Handpoint’s EMV-Capable Mobile POS Comes to U.S. and Canada

Handpoint’s EMV-Capable Mobile POS Comes to U.S. and Canada
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Handpoint

HandpointHomepage

NFC and EMV compatible point of sale (POS) terminals used to be called future-proof. With Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and the liability shift coming later this year in the U.S., the future is now.

Handpoint, a U.K.-based company that offers its EMV (Chip & PIN) solution to merchants in Europe and South Africa, announced today it is launching its complete EMV payments solution in the U.S. and Canada.

U.S.-based POS developers can now integrate Handpoint’s APIs and SDKs, offering merchants a white-label POS solution. Additionally, Handpoint will distribute its card readers that are PCI-DSS compliant and are able to handle EMV, MSR, and NFC payments, and global processing capabilities.

HandpointEMV

Handpoint HiLite EMV-capable card reader

To get started, merchants must pay a one-time setup fee for the card reader. While there’s no word on how much this will cost, Handpoint charges £99 in Europe. The company does not charge a monthly fee, but merchants pay a flat rate of 2.65% per transaction on Visa and MasterCard payments.

This comes on the heels of CardFlight’s announcement yesterday that it now offers an EMV-capable mPOS device.

CardflightHomepage

Handpoint demonstrated its hybrid magstripe chip reader unit at FinovateFall 2012.

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Fintech Fundings: 19 Companies Raised $180 Million Week Ending March 27

Fintech Fundings: 19 Companies Raised $180 Million Week Ending March 27
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

kofax_lexmark

It was a busy week as both Barclay’s Accelerator and YC announced their newly funded companies. In total, 19 companies announced new fundings bringing in a total of $181 million. Two of the top-3 deals involved Finovate alums with Ayadsi pulling in $55 million, Lendio $20.5 million, and Advanced Merchant Payments (undisclosed).

In addition, two Finovate alums were acquired at what appears to be profitable outcomes:

  • Kofax was acquired by printing giant Lexmark for $1 billion (post)
  • Learnvest was bought by mega-insurer Northwestern Mutual for a reported $250+ million (post)

Here are the fundings from March 21 to 27, in order of deal size:

LendingHome
Platform for investing in rental real estate
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $78 million
Total raised: $98 million
Tags: Home lending, mortgage, real estate
Source: Crunchbase

Ayadsi
Data analytics
HQ: Menlo Park, California
Latest round: $55 million
Total raised: $106.3 million
Tags: Big data, analytics, machine learning, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Lendio
Online small business lender
HQ: South Jordan, Utah
Latest round: $20.5 million
Total raised: $33 million (includes $2 million in debt)
Tags: SMB, lending, underwriting, credit, loans, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Property Partner
Platform for investing in rental real estate
HQ: London, UK
Latest round: $7.7 million
Total raised: $9.8 million
Tags: Real estate investing, marketplace lending, crowdfunding, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

Dream Payments
Canadian mobile payments startup
HQ: Toronto, Canada
Latest round: $6 million
Total raised: $6 million
Tags: Mobile payments, SMB, merchants
Source: FT Partners

SpotCap
Spanish small business online lender
Latest round: $5.4 million
Total raised: $21.9 million
Tags: SMB, lending, credit lines, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

iAngels
Platform for startup capital fundraising
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Latest round: $2.25 million
Total raised: $2.25 million
Tags: Investing, raising capital, equity investing, SMB
Source: FT Partners

Sensibill
Digital receipt platform
HQ: Toronto, Canada
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: Purchases, document management, mobile, SMB, PFM, accounting, expense management
Source: FT Partners

Fxkart
Foreign currency dealer aggregation
HQ: Bengaluru, India
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: Foreign exchange, remittances
Source: FT Partners

OpenGamma
Open platform for financial services risk management
HQ: London, UK
Latest round: $1.25 million
Total raised: $28.25 million
Tags: Compliance, risk, regulations, open source
Source: FT Partners

CityFalcon
News & information for traders
HQ: London, UK
Latest round: $300,000
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, information services
Source: Crunchbase

RazorPay
Stripe for India
HQ: Jaipur, India
Latest round: $120,000
Total raised: $120,000
Tags: Online payments, API, YC, acquiring, merchant, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Stockfuse
Gaming platform to find trading & banking talent
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $118,000
Tags: Bitcoin, investing, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, Barclays accelerator
Source: Crunchbase

Origin (no URL)
Direct platform for issuing corporate bonds
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $118,000
Tags: Barclays accelerator, commercial banking, enterprise, debt
Source: Crunchbase

Safello
European bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $1.1 million
Tags: Bitcoin, investing, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, Barclays accelerator
Source: Crunchbase

LiquidLandscape
Data visualization for traders
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $118,000
Tags: Barclays accelerator, trading, analytics, big data
Source: Crunchbase

BlockTrace
Certifies ownership & transaction history of diamonds
HQ: London, UK
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $118,000
Tags: Blockchain, crypto, precious gems, alternative assets, Barclays accelerator
Source: Crunchbase

Self Lender
Helps consumers establish credit via small loans
HQ: Denver, Colorado
Latest round: $118,000
Total raised: $118,000
Tags: Lending, payday alternatives, underwriting, underbanked, sub-prime, credit score, TechStars
Source: Crunchbase

Advanced Merchant Payments
Technology solutions for small business lending
HQ: Hong Kong, China
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: More than $5 million
Tags: SMB, underwriting, lending, Route 66 (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

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i-exceed’s Appzillion Brings Mobile App Dev Platform to Exim Bank

i-exceed’s Appzillion Brings Mobile App Dev Platform to Exim Bank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: i-exceed, Uncategorized

iexceed_homepage_full

When we last heard from i-exceed (FinovateAsia 2013), the company had launched a new website to better promote its flagship app development platform, Appzillion.

In the time since, the company has not been idle. In January, i-exceed announced that Indonesian ICT solutions company Telkomsigma will use Appzilllion as its mobile app development platform. This month, i-exceed reported that its Appzillion solution has been used to implement a mobile banking app for Exim Bank, Comoros, Africa.

Managing Director at i-exceed, Joseph John said the new app, which was built and deployed in three months, will help Exim Bank grow faster, increase profitability, and improve customer engagement. The app’s features include fund transfer, balance inquiry, and the ability to request a checkbook. Exim Bank, Comoros is part of Exim Bank, the sixth largest bank in Tanzania with more than one trillion Tanzanian shillings in total assets (more than $700 million USD) as of June 2013.

iexceed_FA2013_stage

Above (left to right): i-exceed Executive Director Kapil Gupta and Sudhir Babu, VP Technology, presenting at FinovateAsia 2013.

All this good work has not gone unrecognzed, i-exceed was picked to be one of 50 companies to participate in the InTech 50 2015. InTech 50 is an event that recognizes Indian startups that have shown technological innovation and achievement in the B2B space. Companies will make their five-minute pitches before a live audience, and winners in a variety of categories will be selected in an awards ceremony at the end of the second day.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bangalore, India, i-exceed has offices in Singapore and the U.S. (New Jersey). See the company’s live demonstration of Appzillion from FinovateAsia 2013.

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Finovate Debuts: Bendigo and Adelaide’s Mobile Wallet Has a Charity Play

Finovate Debuts: Bendigo and Adelaide’s Mobile Wallet Has a Charity Play
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Mobile Payments

RedyMobileHomepage

Australia’s Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (Bendigo) has long been known for its philanthropy. Its Community Bank branches, which enable local communities to own and operate a Bendigo Bank franchise, have contributed $125 million to local projects and charities. At FinovateEurope 2015, the Australia-based bank debuted redy, a mobile payments platform with a charitable element developed specifically for Bendigo by its subsidiary, Community Telco Australia.

Facts

  • Fifth-largest bank in Australia
  • Has almost 900 branches and agencies across Australia
  • $52 billion assets under management
  • $3 billion market cap

Redy positions itself as a community ecosystem more than a payment ecosystem. The local rewards system enables customers to earn creds (points) for every transaction on the redy platform. Creds add up to 0.5% of customers’ transactions, and can be donated to local charities or causes, or used in exchange for a discount toward a future purchase.

By offering customers an easy way to give to causes they care about, redy helps small businesses connect with customers.

For merchants

To begin using redy, Bendigo must first approve the merchant and set them up with a business account and a redy point-of-sale tablet.

Redy charges merchants a membership fee of $25 per month and a transaction fee of 1.5% of each purchase, 0.5% of which is returned to the customer to use as creds. The creds system offers businesses a way to encourage repeat spending and gives them an easy way to support local campaigns and charities.

RedyMerchant The Redy merchant terminal

Merchants also receive access to reports and analytics of transactions on the redy platform.

For customers

Customers download the free redy mobile app on their iOS or Android device, and link their Visa, MasterCard, or Bendigo savings account.

When ready to pay at a business that accepts redy, the customer enters their PIN, scans the QR code on the merchant’s tablet, and confirms the payment amount. The payment is secure and does not transfer the customers’ financial data to the merchant.

The redy system sends the customer a digital receipt. The creds the customer earns from the purchase are automatically credited to their account and ready to be donated or applied toward a repeat purchase.

RedyPaymentMethods Redy payment methods

For charities and local causes

Charities that register with Redy can tap into the pockets of Redy shoppers, who may opt to donate their creds to causes that matter to them and their community.

Here’s a sample of causes and charities registered on Redy:

RedyCausesandCharities

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank debuted redy at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

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LearnVest Acquired by Northwestern Mutual for More than $250 Million

LearnVest Acquired by Northwestern Mutual for More than $250 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: LearnVest, Uncategorized

Learnvest_homepage_full

Three-time Finovate Best of Show-winner LearnVest has agreed to be acquired by insurance giant Northwestern Mutual. As reported in Fortune.com, the company was bought for more than $250 million in cash.

LearnVest CEO and founder Alexa von Tobel said that her company’s acquisition by Northwestern Mutual will only extend her mission to bring “affordable, accessible, and delightful … unbiased financial planning” to a broader range of American households. Von Tobel will remain Chief Executive of the company, which will serve as an independent subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual, maintaining its LearnVest brand.

LearnVest_FF2013_stage

Above (left to right): LearnVest CEO and founder Alexa von Tobel presenting at FinovateFall 2013 in New York.

LearnVest combines a free, online PFM platform with the opportunity to work with professional, human financial advisors for a one-time set-up fee of $299 and $19/month for ongoing support. Tim Schaefer, executive vice president of operations and technology at Northwestern Mutual said, “We see that from an innovation standpoint, there’s a real opportunity to bring together cutting-edge technology with that human touch.”

And with Learnvest the second big finech acquisition of the week (Kofax being the first), it is all the more interesting to consider the take from Inc.com’s Jeremy Quittner, who suggested that acquisition may sometimes be a preferable “exit strategy” than an IPO for startups. LearnVest had raised $70 million in funding from 15 investors, according to Crunchbase, and was valued at more than a “cool quarter-billion” last spring during its most recent funding round.

LearnVest won Best of Show honors at each of its three Finovate appearances (FinovateFall 2011, FinovateFall 2012, and FinovateFall 2013). The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York City.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, EyeVerify, Fidor Bank, FIS, Handpoint, i-exceed, LearnVest, Malauzai Software, Mitek, Tradier

On Finovate.com:

  • LearnVest Acquired by Northwestern Mutual for More Than $250 Million.
  • Finovate Debuts: Bendigo and Adelaide’s Mobile Wallet Has a Charity Play.
  • i-exceed’s Appzillion Brings Mobile App Dev Platform to Exim Bank.
  • Handpoint’s EMV-Capable Mobile POS Comes to U.S. and Canada.

Around the Web:

  • AirWatch TV interviewed EyeVerify executive VP for Global Sales and Marketing, Chris Barnett.
  • FIS to provide fingerprint authentication to its Cardless Cash ATM application via Apple TouchID.
  • Celent names Fidor Bank its “Model Bank of the Year.”
  • American Banker highlights Mitek and Malauzai in a discussion on ID scanning and mobile account opening.
  • AlleyWatch features Tradier as a disruptor in financial services.
  • Financial News’ list of 40 leaders in fintech names multiple Finovate and FinDEVr alums.

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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Ayasdi Raises $55 Million in Series C Funding

Ayasdi Raises $55 Million in Series C Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Ayasdi, Uncategorized

Ayasdi_homepage_full

Machine learning algorithm specialist Ayasdi has raised $55 million in a new investment that doubles the company’s total capital.

The Series C round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), and featured participation from existing investors Citi Ventures, FLOODGATE, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), and Khosla Ventures. New investors Centerview Capital Technology and Draper Nexus were also part of the investment, which takes Ayasdi’s total funding to more than $100 million.

Ted Schlein of KPCB praised Ayasdi’s ability to make complex data analysis easier for large institutions and organizations. He cited the technology’s combination of “machine learning algorithms with topological mathematics and artificial intelligence” as a “breakthrough innovation that will drive the next information and productivity wave in the coming decade.”

Ayasdi_FF2014_stage2

Health care systems have been among the most eager adopters of the Ayasdi’s technology. But the company is working with three of the five largest financial institutions in the world to help them make smarter lending decisions, improve risk and compliance modeling, protect against fraud, and better serve private banking clients. Deborah Hopkins, Chief Innovation Officer of Citi and CEO of Citi Ventures said the technology provided insights that “enable Citi to tailor services to specific client needs, operate more efficiently, and mitigate risk.”

Learn more about Ayasdi from our November feature. The company’s CEO Gurjeet Singh has been profiled frequently in major media from Forbes to TechCrunch, as Ayasdi has forged partnerships with companies like Teradata and Cloudera to make its technology even more valuable to enterprise-level clients. In February, the company was named one of the 10 most innovative companies in Big Data by Fast Company for a second year in a row.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Ayasdi made its Finovate Debut in New York at FinovateFall 2014. See video of the company’s live demonstration of Ayasdi Finance.

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Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding

Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Funding

AMPHomepage2

Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP), a company that provides banks technology to offer loans to their small business customers, pulled in an undisclosed amount of funding today from Route 66 Ventures.

The new installment is a follow-on round to the $5 million Series A round received in November 2014 from SBT Venture Capital.

Hong Kong-based AMP enables banks and merchant acquirers to originate and manage small business loans. The loans are  made to serve small businesses that are too large for a consumer loan and too small for a traditional small business loan.

AMP will use the new funds to accelerate the development of its lending platform.

AMP, which operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom, debuted its small business lending solution for banks at FinovateEurope 2014. Check out the live demo:

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Kabbage Expands to Australia in New White-Label Collaboration with Kikka Capital

Kabbage Expands to Australia in New White-Label Collaboration with Kikka Capital
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kabbage, Uncategorized

Kabbage_FF2014_stage_full

Above (left to right): Kabbage COO Kathryn Petralia and CEO Robert Frohwein presenting at FinovateFall 2014

Guess which small business lender will soon be launching in the Land Down Under?

Kabbage has announced plans to move into the Australian market with a white-label offering of its small business lending technology. The launch in Australia represents Kabbage’s first foray into the Asia-Pacific region, having already been in operation in both the U.K. and the U.S.

The service in Australia will be operated by Kikka Capital, which is licensing the platform and will manage marketing, funding, and loan servicing. Kabbage will handle underwriting and management of the loans.

KikkaCapital_homepage_full

Kikka Capital founder and managing director David Brennan said that the collaboration with Kabbage was a unique opportunity to bring “breakthrough lending technology” to Australia. “Launching on the Kabbage platform allows us to dramatically accelerate our entry into small business lending,” Brennan said.

For Peter Steger, head of business development for Kabbage, the collaboration is a reflection of the platform’s flexibility and an opportunity for Kabbage to access new markets. Kabbage was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company has funded more than $550 million in loans to small businesses. Kabbage Loans range from $2,000 to $100,000, terms are six months, and small businesses only need a business checking account or PayPal account to apply. Approval only takes a few minutes once all data is provided and accounts verified.

Kabbage_homepage_full

Rather than charge interest, Kabbage assess a lending fee between 1%-13.5% of the amount borrowed for the first two months of the loan, then 1% each month for the balance of the six-month term. There are no early repayment penalties.

An eight-time Finovate alum, Kabbage was last on the Finovate stage in the fall of 2014 in New York. At the show, Kabbage launched Karrot.com, a full-automated consumer marketplace lending product. See the live demo.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, Advanced Merchant Payments, Ayasdi, CardFlight, Google Cloud Platform, HelloWallet, Innosect, Innovation Agency, Kabbage, Malauzai Software, PayStand, Roostify, TSYS, Uncategorized, Yodlee

On Finovate.com:

  • Kabbage Expands to Australia in New, White-Label Collaboration with Kikka Capital.
  • Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding.
  • Ayasdi Raises $55 Million in Series C Funding.

Around the Web:

  • Yodlee joins FinTech Sandbox as data partner.
  • Acculynk unveils new mobile wallet authentication service for issuers and providers.
  • Innosect (formerly Innovation Café) acquires Clientific.
  • 5+ Community FIs to launch Apple Watch offering powered by Malauzai. Come see its live demo at FinovateSpring in San Jose May 12-13.
  • CardFlight Announces Availability of EMV-Ready Chip Card Readers for SwipeSimple Mobile Point-of-Sale Solution.
  • Rajesh Bhat, Co-founder at Roostify, shares what he learned from Yodlee Interactive Incubator Boot Camp 1.
  • Google Cloud Platform introduces Google Cloud Launcher, where you can launch open source packages configured by Bitnami or Google Click to Deploy.
  • HelloWallet launches Emergency Savings Calculator.
  • Orchard Platform and Kabbage Announce Partnership to Provide Investors’ Access to Karrot Consumer Loans.
  • PayStand mobile iOS app now available to allow credit card, check and Bitcoin payments.

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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Printer Giant Lexmark to Acquire Kofax for $1 Billion

Printer Giant Lexmark to Acquire Kofax for $1 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kofax, Mergers & Acquisitions

KofaxHomepage

Kofax creates mobile and web solutions made to simplify customer interactions. The California-based company announced today it has been acquired by Kentucky-based Lexmark International, a global corporation with approximately $3.8 billion in revenue.

Kofax’s Board of Directors, which accounts for 25% of the company’s shareholders, unanimously voted in favor of the merger. Lexmark will pay $11 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of Kofax, for a total value of $1 billion (net of cash acquired).

Lexmark is well-known for its hardware, such as printers, copiers, and fax machines. The company also distributes document imaging and electronic form software, under the brand Perceptive Software, that competes with Kofax’s offerings. Scott Coons, Perceptive Software president and CEO and Lexmark VP states:

“The combination of Perceptive Software and Kofax solutions strengthens the breadth and depth of our offering, giving us an… ability to help customers… connect unstructured information to their systems of record.”

Additionally, Lexmark anticipates the acquisition will expand its reach to mid-market business customers. Kofax has 20,000 customers and 850 channel partners across the globe.

LexmarkHomepage

When the acquisition closes in Q2 of 2015, Lexmark will double the size of the software branch of its business.

Kofax was founded in 1985. Reynolds Bish is CEO. The company last demoed at FinovateSpring 2014 where it debuted its Mobile Capture Platform. Kofax won Best of Show at FinovateAsia 2013 in Singapore.

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Bank Innovation’s Coolest Brands of 2015 Features Finovate Alums

Bank Innovation’s Coolest Brands of 2015 Features Finovate Alums
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dwolla, Fastacash, Fidor Bank, Fiserv, Lending Club, Ripple, Venmo, Xignite

BankInnovation_coolbrands2015

 

As if the challenge of developing innovative technologies were not enough, fintech companies today are also busy building brand identities that will help them stand out from the pack.

Bank Innovation took a look at brand identity in banking and banking technology. The result was a list of the 10 Coolest Brands of 2015 – half of which are Finovate alums.

The list runs the gamut from innovative startups doing interesting things with alternative currencies, to banks willing to take more and smarter risks than their rivals when it comes to leveraging financial technology to better serve their customers and clients.

Writing about the selection process, Bank Innovation’s Philip Ryan acknowledged the “ethereal” nature of the project: “like all brands, our list is based on nothing less than our ‘impressions,’ ‘feelings,’ and ‘beliefs.” At the same time, Ryan noted: “Mainly, we have relied on fact – what has been done and accomplished – for in the end the most profound determinant of a brand’s worth is what it yields.”

Here are the five Finovate alums that made Bank Innovations’ Coolest Brands of 2015. The full list is available here.

Also earning commendation were three other Finovate alums: Dwolla, Fastacash, and Fiserv.

2015 marked the fourth year in a row Bank Innovation has published its Coolest Brands in banking roundup (take a peek at their 2014 list here). Special congratulations to Venmo for making the list both this year and last.

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