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SmartyPig Launches OneClick, Goal-Based Savings Account Browser Plugin

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 21, 2013
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Desktop Presence, SmartyPig

It’s not easy making savings accounts sexy, but Social Money, with its GoalSaver and SmartyPig brands, is trying. The latest innovation? A Google Chrome browser extension called SmartyPig OneClick (link), that allows users to create savings goals on the fly while shopping online.

The service launched last week and can be found in the Extensions: Shopping section of the Chrome app store. The app has 30 users according to stats displayed in the store. In comparison, the most popular shopping extension, from Amazon, has more than 600,000 users.

The SmartyPig OneClick system can be licensed by banks looking to juice their savings account feature set.

How it works
1. Install from Google Play app-store (see screenshot 1 below)

2. A SmartyPig icon is added to the upper right of the browser (see inset)

3. When shopping online (at any website), users click on the SmartyPig icon in the upper right, which launches a popup (screenshot 2)

4. After logging in (screenshot 3), users establish a goal and automatic savings plan to fund the purchase of the desired item (screenshots 4 & 5). SmartyPig automatically imports the item’s price and image and stores it for the user at SmartyPig.com.

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Analysis
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Goal-based savings is an important feature to add to online banking (note 1). And shopping helpers are a relatively popular browser extension (Amazon’s Chrome extension has 600,000 users). So marrying the two is an interesting play.

Will this boost savings-account balances? Perhaps a little. But the more important FI benefit is getting a branded button in the corner of the user’s browser (whether anyone will remember it’s there is another matter). That’s a bit of a Trojan Horse that can be used for a variety of services (note 2).

Bottom line: I like SmartyPig’s move. Smartphones have conditioned users to look for specialized apps. I believe consumers will use full-featured online banking via direct desktop links (see also Mint’s QuickView). Although, it will take education and marketing support.

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1. Installing browser extensions is a painless process (Chrome store link)
Note: Users must allow SmartyPig to “access your data on all websites” and “access your tabs and browsing activity.” The first one is likely to give users pause.

2. Creating a goal on the fly while shopping

3. Login to SmartyPig via popup box

4. Confirm the savings goal

5. Customize the savings goal

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Notes:
1. For more info, see our Online Banking Report (Nov. 2008, subscription) detailing various ways to leverage your online/mobile channel to boost deposits.
2. Long ago, we wrote a report (Aug 2002, subscription) on ways to put your bank onto the computer desktop. The strategy is still the same, though the specific techniques are somewhat different today.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 21, 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 21, 2013
Categories: ACI Worldwide, BBVA, Credit.com, Dwolla, Lending Club, Movenbank, Pageonce, SafetyPay

Android Does takes a look at the latest update to Pageonce Money & Bills app.

ACI Wordwide announces winners of its Excellence Award for 2013.

Forbes considers Movenbank’s view of online reputation. See Movenbank demo live at FinovateEurope February 12 and 13.

The Des Moines Register takes an inside look at Ben Milne’s thoughts on the future of Dwolla.

SafetyPay announces record growth: Number of transactions in 2012 increased 149% over 2011, the dollar value of transactions increased by 88.5% in 2012 over 2011.

BBVA announces mobile RDC for iPhone. Come see BBVA demo its new tech at FinovateEurope in London.

Lending Club issues the 100,000th loan on its lending platform.

Credit.com‘s “Credit Cards” app now available on Google Play.

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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BankersLab Launches New Android App to Support ScoringLab

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 18, 2013
Categories: BankersLab

BankersLab, the company that gamifies training for bankers, recently launched a new Android app, Banc-it: Scoring Edition.

The app supports ScoringLab, a training product intended to help bankers improve their knowledge of credit risk scores. The gamification aspect of the app increases user engagement for an effective training experience.

Banc-it, the new app, tests users’ knowledge of:

Credit scoring data
Credit score usage
Model development
Credit monitoring

The app, priced at $4.99, is available for Android devices in the Google Play store. BankersLab will release the iOS version next month.

To learn more about BankersLab, watch its FinovateAsia 2012 demo.

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Angel Investing Round Earns Azimo £300,000

By David Penn Posted on January 18, 2013
Categories: Azimo

Money transfer start-up Azimo is beginning the year with positive news on the funding front. The company just announced £300,00 ($480,000 USD) in angel investment.

Although the complete list of investors is undisclosed, among them is Matt Cooper according to reporting in The Next Web. Cooper is chairman of Octopus Investments. Before that, he was principal managing director of Capital One Bank.

Based in the U.K., Azimo serves the growing population of foreign-born residents in Great Britain by providing a means to send money to any bank account or to send cash to 150,000 locations around the world. Azimo processes payments faster than banks traditionally do – between 2 and 24 hours compared to three to five days – and launched its mobile app last September.

See Azimo in action at FinovateEurope in February. More information available here.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 18, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 18, 2013
Categories: Azimo, BillFloat, ImpulseSave, MasterCard, MoneyDesktop, Movenbank, SaveUp, SmartyPig, Tuition.io, Virtual Piggy

American Banker reports: ImpulseSave Launches Chrome Plugin to Encourage Savings.

SaveUp allows users to vote for potential prizes.

SmartyPig introduces the SmartyPig OneClick Chrome extension.

Get Rich Slowly blog features Tuition.io.

Forbes covers Virtual Piggy, calling it PayPal for Kids. Come see Virtual Piggy demo at FinovateEurope.

Springwise features Movenbank. Come to FinovateEurope and see Movenbank’s live demo of its new platform.

American Banker reports: STAR Financial Bank Rolls Out PFM Software from MoneyDesktop.

Virgin Mobile, C Spire test BillFloat as financing option.

Mastercard moves to ease EMV migration within U.S.

Azimo announces £300,000 ($480,000 USD) angel investment round. Come see their demo at FinovateEurope in February!

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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SaveUp Allows Users to Vote for Potential Prizes

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 17, 2013
Categories: SaveUp

Gamified-savings and rewards platform, SaveUp, is holding a contest allowing users to vote for prizes they want to see on the platform to increase engagement.

As of right now, users have three and a half more days to vote for prizes or submit one of their own. If a user suggests the prize that receives the highest number of votes, they earn 1,000 credits in their SaveUp account.

Users can vote once per day on the prize of their choice. All prizes are valued around $100. Popular ones include:

Emergency fund
Victoria’s Secret gift card
$100 toward Nest Thermostat

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

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BillFloat Raises $21 Million in New Funding

By David Penn Posted on January 17, 2013
Categories: BillFloat

BillFloat announced that it has raised $21 million courtesy of Investor Growth Capital, which led the financing round along with previous investors Venrock, First Round Capital, and Baseline Ventures. New investor Bronze Investments also participated in the round.

The new funding comes as the company focuses on its More-Time-to-Pay (MTP) platform, which provides customers with real-time payment flexibility. Consumers can access MTP online, in stores, and through mobile thanks to the company’s partnership with more than 2,500 billers – from cable companies to utilities.

Founded in 2009, BillFloat has raised more than $36 million. On the agenda for 2013 according to CEO and co-founder Ryan Gilbert, are the following:

Expand team by two-thirds, mostly through new developers
Drive more than $400 million in loans
Raise up to $100 million in debt financing to fund loans

BillFloat offers loans up to $200 to its more than 700,000 registered users. See BillFloat in action at its most recent Finovate demo here.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 17, 2013

By David Penn Posted on January 17, 2013
Categories: Bill.com, BillFloat, Compass Plus, Dashlane, Dwolla, ImpulseSave, Jack Henry, MasterCard, Mitek, PayPal, Standard Chartered Bank, TIO Networks

BillFloat announces $21 million in new funding.

Jack Henry & Associates launches retail and commercial lending platform.

Compass Plus completes benchmark testing on HP servers.

ImpulseSave releases Google Chrome e-commerce plug-in.

Dashlane partners with Pwnedlist to enhance security alerts. Check out Dashlane’s live demo at FinovateEurope next month.

Mitek to launch Mobile Deposit Alliance, allowing participant banks to share deposit data.

TechCrunch reports: eBay And PayPal Expect To Do $20 Billion Each In 2013 Mobile Commerce.

El Paso Electric Company partners with TIO Networks Corp to launch EPE MobilePay.

Dwolla introduces Guest Send to help developers building bank software make payments from one account to another.

Bill.com wins Best Software as a Service category of the 2012-2013 Cloud Awards Program.

Clearstream chooses Standard Chartered Bank as its clearing and settlement agent for its investments in South Africa.

Payments.com profiles MasterCard Worldwide’s initiatives in Africa.

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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Simple (Formerly BankSimple) Launches Android App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 16, 2013
Categories: Simple

Alternative banking platform, Simple announced the launch of its Android app yesterday.

Simple notes that designing the app was “an opportunity to reimagine the Simple mobile experience.” It has a noticeably different feel than the iOS app.

Here are some screenshots:

The free app is available on GooglePlay for Android 2.3.3 and higher.

To learn more about Simple, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

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eDeposit Launches First Mobile App

By David Penn Posted on January 16, 2013
Categories: eDeposit

What’s new in finance apps for iOS? Now businesses can use their iPhones to manage their eDeposit accounts.

The new mobile app from eDeposit allows merchants (and their customers) to send and accept payments, as well as conduct other banking business such as checking balances and monitoring account activity.

Here’s a screenshot.

Version 1.2.1 is available for free on iTunes.

Watch eDeposit in action at their most recent Finovate demo here.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 16, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on January 16, 2013
Categories: Andera, eDeposit, Fiserv, Heckyl Technologies, Kabbage, Kapitall, Metaforic, Plastyc, Simple, Temenos

Netbanker highlights Simple and Jwaala’s natural language search.

Metaforic extends its app protection system to be compatible with the upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system.

The Financial Times features Kabbage.

Plastyc powers online banking and payments services for H&R Block, launches new white-label service.

Andera increases sales bookings by 59%, sees 5x increase in oFlows customers.

Cambodia’s leading commercial bank adopts Temenos Group technology upgrade.

Fiserv completes acquisition of Open Solutions.

AppShopper features eDeposit’s first mobile app.

Edelweiss Securities launches real time news terminal powered by Heckyl Technologies.

Google Analytics touts Kapitall’s content experiments.

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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Card Transaction Data is Rich, Who Will Help Users Mine It?

By Jim Bruene Posted on January 15, 2013
Categories: Jwaala, Personal Financial Management, Simple

A few days ago, my wife and I were trying to remember the name of a restaurant where we ate on vacation several years ago.

The answer didn’t really matter, but I shouldn’t have needed to tax my meager memory cells because someone with perfect recall already knows its name, location, and how much was spent. In this case, Bank of America. I used its credit card.

I should be able to hit BofA’s mobile app, type or speak “orlando,” and instantly see the dozen or so charges I’ve made in Central Florida. Even better, I should be able to access the entire paper trail of card charges from that trip and to get a quick refresher of our itinerary four years ago.

Yes, this is the vision of personal financial management and we are slowly getting there. But it’s still a lot of work to manage the data flowing to third-party PFMs. And logging in to yet another program to find a small bit of info can be tedious (see note 1).

Bottom line: We can debate all we want about how many people will use the mythical thing called PFM. But most people want to know something about a past transaction at least once in a while. They shouldn’t have to subscribe to a third-party service find it.

So, listen up, financial institutions. Follow Simple’s lead (and Jwaala which pioneered it five years ago), and make long-term searchable transaction archives a core part of online and mobile banking (notes 2, 3).

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Simple’s natural-language search is an important feature (15 Jan 2013)
Note: Hashtags make subsequent searches even more powerful

Jwaala search

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Notes:
1. Though, for me, Mint’s QuickView Mac app, has made transaction look-up much faster by doing away with the login.
2. And you can make “transaction search” a profit center. See Google’s business results for ideas.
3. For info on fee-based financial services, see the Online Banking Report (subscription) on fee-based online services (May 2011); paperless banking and online storage (late 2010); and lifetime statement archives (2005).

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