BancVue’s Kasasa Spreads to 1,800+ Client Branch Locations Across 46 U.S. States

BancVue’s Kasasa Spreads to 1,800+ Client Branch Locations Across 46 U.S. States
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BancVue, Kasasa

KasasaHomepage

BancVue-owned Kasasa is known for giving community financial institutions (CFIs) a leg up against top-tier banks. Today, the Austin-based company divulged some numbers to offer a better picture of its reach in the industry:

  • 46: Number of states with Kasasa CFIs
  • 1,801: Number of client branch locations
  • 685,000+: Number of Kasasa-branded accounts opened since its 2009 launch
  • $156 million: Amount paid out in Kasasa rewards, cash-back, and ATM fee reimbursement
  • 93%: Percentage of account holders that say they love their account
  • $260 million: Amount of non-interest income Kasasa products have generated for clients

Kasasa didn’t hint at its official number of clients. But it did note that if all Kasasa clients were a single bank, they would have the seventh largest U.S. branch network.

Gabe Krajicek, BancVue CEO, states that as Kasasa grows, it plans to increase the breadth of services offered to community financial institutions.

BancVue launched Kasasa at FinovateFall 2009.

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Yodlee Brings “Sense” to Forward-Looking Bank Balances

Yodlee Brings “Sense” to Forward-Looking Bank Balances
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: BBVA Compass, Key Bank, Moven, Personal Financial Management, Simple, Yodlee

yodlee_sense_lowbalFor several years I’ve used the forward-looking balance feature from Simple’s “Safe to Spend” and Key Bank’s MyControlBanking as a great example of where banking/PFM is headed (see notes 1, 2, 3). But this seemingly vital PFM feature has not been adopted by other major players.

My hypothesis is that banks are (rightly) afraid of the cost (customer service, litigation, fines, CFPB backlash) if it doesn’t work perfectly. The false positive problem is especially daunting (note 3). You tell customers they are good to go and then Monday morning you bounce two of their checks collecting $70 in OD fees.

Enter Yodlee’s version of the forward-looking balance summary, Sense. The service made its industry debut at FinovateSpring last month (video here and below). With 15 years’ experience providing mega-banks with data aggregation and PFM services, it may have the necessary credibility to power forward-looking banking features for its client banks.

Bottom line: Regardless of where the algorithms are sourced, I hope banks come to their senses soon, and offer seamless money-management guidance.

——-

Yodlee Sense demo at FinovateSpring 2015 (13 May)

——–

Notes:
1. U.K.’s stealthy banking startup Mongo appears to be working on a similar function.
2. Simple was acquired by BBVA Compass in 2014 for $117 million.
3. Moven provides a compelling alternative-spending feedback/prediction system which is less likely to produce false positives. The neo-bank startup constantly compares your spending velocity with historical trends, to provide a real-time green-light/red-light indicator when you are headed towards overspending (see its FinovateSpring Best of Show 2015 demo here). For extra credit, the Moven app makes it easy to lock away the extra cash saved in the lower spending months.

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FutureAdvisor Grows 10x to $600+ Million Under Management

FutureAdvisor Grows 10x to $600+ Million Under Management
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FutureAdvisor

FutureAdvisorHomepage

In an era when half of millennials are not saving for retirement, robo-advisors have entered the market to help make the task less daunting. One of the players on the robo-advisory field, FutureAdvisor, released metrics today supporting its growth.

The San Francisco-based company currently markets two products, one aimed to help users build their existing retirement fund and another to grow 529 college savings funds. The company’s freemium service offers either a fully managed account service or a free, advice-only resource.

As a money manager, FutureAdvisor invests on behalf of 4,000 clients whose average portfolio totals $143,000. The company’s assets under management now total $603 million, a figure which has grown 10x since last June.

The company’s free, advisory-only service tracks $40 billion in assets for its 320,000+ registered users.

FutureAdvisorUse

FutureAdvisor, which differentiates itself by using real people in tandem with its algorithm-based robo-advisory service, has raised $21.5 million, including a $15.5 million Series B round in May 2014.

The startup debuted FutureAdvisor Premium at FinovateFall 2013 in New York.

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Prairie CloudWare Announces New Round of Investment

Prairie CloudWare Announces New Round of Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Prairie Cloudware

PrairieCloudware_homepage_June2015

Omaha, Nebraska’s Prairie Cloudware has raised an undisclosed sum in its latest round of funding. Participants in the round included the company’s founders, as well as “existing local angel investors.”

Prairie Cloudware said the new capital, which takes the company’s total to $5 million, will help it launch an “early version” of its Digital Payments Guardian technology later this year. Digital Payments Guardian was demonstrated at Prairie Cloudware’s Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

“Apple and Google have created significant momentum around mobile payments,” said William Fisher, Prairie Cloudware chairman and CEO. “But ultimately, payments are the domain of banks and credit unions.”

PrairieCloudware_FS2015_stage

Prairie Cloudware Chief Revenue Officer Doug Parr and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Carter demonstrated Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015.

And as these banks and credit unions begin launching their own mobile wallets and payment services, Prairie Cloudware will be there. “Our plan is to enable financial institutions to provide secure digital payments no matter what device or mobile wallet the consumer selects,” Fisher said.

Digital Payments Guardian is a cloud-based gateway that enables banks and credit unions to provide digital payment services to their customers over a variety of channels using the FI’s current digital payments infrastructure. The solution helps reduce fraud by validating identity during transactions and using tokenization to protect payment data.

This last point was underscored by attendees at Prairie Cloudware’s debut at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose last month, with one person tweeting “open tokenized payments for banks to be a part of the wallet wars.” Others highlighted the platform’s ability to create customized offers, give customers potentially greater control over their digital payments, and enable banks to offer digital wallets that provide real value and convenience.

Prairie Cloudware was founded in December 2012.

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Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums

Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, SigFig, Xignite

Xignite_homepage_June2015

APIs from Xignite are helping four Finovate alums bring their technologies to the Apple Watch.

Betterment, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, and SigFig all have taken advantage of Xignite APIs to provide their Apple Watch-wearing customers with tools to help them stay on top of their investments and finances. The features enabled by the APIs range from real-time news alerts on stocks and the ability to place live stock trades, to monitoring spending and conducting portfolio maintenance.

Personal Capital CTO Fritz Robbins called Xignite’s APIs a “key piece” in its ability to provide its customers with timely, accurate information. Xignite CEO Stephane Dubois added that his company’s cloud platform was uniquely positioned to serve the “billions of devices coming online every day.”

Xignite_FEU2015_stage

Xignite CEO and founder Stephane Dubois demonstrated FactSet Fundamentals API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

“We are proud to be enabling these firms to make this leap into different technological ventures with our comprehensive and unique delivery of market data through our APIs,” Dubois said.

A leading provider of market-data cloud-solutions, Xignite’s reputation as the data provider behind fintech’s most dramatic disruptors is well earned. Earlier this month, CNBC took a look at some of Xignite’s clients, putting six of them (including five Finovate alums) on its CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Among the winners of the Benzinga Fintech Awards in April, 17 of the nominees and 11 of the winners used Xignite’s cloud-based financial market data (on its own, Xignite won “Best in Show” runner-up.) Recent partnerships with BMO Financial Group, ChartIQ, and MSCI this spring have helped Xignite significantly expand the range and variety of market data it can provide to its clients.

Xignite demoed its FactSet Fundamentals API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London, and participated in the inaugural FinDEVr event in San Francisco in the fall of 2014. Founded in 2006, Xignite is located in San Mateo, California.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avalara, BehavioSec, InComm, On Deck Capital, Personal Capital, Tradier, Wallaby Financial, WePay, Xignite

Are you building new financial technology? Be sure to register now for the only event exclusively for fintech developers, FinDEVr 2015, 6/7 Oct 2015 in San Francisco.

FinDEVr2015-SF-Logo-StackedwdateThe latest from FinDEVr 2015 presenters:

  • Wallaby totals 2,700 credit cards and 500 banks in Cardbase database.
  • Avalara adds SuiteRetail to its list of certified solution partners.
  • GeekWire considers Avalara’s success, including its corporate lounge at the U.S. Open.
  • Financial Times lists Personal Capital in its Top 300 RIA List.
  • Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris, former PayPal CEO, discusses how PayPal fits into mobile payments.
  • Personal Capital launches Retirement Calculator that pulls data directly from your account to give you a reality check about saving.
  • Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums.

Alumni updates:

  • Tradier integrates with OneOption to advance options-trading platform.
  • Finovate talks payment API security with John Canfield, VP of risk for WePay.
  • Fortune Magazine and Great Place to Work place On Deck Capital on list of 100 best places to work for millennials.
  • Finance Magnates features Tradier in its Fintech Spotlight.
  • Payments Source features BehavioSec’s biometric security solution (paywall).
  • InComm partners with U.K.-based Sainsbury’s to help consumers save on the cost of fuel at Sainsbury’s petrol stations after buying gift cards.

Stay up to date on daily developments by following FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Currency Cloud Cooks Up $18 Million in New Funding Round

Currency Cloud Cooks Up $18 Million in New Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, The Currency Cloud

CurrencyCloudHomepage

Cross-border payments as a service company Currency Cloud closed an $18 million Series C funding round this week, bringing its total funding to $36 million.

Strategic contributors to the round include SAP’s independent venture arm, Sapphire Ventures, along with the Rakuten FinTech Fund. The U.K.-based company will leverage the SAP relationship to offer cross-border money remittance services to SAP’s business customers. Currency Cloud will work with Japan-based Rakuten to help guide its expansion into Asia next year.

Existing investors also contributed to the round:

  • XAnge Private Equity
  • Notion Capital
  • Atlas Venture
  • Anthemis Group

The company will use the funds to invest in R&D, product enhancements, and to support international expansion. Last year Currency Cloud expanded to the U.S. and opened an office in New York.

Currency Cloud, which launched in 2012, has seen 100% year-over-year revenue growth over the past two years. Adding to its success, this year Currency Cloud received an eMoney license from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This permits it to execute payment transactions and issue electronic money.

Michael Laven, Currency Cloud CEO, divulged additional metrics in an interview with TechCrunch:

Laven says that by the end of 2015, the company will be processing $1 billion per month in transactions. Those transactions, meanwhile, tend to be for around $15,000 to $20,000, with “many” extending to $1 million.

At FinovateSpring 2015, Currency Cloud launched Payment Engine, an API that Finovate alums such as Transferwise, Azimo, Kantox, Fidor Bank, and CurrencyTransfer use to power their services. Check out its launch video below:

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, blooom, Currency Cloud, FutureAdvisor, InComm, Insuritas, Lending Club, Misys, Moven, Personal Capital, Prairie Cloudware, Qapital, Xignite

On Finovate.com

  • Currency Cloud Cooks Up $18 Million in New Funding Round
  • FutureAdvisor Grows 10x to $600+ Million Under Management
  • Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums
  • Prairie Cloudware Announces New Round of Investment

Around the web:

  • Insuritas to power insurance-agency solution to First Federal Savings Bank of Wyoming.
  • American Banker mentions how Qapital and Moven recently updated their software to make saving easier.
  • Digital Transactions recognizes Payzur from Acculynk as a P2P payments leader.
  • Misys wins Best Trade Finance Tech Solutions Company at the Trade Finance Awards for Excellence.
  • Fortune profiles Blooom President Greg Smith, former Goldman Sachs banker.
  • Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris, former PayPal CEO, discusses how PayPal fits into mobile payments.
  • InComm partners with U.K.-based Sainsbury’s to help consumers save on the cost of fuel at Sainsbury’s petrol stations after buying gift cards.
  • Jo Ann Barefoot podcast interviews Lending Club founder and CEO, Renaud Laplanche.

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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New $175 Million Investment Earns Credit Karma a $3.5 Billion Valuation

New $175 Million Investment Earns Credit Karma a $3.5 Billion Valuation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Karma, Funding, Lending Club

CreditKarma_homepage_June2015

An investment of $175 million has boosted Credit Karma’s total capital to $368.5 million and given the company a valuation of $3.5 billion.

Participating in the Series D round were Tiger Global Management, Valinor Management, and Viking Global Investors. Credit Karma said the new funding will help them add new features to the platform.

“Today, no one tells you when your credit rating goes up or when a lower interest rate is available for your loan,” says Ken Lin, Credit Karma CEO and founder. “We’ll soon be able to let people know when they have an opportunity to save money, and if they’ll be approved, with new levels of certainty.”

Lin says he plans to leverage the data insights from the company’s more than 40 million members to “deliver top-quality insights for everyone looking to improve their personal finances.”

The funding announcement also included a preview of what Credit Karma has in store for the platform. This new functionality includes the ability to consolidate student loans with just a few clicks; comparison-shop for customized insurance quotes; find the best credit card for their spending and savings profile, and more. “Our members will be able to apply for something without filling out endless forms,” says Nikhyl Singhal, Credit Karma’s chief product officer. The goal is to ensure that customers don’t have to provide any more personal information than is absolutely necessary, while at the same time providing access to a broad variety of potential lenders.

It was less than a year ago that Credit Karma announced a valuation of $1 billion, and a little over a year since the company began providing free weekly credit reports to its members. This spring, Credit Karma launched its Thin File customer experience, which helps members with little or no credit history review their own situation to learn how to build a good credit history and see which credit products (cards and loans) would be most appropriate for their needs.

Credit Karma last demoed as part of FinovateSpring 2009. Named to Inc.’s “20 Financial Startups You Need to Know” in May, Credit Karma was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco. It is now the second-most-valuable Finovate alum, trailing only Lending Club (LC), trading at a $6.2 billion valuation today.

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Lake Trust Credit Union Launches Larky-powered Mobile Rewards App

Lake Trust Credit Union Launches Larky-powered Mobile Rewards App
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Larky

Larky_homepage_June 2015

A new mobile rewards program, “Lake Trust GO,” will soon be available to the more than 170,000 members of the Lake Trust Credit Union courtesy of a new partnership between the credit union and Larky.

“Our Larky-powered rewards program will produce tangible savings for members and create stronger and longer-lasting relationships that improve the health of our community-based credit union,” said Danielle Brehmer, Lake Trust Credit Union’s SVP for brand, strategy and culture. She believes the solution will grow Lake Trust’s commercial and retail membership as well as increase wallet share and interchange revenue.

Larky co-founder Andrew Bank called Lake Trust CU “innovative” and one of Michigan’s leading credit unions. Lake Trust Credit Union has more than $1.6 billion in assets and serves customers in a 35-county area in Michigan. Lake Trust CU was established in 2010 as Detroit Edson Credit Union (est. 1944) and NuUnion Credit Union agreed to merge to form what is now Michigan’s fourth largest credit union.

Larky_FF2014_stage

From left: Co-founders Greg Hammerman and Andrew Bank demonstrated the Larky platform at FinovateFall 2014.

Larky helps financial institutions, healthcare insurers, and membership organizations engage their customers and members by providing location-based discounts via “client-branded” online and web platforms. The solution supports local businesses, and Larky says that increased wallet share and better retention rates are among the benefits for banks. Lake Trust CU customers enrolled in the free GO local rewards program will receive discounts when paying with their Lake Trust credit or debit cards at the more than 220 local merchants around Ann Arbor, Brighton, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Howell, and Lansing. The standalone app is available on both iOS and Android.

The Lake Trust CU deployment follows news earlier this month that the Kentucky Bankers Association had selected Larky to provide mobile rewards programs for its member banks. The technology is also being used by Coast Hills FCU ($839 million in assets); Christian Financial Credit Union ($325 million in assets); and Chelsea State Bank ($290 million in assets); as well as by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Larky was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded by Andrew Bank and Gregg Hammerman, the company has raised more than $2 million in funding.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Credit Karma, Jack Henry, Kabbage, Larky, LoanNow, Money on Toast, Motif Investing, Nutmeg, On Deck Capital, Onovative

On Finovate.com

  • Mobile Fees: BillGuard Goes Freemium with Integrated Credit Monitoring
  • New $175 Million Investment Earns Credit Karma a $3.5 Billion Valuation
  • Lake Trust Credit Union Launches Larky-powered Mobile Rewards App

Around the web

  • The Financial Times looks at progress from robo-advisor services Nutmeg and Money on Toast.
  • FCI Federal Credit Union deploys CruiseNet core processing system from Jack Henry’s Symitar division.
  • UPS Capital, the financial services business division for United Parcel Service, to offer loans to its small business customers via Kabbage.
  • Motif launches new website for improved user experience.
  • Fortune Magazine and Great Place to Work name On Deck Capital 1 of 100 best places to work for millennials.
  • CU Management features Onovative in a discussion on innovations in new member onboarding.

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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Mobile Fees: BillGuard Goes Freemium with Integrated Credit Monitoring

Mobile Fees: BillGuard Goes Freemium with Integrated Credit Monitoring
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Credit Reports & ID Theft Protection, Fee Income, Security & Privacy

 

billguard choices

We are always on the lookout for digital fee-income opportunities. And if I got a nickel for every one of them I’ve ever found … I’d have about a buck at this point. Fees in U.S. online banking are rarer than the (not-so) mythical fintech unicorn. And mobile banking fees are pretty much non-existent outside a few remote deposit fees (see previous post).

billguard_main_newBut last week BillGuard demonstrated a promising new avenue for incremental fee income: Integrated mobile identity-theft alerts, resolution and insurance (see inset). Actual credit report access is not included, but BillGuard says that it is coming soon. The service is mobile only, and the company currently has no plans to add it to the desktop version.

The credit and fraud monitoring is powered by CSIdentity (CSID), an Austin-based firm that says it powers 80% of the retail identity-theft-protection industry. The company, founded in 2006, has raised $36 million in equity (mostly in 2010) and $6 million in debt.

What it costs
The service is value-priced, at $2.99/mo for the single bureau Pro version or $6.99/mo for the 3-bureau Ultimate. In comparison, most ID-protection services are in the $15 to $20/mo range (Experian charges $15.95/mo for a private-labeled version called ProtectMyID with BillGuard). Founder Yaron Samid says BillGuard provides essentially the same third-party monitoring as the $30/mo offering from Lifelock for one-fourth the cost. And with BillGuard, users get credit/debit card transaction monitoring (powered by Yodlee) for free.

BillGuard premium benefits:

  • Credit bureau monitoring (3 bureaus in Ultimate service, 1 in Pro service)
  • Identity restoration services (via call center help)
  • 24/7 call center support
  • Lost wallet recovery
  • Social Security Number fraud alerts (Ultimate service only)
  • Black market alerts (Ultimate only)
  • $1 million insurance (Ultimate only)

Cardholders are already looking to their smartphones to stay informed of problems in real-time (case in point, BofA just integrated fraud alerts into its mobile app). So it makes sense to deliver extra protections services in-app. Although there is stiff competition from free ad-supported versions such as Credit Karma, we believe integrated protection services are a logical fee-based upgrade for mobile banking customers.

——–

Screenshots

BillGuard iOS app homescreen includes a pitch for its premium ID protection (17 June 2015)

billguard_home

An actual fraud alert I received after signup for BillGuard Ultimate (19 June 2015)
Note: It was from a breach in November 2013. I assume I received the alert this week since I was a new customer.

billguard_fraudalert_adobe

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