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Yseop’s Artificial Intelligence Software Analyzes Data and Writes Financial Reports So You Don’t Have To

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on February 12, 2013
Categories: FinovateEurope 2013, Yseop

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Next up, Yseop demonstrated how its software saves time by analyzing data and writing reports:

“Yseop Financial represents the latest round of innovation developed on Yseop’s technology. This suite of products covers the full range of possibilities offered by Yseop’s text-generating software, including a prep-to-meeting report, an automatically generated two-page financial executive summary based on the latest market data and a personalized retirement planning application.”

Product Launch: January 2013

HQ: Lyon, France & Dallas, TX, USA

Founded: 2008

Metrics: Privately self-funded. Over 20 years of research to develop the technology. First commercialized in France in 2008. Opened U.S. headquarters in Dallas in 2012. €1.3M of revenue in 2012. 25 employees located worldwide: 10 in Lyon, 6 in Paris and 9 in Dallas. Over 20 large companies are clients in France. Largest implementation is a prep-to-meeting application deployed for 12,500 retail bankers.

Website: yseop.com

Presenting Elizabeth Farabee (VP Marketing) and Vincent Perrin (Business Development Europe)

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Device Ident Launches Anti-Theft Solution

By David Penn Posted on February 12, 2013
Categories: Device Ident, FinovateEurope 2013

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Next up to the stage is Device Ident with an anti-fraud

solution for European companies in the e-commerce and financial sectors:

“Device Ident provides a sophisticated anti-fraud solution for any type of online transaction. We identify and evaluate any device interacting with our customers’s online services and analyze history and behavior of the visiting device to prevent fraud and misuse for all our customers in real time.

In addition, our products have a built-in, anti-fraud network that allows all participants access to much higher degrees of protection without running into conflict of revealing customer information.”

Product Launched: January 2013

HQ Location: Hamburg, Germany

Company Founded: May 2012

Website: deviceident.com

Twitter: @deviceident

Presenting Roberto Valerio (Managing Director, Device Ident) and Michael Backes (Managing Director, Liquid Labs)

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Temenos Introduces edgeConnect’s Live Designer

By David Penn Posted on February 12, 2013
Categories: FinovateEurope 2013, Temenos

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

Coming to the stage now is Temenos. The company will be showing an innovative way to build and design dynamic applications pages:

“edgeConnect is the industry’s most dynamic user experience platform (UXP). edgeConnect provides a single, consistent platform that enables superior user experiences to be delivered across multiple distribution channels, for any product, any user, in any language and optimized for each device.

A major new editor within edgeConnect called ‘Live Designer’ is a game changer in application design. It allows designers to change the look and feel, layout and behavior while an application is executing, so that they can make changes and see the effects of dynamic application pages prior to live deployment.”

Product Launched: Q1 2013

HQ Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Company Founded: 1993

Metrics: Over 1,500 customer deployments in 25 countries; more than 3,900 employees; revenues as of Dec. 2012 were more than $470 million USD

Website: temenos.com

Twitter: @temenos

Presenting Dharmesh Mistry (Product Director UXP) and Holger Lehmann (Manager Business Solutions – Front Office)

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Simple and Secure: Azimo Unveils Social Sending Strategy

By David Penn Posted on February 12, 2013
Categories: Azimo, FinovateEurope 2013

This post is a part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2013.

And they’re off!

Taking the stage as the first presenter on day one of FinovateEurope 2013 is Azimo with its digital money transfer innovation:

“Azimo is a digital international money transfer service. We offer a simple, secure, fast, and inexpensive way to send money from a mobile or PC to friends and family in over 125 countries around the world.

Recipients can receive funds in any bank account or from over 150,000 cash collection points. Senders can fund their money transfer with a debit card or bank account using their social media account to speed up the process.”

Product Launched: August 2012

HQ Location: London, UK

Company Founded: January 2012

Website: azimo.com

Twitter: @Azimomoney

Presenting Michael Kent (CEO) and Marek Wawro (CTO)

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Lights! Camera! Finovate!

By David Penn Posted on February 11, 2013
Categories: FinovateEurope 2013

We’re less than 24 hours away from the first Finovate event of the year, FinovateEurope 2013.

And from fintech veterans to the latest innovators on the block, the diversity of new apps, toolkits, services, and solutions on display here at dress rehearsal is nothing short of impressive.

What are we seeing so far? More mobile payment and banking strategies than you can shake a dongle at, advances in authentication and gamification, creative ways to help banks better understand and serve their customers and much more.

FEU13 rehe 2 resize.jpg

We hope you’ll be joining us for what promises to be two great days of presentations and demos of the best in financial technology. If you can’t be with us here in London, then be sure to follow us on Twitter @Finovate, or via our Live Blog at finovate.com starting bright and early Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM London time.

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FinovateEurope 2013 Launches Tuesday

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on February 10, 2013
Categories: FinovateEurope 2013

Over the weekend the Finovate team was able to relax and enjoy London. But tomorrow we’ll be busy putting the final touches on the third annual FinovateEurope, which opens Tuesday, 12 Feb. Attendees will be treated to the best in fintech from around the globe. Registration is open until we sell out.

Live blogging and Tweeting
We’ll be live-blogging each company’s launch and development as it happens. We’ll also be tweeting from @Finovate, our Twitter handle. Hundreds of others in the crowd will be contributing to the discussion by using the #finovate hashtag.

Schedule
Registration begins at 8:00 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday and the first demoing company takes the stage at 9:00 AM on both days.

Location
We’re returning to the historical Old Billingsgate Hall. Overlooking the Thames, Old Billingsgate can be found at 1 Old Billingsgate Walk 16 Lower Thames Street London, EC3R 6DX.

Presenters
Over the two day event, we’ll watch 64 companies step up to the Finovate stage. Be one of the first to see the new fintech demoed live and talk to the founders and senior execs who are pushing the envelope in fintech.

Here’s the lineup:

Have any questions? Check out the FAQ or contact [email protected]. See you in London, and thanks for your support.

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Finovate Alums Make America’s Most Promising Companies List

By David Penn Posted on February 8, 2013
Categories: Boku, Lending Club, On Deck Capital, Swipely

According to Forbes, four of the 100 most promising companies in the United States right now aren’t just fintech companies. They are Finovate alumni, as well.

Of the four, Lending Club is the highest rated, earning the number 12 spot in Forbes‘s “America’s Most Promising Companies” roster. Also making the top 50 was Boku, with alumni On Deck Capital and Swipely helping round out the list.

Interestingly, Swipely CEO Angus Davis recently made a “most promising” list of his own. Davis was featured along with more than 20 of his peers in a profile of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35” also compiled by Forbes.

Here’s a closer look at the alumni featured.

Lending Club

Rank: 12
Revenue: $16 million
Employees: 125
Demo video

Boku

Rank: 38
Revenue: $195 million
Employees: 115
Demo video

On Deck Capital

Rank: 94
Revenue: $37 million
Employees: 152
Demo video

Swipely

Rank: 95
Revenue: $1 million
Employees: 36
Demo video

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Affinity Solutions Announces More than $6 Million Raised

By David Penn Posted on February 8, 2013
Categories: Affinity Solutions

Loyalty program provider Affinity Solutions reported that the company had raised $6.75 million in a combined equity/convertible securities offering.

Two investors were involved in the offering, neither of which has been discovered.

Affinity Solutions has more than 100 employees and manages loyalty programs with more than 4,000 banks. Founded in 1998, the company was last on the Finovate stage in the spring of 2012. See their demo here.

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Lemon’s Premium Digital Wallet Carries Monthly Fee

By Jim Bruene Posted on February 8, 2013
Categories: Mobile Payments, Personal Financial Management

I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing with digital wallets during the past few weeks. The one with the most traction, at least measured by download activity, is the Lemon Wallet which has been a top-20 free finance app for some time.

While it’s free, does cool tricks with the mobile camera, and is seemingly liked by users, it’s not a transactive service just yet. Basically, using the mobile camera as a scanner, it digitizes all the bank cards, loyalty cards, IDs and various detritus we haul around on our person or stuff into the back of a desk drawer.

Right now, there aren’t many places willing to accept a copy of your card stored on your smartphone. But if you need your healthcare plan number, driver’s license number, or any of your card numbers, they are all stored in a handy location (you could do the same thing with the iPhone’s notepad too).

Obviously, Lemon has bigger plans than simply being a card-number archive. You don’t score $8 million in venture capital unless you have a path towards a $75+ mil valuation.

The startup’s first step towards revenue generation is its $4.99 per month (or $39.99 annually) premium option. For that, users get a bundle of benefits including:

Card transaction scanning powered by BillGuard,
which downloads transactions to monitor up to 10 cards
(1 account can be tracked in the free version)
Lost wallet service (aka credit card registration) so that if you lose your physical wallet, Lemon will handle getting all your cards replaced
Extra password for more security
Transaction sharing
Export data to CSV (Excel), Evernote, Dropbox or Concur

My take: For power users, the BillGuard integration makes Lemon premium worth the $3.33.mo on an annual plan. One mistaken charge discovered every year covers the cost. But account aggregation is not something consumers are used to paying for, so by simply providing fee-based PFM services, it will take time to get meaningful revenues.

But with a solid base of cards aggregated onto the platform, Lemon can leverage the info in many ways. And as mobile proximity payments become technically feasible, the company is in a good position to be one of the major wallet players (or be acquired by one).

Email upsell for the Lemon premium option (5 Feb 2013)

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Banno Appoints Industry Veteran Charles Potts as President

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on February 7, 2013
Categories: Banno

Digital banking solutions startup Banno announced last week that it has appointed industry veteran Charles Potts to fill the newly created role of President.

Potts, who has been working in the fintech industry for 25 years, has an impressive work history. His previous experience includes:

SVP of Business Development at ProfitStars
Founder and President & CEO of Beacon Software
Co-Founder and President & CEO of iBank
VP of Business Development for nFront (now Digital Insight)
Global Accounts Manager at Interactive Planning Systems or IPS-Sendero (now a Fiserv company)

Potts (pictured right) previously sat on Banno’s advisory board, and will now be helping the Iowa-based company accelerate the product delivery strategies of their partnerships and direct growth within the financial services marketplace.

We caught up with Potts this week to get some insight on his recent move:

Finovate: How has your past experience prepared you for this role?

Potts: Starting my own companies and working with entrepreneurs is something I understand. I’ve been very fortunate in my career both in banking and in the FinTech space to witness firsthand what works to make a successful venture as well as what doesn’t. I believe I can contribute some of that experience to helping Wade and the Banno team.

Finovate: What are you most looking forward to in your new role?

Potts: Working with Wade and the team to nurture and grow their ideas is quite exciting. As an outside advisor, I got some sense of the passion they possess for the groundbreaking innovation being created. That passion and hunger to build really good products and provide outstanding service to the customers is quite uplifting. Now I get to be part of that firsthand.

Finovate: What advice would you give a young entrepreneur in the fintech industry?

Potts: Understand the buying behavior of the market you serve and what it means to be a fiduciary. Banks and credit unions have a very important role in the communities they serve and much of that is centered on a strong fiscal and social responsibility. We as partners to the financial institutions must respect and protect that role.

Finovate: As someone who has seen a lot of fintech come and go, what attributes does Banno have that will help it succeed?

Potts: A common or shared vision amongst the employees is supremely important to the success of any organization. As the old adage goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This requires focus, communication and an unwavering commitment to the common goal and each other. Banno has that in abundance.

Finovate: How long does it take to get from Atlanta to Cedar Rapids?

Potts: Ha! While it seems like it has taken me 3 years to get here, given my work on the board, fortunately Delta is ready when I am with many choices into the area. The trip can usually be no more than 2 hours, enabling me to make frequent visits to the office and spend quality face time with the entire team.

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

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Correction: CoverHound Brings in $5.5 Million

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on February 7, 2013
Categories: CoverHound

Earlier this month, we incorrectly reported that CoverHound raised $8.1 million, citing the San Francisco Business Times. Below is the corrected report.

————————————————————————-

Insurance comparison tool, CoverHound recently raised $4.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by RRE Ventures of New York. Bullpen Capital and existing investor Blumberg Capital also participated.

This funding, combined with the $750,000 in seed money raised from Blumberg Capital in 2011, brings the San Francisco-based startup’s total funding to $5.25 million.

With this release, CoverHound also disclosed that it is now manages $1 million worth of premiums.

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

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Finovate Alumni News– February 7, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on February 7, 2013
Categories: Affinity Solutions, Fuze Network, InComm, Kabbage, Lending Club, Moven, Movenbank, ReadyForZero, Thomson Reuters, True Office

Market Watch’s Jennifer Openshaw reviews the ReadyForZero user experience.

Movenbank drops the “bank”, changes name to Moven. Come see the launch of its new features at FinovateEurope February 12 and 13 in London.

Kabbage appoints Simon Yoo, former co-head and managing director of Citigroup’s FI Group, as CFO. Come see Kabbage’s live demo at FinovateEurope.

Lending Club opens low-interest, fixed-rate personal loan platform to Tennessee residents.

Fuze Network guarantees no late fees for credit card payments made before noon CST on due date.

True Office partners with Thomson Reuters to develop new, ramified compliance applications.

Affinity Solutions raises more than $6 million in equity and convertible securities.

InComm wins in 4 categories in seventh annual
Paybefore Awards.

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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