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Finovate Alumni News– April 25, 2013

By David Penn Posted on April 25, 2013
Categories: BillFloat, CommunityLend, Cortera, eyeOpen, ID Analytics, Jack Henry, Kabbage, Kofax, Kony Solutions, Outright.com, TSYS, Zooz

Digital Journal profiles BillFloat.

Bank Independent picks Jack Henry Banking’s SilverLake technology for enterprise-wide automation.

TSYS Merchant Solutions launches Pay in Your Currency multi-currency solution.

CommunityLend earns spot on Branham300’s Top 25 Up and Coming companies roster.

Outright unveils new look.

ID Analytics introduces new version of Credit Optics Credit Score for more insight into consumer behavior.

Kofax ranked a “Leader” by Forrester Research in The Forrester Wave report.

AGBeat features Kabbage. Check them out at FinovateSpring.

Kony Solutions announces record year in FY2013, growing 90% YOY. Hires Abhay Parasnis as President and COO.

FT Adviser highlights eyeOpen.

MO interviews Cortera CEO Jim Swift.

Mobile World Live takes a look at Zooz’s recent funding round. Meet Zooz in San Francisco as they demo their technology as part of FinovateSpring.

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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FinDesign: Making it Easy for Visitors to Find Online/Mobile Banking Features

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 24, 2013
Categories: Simple, US Bank, Website Usability & Design

I know our readers have passed graduate level coursework in digital banking. But sometimes, even the PhD candidates need a refresher in the basics. Here’s a fundamental that too many financial institutions neglect:

Make it super easy for visitors (non-customers especially) to find information about online and mobile banking

Just about every bank has an obvious login button in the top-right or top-left corners (or Chase who has it plastered in the middle). That’s fine for existing customers. But what about those simply shopping banks? You would think that online/mobile capabilities are pretty important to someone checking you out online!

The big-four U.S. banks do a good job exposing online and mobile features. Citibank is especially focused with its “bank online….make memories offline” tagline mid-page (screenshot below).

But finding the online banking features often requires menu hunting (see BofA, Chase, and Wells below) and/or promotion scanning (see Citibank, Wells and Atlantic Regional FCU below). And sometimes, it’s below the fold (Sterling Bank, BECU) or a screen away (see Comerica below).

Bottom line: You don’t want to get too cute with the fundamentals. That’s why we like the direct approach of both U.S. Bank and Bank of American Fork who position Online Banking as the first tab in their primary navigation (screenshots below). Alternatively, startups Moven and Simple use page-dominating screenshots of their mobile app to position themselves with mobile bankers (see below).

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Bank of American Fork
No, that’s not a typo. This community bank blankets American Fork, Utah, with its 13 branches. It places online banking in its own tab, plus it launches a huge mega-menu detailing all the personal and business online and mobile features. (Plus it has cookies, the kind you eat, in one of the four rotating promotions).

US Bank
US Bank is the only one with an “online banking” tab. And it’s positioned in the pole position. Mobile banking is listed in the mega-menu.

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The big 4 (alpha order)

Bank of America
While it’s not in the main tab, both online and mobile are mentioned on mega-menu displayed when you hover over the “Bank” tab. And there is an online banking promo in the lower left.

Chase
Similar approach to Bank of America. However, online and mobile are buried pretty far down the popup mega-menu.

Citibank
Citi does not beat around the bush. Their entire homepage is devoted to driving users to online banking (first screenshot). And those that launch the mega-menu, see online banking, billpay & Popmoney at the top (second screenshot). However, the bank has no mention of “mobile” anywhere.

Wells Fargo
Online & mobile have the top position under “Banking” on the homepage. In addition, there are promotions and links scattered about the homepage.

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Other examples

Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union (link)
If you don’t have online banking in the main nav, you need to compensate elsewhere. Atlantic Regional’s BancVue-designed site uses the fashionable full-page graphic to draw attention to its four rotating promotions. Number 2 leads shown below leads directly to online banking info. The CU is also running a mobile banking announcement across the top of the page.

Bank Simple
Simple turns the double-play with an excellent welcome video and a snazzy shot of its iPhone app in action.

Moven Bank
Moven is all about the mobile, and visitors can’t miss that with the page-dominating visual.

Comerica
The bank currently has no mention of online banking on its homepage. However, once a visitor goes to the Personal or Small Business page, it is listed on the drop-down mega-menu.

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Note: We cover financial website and mobile design issues periodically in our Online Banking Report (subscription).

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ACI Worldwide Integrates Cards, Payments and Mobile Banking

By David Penn Posted on April 24, 2013
Categories: ACI Worldwide

It’s been a week of announcements and new initiatives from ACI Worldwide. Here’s a round-up of what the Florida-based payments systems innovator has been up to in just the past seven days.

Issue Multiple Cards of Different Types in Less Time

Last Wednesday, ACI announced the latest version of ACI Issuer. The solution provides a single platform for credit, debit, pre-paid, and contactless card management.

The latest version includes flexible, rule-based product definition, and promises an easy integration with online channels. ACI Issuer 4.4 is multi-language, multi-institution, and multi-currency.

All Things to All Channels, All Currencies, All Networks

The goal of ACI Universal Payments Platform is to make it easier for financial institutions to adapt to changes in the industry. This includes everything from new regulatory developments to the challenge of mobile commerce.

Universal Payments Platform integrates all aspects of payment processing, regardless of type, currency, channel or network. It is geared toward helping organizations bring new products to market, achieve a better view of their customer and business data, and respond to changing regulations and compliance needs.

Online Banking Goes Mobile

Bringing personal finance management, integrated bill payment, and account-to-account transfers to iOS and Android smartphones are the main attractions of ACI’s Architect Mobile Banking feature. The launch of the solution helps the company bridge the distance between online banking and the potential for growth in banking via mobile devices.

ACI partners with more than 1,700 financial institutions and payment processors globally. Driving $13 trillion in payments daily, the company processes payments for more than 250 of the world’s leading retail businesses, and 18 of the biggest banks.

ACI Worldwide has been a Finovate alum since 2011, when they participated in FinovateFall. See them demo their Mobile Enterprise Banker product, in collaboration with MShift, here.

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Finovate Alumni News– April 24, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 24, 2013
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Adobe, CommunityLend, Finect, Green Dot, MicroStrategy, SapientNitro, TipRanks, TransferWise, Zopa

Adobe and SapientNitro form partnership. Come see Adobe’s new tech at FinovateSpring.

Forbes lists Zopa as 1 of 10 top P2P lending platforms in Europe.

MicroStrategy unveils upgrade to company’s enterprise analytics platform. See them demo at FinovateSpring in May.

Bank Systems & Technology takes a look at ACI Worldwide’s new Universal Payments Platform.

CommunityLend’s FinanceIt named 1 of Branham300’s Top 25 Up-and-Coming companies.

Is TransferWise a “simplified PayPal for business banking”?

ACI Worldwide to offer Mobile Bill Pay Suite.

Bank Investment Consultant features social media resource Finect. Come meet Finect at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May.

Newser takes a look at Green Dot’s new online bank: GoBank. See a demo of GoBank at FinovateSpring.

Motherhood Moment interviews TipRanks CEO and co-founder Uri Gruenbaun. See TipRanks in action at FinovateSpring.

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 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 3

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 23, 2013
Categories: Better ATM Services, Bright Funds, FamZoo, FinovateSpring 2013, Intuit, LeapScore, MicroStrategy, MoneyDesktop, OneID, Quantopian, Refundo, Yandex, Yseop

This is the third part in our continuing Sneak Peek series that gives a glimpse into what each company will demo live on stage at FinovateSpring.

Don’t miss part 1 and part 2 published earlier this month.

See the full demos live at FinovateSpring next month. Get your ticket here.

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Better ATM Services’ groundbreaking technology enables ATMs to dispense new, flexible prepaid cards just like cash, opening the world’s fleet of 2.3 million ATMs to the prepaid marketplace.

Features:

Visa and others are adopting this new distribution channel
Consumers love the 24/7 convenience of ATMs for prepaids

Why it’s great: Financial institutions can recapture 50%+ of customers now going elsewhere for prepaids, increasing their share of the $549 billion prepaid market.

Bright Funds is a solution for effective charitable giving management, combining the sophistication of investing with the intuitive, engaging experience of modern web services.

Features:

The Bright Funds Charitable Giving Portfolio
The Bright Funds Impact Timeline
Bright Funds Public Profiles for Giving

Why it’s great: Bright Funds brings an investment approach to charitable giving.

FamZoo’s online family banking system helps parents teach kids good money habits.

Features:

Family pack of affordable, widely accepted prepaid cards
Integrated family finance tools build good habits
Co-branded option delivers targeted offers

Why it’s great: FamZoo solves the “kids and money” problem for parents: prepaid cards that work together, not alone.

Intuit delivers banking software and technology solutions for financial institutions.

Features:

Gives banks better insight to serve customers
Blurs lines between PFM/banking
Learn what Mint has in store for personal business

Why it’s great: Intuit now offers the best PFM solution for all users – whether it is through Mint.com or financial institutions.

LeapScore is financial advice for the rest of us.

Features:

Tailored help and advice for each individual
Empowers people to take more control over finances
Sets meaningful goals

Why it’s great: a comprehensive score that, for the first time, represents “who” you are financially.

MicroStrategy provides online banking without usernames or passwords, instant identity validation over the phone: Usher radically changes the way IDs, cards, and keys are issued and carried.

Features:

Mobile phone-based digital credentials
Multi-factor verification including voiceprints
Secure out-of-band authentication

Why it’s great: Usher: an extraordinary array of identity-management services that reduce fraud, protect identities and improve customer experience.

MoneyDesktop redefines the way millions of people interact with their finances by developing technologies that drive financial engagement between account holders and financial institutions.

Features:

Leverage aggregated PFM user data
Segment and target your user base
Increase conversion rates and loan volume

Why it’s great: Insight and Target provide financial institutions with a groundbreaking new way to market and drive adoption of their most valuable services.

OneID eliminates the need for usernames and

passwords, while delivering a secure, compliant identity system that’s easy for your customers to use.

Features:

Secure, one-click login with no password
Customizable two-factor authentication
Easy cross-selling with automatic form-fill

Why it’s great: Convenience of one-click login. Security of public key cryptography. Flexibility to meet financial institutions’
needs. Identity as it should be.

Quantopian is the world’s only browser-based algorithmic trading platform, democratizing finance by reducing barriers to entry and providing quants the tools and support needed to profit from their ideas

Feature:

Combines historical data, algo simulation, live market data, brokerage integration and algo development into a simple workflow

Why it’s great: Allows quants to put their ideas and algorithms to work and profit from them with the click of a button

Refundo is designed to revolutionize the way people do banking and extend mainstream banking advantages to underbanked and unbanked communities across the nation.

Features:

Open an FDIC-insured bank account in seconds using your smartphone.
Send money to your friends and family quickly and securely.

Why it’s great: Finally a new way to manage your money. And by new, we mean better.

Yandex.Money’s Twym is a quick and convenient way to send money via Twitter.

Features:

Easy-to-use interface for collecting money
You don’t have to leave Twitter
Other users can repeat payments in one click

Why it’s great: Twym makes transferring money simple and fun.

Yseop’s artificial intelligence software writes just like a human being, but at a speed of over a thousand pages per second and in multiple languages.

Feature:

Yseop boosts the productivity of your business teams by automating the delivery of best practices and personalized expertise.

Why it’s great: Yseop creates a new age where financial services delivered to customers are driven by artificial intelligence and human collaboration.

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For more information on being a part of FinovateSpring 2013, see our FAQ. To register, visit out FinovateSpring page here.

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Zooz Closes $2 Million Series A Round Led by XSeed Capital

By David Penn Posted on April 23, 2013
Categories: Dwolla, Klarna, PayPal, Zooz

Product development and building partnerships with retailers are at the top of the To-Do List for mobile payment innovator, Zooz, as the company announces the conclusion of a productive round of venture capital funding.

The $2 million in capital from XSeed and others puts Zooz’s total capital raised at $3.5 million. The company raised $1.5 million in seed funding in January 2012.

Zooz’s payment platform is designed to help merchants improve and get more out of the transactions that go through their websites and mobile apps. The company’s solution provides one tap checkout, actionable analytics that provide merchant-specific suggestions, and “device-centric” security and fraud prevention.

Zooz currently has partnerships with companies like MasterCard and First Data, as well as with Finovate alumni like Dwolla, Klarna, and PayPal. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Israel, Zooz is led by co-founders Oren Levy (CEO) and Ronen Morecki (CTO).

Zooz is one of the companies that will be demonstrating their technology at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May. To learn more about the event, including information on how to purchase tickets and save your spot, visit our FinovateSpring page here.

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Finovate Alumni News– April 23, 2013

By David Penn Posted on April 23, 2013
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Azimo, Bright Funds, Fenergo, Kofax, Locaid, Mortgage Harmony, peerTransfer, Ping Identity, ProfitStars, SecureKey, SocietyOne, TransferWise, Zooz

Executive Magazine profiles TransferWise and talks Middle East expansion.

Reference Data Review takes a look at Fenergo’s efforts to make compliance easier and more efficient.

ACI Worldwide announces Universal Payments Platform.

TransferWise wins Estonia’s “Best E-Service” contest.

Joe Brancucci, CEO of GTE Financial joins Mortgage Harmony Advisory Board.

Keith Kelly, Mortgage Harmony CEO, awarded a Tech All-Star Award by Mortgage Banking Magazine. Check out Mortgage Harmony’s live demo at FinovateSpring.

Ping Identity named 2013 Top Workplace by The Denver Post for second consecutive year.

SecureKey named Top Growth Company in 2013 Branham300 list of Top 10 Growth Companies.

Global Security Services Company selects Kofax to automate accounts payable operations in Latin America. Check out Kofax at FinovateSpring.

SocietyOne introduces new fee structure.

ProfitStars wins 2013 Payments System Awards from NACHA – the Electronic Payments Association.

ACI Worldwide’s Architech Mobile Banking provides PFM, integrated bill payment and account-to-account transfers to iOS, Android smartphones.

Azimo wins SWIFT Innotribe challenge; advances to finals at Sibos 2013 in Dubai.

peerTransfer now serving more than 300 colleges and universities, has partnered with 48 new educational institutions during the first quarter of 2013.

Zooz closes $2 million Series A round led by XSeed Capital. See Zooz in action at FinovateSpring in May.

GeoComply and Locaid team up to bring geolocation services to mobile and Internet gaming industry. See Locaid demo at FinovateSpring in May.

Innov8social interviews Julia Streuli, head of communications for Bright Funds. Join Bright Funds in San Francisco for FinovateSpring.

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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In Defense of Bank Branch Doubters

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 22, 2013
Categories: Branch Banking, Strategies

Since I became an online banking proponent twenty years ago, literally betting my family’s future on it by starting Online Banking Report, I’ve been a bit pessimistic about the future of branch banking. My personal experiences both as a consumer, and small biz owner (one of the segments that supposedly needs the branch the most) have ranged from pleasant to mind-numbingly frustrating.

Yes, consumers like having branches around. Yes, consumers still go there to open checking accounts. And yes, consumers still value branch location when deciding where to bank.

All those things are nice. And even the biggest branch bear recognizes that those are powerful positive attributes. And for the record, I’ve can’t recall anyone saying that branches will quickly disappear or "die" (at least not in the pre-Brett King era). Most of the doubters have simply said they expect branches to become less relevant over time (note 1).

My main problem has always revolved around the branch’s cost effectiveness. Sure, you open a few accounts every week at the branch, but what would happen if you had 50% fewer branches? Would you lose 50% of your new accounts? Or would 90% of those would-be-customers just go to one of your other branches or open via online/mobile (especially if you offered state-of-the-art online account opening technology). What’s the ROI of a branch network with 50% lower costs that opens just 5% fewer checking accounts? And could those cost savings be moved into efforts that more than made up for the 5% fewer accounts?

There isn’t a single answer to that question. Some segments need the branch more than others. As Ron Shevlin pointed out two weeks ago, it depends on your strategy and execution.

But for the mass market, especially the next generation of parents, homeowners, and car buyers, the branch’s ROI (if it’s positive at all) will lag a similar investment made in alternative channels. Can I prove it? Nope, there are too many variables. It’s an exercise that must be carried out by each and every participant based on your market and strategies.

Bottom line: The bank branch will still be relevant for another few decades at least. But I’m willing to bet a copy of Bank 4.0 that the number of United States bank branches will fall at least 20,000 (20%) by 2020. Although, it’s not really about the number, it’s about reducing their overall cost. So if banks dramatically downsize the footprint, such as Wells Fargo’s new 1200 sq. footer in Washington DC, the total number of branches may stay at a relatively high level.

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Note:
1. In my 2006 report, The Demise of the Branch, I called it a "40-year cycle," specifically projecting a 40% decline in number of U.S. branches by 2025, with total square feet falling by 55%.

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Finovate Alumni News– April 22, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 22, 2013
Categories: Blackhawk Network, Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, eToro, Lighter Capital, MoneyDesktop, Personal Capital, Trustly, Tyfone

Boulder Valley Credit Union introduces Tyfone Mobile Banking Financial Services.

Nerdwallet reviews Personal Capital.

Center for Financial Inclusion blog features Entreprenurial Finance Lab’s technology.

Payments News reports Blackhawk Network completes IPO.

Nerd Wallet reviews eToro.

Community Credit Union releases MoneyDesktop 4.0 to its members.

YFS Magazine interviews Lighter Capital.

eToro helps new users to connect with people on OpenBook by unlocking their feed.

Newfination hosts Carl-Henrik Somp, Trustly COO, to discuss the startup’s service.

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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StreetOwl Gamifies Driving to Improve Safety and Lower Insurance Premiums

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 19, 2013
Categories: Insurance, Mobile Commerce, Youth market

During the past few years, I’ve unleashed two teenagers on the streets of Seattle (sorry). They are careful drivers, but they are very inexperienced. Both would rather hop on the bus, or let me drive, than navigate the congestion, curves, and freeways of Seattle.

The younger one is still in the permit stage, so he doesn’t have free rein quite yet. But once he becomes fully licensed, I’d love to get tangible feedback on his driving to make sure he continues to play it safe. And I bet our insurance company would like that info even more.

So, the smartphone-based auto-tracking systems seems like a win-win, at least for the parents and their insurance company. But San Francisco-based StreetOwl (note 2) has figured out a way to make it a win for the kids too. The company uses an age-old tactic: bribery.

Its RefuelMe iPhone app tracks driving behavior, earning points for proper speed, acceleration, braking and cornering (see below left). It’s a lot like the Fitbit exercise tracker, which I’ve become ~~obsessed~~ ~~with~~ quite fond of recently.

Young drivers earn awards established by their parents. In the example below right, you can see that the driver is about 1% of their way to earning a $25 Chevron card. Results are tracked both in app (parent and child versions) and at the RefuelMe desktop dashboard.

The company plans on keeping it free and is looking to partnerships with high schools and others to get it in the hands of more teens (and their parents).

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Analysis

While I think most parents see the value here, it’s also a difficult concept to monetize. There is a real education challenge to get trial, and an even harder problem of getting people to pay for it.

So the company has developed a version that is more tied into insurance savings, which has universal appeal. The idea is that the app can prove to the insurance company how super safe your driving habits are, then you can be rewarded with a lower price. And since Smart Owl is serving as a value-added matchmaker, they can be rewarded handsomely by the carrier (see last screenshot below).

Initially StreetOwl sees this a lead-gen program. But the startup is also in discussions with insurance companies about using the technology in place of dedicated hardware to power usage-based insurance. It could also be bundled with youth banking programs and/or PFMs as a value-add.

You can give RefuelMe a test run now. But the insurance lead-gen product is still in private beta and is expected to be released wider within a few months.

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RefuelMe iPhone app (18 April 2013)
Left: scoring system Right: Dashboard with rewards

StreetOwl website

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Notes:
1. Hat tip to Venture Beat
2. StreetOwl is currently raising $750,000 in seed capital through Angel List. Ofer Raz and Jason Hovey are co-founders.
3. For more on banks offering insurance, see our full report here (Dec 2011, subscription)

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Rebirth Financial Unveils White-Label Crowdfunding Platform

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 19, 2013
Categories: Rebirth Financial

Rebirth Financial, the New Orleans-based crowdfunding platform that launched publicly earlier this year, recently unveiled its white-labeled platform.

The platform can be tailored to organizations that want to host their own customized crowdfunding platform. Features include:

Customized Admin page
Allows organizations to internally approve projects, oversee traffic, view fundraising goal progress, and change website information.

Unlimited fundraiser pages
These customizable pages support photos, videos, and blogs, can be integrated with social media, and come with IT support.

Secure lender panel
The lender panel comes with search capability, a variety of payment options, and an anonymous lender option

The platform can be hosted in any currency and in any language.

Rebirth Financial demoed at FinovateFall 2011.

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Arvest Bank Chooses IntelliResponse Virtual Agent

By David Penn Posted on April 19, 2013
Categories: IntelliResponse

Ensuring a smooth transition for recently acquired branches is part of the thinking behind Arvest Bank’s decision to deploy IntelliResponse Virtual Agent technology on its corporate website. The bank plans to expand the service to the full website soon afterward.

Arvest Bank will be taking over 29 Bank of America branches in four states: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Deposits from these new branches total $750 million.

A few metrics on Arvest:

The largest bank in Arkansas, ranked by deposits
More than $13 billion in assets
More than 260 locations in 90 municipalities
Owned by the Walton family, founders of WalMart

IntelliResponse has more than 360 live implementations, serving customers and responding to more than 100 million inquiries each year.

The company’s Enterprise Virtual Agent technology enables everything from corporate webpages to mobile applications to function with a “virtual concierge.” Because customers can ask questions in a normal, conversational voice, the company’s EVA technology has the potential to significantly enhance the online experience.

IntelliResponse is among the companies that will be demoing their technology at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May. To learn more about the event, and to save your spot, visit our FinovateSpring page here.

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