Matchi Debuts its Global Innovation Community

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2013, Matchi
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateAsia 2013.Second up, Matchi launched its global innovation community platform:"A global community innovation platform for the financial services industry that offers market ready banking innovations from across the globe and collaboration opportunities that have the potential to save the banks millions of dollars in development costs."Presenting Warren Bond (CEO, Matchi) and Gerrit Hoekstra (Chief Technology Officer)Product Launch: November 14, 2013Metrics: Privately owned company with 10-50 employeesProduct distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C) & Direct to Business (B2B)HQ: Hong Kong, ChinaFounded: 2013Website: Matchi.BizTwitter: @matchi.biz

Read more →

Red Zebra Analytics Presents its Analytics Engine to Boost Customer Engagement

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2013, Red Zebra
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateAsia 2013.The first presentation of FinovateAsia 2013 is about to begin. Red Zebra Analytics are coming to the stage right now to demo the Red Zebra Analytics Engine."Suitable for any banking system, the Red Zebra Analytics platform is secure, fast, flexible and highly cost efficient. It maps consumer purchase behavior in detail, yet keeps the data entirely safe, with no individual customer identification ever leaving the bank. Retailers pay to upload campaigns via a simple interface while state-of-the-art predictive analytics deliver the right offer to the right customer at the right time and through the right channel. And for bank customers, it's a way to save money on things they actually want."Presenting Manuel Ho (COO) and Nell Omar (MD)Product Launch: May 2012Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B) & through financial institutionsHQ: London, United KingdomFounded: August 2011Website: redzebra-analytics.com

Read more →

Majulah Fintech! Finovate Returns to Singapore

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2013
One of the world's busiest ports, a leading global financial center, and featuring the third highest per capita income in the world ... is there any wonder why we are back in the sovereign city-state known as "Lion City" for FinovateAsia 2013?There are less than 24 hours to go before the curtain goes up on our second show ever here in Singapore, and presenters are busy putting the final touches on their demos. WhenRegistration opens at 8:00 AM and the first demo session starts at 9:00 AM, so be sure to come early and get your seat before the first session. Where to GoWalk, bus, drive, or cab to the MAX Atria @ Singapore Expo (1 Expo Dr. Singapore 486150). If you're unable to make it, there are still a couple of different ways to enjoy the show:Live BlogAs we do at every Finovate event, the Finovate research team will be posting all day…

Read more →

Bill.com Rakes in $38 Million in Series E Funding from Long List of Investors

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bill.com, Funding
Bill.com, the company that brings online invoice, cashflow management, and bill pay solutions to its 275,000 users announced today that it raised $38 million in Series E funding.Among the many investors in this round are:American ExpressAugust CapitalBank of AmericaFifth Third CapitalPeter Knight, founder of CheckFree (acquired by Fiserv in 2009)Scale Venture PartnersThis funding, combined with Bill.com's previous rounds, brings the Palo Alto-based company's total funding to over $70 million.Bill.com, which manges more than 10 million bills per year worth more than $12 billion, will use the new installment to enhance its growing banking channel and accelerate its payments network. Bill.com demonstrated its CashView product at FinovateSpring 2012.

Read more →

Alternative Lender LendUp Raises $14 Million in New Funding

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: LendUp
LendUp has secured $14 million from Google Ventures and QED Investors to help consumers with little to no credit gain access to short-term capital. This latest round brings LendUp's total funding to more than $18 million.LendUp provides an alternative to the kind of high-interest loans which are often the only recourse for those in underbanked communities. The company provides loans of up to $1,000 annually with rates as low as 29% APR. Additionally, the loans come free of rollover charges and have no hidden fees.The company's technology includes algorithms that help target those lenders who are most likely to repay their loans. This allows LendUp not only to provide loans to those unable to borrow from traditional sources, but also to do so at a reasonable cost to the borrower and reasonable risk to the lender.More than just a provider of affordable short-term financing, LendUp encourages socially responsible lending through…

Read more →

Ripple Labs Announces $3.5 Million in New Funding and a New Real-Time Pricing App

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: OpenCoin, Ripple
With participation from Core Innovation Capital, Venture 51, Camp One Ventures, IDG Capital Partners, as well as additional individual investors, Ripple Labs (formerly OpenCoin) announced that it has raised an additional $3.5 million in financing. Boosting the company's total funding to $9 million, the new capital will be put to use building tools for developers and consumers alike, geared toward enhancing the Ripple ecosystem.What is Ripple? One of the more compelling innovations of the still-nascent Bitcoin era, Ripple is a payment system that enables fast, secure, and virtually free transactions with no chargebacks to merchants. Transactions can take place anywhere around the world, and in any size, allowing users to send money in one currency and receive it in currencies ranging from dollars to yen to Bitcoin.Says Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen, "Similar to the way in which email and other technologies drove the creation of a new global information web where anyone…

Read more →

Capital One Launches SureSwipe for Gesture-Based Mobile Login

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Best of the Web, Capital One, Security & Privacy
One of my pet peeves is mobile banking login. Entering an 8-character alpha-numeric password is clumsy and security overkill for 99% of mobile sessions. Four-digit passcodes used at Simple, Mint and others is a good compromise, but then you have yet another password to remember. I've been especially envious of the no-login, read-only services from Southern Bancorp, Commonwealth Bank (Australia), Bank of the West, Westpac (NZ), City Bank of Texas, Barclaycard and others. While none of my financial providers has done away with the password entirely, Capital One just rolled out something pretty close, a password substitute that uses a pre-set gesture on the touchscreen to log in (see screenshots below). I updated my Capital One app (v4.3) over the weekend and am happy to report that it worked as promised. It takes less than a second, and due to its uniqueness, it's incredibly easy to remember (that probably changes…

Read more →

From Legacy to Leadership: A Conversation with Chris Skinner, Author of Digital Bank

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized
Chris Skinner is the author of the new book, Digital Bank, which takes a look the challenges and opportunities that lay in the growing digitization of the banking world. We interviewed Mr. Skinner by email shortly after the book  was released in late October. And Mr. Skinner was generous enough to share his opinion on a wide range of topics related to digital banking. On emerging markets "This is not to do with dealing with unbankable people therefore, but more to do with banking for people who couldn't get banked." On whether traditional banks can compete "A traditional bank either has to cannibalize itself, start a new bank or try to straddle all markets badly." On whether the bank branch is dead "The truly radical digital provocateurs will say that no one needs a branch ... but that is not rational." Digital Bank is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and…

Read more →

Finovate Alumni News– November 11, 2013

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BBVA, Fiserv
Fiserv launches Sales Enablement to help FIs accelerate revenue and reduce costs.From Legacy to Leadership: A Conversation with Chris Skinner, Author of Digital Bank.BBVA Compass adds remote deposit feature to mobile apps for Android and iOS devices.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.

Read more →

An Exclusive Look at Arbor Ventures, an Asia-Focused VC Firm

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2013
In preparation for FinovateAsia November 14, we wanted to provide some insight into the region's venture capital scene. Here's what we learned from Melissa Guzy, Founder and Managing Partner for Arbor Ventures.Arbor Ventures is a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm with roots in the Silicon Valley. The firm invests in companies based in Singapore, Hong Kong, and ASEAN regions, whose focus is in up-and-coming topics such as:Big DataCloud ComputingFinancial TechnologyCollaborative ConsumptionFinovate: Arbor Ventures is focused on the Asia market. How is the Venture Capital environment in Asia different from that of the U.S. and Europe? Guzy: The market in Asia is quite different than the US and Europe and China is different from the rest of Asia in terms of venture capital and market opportunities. In Asia, we are looking for entrepreneurs that can understand the local opportunity, the business environment as well as scale across the region.Finovate: What are some current trends…

Read more →

Finovate Alumni News– November 8, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Backbase, Fidor Bank, Intuit, Kofax, Numbrs, ValidSoft
adesso to sell & implement Backbase's Customer Experience Platform in Germany, Austria & Switzerland.ValidSoft announces appointment of Paul Burmester as CEO. Pat Carroll to assume role of Executive Chairman.Fidor Bank expanding into Russia through a joint venture Life.Sreda.Numbrs, Kofax make American Banker's "Top 10 FinTech Companies to Watch" roster.Intuit announces partnership with American Express to support receipt data integration to QuickBooks.La Caixa launches social network for its investors, StockTactics.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.

Read more →

FinovateAsia 2013 is Next Week — Don’t Miss Out!

By Eric Mattson Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized
FinovateAsia 2013 is next week and it is going to be our best and biggest conference in the region to date! If you're interested in seeing how leading companies in this fast-growing area of the world are innovating on banking, investing, payments and much more, please get your ticket here before it is too late.  If you do join us in Singapore on November 14th, you'll see more than three dozen new innovations from our impressive lineup of presenting companies. (Check out the FinovateAsia sneak peaks #1, #2, #3 and #4 for more details.)And, in addition to witnessing almost 40 cutting-edge fintech innovations debut in a single day, you'll also get to connect with hundreds of the senior execs, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs that are creating the future of fintech. Here is just a small sample of the organizations that have signed up to attend already: American ExpressANZBain & Co. Bank…

Read more →