Alumni News– December 10, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNCR to sell new mobile imaging solutions from Mitek.
  • Backbase teams up with Accenture to help FIs improve customer engagement through digital channels.
  • Dwolla announces role as payment partner for Microsoft for Government initiative.
  • Australia-based ME Bank deploys core banking system, business intelligence, and anti-money laundering solutions from Temenos.
  • MasterCard launches MasterPass in France and Russia.
  • Finovate Debuts: eMoney Advisor Provides Financial Advisors with a Suite of New Planning Tools.
  • Independent Financial Advisor takes a look at Motif Investing and Wealthfront.
  • Xero reaches 400,000 paying customers.
  • Entersekt responds to FIDO Alliance’s U2F specifications with its FIDO U2F-enabled authentication solution, Transakt.
  • Fintech for the Rest of Us blog mentions PayStand over PayPal and Stripe for bitcoin payments.
  • PayItSimple integrates with 30 more payment gateways in collaboration with Spreedly now integrated with approximately 70% of all gateways in the US.
  • Payfone and Early Warning partner on mobile authentication. 
  • Marlborough Savings Bank now offers Kasasa to enhance checking account offering.
  • Spend Matters reports: Receivables Exchange the largest of the Online Invoice Auction Exchanges.
  • Arxan announces enhanced mobile runtime app self protection (RASP) capabilities.
  • Lendio named One of Utah’s Best Companies to Work For in 2014.
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.

BehavioSec Lands $6 Million Led by Northzone and Octopus Investments

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In the past few years, we’ve witnessed the evolution of security beyond usernames and passwords. Founded in 2009, BehavioSec is one of the forerunners of this trend; making security invisible to the end user.

Today, the Swedish company announced $6.2 million (€5 million) round led by Northzone and Octopus Investments. Existing investors, Conor Venture Partners and Partner Invest Norr, also contributed.

A 2011 installment of $500k and a 2008 round of $1.2 million bring BehavioSec’s total funding to almost $8 million.

BehavioSec plans to use the funds to:

    • Accelerate international growth
    • Expand presence in the U.K. and U.S.
    • Support existing clients
    • Invest further in existing products
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The uptick in recent security hacks has brought about increased approval for the use of biometrics. From Apple’s TouchID to Nymi’s Nymi Band, companies and customers are growing accustomed to using physical assets for authentication. BehavioSec takes a slightly different approach. Instead of authenticating using a person’s physical attributes, it verifies an identity by passively observing how they interact with their device.

This week, BehavioSec welcomes three new board members: Simon Andrews of Octopus, Bjorn Stray of Northzone and Chris Barchak of Conor Venture Partners.

BehavioSec has won awards most recently at FinovateEurope 2014 and FinDEVr. It has won Best of Show at FinovateAsia 2013 and FinovateSpring 2012.

Alumni News– December 9, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCachet Financial Solutions to offer Mitek’s Mobile Photo Account Opening SaaS suite.
  • CrowdFlower CEO Lukas Biewald writes personally about the relationship between startups and their boards of directors.
  • Investor Junkie reviews roboadvisor, iQuantifi.
  • Knox Payments partners with ChangeTip to support bitcoin transaction via ACH.
  • CardNotPresent takes a look at Klarna’s US expansion plans.
  • Yodlee introduces transaction data enrichment service.
  • Fox News compares funding of Wealthfront, Personal Capital, Betterment, and SigFig.
  • Blackhawk Network’s closed loop gift cards available at some USPS locations.
  • VentureBeat: App Annie now tracks stats from Windows and Windows Phone stores.
  • SecondMarket wins 48,000 Bitcoin in U.S. Marshals auction.
  • Actiance extends security capabilities to email.
  • TechCrunch: Trustev Uses Fraud Detection Software to Crack Down on Internet Trolls.
  • Dashlane launches one-click password changer.
  • BehavioSec Lands $6 Million Led by Northzone and Octopus Investments.
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.

MasterCard Leads $70 Million Investment in Dynamics

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“There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?”

–Walter Brooke, The Graduate

Dynamics announced today that it had completed a Series C investment round, raising $70 million from new and existing investors. Along with MasterCard is new investor, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, both of which teamed up with existing investors, Adams Capital Management and Bain Capital Ventures. 
The total capital for Dynamics is now more than $110 million.
In addition to the investment, MasterCard will enter a joint commercial initiative with Dynamics to bring the company’s cards to businesses in Mastercard’s global payments network as well as CIBC’s customers. 
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It is interesting to hear the way MasterCard and CIBC executives talk about the card technology from Dynamics. For these companies, as far as commerce is concerned, plastic cards and smart devices have more in common than some may think.
Carlos Menendez, group executive for global credit and debit products for MasterCard talked about the importance of turning “every device” into a “commerce device.” “This not only includes a shift to mobile-based payments but also a move from ‘static’ plastic to ‘dynamic’ interactive payment cards and systems,” he said. A senior executive with CIBC added that the partnership with Dynamics was “already having a positive impact.”
What makes Dynamics unique is the fact that the company is the definition of a one-stop shop. As CEO Jeff Mullen explained from the stage at FinovateFall 2014 in New York last September: “We have the only facility in payments that actually does device design, device manufacturing, PCI compliant network-certified processing personalization fulfillment all under one roof.”
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(Above: Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics at FinovateFall 2014)
“And when you can do it all under one roof,” he said. “You start to see things, and it allows you to really take innovation to the next level.”
Dynamics innovations have included a battery-powered card that enabled consumers to change the data stored on their EMV chip simply by pushing buttons on the card itself, a system that provides loyalty rewards on credit transactions faster by using the credit transaction data itself and, most recently, the first multi-network card that combines both innovations.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dynamics has won multiple Best of Show awards for its card technology. The company’s last Finovate appearance was at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Alumni News– December 8, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFifth Third Bank chooses FIS’ C2P Open Payments Platform.
  • Azimo announces £1 instant money transfers to 15 countries in Latin America.
  • Mobile Payments Today takes a look at the mobile checkbook app from VerifyValid.
  • WePay picks Google Cloud Platform as its new hosting provider.
  • VentureBeat features Nymi as a physical password solution.
  • Small Business Trends features Bolstr.
  •  TSYS recognized in The Civic 50, an initiative that recognizes companies for improving the quality of life in their communities.
  • OnDeck ranked 21 on Crain’s NY Business Best Places to Work 2014.
  • Huffington Post interviews OnDeck’s Andrea Gellert.
  • TD Ameritrade has the #1 trading app in the Apple app store.
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.

Finovate Debuts: SAS Games Helps Kids Save for College by Playing Games

The Finovate Debuts series introduces new Finovate alums. Today’s feature is SAS Games, which demonstrated its TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon at FinovateFall 2014.

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SAS Games’ TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon offers a way for kids to save for college tuition by playing fun, math-based games.

The game-a-thon works similar to a walk-a-thon. Kids ages 6 to 18 solicit pledges from friends and family, whose total contribution is based on the child’s performance. To redeem the pledges and add the money to their college savings account, the child is challenged with TiVitz math games online.

Aside from bolstering funds in existing accounts, the games encourage families without a college savings fund to open one.

Stats:

    • $5+ million in funding raised
    • 10 employees
    • 10,000 teachers use TiVitz
    • 400,000 children use TiVitz
    • TiVitz game has won awards from:
      • Parent’s Choice
      • Dr. Toy
      • National Parenting
      • Creative Child

How it works:

1) Kids set up their TiViTz account online
The registration process requires student and parent information, along with a $10 annual registration fee.

2) Link an existing college savings account or establish a new one
Through SAS Games’ partnership with TrustEgg, parents of children without a savings account can open one in minutes (watch TrustEgg’s debut at FinovateSpring 2013).

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3) Request pledges from friends and family
Kids set up their own personalized pledge page and send the link to friends and family. They may also send donation requests via email, text, social media, and printed flyers.

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4) Play the game
In the TiVitz game, kids challenge each other or a computer. The difficulty of the game scales for grade levels 1 to 12.

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Players customize their avatar and choose among 7 themes, such as Safari or Baseball. Once the game has ended, they tally their score by computing the equations on the board.

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5) Collect pledges
When the child finishes the required number of games, TiVitz automatically invoices the friends and family members who pledged. Occasionally, companies and financial institutions match donations to help kids reach their goals faster.

6) Track college savings
The dashboard displays the total amount raised from friends and family, along with matched charity contributions. From the home screen, kids can personalize their pledge page, view the number of pledges requested and received, and more.

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The TiVitz online Game-a-thon is held once a year, around the holidays. Kids play 5 to 16 games each, depending on the amount of their pledges. Other activities around the TiVitz game include:

  • TiVitz Tournaments
    Boeing, Lockheed, NASA, National Hockey League, SeaWorld, and Major League Baseball sponsor tournaments where kids win college scholarships
  • TiVitz Tuesdays
    SAS Games is partnered with McDonald’s in Florida which hosts kids every Tuesday to practice for TiVitz tournaments

Benefits

For families and children:

    • Encourages them to open a new savings account
    • Helps them save more money for college
    • Augments math and critical thinking skills

For banks:

    • Provides access to new clients
    • Has potential to add new savings accounts for existing customers
    • Adds more funds to existing savings accounts
    • Enhances Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) efforts in local communities

SAS Games demonstrated its TiVitz College $avings Game-a-thon at FinovateFall 2014.

ebankIT to Help Banks Embrace Massively MultiChannel Banking

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You met them as IT Sector Group. Now say hello to the company’s very own multichannel banking solution provider, ebankIT.

ebankIT was created in January 2014 by IT Sector Group, just weeks before its FinovateEurope debut. The mission? Building truly multichannel banking solutions that embrace trends both social (a Facebook banking app) and technological (Internet banking for Google Glass). And it will be interesting to see just how far they’ve come when they return to the Finovate stage in February.
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“Our presentation at FinovateEurope 2015 aims to maximize the interaction of financial institutions and clients by extending the concept of omnichannel and social banking,” said ebankIT Marketing and Communications Director, Lis Ferreira. In a conversation a few days ago, Ferreira highlighted the company’s initiatives over the past several months. Specifically, she pointed to the launch of the first Portuguese banking app for Google Glass, released last month by Banco Big. And in October, the release of PIM – Personal Investment Manager, a mobile trading app for stocks and other financial instruments.
At the same time, the company has picked up a number of clients, including financial institutions in Poland, Mozambique, and Angola.
    • Activo Bank
    • Atlantico (Lisboa)
    • Caixa Geral de Depositos (Portugal)
    • Millennium Bank (Poland)
    • Millennium BIM (Mozambique)
    • Standard Bank (Mozambique)
Specific deployments have varied. But each represents a step forward in engaging banking customers on their preferred channels. ebankIT’s solutions include not just novel solutions for wearables and social banking, but self-service banking kiosks, contact centers, account management, branch front desk services, as well. The company also provides tools for financial professionals such as Commercial GPS (demoed at FinvoateEurope 2014), which makes it easier for sales executive to manage deals at the desk or on the go.
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(Above: IT Sector’s Joao Pinto, Director, and Vitor Barros, IT Architect, demonstrating Commercial GPS)
Ferreira admits that many of the bigger banks can be “afraid to open up to new companies.” But eBankIT has been fortunate in that clients have been proactive in contacting them. Additionally, there are some areas, such as the Iberian Peninsula and Eastern Europe, where interest is very high. Ferreira singled out Poland, where its solution for Millennium Bank was ranked as an “Internet banking leader” by Newsweek magazine, for especially high praise: “Polish bankers are some of the most eager of those looking for innovation. They are constantly changing. Whatever is new they want to have it.” 
Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to find out what’s new from ebankIT. The company will be demoing its latest technology at FinovateEurope 2015 February 10 & 11.

Fintech Fundings: 20 Companies Raise $840 million Week Ending Dec 5

Apparently the cyber-monday excitement carried over into the fintech VC sector, as they pulled out their checkbooks in record amounts this week. Counting direct digital financial plays (AvantCredit and Atom Bank), $538 million in equity and $300 million in debt were raised the first week of December. 
Even without Avant and Atom, a $288 million in equity investments flowed in, the third highest week since we began tracking in August. That total included two Finovate alums: SocietyOne ($20 million) and iQauntify ($1 million). 
Fundings from Nov. 29 to Dec 5 by size of deal:
AvantCredit

Direct online lender
Latest round: $525 million ($225 million equity, $300 million debt)
Total funding: $1.03 billion ($334 million equity, $700 million debt)
Tags: Credit, underwriting, lending, sub-prime, near-prime, alt-lending, Chicago, Illinois

Source: Crunchbase
Financing online purchases in China
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $100+ million
Tags: Credit, payments, underwriting, lending, POS, Bejing, China
Source: Crunchbase
Stripe

Easy-to-embed online payment processing
Latest round: $70 million (at $3.5 bil valuation)
Total funding: $190 million
Tags: payments, API, programmable web, YC, processing, SMB, mobile, San Francisco, California

Source: Crunchbase
Chinese wealth and investment management
Latest round: $50 million
Total raised: $60 million
Tags: Investing, wealth management, personal finance, Hangzou, China
Source: FT Partners

All-digital UK banking startup
Latest round: $31 million
Total funding: $31 million
Tags: Bank, mobile, Durham, UK 

Source: FT Partners
SocietyOne

Australian marketplace lending platform
Latest round: $20 million
Total funding: $28.5 million
Tags: P2P lending, peer-to-peer, credit, underwriting, investing, marketplace, Sydney, Australia, Finovate alum

Source: Finovate
Equity crowdfunding marketplace
Latest round: $7.8 million
Total funding: $19.7 million
Tags: Investing, P2P, SMB, marketplace, Exeter, UK

Source: FT Partners
MarketInvoice

Peer-to-peer lending against accounts receivables
Latest round: $7.5 million
Total funding: $10 million
Tags: Crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, P2P, London, UK

Source: Crunchbase
Borrowell

Canadian online lender
Latest round: $5.4 million
Total funding: $5.4 million
Tags: Lending, credit, underwriting, direct, Toronto, Canada

Source: Crunchbase
Veri-Tax

Ability-to-pay verification system
Latest round: $5 million
Total funding: $5 million
Tags: Credit, underwriting, ID verification, mortgage, compliance, Irvine, California

Source: Crunchbase
SmartVault

Secure storage solutions for the accounting industry
Latest round: $4.5 million
Total funding: $4.5+ million
Tags: Accounting, storage, virtual safe deposit, SMB, Houston, Texas

Source: Crunchbase

ChangeTip

Micropayment system
Latest round: $3.5 million
Total funding: $4.3 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, Bitcoin, Twitter, social, San Francisco, California

Source: Crunchbase
LandBay

Crowdfunding platform for investment properties 
Latest round: $2.4 million
Total funding: $2.9 million
Tags: P2P, peer-to-peer, lending, secured, mortgage, investing, rentals, crowdfunding, London, UK

Source: Crunchbase
Shift Technology

Fraud tools for insurance and ecommerce
Latest round: $1.8 million
Total funding: $1.8 million
Tags: Fraud, security, insurance, ecommerce, Paris, France

Source: Crunchbase
iPad point-of-sale system
Latest round: $1.2 million (grant)
Total funding: $115 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, POS, point-of-sale, merchants, SMB, San Francisco, California

Source: Crunchbase
iQuantify

Personalized financial advice
Latest round: $1 million
Total funding: $3.6 million
Tags: PFM, money management, investing, goals, Franklin, Tennessee, Finovate alum

Source: Finovate
AltPay

Mobile payments
Latest round: $1 million
Total funding: $1 million
Tags: mobile, payments, processing, merchants, SMB, Hollywood, Florida

Source: Crunchbase
BitGold

Bitcoin and precious metals exchange
Latest round: $700,000
Total funding: $1.7 million
Tags: Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, stored value, investing, Toronto, Canada

Source: Crunchbase
DigiByte

Decentralized payment network
Latest round: $250,000
Total funding: $250,000
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, micropayments, Santa Monica, California

Source: Crunchbase
BaseVenture

Private placement platform for real estate investing
Latest round: $30,000
Total funding: $30,000
Tags: Wealth management, private placements, real estate, investing, San Francisco, California

Source: Crunchbase

Monitise to Bring Mobile Banking Solutions to Virgin Money

Thumbnail image for MonitiseLogo2.jpgMonitise announced a deal with Virgin Money that will bring a host of mobile banking solutions to the UK-based retail bank.

Monitise Co-CEO Alastair Lukies said, “There are significant opportunities ahead for Virgin Money in the digital space. We’re looking forward to supporting the bank across a number of exciting initiatives in its journey to transform the way consumers can manage their money.”
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And by initiatives, Lukies means mobile. Virgin Money CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia specifically mentioned the importance of the mobile banking channel as a way of driving growth for her newly-public company. As part of the seven-year deal, Monitise will help the bank develop its own products and services leveraging Monitise solutions such as its Bank Anywhere account management app and Pay Anyone and Buy Anything P2P payment and e-commerce apps.
Dubbed “UK’s Coolest Bank” this fall by The Centre for Brand Analysis, Virgin Money is a retail bank operating in the UK. With more than 2 million customers and £24 billion in assets, Virgin Money went public in mid-November, trading under the symbol “VM” on the London Stock Exchange. The bank was founded in 1995 by Sir Richard Branson, who owns 34% of the company after selling a 15% stake worth £70 million last month.
Monitise is one of the largest mobile banking, payment, and commerce solution providers. The company serves more than 350 financial institutions around the world, has 30 million users, and processes four billion mobile transactions a year worth $88 billion. 
Other recent Monitise news includes being named to the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 in November, which recognized the company’s growth rate of 2,000% over the past five years. Monitise also formed a strategic partnership with Santander in September, and announced an expansion of its partnership with IBM in August. We profiled how Monitise was helping banks engage in e-commerce earlier this year.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in London, Monitise is a charter Finovate alum, demoing at the inaugural event in 2007.

Alumni News– December 5, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgGreater Fort Wayne Business Weekly takes a look at Allied Payment Network and PicturePay.
  • Capital Resorts announces collaboration with Access Development.
  • Bank of Georgia buys Georgian arm of Ukranian-based PrivatBank for $51 million USD.
  • Live Mint features BankBazaar in a column on financial product aggregators.
  • Huffington Post interviews Lisa Pearson, CMO of Bazaarvoice.
  • Dwolla releases new apps for Android, iOS, and Windows.
  • Finovate Debuts: SAS Games Helps Kids Save for College by Playing Games.
  • ThreatMetrix Protected 10 of the Top 20 Online Retailers Against Fraud During Cyber Week.
  • Segmint partners with fan and consumer engagement software company, Phizzle, to deliver 1-to-1 engagements.
  • Credit Karma transitions to the VantageScore 3.0 Score provided by TransUnion.
  • Muthoot Finance picks FIS for ATM managed services, video surveillance, and network connectivity and switching.
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.

SocietyOne Closes $20 Million Series B Funding Round

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Australian P2P lending company, SocietyOne, closed a Series B funding round this week. The amount is officially undisclosed, but according to the Australian Financial Review, the round totals $20 million ($25 million AUD). This new installment comes just 10 months after it closed an $8.5 million round.

Contributors to the new round include Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), News Corp Australia and Australian Capital Equity. Reinventure, the Westpac-funded venture capital manager that took a $5 million equity stake in SocietyOne in February, also helped furnish the round. Reinventure contributed another $5 million to this week’s Series B round.

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The funding comes amid the buzz surrounding Lending Club’s IPO. The California-based company is expected to start trading on the NYSE next week at $10 to $12 per share valuing it at more than $4 billion (see our previous coverage here).

Lending Club’s success bodes well for SocietyOne. James Packer, a representative from SocietyOne’s new investors states, “We have seen first-hand the power of technology in reshaping the media industry and I am excited about the potential of technology, led by the team at SocietyOne, to help reshape the financial services industry in Australia.”

SocietyOne’s ClearMatch technology uses risk-based pricing to offer borrowers a rate that is up to 5% lower than bank loans. It debuted ClearMatch at FinovateAsia 2012 where it won Best of Show.

Alumni News– December 4, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgIntelligent Environments awarded Fairbanking certification. See Intelligent Environments demo at FinovateEurope 2015 in February.
  • Xsolla partners with BitPay to bring bitcoin payments to gaming. See Xsolla at FinovateEurope in London.
  • MasterCard partners with Gates Foundation to launch innovation lab in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • App Annie unveils Audience Intelligence, a solution mobile app publishers can use to learn demographic data from users.
  • Access Development partners with Oklahoma Education Association.
  • Yueyu Fu, co-founder and CPO at Rippleshot interviewed at Benzinga Fintech Awards.
  • Intuit’s Quickbook Online Accountant is now available in the U.S.
  • Ripple to plug its real-time settlement protocol into Earthport’s payments hub.
  • Braintree is now rolling out its One Touch payment service outside the U.S.
  • eGift Card feature added to Wipit-powered Boost Mobile.
  • SocietyOne Closes Undisclosed Series B Funding Round.
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.