Finovate Alumni News– May 7, 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Actiance, App Annie, BancBox, BBVA Compass, Credit Sesame, Dashlane, Jack Henry, Kabbage, On Deck Capital, Personal Capital, Prosper, Striata, TradeHero
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgiFactor and Striata partner to offer robust push ebill solution to utilities.
  • Kingdom Trust and Bancbox partner to streamline the crowdfunding and P2P lending platform experience for the IRA investor.
  • Alternative lending pays up: Kabbage raises $50 million, Prosper pulls in $70 million.
  • Actiance extends Socialite to include Google+ & YouTube.
  • VentureBeat looks at the rise of P2P lending of many Finovate alums and predicts $1 trillion in loans by 2025.
  • App Annie now lets app developers track ads, app store optimization.
  • TradeHero launches a Chinese version, bringing the stock market game to traders in China.
  • Lend Academy speculates Prosper now valued $600 million, up from a $100 million valuation around eight months ago.
  • Personal Capital reaches 500,000+ registered users. Now is tracking over $70+ billion in & is managing $500 million in assets for clients.
  • Credit Sesame offers Target customers free ID protection, credit monitoring and credit scores without deadlines.
  • Jack Henry Banking’s Core Director processing platform deployed by Oklahoma State Bank and The Bank of Clovis in New Mexico.
  • BBVA Compass teams up with On Deck Capital to better score small business borrowers.
  • WSJ Personal Technology column recommends Dashlane as the “best way to manage online passwords.
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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LendUp Gets $50 Million Credit Debt Facility

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: LendUp

Thumbnail image for LendUpLogo.jpg

With so many venture capitalists throwing money at alternative lenders in recent days, is it any surprise that they’ve begun hurling credit cards at these innovators, as well?

LendUp announced today that it has raised a $50 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital. This comes just a few months after picking up $14 million from Google Ventures and QED Investors in November.

LendUp co-founder Sasha Orloff credits rapid growth for the fresh funding needs of his company. He points to month-over-month growth between 10-20%, as well as expansion into Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee as evidence that LendUp will make good on its goal of launching in a new state every two weeks, and originating 300,000 loans this year.
A pioneer in socially responsible lending, LendUp provides a source of money for those typically unable to borrow through banks and credit unions. LendUp combines financial education, gamification, and better loan terms than those typically offered by traditional non-bank lenders to build a business that serves rather than avoids non-prime borrowers.
LendUp was founded in 2011, and launched its platform a year later. The company was part of FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, California, where they demoed their technology. Video of LendUp’s demo will be available soon.

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Leaf Appoints Sarah McCrary as CEO

Leaf Appoints Sarah McCrary as CEO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Leaf
SMcCrary_LeafnewCEO

Sarah McCrary has been appointed CEO of Leaf. She formerly held the position of Chief Operating Officer, and will replace outgoing co-founder and CEO Aron Schwarzkopf.

Becoming “the small business owner’s best friend” is how Sarah characterized her goals for Leaf, the mobile, point-of-sale tablet that gives merchants greater flexibility in choice of payment providers. 

The platform allows business owners to create a virtual store with customers, inventory, and employees, and features a variety of productivity apps geared toward small businesses. Many of these apps have been created by third-party developers.

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Sarah McCrary spent six years at Heartland Payment Systems, and another four at Allied Data Systems previous to her joining Leaf as COO. While at Heartland, she co-invented the company’s end-to-end encryption technology, E3. In a statement, Leaf says they hope to leverage her expertise and background to grow sales and drive technological innovation in a small business POS space.
Leaf’s relationship with Heartland Payment Systems is a close one. Heartland invested $20 million in the mobile POS platform developer last October, and is involved with both selling the platform and developing new Leaf apps.
Leaf demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2013 conference in San Francisco. See the company’s demo here.

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Finovate Alumni News– May 6, 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BancBox, Banno, Fiserv, Holvi, Insuritas, Jack Henry, Leaf, Lending Club, LendUp, MiiCard, Ripple
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCU Alliance hires Insuritas to build non-cyclical fee income for credit union members.
  • Wade Arnold wins CEO of the Year award from Technology Association of Iowa, weeks after selling Banno to Jack Henry & Associates.
  • Holvi moves HQ to downtown Helsinki.
  • Fidor AG is first bank to deploy Ripple protocol.
  • Lending Club announces partnership with Union Bank.
  • Fiserv’s TradeFlow enhanced to support SWIFT’s GETC.
  • Sonora Bank implements SilverLake core processing platform from Jack Henry Banking.
  • LendUp raises $50 million credit debt facility from Victory Park Capital.
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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FinovateSpring 2014 in the Press

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2014

Press.jpg

Last Wednesday we wrapped up FinovateSpring 2014. Since then, press reps have been hard at work covering the news and product launches that buzzed throughout the two day conference. 
Below is a compilation of the news so far. We’ll add further coverage as it’s released throughout the week:

American Banker
Data Breaches Spur Security Focus at Financial Startups
by Kevin Wack
Mobile Payment Startups Stress Practicality Over Wow Factor
by Kevin Wack
Nice Systems Debuts Real-Time Voice Authentication for Bank Call Centers 
by Amilda Dymi

Bank Credit News
Financial technology providers named “Best of Show” at FinovateSpring
by Alexandra Villarreal 
Bank Innovation
Best of Show: financial technology winners from Finovate Spring 2014
by Steven Ramirez
Innovations in banking and tech: Finovate Spring 2014, Day 2
by Steven Ramirez

Bank Technology News

Five Companies to Watch from Finovate
by Kevin Wack

Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
Finovate-Finance and Technology Intersect & Should You Care?
by Barbara Friedberg

Celent
Finovate Spring 2014 Recap
by Jacob Jegher

Community Rising (BancVue Blog)
Finovate:  Winning Beyond The Stage
by John Waupsh
CU Times
5 Things You Missed at Finovate
by Robert McGarvey
Better Mobile Banking for the Underbanked: Onsite Coverage
by Robert McGarvey
Dueling Biometrics: Onsite Coverage
by Robert McGarvey
Focus on the Auto Loan: Onsite Coverage
by Robert McGarvey
More Protection Against Elder Fraud: Onsite Coverage
by Robert McGarvey
Dataconomy
29-30 April 2014: FinovateSpring 2014. San Jose, USA
by David Koch
Dealstruck Announces Two New Products
by Furhaad Shah
SmartAsset.com: A New Way To Interact With Your Finances
by Furhaad Shah
Dollars & Sense (Dealstruck blog)
Finovate Spring 2014 Recap
by Ethan
Finsider
Finsider’s Finovate Roundup
by Dan Simon
Forbes
Tech Entrepreneurs Are Here To Run Your Bank
by Dan Simon
Inc.
How Big Data Can Help Squash $35 Billion in Online Fraud
Christina Desmarais 
Javelin Strategy & Research blog
Three Trends You Should Know – From Finovate Spring 2014
by Mary Monahan

Keeping Nickels
Finovate Best In Show
by Nichelle Stephens
MoneyMarketing
Ian McKenna in San Jose: Online services can complement traditional advice
by Ian McKenna
Ian McKenna in San Jose (Pt 2): The rise of personal financial management
by Ian McKenna
MoneySummit
Battling Post-Lunch Lethargy
by Eric Dunstan
Do You See Disruption Or Opportunity?
by Bradley Leimer 
Finovate and the Context Of Fintech
by Bradley Leimer 
Financial Innovation is in the Air! It’s Time for FinovateSpring in San Jose
by Eric Dunstan
How a Remote Control for Credit Cards Creates Value for Consumers and Banks
by Eric Dunstan
PFM, Mobile Wallet, and Mobile Payments
by Eric Dunstan
San Jose’s Still Rocking
by Eric Dunstan
Starting off Strong on Day 2
by Bradley Leimer 
Tales from the Finovate Pit: Session 2, Day 2
by Bradley Leimer 
The Home Stretch
by Eric Dunstan 
Thoughts on PrivatBank’s Presentation
by Eric Dunstan 
What a Day!
by Eric Dunstan 
My Vin
Finnovate-2014 відкриється світовою прем’єрою topless-банкомата ПриватБанку
MyBankTracker
Remote Control for Your Credit Card Prevents Fraud, Overspending, and More
by Kathererine Muniz
NYmag.com
Is Silicon Valley the Future of Finance?
by Kevin Roose
RIABiz
How the RIA business made a dent at the 2014 Finovate conference in San Jose
by Zohar Swaine  
Investment News techconnect
A new planning tool for advisers challenges clients to win a game
by Joyce Hanson
VentureBeat
LendUp opens up its API to spread safer payday lending across the country (exclusive)
by Kia Kokalitcheva
Walt-Cox
Finovate Day 1, Session 1 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 1, Session 2 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 1 Session 3 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 1 Session 4 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 2 Session 1 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 2 Session 2 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 2 Session 3 (recap & rankings)
Finovate Day 2, Last Session (recap & rankings)
Finovate: Social from the Start
William Mills blog
Finovate Spring 2014 Live Blog- Day 1
by Steven Ramirez
by William Mills III
Finovate Spring 2014 Live Blog- Day 2
by Steven Ramirez
by William Mills III
Video & Podcast Coverage of Finovate Spring 2014
Link

Thanks to the dedication of the bloggers, journalists, and media reps for attending and covering the full variety of fintech over the course of the two days. 

The full demo videos will be available on Finovate.com within the next two weeks.We’ll see you all next year!

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Lending Club Announces Partnership with Union Bank

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kabbage, Lending Club, Prosper

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for LendingClubLogo.jpg

Between the proliferation of lenders at FinovateSpring 2014 demoing in San Jose last week, and today’s funding announcements from alums Prosper and Kabbage, it is clear that lenders in the 21st century will continue to demand their space in the fintech headlines.

Today brings news that Lending Club has reached a deal that will allow Union Bank to sell loans from Lending Club. The two organizations will also work together to develop new credit products and services to be made available to customers of both companies. In a press release, Lending Club cited the combination of its low operating costs and Union Bank’s “strong balance sheet and large customer base” as one of the synergies contributing toward the deal.

One key question is what sort of new credit products are Lending Club and Union Bank discussing? Details remain few and far between as this point. But this could be a significant development. It has been a goal of Lending Club to sell its loans to banks and other financial institutions. But the potential of a customer-facing link to Lending Club at FIs like Union Bank would be a very worthwhile opportunity for the P2P lender.
Lending Club also recently announced raising $115 million in debt and equity, and an acquisition of Springstone Financial. Based in San Francisco, California, Lending Club has issued more than $4 billion in personal loans since the end of March 2014. The company has also more than doubled its annual loan volume annually since its 2007 launch. With more than $335 in total capital raised, Lending Club has been valued at nearly $3.8 billion.
Union Bank is the primary subsidiary of UnionBanCal Corporation, a financial holding company with assets of more than $107 billion. Union Bank operates more than 400 branches in seven states in the U.S., as well as two international offices.
The partnership between Lending Club and Union Bank was announced at the LendIt 2014 conference in San Francisco on Monday. The arrangement represents the largest such partnership Lending Club has inked to date, and comes in the wake of Wells Fargo’s decision to reverse, or at least clarify, a policy that banned its employees from participating in P2P lending platforms.

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Alternative Lending Pays Up: Kabbage Raises $50 Million, Prosper Pulls in $70 Million

Alternative Lending Pays Up: Kabbage Raises $50 Million, Prosper Pulls in $70 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Kabbage, Prosper

At FinovateSpring last week, we witnessed the popularity of alternative lending platforms as shown through Dealstruck, LendingRobot, and Venovate.

Further underlining this trend, two players in the alternative lending space, Kabbage and Prosper, both announced funding today.

KabbageLogo.jpg

Kabbage, an Atlanta-based company that provides working capital to small businesses.
    • Funding: $50 million in Series D
    • Previous funding totaled $465 million in combined debt and equity
    • Contributing investors include:
      • SoftBank Capital 
      • TCW/Craton
      • Lumia Capital
      • David Bonderman
      • Warren Stephens
      • UPS’ Strategic Enterprise Fund
      • Peter Thomson’s Thomvest
      • BlueRun Ventures
      • MDV
    • Founded: 2009 
    • Last demoed at FinovateSpring 2013

Kabbage plans to use the funding to boost its marketing efforts, build out its partnerships, and expand further internationally. It also has plans to better leverage big data for underwriting purposes.

ProsperLogo

Prosper, a P2P funding platform based in San Francisco.

  • Funding: $70 million.
    $50 million of this will be allocated to Prosper’s balance sheet. The remaining $20 million is a secondary round in which some shareholders are cashing out.
  • Previous funding totals $190 million
  • Contributing investors include: 
    • Francisco Partners
    • Institutional Venture Partners
    • Phenomen Ventures
  • Founded: 2006
  • Demoed at Finovate 2007

Last month, Prosper announced $1 billion in total loans originated on its platform and it plans to reach $2 billion in total loans this year.

It is speculated that this new round places Prosper at a $600 million valuation, up from a $100 million valuation around eight months ago.

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Fidor AG is First Bank to Deploy Ripple Protocol

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fidor Bank, Ripple

Thumbnail image for ripplelogo1.jpg

We don’t know who reported the news first, but Finovate was glad to be among the few who figured out late last week that Fidor Bank AG was using Ripple to move money in three different countries. 

And once we were able to track down the source of this exciting development in the world of alternative payments, we couldn’t wait to share it.

Today we get further confirmation as Ripple announces that Germany’s Fidor Bank is indeed the first bank to adopt the Ripple protocol. Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen celebrated the occasion by emphasizing the benefits of his technology, chiefly its ability to provide “real-time settlement in any currency … at highly competitive rates” anywhere in the world.

Thumbnail image for fidorLogo.jpg

Fidor will use Ripple in a number of ways, including inter- and intrabank payments between other financial institutions and its own branches. The Ripple integration will also allow the bank to offer its customers faster and less expensive money transfer options.
It will be interesting to see how much Fidor’s deployment of Ripple influences other financial institutions to pursue similar alternatives. In nothing Fidor’s adoption of Ripple in a panel discussion at the Finextra Future Money conference last week, the Anthemis Group’s Udayan Goyal did so in the context of saying that “Swift will be gone in 3 years.” He tweeted later:

SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is the leading provider of international interbank messaging. 
Developed by Ripple Labs, Ripple is an open-source, distributed payment protocol. The system allows anyone to transmit value anywhere in the world, securely and in real-time. Virtually free transactions and the lack of chargebacks make the technology attractive to merchants. And consumers can take advantage of the flexibility of Ripple to support everything from real and virtual currencies to non-currency value such as frequent flier miles and mobile minutes.
Ripple Labs won Silver in the “Best New Technology” category at the PYMNTS.com Innovation Awards this year, and has raised $9 million in funding. A Finovate alum, the company demoed its Ripple protocol at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

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Finovate Alumni News — May 5, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DeMyst Data, FinovateSpring 2014, FutureAdvisor, ID.me, Jumio, Kashoo, LearnVest, Mint.com, Xero
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCheck out our Twitter highlights of FinovateSpring 2014 – from the opening demo to Best of Show.
  • LearnVest, Mint, and FutureAdvisor featured in Wall Street Journal column on managing your own money.
  • Forbes highlights Demyst.Data, showing how Big Data can be used to determine loan suitability for the underbanked.
  • Xconomy profiles authentication specialist, Jumio. Video of Jumio’s FinovateSpring 2014 demo will be available soon at Finovate.com.
  • Kashoo and Xero are among the cloud accounting apps reviewed in a new ebook by the Sleeter Group.
  • American Banker features Ondot Systems’ use of debit on/off controls via mobile device.
  • Backbase launches Backbase Engage, an out-of-the-box digital banking solution for FIs.
  • CUneXus proceeds to Innotribe Startup Challenge 2014 Semifinals.
  • Tradeshift extends “App” ecosystem and offers co-investment to encourage development on its platform.
  • Wearable tech company GTX now using Stockr to communicate directly with the investors.
  • Motherboard looks at Zighra’s next-gen kinetic ID that will recognize users by how they swipe on their phone.
  • MoneyDesktop named 1 of 8 of Utah’s Most Innovative Products.
  • SafetyPay partners with UOL BoaCompra, a leader in monetizing online games for Latin America.
  • VentureBeat looks at a government program that awards grants to companies working on an “Identity Ecosystem,” bringing to mind FinovateSpring 2014 alum, ID.me.
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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FinovateSpring 2014: Tales from the Twitterverse

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2014

Thumbnail image for Twitter Bird.jpg

Anyone who doubts that financial technology is a people-business need look no further than the two-day Twitter-fest that accompanied FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose this year.

For both those lucky enough to be able to be at Finovate in person, as well as the even larger community of fintech fans tracking the event remotely, #Finovate is a great way to experience the show.

Maybe your Twitter preferences lie more with the serious issues like the true value of gamification or the mobile opportunities in auto loans. Perhaps you prefer to join your fellow Tweeters in speculation on the Worst Website in the World. However you like your Twitter tweeted, rest assured that out of the thousands who follow us @Finovate, there is likely to be far more than one take on financial innovation in 2014 that’s worth taking home.

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Finovate Alumni News- May 2, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Banno, Jack Henry, MasterCard, PayPal, SafetyPay
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMasterCard announces Australian launch of mobile payment app for education expenses.
  • PayPal partners with checkout app MyCheck.
  • SafetyPay teams up with Brazil’s UOL Boa Compra to bring online payments to gamers in Latin America.
  • SEC filings show Jack Henry’ & Associates’ $28 million cash expense for Banno acquisition.
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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Best of Show Winners from FinovateSpring 2014

Best of Show Winners from FinovateSpring 2014
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Best of Show, EyeVerify, FinovateSpring 2014, Interactions, Loop, Motif Investing, Ondot, PrivatBank, SaveUp, Stockpile

Thumbnail image for FinovateSpring2014ButtonLogo.jpg

Our record-breaking audience has spent a hot two days in San Jose watching 68 demos covering the best in fintech.

After watching the 68 demoing companies show off their newest innovations on stage in front of the sold out auditorium, the crowd voted for their 3 favorite demos at the end of each day. The eight companies with the highest number of votes were crowned winners.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

Thumbnail image for EyeVerifyLogo.jpgEyeVerify, for its Eyeprint Verification technology that enables mobile biometric authentication

Thumbnail image for Loop_logo.jpg

Loop, for its smart mobile wallet system accepted at virtually every retail POS terminal without making changes to the existing POS system

Thumbnail image for InteractionsLogo.jpg

Interactions, for its voice-activated self-service solution for mobile and phone interactions 

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Motif Investing, for its Advisor Platform that streamlines the way advisors build, monitor, and rebalance investment portfolios
OndotLogo

Ondot Systems, for its CardControl technology that allows users to remotely control their credit and debit cards via their smartphone

Privatbank_hi_res_FS2014

PrivatBank, for topless, contactless smartphone-enabled Android ATM technology

SaveUpLogo

SaveUp, for its Gen Y/Millennial-oriented solution that combines gamification with personal finance

stockpile_hi_res_FS2014

Stockpile, for their “give the gift of stock” solution that helps people invest in the brands they love  

As always, thanks for your continued support. See you next year at FinovateSpring 2015!
All of the demo videos will be available on Finovate.com in two weeks.

——————————————————————

Notes on methodology:  
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.     
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.    
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”  
4. The eight companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named Best of Show.  
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners. 

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