Blog - Page 723 of 1289

SBDA Group Wins Gold, Sedicii Takes Silver at UniCredit Hackathon

By David Penn Posted on July 21, 2016
Categories: SBDA Group, Sedicii

Two Finovate alums took home top honors at the UniCredit Appathon event this week. SBDA Group won first place for its Smartbanking app that uses transaction data to help users budget and manage their finances. Coming in second was Irish authentication specialist Sedicii, whose technology enables customers to authenticate themselves to a network or service without having to share a password or other personal information.

The goal of the Appathon is to stimulate innovation "both within and beyond the bank" said Paolo Fiorentino, UniCredit Deputy General Manager. Indeed, the first place prize of the hackathon is the chance to work with a team from UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions (an opportunity valued at €50,000). The second place prize was a pair of tickets to FinovateLondon 2017 (an awesome award, in our humble opinion), and the third place winner, Rome's All Industries, won a virtual reality headset for its digital financial assistant, TalkForce…

Fintech Fundings: 26 Companies Raise $280 Million in 4th Week of June

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 21, 2016
Categories: Funding

It was a huge week in German fintech funding, coinciding with, but too soon to be caused by, Brexit. Eight of the 26 global deals were German with five out of Berlin, one from Frankfurt (Finovate alum ayondo), and one in Koln. The total raised by the eight was at least $60 million (although two raised undisclosed amounts). Digital startup bank Number26 pulled in the bulk of that figure by landing a massive $40 million round.

All told, 26 fintech companies worldwide raised $281 million during the third week of June, including five Finovate alums:

Plaid landed $44 million from Goldman Sachs Socure received a major investment from Santander ayondo completed a reverse IPO valued at $117 million Payfone landed $2.7 million as the first part of a larger round

The total number of deals YTD stands at 688, nearly double last year’s 353. Total dollars raised YTD is now $17.1 billion, $9 billion more than…

Finovate Debuts: How Blend is Reinventing the Mortgage Application Process

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 21, 2016
Categories: Blend, Finovate Debuts

Blend, whose name stands for better lending, uses a two-pronged approach that benefits both lenders and borrowers. The San Francisco-based company offers mortgage lenders white-labeled technology to help efficiently originate loans while giving applicants the smoother user experience they've come to expect.

In the company's FinovateSpring 2016 demo, Blend's Head of Product Pranay Kapadia, speaking about the mortgage-application process, asked, "How do we make this financial, stressful transaction as humanistic as possible, so it's as though you're working with a financial adviser?" Kapadia went on to explain that Blend's mobile-first design walks users through the mortgage-purchase experience by asking questions, offering contextual help, and learning about each applicant's unique needs.

Company facts:

Founded in 2012 80+ employees Helped originate $6 billion in mortgage loans in Q4 2015 One third of Blend mortgage applications take place on mobile devices Almost half of Blend's applicants fill out mortgage applications outside of customer-support hours Blend's Alec Roth, sales, and Pranay Kapadia, head of product, demonstrated at FinovateSpring 2016.

…

Mastercard to Buy VocaLink for Up to $1.14 Billion After Masterpass Expansion to Retail

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 21, 2016
Categories: MasterCard

After launching the Masterpass mobile payment app for retail stores last week, payment giant Mastercard today announced it has agreed to purchase a majority stake of U.K.-based VocaLink for up to $1.14 billion.

In the all-cash deal, Mastercard will pay $920 million for a 92.4% stake in VocaLink and an additional $220 million if performance targets are met. The outstanding 7.6% share of VocaLink will remain in the hands of its 13 bank shareholders.

The acquisition is expected to offer Mastercard a stronger footing in the United Kingdom where VocaLink processes more than 90% of salaries and more than 70% of household bills. In 2015, the company processed 11 billion transactions and its revenues totaled $240 million. Once the deal is complete, VocaLink CEO David Yates will join the Mastercard management committee.

Mastercard told TechCrunch that the deal is unrelated to Brexit. “As you can imagine, it has been worked on for many months,” a spokesperson…

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on July 21, 2016
Categories: Blend, Cachet Financial Solutions, Cloud Lending, GMC Software Technology, Google Cloud Platform, MasterCard, ProfitStars, SBDA Group, Sedicii, Solace Systems

On Finovate.com

Mastercard to Buy VocaLink for Up to $1.14 Billion After Masterpass Expansion to Retail Finovate Debuts: How Blend is Reinventing the Mortgage Application Process SBDA Group Wins Gold, Sedicii Takes Silver at UniCredit Hackathon

On FinDEVr.com

Mexico's Grupo Bursátil Deploys Messaging Tech from Solace Systems

Around the web

GMC Software Technology announces integration with DocuSign to streamline business workflows. Cloud Lending Solutions adds new online modules to its Learning program. Google Cloud Platform opens its first West Coast region. Rapid Financial Solutions Partners with Cachet Financial Solutions to Deliver Mobile Money Solutions to More Than 2 Million Cardholders The Tennessean lists ProfitStars in Nashville's top workplaces for 2016.

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.

Final Deadline to Present at FinDEVr Silicon Valley

By Heather Stowell Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: FinDEVr 2016 Silicon Valley, FinDEVr Marketing

It may be the dog days of summer with long weekends and vacations still to come, but don't neglect the tech. The biggest and best FinDEVr Silicon Valley is just three months away. And the final deadline to apply to speak at the event is this Friday, July 22. If you want to reach 600+ technical attendees in the fintech and financial services industry, submit an application this week (see below for more details).

FinDEVr is the only conference focused on the technology side of fintech. Its mission is to serve the financial services developer community. Showcasing the latest tools, technologies, APIs, platforms, case studies and tutorials, we help CTOs, developers, software architects, UX designers, engineers, product managers and other technologists create the next wave of fintech innovation.

For presenters, FinDEVr is a powerful platform to:

Drive product adoption of APIs/platforms/SDKs Showcase new technology and the inspiration behind it Establish technical leadership of the…

Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: Actiance

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…

Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisors

By David Penn Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: Sezzle

A pair of former PayPal vets are joining Team Sezzle.

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."

Founded…

Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO

By David Penn Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: Zopa

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…

FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: BehavioSec, Braintree, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Kabbage, PayPal, Xignite

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.

Dev news

A modern-day Renaissance: APIs fuel a cultural shift in businesses.

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

IB Times features BehavioSec. 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.

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

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: Funding

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:

Cachet Financial Systems recorded a $2.55 million convertible note to further its remote deposit business StockTwits took in $2 million for its trading information platform Sezzle grabbed $500,000 to enhance its pay-by-bank-transfer service

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…

Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 20, 2016
Categories: Polly Portfolio

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.

In 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…