FinovateFall Sneak Peek: TransUnion

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek, TransUnion

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

TransUnion's Prama puts the power of big data and analytics at your fingertips to make better decisions at the speed your business demands.

Features:

On-demand access to seven years of depersonalized credit data Easily configure metrics to answer your specific questions Benchmark your performance against the market and peers

Why it's great
Prama is an intuitive, web-based solution that provides self-service access to more than 350 billion rows of depersonalized consumer credit data, facilitating faster decisions and strategy adjustments.

Presenters

Paul Siegfried, SVP, Financial Services
Siegfried leads the financial services card vertical and is charged with product development, business development and market strategy.
LinkedIn

Ginny Gomez, SVP, Product Management
Gomez leads U.S. product management and is responsible for delivering innovative new solutions and driving increased value for our clients across markets and verticals.
…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Cachet Financial Solutions, Compass Plus, CUneXus, DefenseStorm, Full Profile, Holvi, OutsideIQ, PayActiv, payworks, QE Data, SaleMove, SumUp, TransUnion, TSYS

On Finovate.com

Holvi and SumUp Join Forces to Serve SMEs and the Self-Employed CUneXus Closes $5 million Series A Check out today's FinovateFall Sneak Peek posts: SaleMove Full Profile TransUnion QEData

Around the web

Cybersecurity innovator DefenseStorm adds Libertyville Savings Bank and PrimeRevenue as clients. Prasac, the largest microfinance institution in Cambodia, launches mobile banking services courtesy of TranzWare from Compass Plus. The New York Times features PayActiv. Cachet Financial Services partners with the Central Bank of Kansas City to roll out a reloadable prepaid card program. Payworks partners with VBO Tickets. OutsideIQ Brings Due Diligence Platform DDIQ to New International Markets TSYS EVP and CIO Patricia Watson writes about the importance of strong enterprise architecture in fintech for CIO Review.

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 Fundings: 32 Companies Raise $210 Million Second Week of July

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

Through mid-July, the blistering pace of deals continued with 32 new fundings during the week ending 15 July 2016. There has been an average of 28 fintech deals per week this year.

The total value of deals this week was $206 million, with half ($100 million) going to Canadian blockchain technology provider Blockchain Intelligence. 

Two Finovate alums raised a total of $12 million during the week:

Revolut raised $8.7 million Alkami landed $3.7 million

The total number of deals YTD stands at 792, nearly double last year’s 407. Total dollars raised YTD is $18.1 billion, more than double the $8.8 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

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Fintech deals by size from 9 July to 15 July 2016:

Blockchain Intelligence Group
Blockchain search and analytics
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $100 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: SMB, institution, blockchain, crypto-currency, BI, analytics
Source: Crunchbase

Gust
Platform for investing in early-stage startups
Latest round: $14.4…

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Alpine Data Partners with Pivotal to Bring Smart App Building Blocks to Businesses

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alpine Data Labs

A new partnership announced last week between Alpine Data Labs and Pivotal is designed to help enterprises "attain business value from their investment in modern data platforms." Specifically, Alpine Data Labs will use its collaborative platform for advanced analytics, Chorus, as a link between the Pivotal Big Data Suite and the Pivotal Cloud Foundry.

"With Chorus and Pivotal BDS," Alpine Data's Collin Cook wrote at the company blog, "you can easily build machine learning models that leverage data from any data source, expedite the process of building scoring engines around your models and quickly deploy them as micro services within the Pivotal Cloud Foundry." Cook called the combined solution a way to reduce the friction that often develops between data scientists, IT professionals and business users.

Alpine Data cofounder and CPO Steven Hillion demonstrated Alpine Touchpoints at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

Alpine Data specializes in technologies that help…

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EyeLock’s New Launch Improves Iris Recognition Tech

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

There are plenty of reasons I stopped using my bank's finicky iris-scanning mobile-authentication technology to log in and check my account balance. Plagued with issues caused by glasses, glare and sunlight, I switched to using a 4-digit PIN for the foreseeable future. This week iris authentication company EyeLock released a new technology to remove some of the friction associated with the technology and boost adoption rates.

The New York-based company's new technology authenticates at a distance of 60 cm and works with glasses, contact lenses, and even in bright daylight, making EyeLock even more user-friendly. EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus refers to the new technology as a "significant scientific breakthrough." In a press release, Demitrieus added that it "solves the usability and security impediments that have long been an obstacle for mass-market adoption."

EyeLock owns and controls the entire software and algorithm stack, which helps it to create a more secure solution. Founded in 2006, the…

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Avalara Unveils Enhanced Compliance Document Managent Solution, CertCapture

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avalara

Seattle-based Avalara unveiled a trio of enhancements to its compliance document-management solution, CertCapture. The new features are designed to make it easier for SMEs to capture, manage, and analyze tax documents in real time.

"CertCapture's new features simplify the ever-increasing burden of tax compliance while enabling customers to run their businesses more efficiently and with the highest level of security," says Matt Tormollen, Avalara's EVP and GM. The enhancements include a simplified user interface for POS systems, a single sign-on for customer exemption status management, and additional visual reporting features to better spot trends and manage compliance materials.

"Commerce happens in real time and we want to empower clients to manage more of their tax compliance in real time," Tormollen said.

Loke Uei Tan, senior manager of developer relations for Avalara, presented "The Wacky World of Sales Tax" at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

Avalara specializes in APIs that enable…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alpine Data Labs, Avalara, BioCatch, Green Key Technologies, iSignthis, Meniga, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

Avalara Unveils Enhanced Compliance Document Management Solution, CertCapture Alpine Data Partners with Pivotal to Bring Smart App Building Blocks to Businesses

On FinDEVr.com

GreenKey Launches Design Partner Program

Around the web

GreenKey launches Design Partner Program with interdealer brokers, Tradition and Tullett Prebon. iSignthis inks card-acquiring and -settlement partnership with National Australia Bank. ACI Worldwide hosts "Coding for Girls" camp. Transfers from Brazil now live on TransferWise. Equities.com: How Meniga is Leading the Charge in Revolutionizing Online Banking Times of Israel features BioCatch.

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 Fundings: 23 Companies Raise $530 Million Week Ending July 8

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

In a holiday-shortened week in the United States, 23 deals were announced that brought in a total of $527 million. Most ($449 million) went to Chinese payment and investment platform, Qufenqi.

Four Finovate alums raised a total of $18 million during the week:

Coinbase landed $10.5 million from Bank of Tokyo P2Binvestor raised $5.1 million StockTwits raised $2 million Spiff raised $150,000

The total number of deals YTD stands at 760, nearly double last year’s 386. Total dollars raised YTD is $17.9 billion, more than double the $8.5 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

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Fintech deals by size from 2 July to 8 July 2016:

Qufenqi
Installment payment and investment platform
Latest round: $449 million Series F
Total raised: $874 million
HQ: Beijing, China
Tags: Consumer, investing, loans, credit, ecommerce, investing, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Neogrowth
Alt-lender to small businesses
Latest round: $35 million
Total raised: $36.6 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: SMB, commerical loans, credit, underwriting
…

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Prosper Closes in on $5 Billion Commitment for New Loans

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

P2P lending platform Prosper is in talks with a group of investment firms to sell around $5 billion worth of loans over the course of the next two years.

Interested firms include Fortress Investment Group LLC, Soros Fund Management LLC, Third Point LLC, and Jefferies LLC. Some of these firms are in talks with banks about borrowing money to support the purchases. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The loans would be bought at face value, but the firms are also in discussions to receive equity warrants in Prosper as they make the purchases."

Once finalized, this deal will help to quiet naysayers of P2P lending platforms, an industry which has faced increased scrutiny since Lending Club's CEO was forced to resign and Prosper laid off 28% of its workforce. The loan purchase agreements are expected to be complete in the coming weeks.

News was also released that Prosper has already started selling loans to BBVA Compass, a…

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Dashlane and Google Partner to Improve Online Security via Open YOLO

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dashlane, Google

Dashlane and Google have teamed up to develop an open API for app developers called Open YOLO, which stands for "You Only Login Once." The technology makes it easier for Android apps to work with password managers.

"To stay one step ahead of the market demand," Dashlane's Malaika Nicholas wrote on the company blog, "Google and Dashlane are helping create a seamless, universally acceptable Android app-authentication solution to increase your online security." Nicholas added that Dashlane's development team opted for an open source solution because it gives users a cross-platform security option. She noted that in February, Dashlane announced support for FIDO's Alliances Universal Second Factor (U2F) authentication standard, the first password manager to do so.

Left to right: CEO Emmanuel Schalit and Nishant Mani, VP partnerships and marketing, demonstrated Dashlane at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

While Dashlane is pioneering the Open YOLO effort, other password managers are expected…

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CustomerXPs, Dashlane, FIS, Google, Green Dot, ID Analytics, Narrative Science, Prosper, Revolut, WorthFM, Zopa

On Finovate.com

Dashlane and Google Partner to Improve Online Security via Open YOLO Prosper Closes in on $5 Billion Commitment for New Loans

Around the web

FIS and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson extend VC FinTech Accelerator program to 2018. Revolut app tops 250,000 users. Narrative Science launches Solution Provider program. Oprah Winfrey Network names WorthFM founder and CEO Amanda Steinberg to the inaugural Opray Winfrey Network SuperSoul 100. Banking technology interviews Rivi Varghese, CEO of CustomerXPs Software. American Banker: Profits, Revenue Forecast Rise at Green Dot LifeLock Promotes CEO of ID Analytics Zopa gives a rundown of its four-year history.

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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Azimo Launches Money Transfers on Facebook Messenger

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

With its new launch today, Azimo is making global money transfers as easy as sending a message. The London-based company now lets customers send money to 190+ countries via Facebook Messenger, which counts one billion users.

Azimo's integration with Facebook Messenger reaches customers in the channel they're already using. It makes transferring money easy: No IBAN number, contact details, or other info is required.

Azimo's users (iOS or Android) simply select who they want to pay, how much to send, and request the recipient's details on Facebook Messenger. Within the Facebook app, the recipient enters their details to complete the transfer. Azimo offers the option of transferring the money to their bank or to one of its 290,000 brick-and-mortar pick-up locations.

Here's a video tutorial from Azimo:

https://youtu.be/LN8U_28-uEw

This news comes just over a month after the company launched its Facebook Messenger chatbot, which uses AI and machine learning to create a natural, human-like conversational chat experience.

Founded in 2012, Azimo…

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