The Surprising Banking Giant Behind New Savings Site Sumday

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San Mateo-based anti-fraud specialist Feedzai announced this morning that they were unveiling apps for two major commerce platforms: Shopify and Big Commerce.
Nuno Sebastiao, CEO of Feedzai, said:
“Fraud is crossing channels where data breached from stores is then used to exploit commerce channels and vice versa. We see that 68 percent of cross-channel fraud starts online before migrating in-store. So we want to give all ecommerce retailers access to the tools necessary to help them protect their business.”
With the news media focused on the potential impact of an Apple entering the mobile payments space, it’s worth remembering that there are already sizable technology companies with mobile payments innovations already in the field.
MasterCard, which announced earnings this week, may be an obvious example. But for anyone who needed reminding, the fact that MasterPass, the company’s mobile payment platform, earned such high marks from CEO Ajay Banga, should help.
First, MasterPass was launched in three new markets in the second quarter of 2014: Singapore, Poland, and South Africa. That puts the total number of markets at 10, with another four planned by the end of the year.
“A platform which provides a safe and secure foundation to support multi-channel shopping … and create innovative tools … to enhance the consumer buying experience before, during, and after the actual purchase.”
Making MasterPass a technology that plays well with others is a major goal. MasterCard launched its in-app payment feature in the previous quarter. It can now count Starbucks in Australia and Major League Baseball among the major marketing entities that have committed to deploy MasterPass in their own branded apps.
According to FT Partners, fintech companies raised $903 million in July 2014, $678 million in equity and $225 million in debt. Only the fundings during the last week of July are listed below (in alphabetic order). For all 75 deals in July, see the FT Partners database.
Active Hours
Alternative lender for short-term loans
Latest round: $4.1 million
Total raised: $4.1 million
Tags: Lending, credit, underbanked, unbanked, loans, Palo Alto, California
Source: FT Partners
AvantCredit
Online alt-lender
Latest round: $300 million ($75 million equity, $225 million debt)
Total raised: $554 million ($329 million equity, $225 million debt)
Tags: Lending, underwriting, personal loan, SMB, Chicago, Illinois
Source: FT Partners
BeanStalk
Online tax prep
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
Tags: Tax preparation, fee-based services, OnSwipe (acquired), Salt Lake City, Utah
Source: FT Partners
Exchange Corporation
Japanese consumer loan marketplace lender
Latest round: $3.3 million
Total raised: $3.3 million
Tags: Lending, credit, consumer loans, P2P, person-to-person, crowdfunding,Tokyo, Japan
Source: FT Partners
FreshBooks
Cloud accounting
Latest round: $30 million
Total raised: $30 million
Tags: Accounting, money management, SMB, invoicing, bill payment, Toronto, Canada
Source: FT Partners
Privio
Online marketplace for private mortgage loans
Latest round: $3.8 million
Total raised: $5.9 million
Tags: Mortgage, lending, underwriting, alt-lending, California
Source: FT Partners
Rong360
Chinese lending search engine
Latest round: $60 million
Total raised: $60 million
Tags: Lending, personal loans, lead generation, Bejing, China
Source: FT Partners
Thinknum
Analytics for loan underwriting & investments
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
Tags: Analytics, enterprise, underwriting, investing, financial analysts, New York City, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate
TipRanks
Investment analyst ratings
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3.7 million
Tags: Investing, analytics, Tel Aviv, Israel, Best of Show Finovate alum
Source: Finovate
Volabit
Bitcoin exchange platform
Latest round: $250,000
Total raised: $250,000
Tags: Cryptocurrency, San Mateo, California
Source: FT Partners
Wonder Technology
eGiftcard provider
Latest round: $800,000
Total raised: $800,000
Tags: Giftcards, prepaid, merchants, SMB, Burlingame, California
Source: FT Partners
ZipZap
Enables merchants to accept cash for online purchases
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $2.7 million
Tags: Merchants, acquiring, POS, payments, underbanked, SMB, Yorba Linda, California
Source: FT Partners
I was on a call today with the digital strategy committee of a large U.S. bank. It was clear from their line of questioning that they are grappling with how to prioritize among the many major opportunities on the digital side.
I won’t list any of the specific topics here, but you could guess most of them (though one would surprise you I think). But the conversation got me thinking about what I’d recommend for next year if I was working in a bank, credit union or consumer fintech company.
In semi-prioritized fashion, here are my first three recommendations for 2015. More will follow.
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1. Insurance
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How are you going to replace NSF fee income once the CFPB gets around to capping it? (Timing hint: There’s a big election in 27 months.) One place to look: Insurance. It’s one of the last frontiers for retail banks, especially in the United States. FinovateSpring 2014 alum Insuritas (demo here) says it can launch your very own insurance store within 90 days. So if you move fast enough, you could have this running by end of year.
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2. Lifetime transaction archives
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I believe digital services will increase bank loyalty two or three-fold. So instead of accounts turning over every 7 years or so, it will be 15 or 20 years for digital-first households. Why? Once banks come to their senses and start archiving all your transactions like Google does for email, it will be much more of a pain to move.
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3. Subscription fees
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Back to the Gmail example. How much could Google charge me now that I have 100,000 messages archived there? $100/year easy. Probably more. Banks should be thinking the same way. Get #2 done, then charge $4.95/mo for a Peace of Mind package that includes lifetime archives, mobile document/receipt capture, priority customer service, and so on.
To be continued………..
In a round led by AngelList Syndicate and 500 Startups, and featuring participation from Blumberg Capital, ZipZap has raised $1.1 million in new capital.
ZipZap now has $2.7 million in total funding. In a statement, the company says the funds will “further its vision to be the primary payment network for digital currencies.”
This helps explain, among other things, ZipZap’s recent talent acquisition: Jim Griffin. Formerly of UBS Investment Bank, where he was Executive Director, Jim is newly the Senior Vice President of Currency and Foreign Exchange for ZipZap.
With news of its Samsung Gear 2 deployment, has Wallaby become the Fitbit of personal finance?
This connection between physical health and financial health may not be as far-fetched as it seems. In my conversation with Wallaby CEO Matthew Goldman last week, he pointed to the way that wearable technology had dovetailed with, if not helped enabled, a growing interest in personal health.
It is true that, in many ways, financial health has been left behind in this “quantified self” movement. But as more people begin to see their financial health (for example, reducing debt) as integral to their physical health (for example, reducing stress), there is a great opportunity for companies to tailor solutions to these newly (financially) conscious consumers.
“What is used the most? What is the critical thing you need to know?” were the questions that have guided Matthew and his team’s efforts to bring a robust PFM app to wearables with divergent form factors (wristwatch versus glass, for example). This is why he refers to the wearable app as delivering “personal financial information” such as checking balances and credit availability, as well as optimizing rewards and offers, rather than remaking the entire PFM experience – functionality and all – on a screen that is little more than 1.5 inches.