Blog - Page 807 of 1215

Alumni News– January 29, 2015

By David Penn Posted on January 29, 2015
Categories: AdviceGames, Ayasdi, BillGuard, Cachet Financial Solutions, Coinbase, Fiserv, Flint Mobile, Google Cloud Platform, Red Zebra, Ripple, Simple, Tinkoff Credit Systems, Tradeshift, Venmo

Tinkoff Bank to deploy fraud prevention solution from Iris Analytics.

EagleBank implements EnAct client management and sales software from Fiserv.

KDnuggets interviews Anthony Bak, principal data scientist for Ayasdi.

Red Zebra Analytics brings its card-linked offers service to Germany.

Ripple Labs raises $30 million in Series A round.

CNBC Tech Check interviews Tradeshift CEO Christian Lanng.

Computer Business Review features Venmo and Flint Mobile in its list of “5 mobile apps to turn your wallet digital.

Datamonitor analyst describes why he’s looking forward to watching Advice Games’ demo at FinovateEurope 2015.

Simple now works on BillGuard.

Google Cloud Platform now available to VMware customers.

TechCrunch explores Coinbase’s recently launched U.S. exchange.

Cachet Financial Solutions integrates with Apple Pay.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Ripple Labs Raises $30 Million in Series A Round

By David Penn Posted on January 28, 2015
Categories: Ripple

The Wall Street Journal, Crunchbase, and other sources are reporting that open payments protocol specialist, Ripple Labs, has raised $30 million in new funding. Although the company has not confirmed some of the details of the deal, participating investors are believed to be IDG Capital Partners, Google Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz.

This latest infusion of capital follows successful angel and seed funding rounds which raised $9 million in 2013, and takes the company’s total capital to nearly $40 million. WSJ further reported that the investment puts Ripple Labs’ valuation at $100 million.

(Crypto Coins News helpfully compares this valuation to Ripple’s “primary value in XRP” to arrive at a very different figure.)

Ripple Labs developed the Ripple protocol, a distributed open source payment network that enables the real-time transfer of funds in any currency. The technology was deployed by Fidor Bank AG last May, and in September Cross River Bank and CBW Bank became the first U.S. banks to incorporate the Ripple protocol into its settlement operations. In January, Ripple Labs named Gene Sperling, former Chief White House Advisor, to its board of directors.

The investment comes at a time of resurgent optimism for digital and cryptocurrencies like Ripple. Recent investment in bitcoin exchange Coinbase, which opened its first U.S. exchange this week, has helped restore interest in the technology after the price of bitcoin dripped below $300 and fell to as low as $178.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, Ripple demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco. Chris Larsen is CEO.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Alumni News– January 28, 2015

By David Penn Posted on January 28, 2015
Categories: Azimo, Backbase, Credit Sesame, Expensify, Fenergo, Global Debt Registry, Insuritas, Intuit, iQuantifi, Sonavation, ThreatMetrix

Easier Finance features Azimo in its list of the top money saving apps for 2015.

The Credit.com Blog writes about how Global Debt Registry can help consumers track down old debts.

Sonavation hires Karl Weintz as president and CEO.

Jim Siegienski of iQuantifi wins “CTO of the Year” award from 2014 Nashville Technology Council.

Fenergo earns top 100 ranking among risk technology providers according to Chartis.

CheBanca! to deploy digital banking platform from Backbase.

Insuritas to provide Tulsa FCU with insurance agency solution inside Tulsa’s existing insurance agency platform.

My Bank Tracker lists Expensify as 1 of 6 best apps for preparing your tax return.

Intuit and Uber partner to enable Uber drivers to import their earnings into the QuickBooks software.

ThreatMetrix enhances multi-factor authentication solutions for financial services institutions.

Credit Sesame and Identity Theft Council bring identity theft awareness to 100 cities.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Red Zebra Analytics Brings its Card-Linked Offers Service to Germany

By David Penn Posted on January 27, 2015
Categories: Red Zebra

Courtesy of a five-year extension of its partnership with Red Zebra Analytics, cash-back offers are coming to customers of Germany’s Wüstenrot Bank.

“We bring together consumers, banks, and retailers, with highly targeted rewards based on spending patterns,” explained Red Zebra Analytics CEO Attul Sehgal.

“With our innovative card-link loyalty programme, banks build a closer relationship with their customers by personalizing the services and cash-back offers according to individual preferences.”

Red Zebra notes that its card-link offers service is the “first of its kind in Germany and second in Europe.” Without relying on vouchers or coupons, the service automatically presents customers with offers when they log into their online bank or credit card accounts. Customers choose the offers they want, and those offers are activated when the customer purchases the item or service using their bank debit or credit card. Discount are granted as cash payments on a monthly basis.

Red Zebra’s technology takes advantage of real-time data to enable the kind of targeted campaigns that will better engage and retain customers. Consumers benefit from increased savings on the debit and credit cards they are already using.

(Above, left to right: Ina Meixner, Marketing Manager, Europe; Attul Sehgal, CEO at FinovateEurope 2014)

The Wüstenrot Bank launch is the product of a collaboration that began in June 2013, and was piloted in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in London, Red Zebra Analytics demoed its 3D OFFERS loyalty program at FinovateEurope 2014. It was around that time that the company earned a “seven-figure investment” from SBT Venture Capital, widely believed to be in the area of $8 million.

We talked with Red Zebra Analytics CEO Attul Sehgal last week about the company’s 2014 as well as the year ahead.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateEurope 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 5

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 27, 2015
Categories: Asseco, Financial Media Solutions, FinovateEurope 2015, FinovateEurope 2015 Sneak Peek, Fiserv, i3D, Intelligent Environments, mBank, Pirean, Telenor banka

The 70+ presenters that will showcase their new tech on stage at FinovateEurope in two weeks are now unveiled. To take a closer look at the presenting companies, we’re continuing our Sneak Peek series. Today, we’re featuring Financial Media Solutions, Fiserv, Intelligent Environments, mBank & i3D, Pirean, and Telenor banka & Asseco SEE.

Don’t miss our other Sneak Peeks, available here:

Financial Media Solutions’ MAPPS simplifies Videographics, making it possible to create financial content in digestible bite size video formats for broadcast to any device, including smartphones.

Features

Makes Videographics easy
Empowers institutional users to convey financial concepts in concise video formats
Rapidly broadcasts dynamic content to any client device, including smartphones

Why it’s great
Communicating client content by video is the future. MAPPS resolves the challenge of how institutions better engage clients in financial concepts, even via their smartphone.

Presenters

Ian Park, Owner Director & CEO
LinkedIn

Christopher Thomas, Marketing Director
LinkedIn

Fiserv is one of FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies and will demonstrate next generation digital banking interactions.

Features

Focuses on a truly integrated payments user experience
Allows customers to manage their spending habits and banking products
Visually stimulates consumers using augmented reality technology

Why it’s great
This innovation is geared towards the consumer and will allow greater control and transparency over their spending and banking habits.

Presenters

Jonathan Atkinson, Market Development, Digital Channels and Payments
Atkinson is a Sales Executive in Digital Channels and Payments team at Fiserv, Inc., focused on new clients across EMEA, with previous experience in core banking and CRM.
LinkedIn

David Abbott, Payments Lead, EMEA
Abbot has 25 years’ sales, business development experience in payments & eCommerce joined Fiserv’s payments business to support development activities in the EMEA region.
LinkedIn

Intelligent Environments is an innovative provider of mobile and online solutions for financial service organisations.

Features
Hopes to fight against cybercrime

Why it’s great
No firm is an island – we all have a shared interest in responding to the growing threat against cybercrime.

Presenter

Clayton Locke, CTO
Clayton Locke is a keen sailor. He is hoping for calm waters come Finovate!
LinkedIn

mBank, financial sector innovator & i3D, world-class provider of high-tech virtual reality solutions, developed an ultra-modern interactive digital bank branch.

Features

Digital wall with unlimited touch points and innovative UI/UX
Proximity-motion-sensing and face recognition technologies for dynamic content adjustment
Integration with sales support systems

Why it’s great
mBank & i3D dare to challenge the traditional notion of physical bank branches with ultra-modern multi-touch screens, motion-sensing and face recognition technologies.

Presenters

Jacek Iljin, Managing Director Sales & Processes, mBank
LinkedIn

Marcin Wiśniewski, Sales & Marketing Director, i3D
LinkedIn

Pirean enables organisations to provide secure, people-focused access for employees, customers, and partners across on-premise and cloud-based applications.

Features

Reduces lead-time to value for application access
Provides secure self-service capabilities for users
Introduces a single point of control and audit for all access management

Why it’s great
Pirean’s Access: One is an Identity and Access Management solution designed to provide a first class user experience anytime, anywhere.

Presenters

Rob Macgregor, Pirean’s Principal Consultant and Access: One’s Product Manager

Rob Blowers, Pirean’s Development Team Lead

With Telenor banka & Asseco South Eastern Europe, banking goes mobile – changing customer experience and reshaping banking products & services to fit mobile, brought by Telenor banka in synergy with Telco, powered by Asseco SEE multichannel solutions.

Features

Big data processing enabling relevant offer at relevant moment and place
Superb customer journey supported by straight-through processing and full automation
Utilization of synergy

Why it’s great
IT is a fully automated and personalized online handset loan enabled by Telenor banka and Telenor, powered by Asseco SEE.

Presenters

Martin Navratil, Chairman of the Executive Committee at Telenor banka
Managing Director of Telenor banka responsible for the design and implementation of the bank’s strategy, having great experience in Telco and Finance sector.
LinkedIn

Piotr Jeleński, Group President of the Management Board of Asseco SEE
Executive manager with experience in running and establishing new business in Poland, SEE region and Turkey. Managing international structure with over 1,400 people in 12 countries.

Marko Carevic, Marketing Director at Telenor Banka
Started his career in Telenor, initiated Telenor M&A initiative in financial services, currently responsible for entire customer value chain and go-to-market process.
LinkedIn

We’ll feature six more companies later this week. To see them all demo live, get your ticket to FinovateEurope 2015.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Themes and Presenters at FinovateEurope 2015

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 26, 2015
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015

With January coming to a close this week, European fintech followers have something to look forward to: an onslaught of new financial technology solutions at FinovateEurope.

The event will take place at Old Billingsgate Market Hall in London on February 10 & 11. Get your ticket to be a part of the action.

The themes we’ll see on stage at FinovateEurope next month align with the trends predicted by analysts for this year. Significant topics include mobile, lending, small business tools, and advisor solutions. Additionally, payments and personal finance maintain footholds and there’s a resurgence of interest in rewards and digital currencies.

Click to enlarge:

FinovateEurope allows you to meet the companies behind each theme during numerous networking sessions. Here is the full list of companies that will take the stage:

For more information on these companies, check out our company info page or view our Sneak Peek series below.

We anticipate a full crowd so be sure to guarantee your seat at the show. Once you get a ticket, we’ll see you in London!

Questions? Check out our FAQ page to get some answers.

FinovateEurope 2015 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Be Group, Financial Technology Partners, KPMG LLP and Life.SREDA.

FinovateEurope 2015 is partners with: Bank Innovators Council, BankersHub, bobsguide, Breaking Banks, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, Datamonitor Financial, The Financial Services Club, Future Finance, Harrington Starr, Hotwire, Mapa Research, Mercator Advisory Group, and The Trading Mesh (formerly HFT Review).

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

TransferWise Raises $58 Million in Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz

By David Penn Posted on January 26, 2015
Categories: TransferWise

TransferWise is starting off the year with a funding bang: the company has raised $58 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

The investment takes TransferWise’s total capital to more than $90 million. Existing investors Richard Branson, IA Ventures, Index Ventures, Valar Ventures, and Seedcamp also participated in the round.

Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise said: “Andreessen Horowitz’s investment in TransferWise shows how ripe financial services are for disruption.”

“For too long, legacy providers’ dominance of the market has allowed consumers to be hoodwinked into paying huge hidden charges for services as basic as currency exchange.”

Ben Horowitz, founder of Andreessen Horowitz, referred to this insight the discovery of “an important secret” and called TransferWise “uniquely prepared to pursue it.”

He added: “Not only is (TransferWise’s) solution 10 times better than the old way of exchanging foreign currency, but it could not have come at a better time.” Both Hinrikus and Horowitz pointed to the lack of innovation as a “massive opportunity” for companies like TransferWise.

The company plans to use the capital to drive global expansion. TransferWise is opening an office in the United States in February according to reporting by TechCrunch, and are looking to open offices in Germany and Austria in the first half of 2015, as well. The goal for the year is to open an additional 300 “currency routes.”

(Above, left to right: Kristo Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus, co-founders of TransferWise at FinovateEurope 2013)

TransferWise enables money transfers between the U.S. and Canadian dollars as well as the euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and another 10 European currencies. Customers using the platform can also transfer these currencies into a number of Asian currencies including the Australian, Hong Kong and Singaporean dollars, and the Indian rupee. See the full list here.

A few metrics for TransferWise:

Launched in 2011
Headquartered in London
Staffs 250
Maintains more than 290 currency routes
Enabled customer transfers of £3 billion for a savings of £135 million

The company has been making headlines, as well, appearing in Motley Fool’s list of fintech startups that can help consumer handle their money in 2015, and with its peers Azimo and CurrencyFair in a recent look at disruption in traditional money exchange from Forbes.com. In December, TransferWise was named one of KPMG’s Fintech Innovators of 2014.

TransferWise demoed its technology as part of FinovateEurope 2013.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Alumni News– January 26, 2015

By David Penn Posted on January 26, 2015
Categories: Actiance, Bill Guard, Coinbase, Credit Sesame, Experian, Feedzai, Fiserv, Google, Kabbage, Lending Club, Misys, TransferWise, Zumigo

MIT Technology Review features Feedzai and Zumigo in a discussion on mobile authentication technologies.

Loan origination platform LoanLaunch (formerly Common Origination Platform) now available from Fiserv.

Experian partners with BillGuard to boost effectiveness of its anti-fraud solution, ProtectMyID.

Misys unveils FusionBanking Lending.

American Banker takes a look at the relationship between Google and Lending Club.

Kabbage named one of America’s top 100 Most Promising Companies

Coinbase to open the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the U.S.

Actiance announces support for IBM Verse and IBM Connections Social Cloud.

Credit Sesame launches iOS app with Siri integration in its credit monitoring feature.

Themes and Presenters at FinovateEurope 2015.

Google Wallet partners with WePay to put its Instant Buy API in 200,000 e-commerce shops.

TransferWise Raises $58 Million in Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fintech Fundings: 13 Companies Raise Nearly $400 Million This Week

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 23, 2015
Categories: Funding

The new year finally blasted off this week with nearly $400 million in new money headed to the hot sector ($194 million equity, $200 million debt). The majority of the cash ($322 million or 82%) went to Finovate alums including Kreditech ($200 million), Coinbase ($75 million including money from two retail banks, USAA and BBVA), Motif Investing ($40 million from China), True Link ($3.4 million), and Kofax ($1.9 million). In addition, one Finovate alum, prepaid card white-label specialist Akimbo was acquired by Payment Data Systems.

This brings total funding for the month to more than $630 million ($430 million equity, $200 million debt), a healthy $10 billion annual run rate (see recaps from 1st week, 2nd week of January).

The deals from Jan 17-23 in order of size:

Kreditech

Alternative banking & lending products

Latest round: $200 million (debt)

Total raised: $263 million (includes $215 mil debt)

Tags: Mobile, lending, underwriting, online banking, Hamburg, Germany, Finovate alum

Source: Finovate

Coinbase

Cryptocurrency wallet and exchange

Latest round: $75 million

Total raised: $106.7 million

Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, Investors: USAA, BBVA, NYSE, San Francisco, California, Finovate alum

Source: Finovate

Raise Marketplace

Giftcard marketplace for buying and selling

Latest round: $56 million

Total raised: $82.2 million

Tags: Prepaid, gift card, merchant, POS, fee income, Chicago, Illinois

Source: Crunchbase

Motif Investing

Automated investment advice for consumers

Latest round: $40 million

Total raised: $126 million

Tags: Consumer, investing, robo-advisor, wealth management, ETFs, Renren (investor), San Mateo, California, Finovate Best of Show alum

Source: Finovate

Judo Payments

Mobile-first payments platform

Latest round: $9.1 million

Total raised: $14.1 million

Tags: Payments, apps, mobile, SMB, London, UK

Source: FT Partners

Satispay

Italian payment network

Latest round: $6.4 million

Total raised: $6.4 million

Tags: Mobile payments, micropayments, P2P, peer-to-peer, Milan, Italy

Source: Crunchbase

True Link

Prepaid card with advanced controls for seniors

Latest round: $3.4 million

Total raised: $3.4 million

Tags: Prepaid card, credit, debit, controls, security, seniors, YC, California

Source: Finovate

Kofax

Document and image capture technology

Latest round: $1.9 million

Total raised: $11.5 million (public KOFX)

Tags: Remote capture, enterprise, mobile, Irvine, California

Source: Crunchbase

Tip’d Off

Social trading network

Latest round: $1.0 million

Total raised: $1.0 million

Tags: Investing, consumer, social networks, Mountain View, California

Source: Crunchbase

SiamSquared

Securities market technology

Latest round: $800,000

Total raised: $800,000

Tags: Trading, investment management, enterprise, Bangkok, Thailand

Source: Crunchbase

Sign2Pay

Secure mobile payments with your signature

Latest round: $700,000

Total raised: $700,000

Tags: Security, mobile payments, Antwerp, Belgium

Source: Crunchbase

Vogogo

Online and mobile payments

Latest round: $500,000

Total funding: $9.0 million

Tags: Payments, mobile, Palo Alto, California

Source: FT Partners

TrustAtom

Canadian provider of blockchain-powered smart contracts

Latest round: Undisclosed

Total raised: Unknown

Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, legal, identity, security, Vancouver, Canada

Source: FT Partners

—————

Exits

Akimbo Financial

White-label prepaid card solutions

Price: $3 million

Buyer: Payment Data Systems

Tags: Prepaid card, gift card, debit, San Antonio, Texas, Finovate alum

Source: Finovate

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FT Partners Publishes Post-IPO Profile of Lending Club

By David Penn Posted on January 23, 2015
Categories: Lending Club, On Deck Capital

Now that the dust has settled on fintech’s biggest startup IPO ever, FT Partners has put together an extensive profile of Lending Club. Lending Club’s IPO last year was one of the major events that helped put fintech in the headlines of not just technology news, but business news, as well. And FT Partners’ report so far serves as the definitive document on just how the alternative lender did it and gives clues to what comes next.

The data-rich, 60-page document focuses mostly on Lending Club, though small business lender, OnDeck, is also covered. The review of Lending Club before, during, and after its public offering includes industry reaction as well as summaries of analyst coverage.

Key milestones in the rise of Lending Club are shown graphically, from its launch in 2007, through the company’s first $25 million institutional investment five years later. An industry timeline shows Lending Club’s place in the evolution of the alternative lending market (interestingly contrasted with a graph of the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield).

The report discusses Lending Club’s competitive strengths, opportunities for growth, and includes seven pages of loan statistics and another nine pages of financial analysis focusing on revenue and revenue comparisons.

Perhaps my favorite part is the 16-page section “Selected Alternative Lending Transactions.” Looking at the variety of financing, M&A, and other transactions in both the consumer and small business markets provides a robust sense of the history and diversity of the alternative lending space.

The full report is available here.

Financial Technology Partners is an investment banking firm dedicated to the financial technology sector. The company was founded by Steve McLaughlin and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Akimbo Financial Acquired by Payment Data Systems

By David Penn Posted on January 23, 2015
Categories: Akimbo Financial

At a purchase price of $3 million dollars, Akimbo Financial has agreed to be acquired by payments solutions provider, Payment Data Systems.

“We believe joining the Payment Data Systems family will help further our goal of reinventing the prepaid card,” Akimbo co-founder and CEO Houston Frost said. “We look forward to growing our program at FiCentive and making the Akimbo card product an industry leader and trendsetter.”

Payment Data Systems plans to integrate Akimbo’s prepaid card technology with the backend prepaid card processing platform of its subsidiary, FiCentive. The resulting technology, per Frost, will provide consumers with “new features and functionality”, better customer service, and lower costs.

Added Louis Hoch, FiCentive president and CEO, “Not only will FiCentive have access to new and significant prepaid card front-end technology including mobile applications, but will also be acquiring significant human capital with deep prepaid card industry knowledge.

(above: Akimbo Financial co-founder and CEO Houston Frost at FinovateFall 2013)

Akimbo Financial specializes in white-label, prepaid card programs for banks and credit unions. The company’s technology supports social payments and prepaid card management, making it easy for consumer to share money by email or over social networks, and to automate the management of their cards and accounts. The Akimbo Visa Prepaid Card, the company’s signature solution, can be used with a mobile app (both iOS and Android) to take advantage of the budgeting, money sharing, and card management features on the go.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Akimbo Financial demonstrated its prepaid P2P payments solution at FinovateFall 2013.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook