions. PYMNTS.com looks at TransferWise and its growing independence from bank partners. IT Business on how Kabbage knows if it can lend you $100,000 in just seven minutes. Jack Henry & Associates Awarded by Aite Group for Core Processing. mBank discusses recent Meniga upgrade.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge.…

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Coinbase Offers Mobile Card Payment Option to European Bitcoin Buyers

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase

European customers of Coinbase have been able to buy bitcoin and ethereum using debit and credit cards for a little over a year. Now, they can do it on mobile, too.

Strong numbers from the U.S. seem to support the move. Announcing the new functionality on the its blog, Coinbase noted that 40% of its credit and debit card purchases of digital currencies in the U.S. are coming from mobile devices. "Our mission at Coinbase is to create an open financial system for the world," the post read, "and enabling easy access to digital currencies like bitcoin and ether in as many countries as possible gets us one step closer to that goal."

Indeed. Coinbase last month added Australia, Canada, and Singapore to the list of countries where Coinbase customers can use payment cards to buy digital currencies. The company added support for ethereum earlier this year, and…

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ID.me Lands $3.7 Million Grant

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, ID.me

Last week, digital identity network ID.me received a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). ID.me was awarded $3.75 million through NIST's program called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which focuses on researching new forms of identity management.

ID.me, a Virginia-based company, is one of six grant recipients that received a cut of the total $15 million, which was divided into amounts from a little under $1 million to $3.75 million. ID.me will use the funds to pilot what's known as federated credentials, a single set of credentials that works on multiple websites.

Mike Garcia, director of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, says the goal of the program is to “foster innovation that can make critical services more convenient and trustworthy for consumers while strengthening online security.”

ID.me's Blake Hall, CEO and co-founder, and Ryan Fox, VP of product strategy, presented at FinovateSpring 2014

Founded in 2010,…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BlueVine, Coinbase, FamZoo, ID.me, Intuit, RightCapital, Top Image Systems

On Finovate.com

ID.me Lands $3.7 Million Grant Coinbase Offers Mobile Card Payment Option to European Bitcoin Buyers

Around the web

RightCapital announces new partnership with Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (ACP). See Right Capital at FinovateFall 2016 in New York next week. FamZoo celebrates its 10th anniversary. Intuit unveils personalized app recommendations for QuickBooks Online. Business News Daily names BlueVine Best B2B Factoring Service. Top Image Systems increases footprint in Asia.

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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Marketing: Alliant Credit Union Pitches Kids Account on Logoff Screen

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Login/logoff marketing, Youth market

The logoff page that pops up following a secure session is one of the choicest real-estate parcels in a financial institution's inventory. Typically, this logoff page is seen on a desktop pc, but the same opportunity exists on mobile. Earlier this summer (late June), we spotted Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union pitching its Kidz Klub savings account with a 1% APY (adults get the same rate).

Bottom line: The logout screen is well-designed and the green call-to-action button is easy to see. The button leads to an attractive Kidz Klub landing page (see screenshot below). While The Klub is a savings account that mirrors rates available for adult members, the thrill for kids is that each Kids Klub member receives an individual member's card and account kit.

Given that today's 10-year-old could be a bank/CU customer for the next 70 or 80 years, it makes sense to cater to members'…

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Friday Fun: Banking with Coffee

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Branch Banking

 

The connection between banking and coffee is tenuous at best; however, a number of banks (especially in the United States) have underused lobbies and there appears to be an infinite appetite for caffeine. So when demand meets supply, there are opportunities.

I know you've heard this all before from me 11 years ago (yikes), The Wall Street Journal last year (Capital One) and The Financial Brand numerous times. But it's Friday and I'm sitting in the best example I've personally experienced, a big, old Southern California Wells Fargo branch in Orange that turned the main part of the lobby over to Starbucks, but kept the teller windows and offices along the side. It's a great spot for coffee, and banking, if you are into popping into a branch (or just the ATM).

Unless you are a major, it may be difficult to get Starbucks on board, but working with an independent…

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SafetyPay Launches in Belgium

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: SafetyPay

Online payment solution SafetyPay began operations in its 21st country this week. The Florida-based company now operates in Belgium, expanding its global footprint which covers the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Latin America.

SafetyPay's expansion into Europe fulfills one of the company's strategic objectives and makes good business sense: Half of the country's population with access to email have a habit of shopping online. "Our main goal is to make SafetyPay well known to the market. Brand perception is an intelligent sales technique for pitching to merchants, who play such a key role in the process," said Gustavo Ruiz Moya, SafetyPay CEO.

SafetyPay's ecommerce checkout-solution enables users to pay global merchants in their local currency, directly from their bank account. The company has partnerships with almost 100 banks around the world.

Founded in 2003, SafetyPay's sales have grown 5X over the past three years. Moya attributes the growth to "investments in technology, innovation in [its] product…

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DriveWealth Adds Real-Time Margin

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DriveWealth

Margin calls—the "friendly" shoulder-tap from your brokerage that means you're in a losing investment position and your broker needs more capital to cover it—are the bane of every trader and investor who uses leverage. But for those on the DriveWealth platform, the technology's new real-time margin feature all but makes traditional margin calls a thing of the past.

Instead of calculating margin requirements only once a day like most traditional brokerages, DriveWealth's real-time margin will recalculate and update margin requirements over the course of the trading day. This intra-day limiting of purchasing power makes it less likely that an investor will be forced to liquidate holdings or come up with additional capital to satisfy a margin call. Robert Cortright, founder and CEO of DriveWealth said, "With the release of real-time margin, we are now giving investors who want to trade on leverage a way to increase control and decrease risk relative to…

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Fintech Trending: Look Who’s Chasing Venmo, Student Loan Servicing Falls Short

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Braintree, Diebold, Fintech Trending, Fiserv, Google, IBM, Liqpay.com, PayPal, Student Loan Genius, Venmo, VISA

A look at the trending topics of the past two weeks, co-authored by Finovate's research analysts David Penn and Julie Schicktanz.

Payments

Venmo competition heats up
We've lately noticed more P2P payment app competitors trickle in. They have Braintree-owned Venmo's (FD2016; F2013) millennial-focused social components stamped all over them:

Founded by former N26 employees, Cookies launched this week to offer Germany-based users a free P2P payment solution. The simple UI has a messaging platform for senders and recipients to engage with, and it allows people to include emojis with their payments (Cookies calls them paymojis). Some paymojis have special powers, for example, a lightning bolt that allows users to send the money faster. Unlike Venmo (more like Square Cash), users do not maintain a balance on Cookies; instead, Cookies connects directly to a user's bank account. Tilt originally began as a crowdfunding platform but launched…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Cortera, DriveWealth, eMoney Advisor, iSignthis, Ixaris, Quisk, Revolut, Ripple, SafetyPay, Venmo

On Finovate.com

Fintech Trending: Look Who’s Chasing Venmo, Student Loan Servicing Falls Short DriveWealth Adds Real-Time Margin SafetyPay Launches in Belgium

Around the web

The Times of India examines the role Ripple can play in reducing the costs of overseas remittances. iSignthis integrates its digital KYC technology with Ixaris. Axis Bank's Tagit-powered app adds augmented reality. Cortera announces 100th release of its Cortera Pulse product. Quisk rolls out mobile-money platform at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited. Revolut reaches 300,000 users. Philadelphia Business Journal names eMoney Advisor one of the “Best Places to Work” in Philadelphia.

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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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Agreement Express

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Agreement Express, FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Agreement Express allows financial institutions to design and execute consistent, automated onboarding experiences, while providing deep analytics that enable proactive and personalized client advice.

Features:

Fully automates client experiences across multiple lines of business Utilizes client data to improve and evolve rich customer experiences Supports FI's digitalization initiatives

Why it's great
Agreement Express is the only end-to-end platform to provide faster, smarter, easier onboarding for all financial institutions.

Presenters

Mike Gardner, CEO
Gardner is a 20-year veteran of the software industry. He has led Agreement Express to become one of the most respected onboarding automation platforms in the financial services industry.
LinkedIn

 

Andrew Grocholski, Account Executive
Grocholski is a seasoned professional in the SaaS industry. He has worked with large financial institutions to help them implement systems that improve business operations.
…

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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: FF

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FF, FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies to demo live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Join us for the first-time public unveiling of FF, a smart transaction analytics platform that helps users focus their daily spending on what's truly important and brings happiness in the long-run.

Features:

Offers proactive nudges and gamification based on years of scientific studies Employs machine-learning to tailor individual recommendations Available via API and white-label apps

Why it's great
Merges happiness and behavioral economics to drive mass adoption of savvy consumer-spending paths, focused on what is truly important in life.

Presenters

Daniel Gusev, CEO
Gusev—a digital payments geek with 10+ years of relevant experience—has built a number of commercially successful products in the European payments space; he is a passionate researcher of behavioral design.
LinkedIn

Ondrej Grich, CTO
Grich, co-founder of a leading consumer retail operation in Europe and a veteran…

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