Lending, Investing, & More Futurecasts for FinovateSpring 2014
At FinovateSpring in San Jose this year, we're excited to showcase brand new innovation from a variety of players in the fintech industry.
This year, we'll see the newest innovations from large, established players and we'll also watch never-before-seen startups debut to the world.
This word cloud comprises some of the major themes you can expect to see on stage at City National Civic on April 29 and 30 (click to enlarge):
Pique your interest? Get your ticket here to be part of the audience and see the lastest in fintech first.
FinovateSpring 2014 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Financial Technology Partners, Hudson Cook, LLP, Life.SREDA, and Xignite.
FinovateSpring 2014 is partners with: BankersHub, California Bankers Association Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, Filene, Javelin Strategy & Research, SME Finance Forum, and www.VisibleBanking.com
Narrative Science Launches Free App to Turn Data Into Readable Documents
There is technology that turns reams of data into natural language reports that are virtually indistinguishable from copy produced by human analysts. And I've always felt as if it was some of the most underappreciated technology in fintech.
The new free app from Narrative Science may go some way toward helping change that.
Quill Engage from Narrative Science takes data from Google Analytics and translates it into natural language reports for website owners. The technology is powered by Narrative Science's Quill platform, which the company demoed at FinovateFall 2013 in New York. In the words of Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel, the technology makes it possible for website users of all kinds to maximize their ability to gather meaningful business intel on their website's performance. "Quill provides instant analysis in the form of easy-to-read, written reports that empower people to do their jobs better," he said. "(It) is a powerful…Finovate Alumni News– March 19, 2014
CEO Interview: Shane Hadden of Float Money
What do you get when you cross an expert in risk structuring for banks with an underserved demand for low-cost unsecured consumer loans?
Throw in a strategy that leverages everyday purchases to help consumers earn interest-free credit and the answer is Float Money.
As Shane Hadden, CEO of Float Money explained, his model resembles the sort of relationship that big banks have with their corporate clients. Financial institutions are willing to provide less expensive loans to businesses, he said, because they know they will get business coming back to them in the form of M&A business, for example. "Consumers have the same buying power," Shane said. "But they can't get the same benefits." Float Money can be used to shop at 1,000 merchants from Amazon.com to Winetasting.com. Money spent shopping through Float Money builds up credit that customers can borrow against, interest-free. We talked with Shane Hadden about Float…Sales & Marketing: Preparing for a Future without Bank Branches
It's been almost a year since my last branch rant (here), so I feel I'm due. As I've said before, as founder of a business tied to the success of digital channels, I'm totally biased, so proceed with caution.
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During lunch at the Bank Innovations conference here, I engaged in a spirited debate about the value of branches. And later that week, I enjoyed Optirate's rebuttal to The Financial Brand's defense of bank branches. It's one of the more highly charged, and important, issues of the day.
Here's what it boils down to:
Branches have value...
...but not enough to pay the rent
Since customers won't pay directly for branches (see note 1), banks must cover their costs with low deposit rates, penalty fees and other charges. That has worked for a while, but eventually leaner competitors will figure out how to cherry…
Finovate Alumni News– March 18, 2014
Realty Mogul Crowdfunders Top $100 Million Worth of Real Estate Investment
Happy First Birthday, Realty Mogul!
And while other crowdfunding platforms may celebrate with cake or champagne, leave it to Realty Mogul to mark the occasion with news that its investors have put $14.6 million to work financing more than $100 million worth of real estate investment.
They've even published a helpful infographic that shows how they did it.
"In just 12 months, Realty Mogul has become the largest online marketplace for real estate investing," the company wrote. "And in just six months starting in July we grew nearly 400% in investments." "We thank our valued investors and look forward to an even better 2014." Realty Mogul serves as an online marketplace that makes it easy for accredited investors to invest in real estate properties ranging from retail to residential. Using a crowdfunding model, Realty Mogul allows investments as low as $5,000, and investors can earn investment income as quickly…New OBR Published: Mobile Banking Security
What do financial institutions need to keep in mind when it comes to mobile security?
Our latest report Mobile Banking Security examines how banks and other financial institutions can balance safety and convenience in pursuit of a seamless and secure mobile experience for their consumers and clients.
We list fifteen different themes that will dominate the conversation on mobile banking security in 2014. From authentication to premium products for niche markets, we look at the innovations and the actual deployments that are providing safer networks for e-commerce and financial transactions for the increasingly "mobile-only" user.
Will the "wild west" that is the Android app ecosystem ever be won? How does the rise of the mobile channel make biometric security almost inevitable? Will promising security startups continue to be the target of larger tech acquirers in 2014 as they were in 2013? These are a handful of the questions we provide…Finovate Alumni News– March 17, 2014
Yale Microfinance Program to Deploy Mambu Platform
You know what kids love these days? Microfinance.
At least that's true of the kids at Yale University's student-run micro finance program, the Elmseed Enterprise Fund. The fund supports local entrepreneurs with advice and micro loans. In 2013, the program provided consulting for 38 clients and provided more than $13,000 in loans to five.
The student volunteers at Elmseed also love a good deal when they see one. And when they went looking for a better way to handle their customer data., the solution they found was Mambu. Fund CEO Jadon Montero said, "Mambu's platform will help us manage our client information better, which means our volunteer advisors can spend more time helping clients and less time worrying about the paperwork." The Elmseed Enterprise Fund was founded in 2001 with an award of $10,000 from a contest held by the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. As part of the arrangement with…SaaS Markets Acquired by Sysnet Global Solutions
Enterprise app store platform SaaS Markets has been acquired by Sysnet Global Solutions. Terms of the deal were not available.
"The sale of SaaS Markets represents the next phase of growth for our platform." said SaaS Markets CEO and Founder, Ferdi Roberts. "And Sysnet (is) the perfect partner to enable us to do this." Gabriel Moynagh, Sysnet Global Solutions CEO, said that clients of both businesses will gain from the acquisition. The two companies have been partners for the past two years; Sysnet having incorporated SaaS Markets' MarketMaker platform into its own Sysnet.air platform. Founded in 2011 and based in San Mateo, SaaS Markets made its last Finovate appearance at FinovateEurope 2014, where it demoed its Enterprise Cloud Marketplace Platform. We took a Behind the Scenes look at SaaS Markets shortly after the conference.