Blog - Page 953 of 1191

Manilla Introduces Custom Accounts

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 21, 2012
Categories: Manilla

Last week online organization platform, Manilla, notified me that I can now create custom accounts for services that do not support online payment systems such as rent, babysitters, gym memberships and dog walkers (see email below).

To get started, log into the Manilla accounts dashboard and select create a custom account.

After selecting the account type and assigning it a name, enter due date, amount due, and frequency. Just like with Manilla’s traditional accounts, users may also create email and SMS reminders.

Once saved, the new account appears alongside the others.

New York-based Manilla stated users have requested this for quite some time now, so it is rolling out the feature in time to help consumers organize for the new year.

To learn more about Manilla, watch its FinovateFall 2012 demo.

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Fuze Network Shares Year-End Metrics

By David Penn Posted on December 21, 2012
Categories: Fuze Network

Here are some interesting metrics recently released by Fuze Network.

Performed more than 3.5 million cash-to-card transactions in 2012
Processed more than $250 million in total volume in 2012
Routes transactions to more than 14,000 financial institution card issuers
Provides network access to 150,000 integrated retail endpoints
Earns more than 60% of transaction volume from repeat cardholders

Fuze’s reCHARGE Network allows cardholders to add cash to more than 1 billion credit, debit, and prepaid cards at the point of sale. Watch them in action from FinovateFall 2011 here.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 21, 2012

By David Penn Posted on December 21, 2012
Categories: BillGuard, Capital Access Network, Credit Sesame, Fiserv, Giftly, Holvi, Lending Club, ShopKeep POS, SoMoLend, TradeKing

Compare Broker reviews the new mobile app from TradeKing.

MyBankTracker reviews how BillGuard protects from unwanted charges.

San Francisco Business Times reports: Giftly lets givers put ‘heart’ into gift cards.

Capital Access Network relocates Headquarters to NYC, adds Scott Blum as CMO.

Fiserv partners with TOPS Software to improve payment processing for property managers.

The Washington Post looks at SoMoLend’s community-focused lending.

Forbes names Lending Club one of the top five fintech companies of 2012.

Chicago donut chain “Glazed and Infused” now using ShopKeep POS software.

Wired.co.uk names Holvi startup of the week.

Credit Sesame unveils free credit monitoring 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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Finovate Alums Help Power CFPB’s Project Catalyst

By David Penn Posted on December 20, 2012
Categories: BillGuard, Plastyc, Simple

As part of its mandate to develop innovation and entrepreneurship in the consumer financial marketplace, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is calling on the help of three Finovate alumni.

BillGuard, Plastyc, and Simple are taking part in the first phase of the CFPB’s Project Catalyst, which has three goals:

Establish firm lines of communication with innovators
Understand new and emerging products in the market
Engage with innovators

In a statement, the CFPB noted that the “data-driven agency … always wants to learn more about what innovators are discovering about consumer wants, needs, and practices.”

To that end, here’s a quick key to what each company does and how each will contribute to the project.

Bill Guard

Bill Guard provides consumers with email alerts to warn of questionable activity in their debit or credit accounts. As part of Project Catalyst, BillGuard will be providing data on customer complaints and dispute resolution.

Watch BillGuard’s most recent Finovate demo here.

Plastyc

Plastyc provides an online-based, prepaid card that serves as an alternative to traditional checking accounts. Here, the CFPB is hoping to learn more about how consumers are using remote mobile check deposit, as well as the importance of immediate access to deposited funds.

To see Plastyc in action, watch their Finovate demo here.

Simple

Simple is a virtual bank that provides checking, savings and debit-card functions via a state-of-the-art user interface. Simple’s Goals savings program, which allows customers to make daily, set-aside contributions toward an eventual purchase, is largely what the CFPB is looking to study.

Simple debuted at FinovateFall 2011. Watch their demo here.

Note that while all three companies are sharing data with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, no personally identifiable information will be included.

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SecondMarket and AngelList Team Up to Enable Micro-Venture Investing for Members

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 20, 2012
Categories: Uncategorized

Yesterday the secondary trading market for private companies, SecondMarket, announced it partnered with AngelList to allow qualified investors to participate in micro-venture investing, or investing small amounts in early stage startups.

According to Barry Silbert, SecondMarket CEO, accredited investors will be able to invest in early stage technology startups in fields such as:

Finance
Education
Science
Advertising

The diverse range of startups, combined with the small dollar amount that the platforms require, will enable investors to better diversify their portfolio.

SecondMarket and AngelList will dual-list the companies, which are vetted and handpicked for the following qualities:

Easy-to-understand business model
Already backed by well-known investors
Have great advisors
Willing to be transparent with numbers

Five undisclosed startups are already on the platform and receiving investments, two of which have already filled their rounds.

SecondMarket demonstrated at FinovateStartup 2009 in San Francisco.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 20, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 20, 2012
Categories: Billhighway, Cardlytics, Dwolla, PayPal, Simple, SoMoLend, TradeKing, Vermilian

Cardlytics platform deployed by America FCU to provide targeted rewards to its members.

Vermilian’s bancapp technology to power EECU’s mobile banking and marketing smartphone app.

Dwolla promotes its platform by giving $10 in waived transaction fees for every friend you refer through the end of the year.

Xconomy looks at what SoMoLend discussed at the recent New York Enterprise Technology meetup.

Bank Innovation takes a look at what PayPal’s P2P for Financial Institutions means for the payments world.

AppShopper highlights a new app from Billhighway, Give, now available for the iPhone.

Netbanker looks at how Simple makes banking interesting.

Merger mechanics continue as Zecco accounts move to TradeKing.

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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Making Banking Interesting

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 19, 2012
Categories: Expensify, Personal Financial Management, Simple

When did banking become boring? Probably when all the gold doubloons and pieces of eight were replaced by paper checks and computer bits.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Most people have at least a passing interest in where their money is going. Sure, there are some negative issues around money, but the place where you track your spending and savings should at least be engaging. And that’s rarely the case today.

But Bank Simple (and others) are making good progress.

______________________________________________________

Simple Innovation #8: Full transaction annotation
with on-the-fly categories
______________________________________________________

As the startup continues to push the UI envelope (see note 1), it now lets users annotate transactions with uploaded images or PDF files (for a pic of that tantalizing dinner or the receipt for expense reimbursement), free-form memos, and categories created on the fly (#category like on Twitter).

That allows customers to create a historical record around their purchases. Or as Mechanics Bank’s Bradley Leimer put it:

“I love it. It’s like Pinterest or Instagram in your banking application.”

For a more thorough look at the UI, check out the new video posted on the Simple blog.

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Fully annotated transaction at Simple (19 Dec 2012)

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Notes:
1. See previous seven Simple innovations here.
2. Expensify offers similar photo capture and memo annotation capabilities
3. For more info on Simple and other Truly Virtual Banks, see our Oct 2011 Online Banking Report (subscription).
For more on balance forecasting and other advanced PFM features, see our recent Online Banking Report: PFM 4.0 (June 2012; subscription).
4. According to Apple iTunes, Simple app downloaders are also “buying” Schwab, PageOnce, and Mint apps.

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A Special Sneak Peek of FinovateEurope 2013 Presenters

By Eric Mattson Posted on December 19, 2012
Categories: Uncategorized

With FinovateEurope 2013 less than 2 months away, we’ve finally finished handpicking the cutting-edge companies that will be demoing their latest and greatest financial tech innovations at the conference.

The selection process this year was particularly competitive due to the tremendous amount of innovation going in Europe right now. Fortunately, with our expanded two-day format, we’re excited to be able to showcase significantly more innovations this year.

Before you head off for the holiday break, check out the small sneak peek below of the companies that we’ve selected. And we’ll be announcing a number of additional innovative presenting companies that are currently in “stealth mode” closer to the event.

A Sneak Peek of the FinovateEurope 2013 Presenting Company Roster:

Acuity Systems
Akamai
Azimo
Backbase
BBVA
Biletu
BörseGo
Cardlytics
Comarch
CR2
CurrencyFair
Dashlane
DEVICE IDENT
ERN
ETRONIKA
eWise
EZBOB

Fiserv
FreeAgent
GMC Software Technology
Heckyl
IND Group
ITSector
Kabbage
Kalixa Group
Kantox
LeanBanking
Liqpay
Luminous
Meniga
Movenbank
PhotoPay
Pockets United
QuantConnect

rplan
SumUp
Temenos
The Currency Cloud
TransferWise
True Office
Trustly
TSYS
Virtual Piggy
VoiceTrust
Willstream
Xendpay
Yseop
And more to be announced!

If you’d like to attend and watch the cutting-edge of European fintech
debut via our fast-paced, demo-only format, early-bird tickets are still available at
the discounted price of £1,095.00 (£100 off). Tickets are limited so please lock in your seat today to guarantee your ability to attend (and these savings). We’ll see you in London in February!

FinovateEurope 2013 is sponsored by: Bluerock Consulting, Financial Technology Partners & The Bancorp

FinovateEurope 2013 is partners with: BankersHub, Celent, Financial Services Innovation Centre, The Financial Services Club, and Hotwire PR

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Lending Club Adds Larry Summers to Board of Directors

By David Penn Posted on December 19, 2012
Categories: Lending Club

As if the board of directors of Lending Club was not star-studded enough, the peer-to-peer lender recently announced that former Treasury Secretary Lawrence “Larry” Summers would be joining the team.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Summers noted that “rapid adoption of technology and innovation” that was creating opportunities for companies like Lending Club. Summers will join such notable as former Morgan Stanley CEO, John Mack, and legendary tech stock analyst, Mary Meeker.

Lending Club is a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer consumer lender. The company recently surpassed $1 billion in total loans issued, and has doubled the volume of its monthly loans over the past eight months. As of December 2012, the average loan amount is $12,300.

This comes even as Lending Club maintains fairly high standards. The typical Lending Club borrower has:

FICO score of more than 700
15% debt-to-income ratio (excluding mortgage)
Personal income of more than $69,000
14 years of credit history

Watch Lending Club’s Finovate demonstration here.

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Swipely Expands Payment Acceptance Platform for Local Merchants

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 19, 2012
Categories: Swipely

Payment acceptance and rewards platform, Swipely, announced its Winter 2013 release this week.

The release brings three main upgrades:

1) Swipely’s CRM tool automatically updates a customer’s information each time they pay using a credit card. The tool creates a profile for credit-paying customers that details total money spent, number of transactions, average spend, and the customer’s lifetime value.

2) Tablet-optimized merchant dashboard that now includes:

Simpler to use platform
Analytics on a store-by-store basis or in aggregate for retailers with multiple locations
Heat Map that indicates sales performance by hour
Daily Journal that shows merchants how weather, Facebook posts, and other factors impact buying patterns

3) Expanded support of POS middleware solutions, including:

Breadcrumb

Comcash

Dinerware

First Data

Focus

Isis POS

PC Charge

Authorize.net

Many others

The Rhode Island-based company has already upgraded existing merchants to the new release, and interested merchants will be upgraded with no extra cost.

In addition, Swipely informed me that it recently crossed the threshold of a quarter billion dollars in processing.

To learn more about Swipely, watch its FinovateSpring 2012 demo.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 19, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on December 19, 2012
Categories: Bolstr, BrightScope, Cachet Financial Solutions, Fuze Network, InComm, MiiCard, MoneyDesktop, Monitise, ProfitStars, TradeHero

Bolstr featured on Fox Small Business News.

InComm and Dollar General launch Microsoft Xbox LIVE Prepaid PIN on receipt service.

BMO Bank of Montreal and Monitise partner on mobile money solutions for BMO Customers.

Cachet Financial Solutions and PSCU partner to provide remote deposit capture technologies to Nation’s Credit Unions.

Dating service Soul2Match selects miiCard to combat fraud and help members prove they are real people.

MoneyDesktop develops partnership with CUBUS Solutions for online banking PFM integration.

Church Community Builder to integrate with ProfitStars Remote Deposit Capture.

SGEntrepreneurs.com talks TradeHero on the iPhone.

Fuze Network surpasses 3.5 million mark in processing cash-to-card transactions.

Motley Fool features BrightScope and the best 401(k) plans of 2012.

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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Design: Pelican State Credit Union Reinforces Auto Loan Mailer with Homepage Notification

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 18, 2012
Categories: Credit Unions, Direct Mail, Loans & Credit

Integrating offline marketing with online fulfillment is a promising way to improve ROI. Pelican State Credit Union grabs member attention with a temporary yellow bar across the top of the page (see screenshot below). It directs members that received an auto loan direct mailer to an online application.

I like this approach. It garners attention for the offer, but the narrow banner disappears permanently once users click the X in the upper-right corner.

However, this extra attention can be a mixed blessing. It’s great for those members that received the offer (and remembered they did). But for everyone else, they are left scratching their heads after clicking "more info."

The landing page doesn’t mention how to check whether you were one of the chosen recipients or how you might otherwise qualify for the deal. It also does nothing to reinforce the offer, which apparently was for an auto refinance. The slim copy simply points everyone to the generic online application.

Bottom line: The yellow bar across the top is a great way to grab attention. But, you need to answer basic questions about the promo or you risk irritating members (see note.

————————————

Off topic: The CU is nicely decked out for the holidays with three timely messages among its five rotating promos:

Visa Gift Cards, which unfortunately, require a trip to the branch to purchase (see first screenshot)
Double rewards points for using its Visa card in December
General holiday greeting, which leads to a YouTube picture collage with music

——————————————

Pelican State Credit Union adds an Auto loan promo reminder at top of page (18 Dec 2012)
Note: The CU also is nicely decked out for the holidays.

Landing page for Auto Loan Refinance mailer
Note: Blank box on left makes the page look like something is broken.

———————————
Note:
1. The CU has a prominent "chat now" button, so interested members could potentially get a quick answer there, assuming CSRs manning the chat are equipped to determine eligibility.

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