PayNearMe Leverages Family Dollar Partnership; Raises $20 Million

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Helping separate itself from the growing pack of consumer payments platforms, PayNearMe‘s partnership with the Family Dollar retail chain will bring the company’s cash payment solution to more than 8,000 locations in 40 states.

“Footprint” has been the company’s biggest limitation, according to PayNearMe CEO Danny Shader. With the technology already in use at 7-Elevens and ACE Cash Express, the addition of Family Dollar will expand PayNearMe’s reach to 17,000 payment locations.

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PayNearMe also announced a major new funding: $20 million in a round led by GSV Capital, with existing investors August Capital, Khosla Ventures, Maveron, and True Ventures also participating. The company’s total funding now stands at more than $56 million.
A cash transaction network, PayNearMe provides an easy way for cash-based consumers to pay bills, rent, auto loans, and other obligations at designated payment locations. The solution benefits consumers who prefer to pay with cash, retailers who gain additional foot traffic to their brick and mortar locations – as well as earning commissions from their PayNearMe payments, and merchants looking to expand their customer base by accepting cash. 
According to PayNearMe, the cash economy remains important, especially for the underbanked. They note:
  • More than 28% of U.S. households are un- or underbanked
  • 68 million adults living in the U.S. are un- or underbanked
  • 54% of U.S. adults cite cash as their preferred form of payment
For its part, PayNearMe has experienced major growth, including a tripling of payment volume from 2012 to 2013. 
PayNearMe demoed its technology as part of the FinovateFall 2011 show in New York. See the company in action here.

Finovate Alumni News– February 6, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFIS announces multi-year business process outsourcing agreement with wealth manager Diversified Trust.
  • Mexican micro-lender Kueski chooses Mambu’s cloud banking platform.
  • Billeo launches social e-commerce solution for Facebook fan pages and Twitter.
  • PayNearMeleverages Family Dollar partnership; raises $20 million.
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.

New OBR Published: Money 3.0

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The report, Money 3.0: Payments Go Mobile examines the evolution of money beyond cash, check and credit cards. We also take a look at the biggest story in payments over the past six months, the rise of bitcoin. If you believe the proponents, we’ve been witnessing the founding of the “internet for money.” 
That may be true, but like Napster when it created the “internet for music” there will be substantial push-back from existing players. And this time, legacy providers will have the full support of the government to keep the newcomers in check. 
But as the music industry changed post-Napster, we expect the rise of bitcoin, and digital financial transfers in general (especially mobile), to have lasting impact on the financial services industry. The rapid rise of mobile payments at PayPal, the original alt-payments disrupter, illustrates the speed of change in the space.
This report looks at the latest developments and recommends potential courses of action for financial institutions of all sizes.


About the report



Money 3.0: Payments Go Mobile
(link)

Apple, Bitcoin, & mobile apps are changing the game. What’s a bank to do?

Author: Julie Schicktanz, Research Analyst
Editor: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder
Published: 4 February 2014
Length: 36 pages
Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, US$395 for others here

Report excerpt:

A look at Fidor Bank’s recent involvement in bitcoin:
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Finovate Alumni News– February 5, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgKabbage expands platform to serve all SMBs: online, brick-and-mortar, and services businesses.
  • Spend Matters interviews Taulia’s Markus Ament on its discounting philosophy, e-invoicing, and ERP.
  • Gartner recognizes Backbase CXP as being at the forefront of UX design and mobile development support.
  • Washington Federal picks Fiserv’s DNA account processing platform.
  • Digital Mailer adds eight new financial institutions to its My Virtual Strongbox service.
  • Experian launches real-time data sharing service for UK credit providers.
  • Genesis Financial chooses ACI Worldwide to power multichannel call center and eLockbox payment options.
  • LegacyTexas Bank of Plano to work with Digital Insight to deploy online and mobile banking solutions. See Digital Insight demo at FinovateEurope next week.
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 Alumni News– February 4, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNous makes it to the finals of UK’s Million Pound Startup competition. Check them out at FinovateEurope in London.
  • Luminous partners with Jack Henry & Associates. Come see them both at FinovateEurope next week.
  • Pindrop Security achieves record growth in 2013 fueled by rising phone-based fraud.
  • Sun Hearlad features Finovera as a new site to help manage personal finances.
  • In yet another partnership, Refundo partners with Stripe to process payments for tax preparers.
  • CNB Texas launches responsive design website from Banno for greater cross-sell potential.
  • Top-Five U.S. Bank makes million dollar investment in software licenses for Kofax’s Mobile Capture. Come see Kofax’s live demo at FinovateEurope.
  • VentureBeat lists TransferWise among London’s hottest startups.
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.

FinovateEurope 2014: Guess Who’s Coming to London?

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Make no mistake – one of the biggest selling points of Finovate is the high-quality networking. With dedicated networking sessions setup throughout both presentation days, we do everything we can to make sure that you get the opportunity to meet some of the most interesting people in financial technology today.

Just take a look at the titles of the more than 1,000 industry professionals who will be attending this year’s FinovateEurope.

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CEOs and CTOs. Presidents and Partners. Founders, Directors and more. Whether they were there building the company from the beginning or brought onboard afterward to help make the climb to the next level, the attendees of FinovateEurope 2014 will be another stimulating mix of movers, shakers, and IT decision-makers.
And while our events always attract C-level talent, be on the lookout for the Creative Consultants, the Heads of Innovation, the Business Architects … all of whom can be equally valuable in helping enterprises and entrepreneurs make the most of the Finovate experience.
There’s still plenty of time for you to get your ticket and save your spot at our biggest FinovateEurope yet. For more information, visit our FinovateEurope page today.

Red Zebra Analytics Announces Seven-Figure Investment from SBT Venture Capital

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Sometimes innovation in loyalty program development is its own reward.

London-based Red Zebra Analytics announced that it has picked up a “seven-figure” investment from SBT Venture Capital. The specific amount of the venture round was not disclosed. But the figure is believed to be under five million pounds (approximately $8M USD). The capital also represents the first significant funding for the loyalty program specialist.

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A self-described “offers generation and delivery company” Red Zebra Analytics provides technology that analyzes bank transaction data in order to provide highly-targeted offers. Consumers review and select personalized offers from a “rewards hub” inside their bank’s online banking environment via the channel of their choice. And once accepted, taking advantage of offers is as simple as paying with that bank’s credit or debit card – no vouchers and no codes necessary.
According to Red Zebra CEO, Attul Sehgal, the new capital will help the company grow its sales and marketing initiatives. The technology already has been deployed in Germany, as well as in Southeast Asia.
Founded in August 2011, Red Zebra Analytics demoed its technology as part of FinovateAsia 2013, and will be on stage as part of the show at FinovateEurope 2014 next week. For info on how to see Red Zebra live in London, click here.

Finovate Alumni News–February 3, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMonitise acquires Pozitron in all share deal worth $100 million.
  • TSYS announces two new board members: William M. Isaac and Connie D. McDaniel.
  • Washington Post features HelloWallet’s principal scientist.
  • Spend Matters interviews Taulia’s Chief Product Officer.
  • Arctic Startup: Holvi lets startups compare their finances to Apple’s first year.
  • FinanceIt’s Casper Wong nominated for Inc Magazine’s 30 Under 30.
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.

Full Lineup Revealed for FinovateEurope 2014 in London

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It’s official! FinovateEurope 2014 will be our largest European conference so far. We’ve topped last year’s record-breaking crowd and tickets are still rolling in.

The 67 presenting companies are polishing up their demos and getting ready to board the planes, trains, and automobiles that will take them to the Old Billingsgate Market Hall on February 11 and 12 in London.

Here’s where each of the companies is headquartered (click to enlarge):

finovateEurope14map.jpgHere is the full list of companies that will take the legendary FinovateEurope stage:

  • Advanced Merchant Payments
  • AdviceGames
  • AnalytixInsight
  • Arxan Technologies
  • Atsora
  • Avoka
  • AXA Banque and Chappuis Halder & Cie
  • Backbase
  • BehavioSec
  • Cardwise
  • CRIF
  • CurrencyTransfer.com
  • Device Ident
  • Dynamics
  • efigence & IdeaBank
  • Encap Security
  • ETRONIKA
  • EXCESS RETURN
  • EZBOB
  • fastacash
  • Feedzai
  • Fiserv
  • Five Degrees
  • GMC Software Technology
  • IND Group
  • Innovation Agency
  • Intuition Intelligence
  • ITSector
  • Jack Henry & Associates and Luminous
  • Jumio
  • Kensho
  • Kofax
  • Kown
  • LifePay
  • Luxoft
  • Matchi
  • Meniga
  • Mobino
  • The Moneyer
  • Money on Toast
  • My Order
  • myWishBoard
  • NF Innova
  • Nostrum Group
  • Nous.net
  • payworks
  • PhotoPay
  • Pixeliris
  • Plutus Software
  • Red Zebra Analytics
  • SaaS Markets
  • SecureSafe
  • Smart Engine
  • SoftWear Finance
  • SQLI
  • Switchless
  • Temenos
  • Tink
  • Top Image Systems
  • Topicus Finan
  • Toshl
  • Truphone
  • Trustev
  • vaamo
  • YourWealth
  • Yseop

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

Be sure to guarantee your spot at the show as we head toward a sellout crowd. For those of you who already have your ticket, we’ll see you in London!

Sneak Peek #1

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak Peek #3

Sneak Peek #4

Sneak Peek #5

Sneak Peek #6

Sneak Peek #7


FinovateEurope 2014 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Be Group, Financial Technology Partners, and Life.SREDA.

FinovateEurope 2014 is partners with: Aite Group, Bank Innovators CouncilBankersHub, Celent, The Financial Services Club, FSIC, Hotwire PR, Level39, Mapa Research, SME Finance ForumVisible Banking, & World Finance.

Finovate Alumni News– January 31, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgHuff Post lists Mint and BillGuard as 2 tools to help monitor your account 
  • American Banker looks at how Open Bank Project seeks to help banks open their own app stores.
  • CBS Pittsburgh features Dynamics. Come see it demo its latest technology at FinovateEurope.
  • Acculynk’s P2P platform Payzur now allows businesses to make instant direct deposit payments to debit cards.
  • Data scientists return to Check for clues on consumer behavior.
  • Guaranty Bank announces its deployment of FIS core banking platform.
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.

Full Lineup Revealed for FinovateEurope 2014 in London

FEUCrowd3.jpg

It’s official! FinovateEurope 2014 will be our largest European conference so far. We’ve topped last year’s record-breaking crowd and tickets are still rolling in.

The 67 presenting companies are polishing up their demos and getting ready to board the planes, trains, and automobiles that will take them to the Old Billingsgate Market Hall on February 11 and 12 in London.

Here’s where each of the companies is headquartered (click to enlarge):

finovateEurope14map.jpgHere is the full list of companies that will take the legendary FinovateEurope stage:
  • Advanced Merchant Payments
  • AdviceGames
  • AnalytixInsight
  • Arxan Technologies
  • Atsora
  • Avoka
  • AXA Banque and Chappuis Halder & Cie
  • Backbase
  • BehavioSec
  • Cardwise
  • CRIF
  • CurrencyTransfer.com
  • Device Ident
  • Dynamics
  • efigence & IdeaBank
  • Encap Security
  • ETRONIKA
  • EXCESS RETURN
  • EZBOB
  • fastacash
  • Feedzai
  • Fiserv
  • Five Degrees
  • GMC Software Technology
  • IND Group
  • Innovation Agency
  • Intuition Intelligence
  • ITSector
  • Jack Henry & Associates and Luminous
  • Jumio
  • Kensho
  • Kofax
  • Kown
  • LifePay
  • Luxoft
  • Matchi
  • Meniga
  • Mobino
  • Momentum
  • The Moneyer
  • Money on Toast
  • My Order
  • myWishBoard
  • NF Innova
  • Nostrum Group
  • Nous.net
  • payworks
  • PhotoPay
  • Pixeliris
  • Plutus Software
  • Red Zebra Analytics
  • SaaS Markets
  • SecureSafe
  • Smart Engine
  • SoftWear Finance
  • SQLI
  • Switchless
  • Temenos
  • Tink
  • Top Image Systems
  • Topicus Finan
  • Toshl
  • Truphone
  • Trustev
  • vaamo
  • Yseop

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

Be sure to guarantee your spot at the show as we head toward a sellout crowd. For those of you who already have your ticket, we’ll see you in London!

Sneak Peek #1

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak Peek #3

Sneak Peek #4

Sneak Peek #5

Sneak Peek #6

Sneak Peek #7


FinovateEurope 2014 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Be Group, Financial Technology Partners, and Life.SREDA.

FinovateEurope 2014 is partners with: Aite Group, Bank Innovators Council, BankersHub, Celent, The Financial Services Club, FSIC, Hotwire PR, Level39, Mapa Research, SME Finance Forum, Visible Banking, & World Finance.

Data Scientists Return to Check for Clues on Consumer Behavior

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Did American consumers spend more this past holiday season than the previous one? Do iPhone users, whose incomes are typically more than 50% higher than those of Android users, spend 50% more as consumers, as well? What part of the country contains the biggest spenders?

Now, if you are a data scientist looking for innovative ways to answer questions like these, you can check with Check.

We reported last November how data from Check’s mobile bill pay and account management app was helping academic researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor learn about the impact of the October 2013 government shutdown on consumer behavior.

Now researchers from the same institutions, along with others from Arizona State University, have returned to Check’s real-time aggregated data to learn about differences in holiday spending between 2012 and 2013.
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Steven Tadelis, associate professor at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, “From a research perspective, it’s amazing to work with the data provided by Check. With it, we are able to make interesting conclusions about trends and how they relate to mobile users.”
About those trends … the data Check provided to researchers – anonymous user data from more than 150,000 Android users and more than 200,000 iPhone users – revealed that while iPhone user spending outpaced that of Android users, both groups saw year-over-year holiday spending increases of more than 30%. At the same time, however, the average purchase amount for both groups was lower on a year-over-year basis.
Unsurprisingly, the top shopping destinations for both groups remain retailers Amazon.com, Walmart, and Target. In fact, the only non-retailer to make the top five in either year was fast food chain, McDonalds.
Other interesting observations:
  • The biggest spenders by average dollar amount live west of the Rockies (West and Mountain regions)
  • The biggest percent change in average dollar amount spent was the increase of more than 50% in the Plains region, which also had the second lowest average dollar amount spent.
  • The smallest percentage change in average dollar amount spend was on the east coast, led by New England and the Southeast.
Check is an alumni of FinovateFall 2010, where they demoed as Pageonce.