Old Acquires New: BBVA Buys Simple for $117 Million

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BBVA, Simple

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In a different take on the story of Old Meets New today, we’ve seen Old Acquires New. Simple, a 5-year-old neobank has been acquired by BBVA, a 150-year-old bank that ranks in the top 15 in the world.

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BBVA purchased Simple, which has raised $15.3 million since being founded in 2009, for $117 million.

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Those of us with Simple accounts need not worry, however, because the Portland-based startup will continue to operate as usual. In a blog post announcing the change, CEO Josh Reich states:

“…we will function as a separate business within the BBVA structure, operating in parallel with BBVA’s existing US banking operations. Furthermore, I’m remaining in my role as CEO and will be joined by the same team that built Simple over the past four years.”

The largest change, Reich states, will be that Simple will have BBVA’s backing of $280 billion in assets that will enable it to grow and continue innovating.

Check out Simple’s demo from FinovateFall 2011 here. BBVA demonstrated its Stockbuzz tech at FinovateEurope last year. Check out the video here.

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SecureKey Wins Deployment at Royal Canadian Mint

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: SecureKey

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Thanks to SecureKey, users of the Royal Canadian Mint’s new cloud-based digital currency, MintChip, will have the benefit of multi-factor authentication when it comes to securely accessing their digital dollars and cents.

SecureKey’s briidge.net Connect Mobile SDK will be embedded into the MintChip mobile app. Authentication is based on a unique device ID that connects the unit to the user account in the cloud, and a four-digit PIN.

Charles Walton, CEO at SecureKey states: 
“(This deployment) offers an excellent example of how our briidge.net Connect service can make the benefits of strong, multi-factor authentication available in an extremely friendly way for consumer-facing mobile apps.
Consumers will simply enter their QuickCode PIN on their mobile device to authenticate to their MintChip cloud account.”
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The MintChip project was announced in 2012. Backed by the Canadian government, the “digital cash-like product” in the words of Royal Canadian Mint chief emerging payments officer, Marc Brûlé, is designed to facilitate small denomination shopping (i.e., $10 and below) such as buying coffee or fast food, as well as for online transactions.
The secure smart card supports both MicroSD for use with mobile devices and USB for use with PCs. Merchants with significant transaction volumes can take advantage of a secure hardware option.
SecureKey won Best of Show for their authentication technology at FinovateFall 2010 in New York. The company has raised more than $49 million, and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

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Finovate Alumni News– February 20, 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, BellaDati, Kalixa, ReadyForZero, Venmo
  • TechCrunch reports: Venmo Now Lets You Find And Pay Other Nearby Venmo Users.
  • Kalixa announces new offices in Sao Paolo and New York.
  • ACI Worldwide’s ACI Interchange strengthens support for UnionPay card network.
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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Finovate Alumni News– February 19, 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Actiance, CaixaBank, Fastacash, Jumio, Linkable Networks, MasterCard, Temenos, ValidSoft
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgLinkable Networks inks deal with Evan Anthony and Masterpiece USA to enhance shopper marketing and loyalty offering.
  • ValidSoft appoints Adrian Kelly chief product officer.
  • Actiance receives Microsoft certification to manage and record Lync 2013 Enterprise Voice.
  • American Banker takes a look at Jumio and its mobile commerce solution, Fastfill.
  • MasterCard to use Host Card Eumulation to enable secure NFC payments.
  • CaixaBank is developing Google Glass and smart watch apps.
  • Temenos announces multi-solution deployment with Banesco Grupo Financiero Internacional, Venezuela’s largest bank.
  • Open Eco Source features fastacash in a column on sending money via Facebook.
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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FinovateEurope 2014 in the Press

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

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With any luck, FinovateEurope presenters and attendees were able to rest over the weekend to recover from the demos and networking.

It appears, however, that the media, bloggers, and members of the press were busy polishing up their extensive coverage of the demos. There are still more articles and blogs in the works, so stay tuned for further coverage.

Here’s a rollup of FinovateEurope in the press:

Accounts Payable News 
Enhanced new look for The Currency Cloud’s platform
American Banker
  • Feedzai Sifts Through Social Media Posts for Clues to Fraud
    by Penny Crosman
    Link
  • Jumio Aims to Modernize Mobile Commerce with Camera Tech
    by Karen Epper Hoffman
    Link
Backbase blog
We Won Best of Show at FinovateEurope 2014!
by Prue Duggan
Bank Innovation
FinovateEurope Recap
by JP Nicols
Bank NXT
Finovate 2014: The Eye of the Digital Storm
by Auke Douwe 
Bob’s Guide 
  • CRIF Debuts its Mobile Lending Platform that Adapts to Any Business, Regulation, or Country Requirement
    Link
  • Misys wins Best of Show at FinovateEurope
    Link
  • Show Report: Strike it Rich at Finovate Europe 2014
    by Neil Ainger 
    Link
Boursier.com
SQLI: désigné pour participer à l’édition 2014 de Finovate Europe
Business Tech
Standard Bank launches Bitcoin pilot
by Jan Vermeulen
CCGroup
Finovate Europe: Show Report
by Daniel Lowther
Celent
Finovate Europe 2014: Some Key Takeaways
by Stephen Greer
C’est pas mon idée!
Tink, nouvelle perspective sur le PFM
by Patrice Bernard
Cognito
Ten Takeaways from Finovate Europe 2014
by Andrew Marshall
CurrencyTransfer blog
Diary of a Finovate presenter. The story of CurrencyTransfer
by Daniel Abrahams
decyzje- IT
Luxoft z prestiżową nagrodą na konferencji Finovate Europe 2014
Der Bank Blog
Incremental or disruptive innovation?
by Dr. Hansjörg Leichsenring
E-Invoicing Platform
Top Image Systems Presents Innovative Mobile Imaging Platform at FinovateEurope 2014
 
Emerce
Internationale positionering MyOrder en MyOrder Sidekick op Finovate Europe te Londen.
Financial IT
Misys Named ‘Best of Show’ Winner at Finovate Europe
Finance & Technology Research Centre
Finovate Europe 2014
by Ian McKenna
Finextra
  • GMC Software Technology shows off mobile onboarding app
    Link
  • Nous trading game app lets users bet on bitcoin price
    Link
  • Nous unveils crowd-sourced data feeds
    Link
  • Standard Bank tests current account-linked bitcoin wallet
    Link
Forrester’s Benjamin Ensor’s Blog
Finovate Europe 2014: Digital Financial Innovation
by Benjamin Ensor
Human IPO
Standard Bank piloting Bitcoin trading platform
by Chris Udemans
ICT Journal
iStockTrack remporte le «Best of Show» grâce à un garçon de 10 ans
by Helene Leiievre
Info Money
Uma ameaça às exchanges de Bitcoin
by Fernando Ulrich
Mapa Research
Simplicity, financial planning and intelligent response
by Tom McCourtie
Matchi News blog
Matchi Announces Exclusive Sponsorship Deal with Caixabank at FinovateEurope 2014
Money Marketing 
Ian McKenna: Automation of advice is inevitable
by Ian McKenna 
News BTC
South Africa’s Standard Bank Running Bitcoin Pilot Internally With Switchless’ Integration
by Eric Calouro
Proactive Investors USA & Canada 
AnalytixInsight launches ETF analytics tool at Finovate Europe
by Deborah Bacal
SME Finance Forum 
Finovate London 2014 was a blast!
by Matthew Gamser
TechCentral
Standard Bank in Bitcoin trading pilot
by Nafisa Akabor
TechZim
One of Africa’s largest banks, Standard Bank, pilots Bitcoin trading portal
by L.S.M Kabweza
The Next Web
  • How ‘social fingerprinting’ company Trustev uses Facebook to decide if you can have that new phone
    by Ben Woods
    Link
  • The Currency Cloud revamps payments platform with new look and streamlined API integration
    by Ben Woods
    Link
  • Toshl’s incoming update brings more monsters and a beautiful take on personal finance tracking
    by Ben Woods
    Link

Did we miss anything? Please send additional press coverage from FinovateEurope 2014 to [email protected] and we’ll add it. Thanks!

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Finovate Alumni News– February 18, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, Betterment, BillGuard, BlinkMobile Interactive, CAN Capital, DeviceFidelity, Doxo, EyeVerify, Fenergo, FIS, Matchi, Personal Capital, planwise, Taulia, Wealthfront, 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.jpgScotiabank selects Fenergo’s regulatory onboarding solution.
  • FIS announces partnership with Microsoft Cybercrime Center.
  • Azimo credits Indian expansion for surge in new cash pick-up points.
  • Betterment, Personal Capital, Wealthfront featured in Boston Globe column on personal wealth.
  • DeviceFidelity unveils RF technology behind its latest stand-alone, NFC microSD card.
  • Find Biometrics interviews Toby Rush, CEO of EyeVerify.
  • Vincent Turner, Planwise CEO, gives a closer look at the Planwise Solid Earth partnership.
  • Forbes examines how CAN Capital reinvents financing for SMBs.
  • City of Prosser launches on doxo to simplify bill pay and add mobile interaction.
  • BillGuard now offering free card monitoring for unlimited number of cards.
  • Taulia triples revenue growth in 2013.
  • BlinkMobile enters Europe, eyes U.S.
  • Xero adds a new chairman, director, and CEO of North America.
  • Matchi hires new CEO, David Milligan.
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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FinovateEurope 2014: Twitter on the Thames

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2014

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It’s only fitting that our biggest FinovateEurope ever would feature the liveliest Twitter feed in FinovateEurope history as well.

Maybe you were one of those retweeting support of not just “demos that taste good”, but “demos with good taste,” too. Perhaps you were among the many marveling at those great sketch summaries of FinovateEurope from follower @jonohey of FinovateEurope 2012 alum, Nutmeg. 

But however you may have enjoyed FinovateEurope 2014, there is no doubt that social media was a big part of the story this year.

You’ll have to go see some of the saltier tweets on your own. But here are a handful of highlights (click for larger version):

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See you in San Jose in April!

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FinovateEurope 2014 Best of Show Winners

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Best of Show, FinovateEurope 2014
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After a busy two days of fintech demos, the FinovateEurope audience members have made their voices heard.
After watching the 67 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 9 companies with the highest number of votes were crowned winners.
Here they are in alphabetical order:
Backbase, with its out-of-the-box tool for mobile account origination and enrollment
BehavioSec, with its behavioral biometrics solution created specifically for a mobile environment
Dynamics, for its new Open Loop and Closed Loop card technology
Etronika, for its multi-channel partnership ecosystem within BANKTRON
MISYS, for its cross-generational digital banking experience
Momentum (FKA YourWealth) for its MoneyHub technology that gives users total control of their entire financial life.
Luxoft, for its iStockTrack, an app that gives users a single place to connect with their investment life
Tink, for its mobile PFM that helps users stay connected with their finaces
Toshl, for its quirky PFM that makes finances fun
As always, thanks for your continued support. See you next year at FinovateEurope 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 nine 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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AXA Banque and Chappuis Halder & Cie Debut SOON, a Mobile-First Approach to Banking

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: AXA Banque, Chappuis Halder & Cie, FinovateEurope 2014
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2014.

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Finishing up FinovateEurope 2014, AXA Banque and Chappuis Halder & Cie come up to debut SOON, a mobile-first approach to banking:
“SOON is changing the way everyday banking is done. Mobile banking can be much more than another channel to use the same banking services because mobile handset capabilities enable brand new user experiences. SOON is one of the first bank services to be specially designed for a mobile smartphone, with the objective to make bank services useful, simple, and pleasant. Focusing on design and user experience, we took Apple as an example and used the Nudge marketing theory to develop useful functionalities to manage money.”
Presenting Raphaël Krivine (General Manager, AXA Banque) and Patrick Bucquet (VP Digital, CH&C)

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Product Launch: January 2014
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C)
HQ: Fontenay Sous Bois, France
Founded: September 2012  
Website: soon.fr 
Twitter: @soon

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Smart Engine’s Shopping Assistance Helps Banks Bring More Targeted Offers to Consumers

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2014, Smart Engine
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2014.

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Then, Smart Engine took the stage to launch its Shopping Assistance technology that helps banks take advantage of big data to bring consumers more targeted offers:
“We are demonstrating the next generation of our innovative Shopping Assistance functionality which adds an entirely new level of “big data” consumer profiling and multichannel targeting to our card linked offer bank loyalty platform. 
The cardholder checks in at the merchant store using the App or logs on to the web shop. Our consumer insight analytics in real time pushes relevant shopping offers and recommendations which match the cardholder’s preferences. The preferences are derived from the cardholder’s profile which we maintain consistently across all merchant sales channels. The cardholder checks out from the store using the Smart Engine App, paying for the purchase and redeeming a discount all in one go.”
Presenting Christian Bacher (Managing Partner) and Anna Bacher (Director of Sales & Bus. Dev.)

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Product Launch: Q1, 2014
Metrics: Money raised to date: $8M, annual revenues: $950,000, number of employees: 35, shareholder structure: 60% – 2 private venture capital funds, 40% – management
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C), Direct to Business (B2B), through financial institutions
HQ: Europe: Vienna, Austria, Asia: Hong Kong, China
Founded: December 2010
Twitter: @SmartengineNws

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Arxan’s Security Technology Shields at the Application Layer for Tamper-Proof Protection

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, FinovateEurope 2014
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2014.

ArxanLogoFEU14.jpgNext, Arxan Technologies took the stage with its mobile app shielding for financial services:

“Arxan’s mobile application hardening delivers critical defense and shielding at the application layer with static and active self-defend and tamper-proof attributes. By deploying Arxan protected apps, financial institutions can launch advanced and feature-rich mobile financial services with confidence. Our state of the art ‘Guards’ are small units of object code that “lockdown” applications with multiple and performance sensitive protection against attacks such as malware, fraud, data breach repackaging, unauthorized access, IP theft, removal of security or critical business logic – all of which would have significant consequences for financial institutions.”
Presenting Vince Arneja (VP Product Management) and Winston Bond (Security Solutions Architect)
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Product Launch: October 2013
Metrics: majority private equity investment made in Arxan in September 2013, HQ in USA with global offices in EMEA and APAC
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B)
HQ: Bethesda, MD, USA
Founded: January 2001
Website: arxan.com
Twitter: @Arxan

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Mobino Presents Its Universal Mobile Payments Solution

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2014, Mobino

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This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2014.

The team from Mobino is making its way to the stage now with their innovative approach to bringing mobile payments to the masses.

“The new Mobino app delivers superior convenience for customers with a seamless integration of many payment scenarios:
  • Peer-to-peer money transfer
  • Payment for goods and services in shops
  • POS and cash register integration
  • Quicker and safer e-commerce payments
  • Fluid payment flow for mobile commerce
  • Cheap and efficient international remittances
  • Registration and KYC process for unbanked
  • Cash-in/out operations at agents and ATMs
We are looking for distribution partners and investors to expand our reach in Europe and worldwide.”
Presenting Jean-Francois Groff (CEO) and Bea Beyer (Evangelist)
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Product Launch: November 2013
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C), Direct to Business (B2B), through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms, licensed
HQ: Geneva, Switzerland
Founded: March 2011
Website: mobino.com
Twitter: @mobino

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