Blog - Page 984 of 1287

Umpqua Bank Launches Mortgage Sales Tool: Home Hunter

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 27, 2013
Categories: Loans & Credit, Mobile Banking, Mortgage, Refi & Home Equity

Ever since I saw CEO Ray Davis speak at BAI in the mid-1990s, I've been a huge Umpqua Bank fan. But most of the bank's notoriety is around its fresh take on the brick-and-mortar experience. But that's not my thing, at all, so I don't get a chance to write about them often.

However, today I was delighted to see a new mobile app appear in the iOS store called Umpqua Home Hunter. It's a simple tool for house hunting. When a home buyer runs across a home of interest when out and about, they can open up the Home Hunter and automatically document the address (via GPS), then add comments, pictures, and a 1-to-5 star rating (see screenshots below).

There is also clever integration to Umpqua lenders. Users can forward the house to the lender of their choice to start the mortgage prequalification process (…

Singapore-Based MyHero Earns $10M from Kleiner Perkins and Others to Enhance TradeHero App

By David Penn Posted on September 27, 2013
Categories: TradeHero

Majulah, MyHero!

With the backing of Kleiner Perkins, Caufield Byers China fund, and IPV Capital, Singapore-based MyHero is now $10 million closer to reaching its goals of expanding into the Chinese market and growing its user base to more than 300,000.

Led by CEO and founder, Dinesh Bhatia, MyHero is the developer behind TradeHero. TradeHero, says Bhatia, is a "financial literacy tool" that lets users trade and invest virtual dollars in the stock market. Top performing traders and investors can monetize their talent by selling real-time market notifications through the app to their followers.

This combination of gamification and virtual trading community has earned the app a #1 spot in the financial category of the iOS App Store in 75 countries. The app is expected to be available in Android soon. The $10 million in Series A funding is the company's first major financing since a seed round…

BankersLab and FICO Launch New App in Brazil: Missao Positivo

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 27, 2013
Categories: BankersLab

BankersLab, the company that gamifies financial learning, unveiled a new app in Brazil in conjunction with FICO today called Missao Positivo (Portuguese for "Mission Positive").

The goal of the app is to:

help players take charge of their financial life create a better understanding of their financial obligations understand how payment behavior affects their credit options

FICO brings 57 years of experience in understanding how a consumer's behavior impacts their credit risk. The new app helps it bring that knowledge to consumers with insights into how to improve their financial standing.

BankersLab last demoed at FinovateAsia 2012 where it launched ScoringLab. If you're interested in seeing the lineup of companies for FinovateAsia this year, check it out here.

Finovate Alumni News– September 27, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 27, 2013
Categories: Check, Manilla, mBank, mBank & Accenture, Mint.com, MoneyDesktop, Personal Capital, planwise, TradeHero

Real estate tech firm Tribus is integrating Planwise's PFM to help homebuyers evaluate the affordability of listings. MyBankTracker lists Check, Manilla, and Personal Capital as 3 finance apps just as good as Mint. MoneyDesktop marketing video wins 2013 Telly Award. PC World features 11 FinovateFall demo companies. Singapore-based MyHero earns $10M from Kleiner Perkins and others to enhance TradeHero app. What's the Next Big Thing in financial services? Ideas from FinovateFall and beyond. American Banker: The cutting edge of online banking, as practiced by a Polish bank (mBank). 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.

What’s the Next Big Thing in Financial Services? Ideas from FinovateFall and Beyond

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 26, 2013
Categories: FinovateFall 2013, MiiCard

Finovate conferences are all about innovation and "what's next" in financial services. At the recent FinovateFall conference miiCard Founder and CEO, James Varga, compiled thoughts and ideas of people from all places in the industry

The following clip is the first installment of his two-part series, detailing current trends in the fintech industry. In it, participants are asked, "What's the next big thing in financial services?"

Here is just a taste of the responses: "Large-value transactions online, such as real estate transactions" "Personalized financial services including social payments and social authentication" "Mobile as primary interface with the customer" "Shifting of lending risk away from banks and to more flexible, non-bank lenders" "Giving customers a fantastic experience and capitalizing on it by making revenues from those customers"

Watch the video for more from the presenters, sponsors, attendees of FinovateFall.

The second piece in the series, Predictions for 2020 and Beyond…

The Rumors Are True: eBay’s PayPal Acquires Braintree for $800 Million in Cash

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 26, 2013
Categories: Braintree, PayPal

After weeks of rumors, there's no doubt you've heard of PayPal's plan to acquire payments gateway, Braintree. This week, it pulled the trigger and dished out $800 million in cash for Chicago-based Braintree.

According to PayPal CEO, David Marcus, this acquisition will help Braintree grow much faster than a normal, startup pace. In his blog post announcing the deal, Marcus states:

"Our resources will enable them to push the boundaries of innovation with ambition and confidence for consumers, merchants and developers around the world."

Braintree's payment gateway, which launched in 2007, can handle 130 different currencies in more than 40 countries. It will continue operating as it normally does, servicing companies such as AirBnB, OpenTable, and Uber.

Braintree last demoed at FinovateSpring earlier this year where it showed off its recently acquired Venmo touch technology.

Finovate Alumni News– September 26, 2013

By David Penn Posted on September 26, 2013
Categories: Billhighway, Braintree, Finovera, Google, Lendio, MasterCard, MiiCard, PayPal, peerTransfer, SecondMarket

Updated Google Wallet app lets users store loyalty cards. MasterCard teams up with National Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Banks Company, and Fawry to launch m-wallet in Egypt. EBay's PayPal acquires Braintree in $800M cash deal. The Boston Business Journal features peerTransfer. miiCard presents trends from the innovators at FinovateFall. KillerStartups features Finovera. Lendio raises $4.5 million for small business loan-matching Service. TechCrunch reports: SecondMarket launches a Bitcoin investment trust for accredited investors. Billhighway adds Boys & Girls Club of Troy as client. 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.

Asia-Based Finovate Alumni Score More Than $200 Million in Financing

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 25, 2013
Categories: BankBazaar, CustomerXPs, DemystData, FinovateAsia 2013, Heckyl Technologies, TradeHero, wipro

As we prepare to bring FinovateAsia to Singapore November 14, we researched the funding of six Asia-based companies who demoed at FinovateAsia last year. Combined, these companies raised more than $215 million from a variety of investors:

BankBazaar, a credit processing platform that allows banks to offer consumers 7-minute credit eApproval on retail credit products.

Series A: $6 million from Walden International FinovateAsia 2012 demo CustomerXPs creates technology that proactively senses cross-sell, attrition, customer engagement and fraud in real-time. Series A: $4 million from JAFCO Asia FinovateAsia 2012 demo DemystData enables real-time analysis of big data from consumers and SMBs, allowing for improved interactions as a result of richer, more relevant information. Venture Round: undisclosed amount from VentureLab Series A: undisclosed amount from Accion and Arbor Ventures FinovateAsia 2012 demo Heckyl provides real-time financial information, news analytics, trend matrix, and heat maps for coverage of markets, companies, and businesses. Seed…

Prosper Brings in $25 Million, Adds Blackrock as Investor

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 25, 2013
Categories: Prosper

Long-time P2P lending player Prosper announced yesterday that it raised $25 million in private equity funding.

Existing investor Sequoia Capital and newcomer Blackrock Ventures both participated in the round.

The new installment, combined with the $20 million in private equity it received in January from Sequoia Capital, and its previous venture rounds of $75 million, bring the San Francisco-based company's total funding to $120 million.

Since launching in 2006, the P2P lender has acquired almost 2 million members and has funded $630 million in personal loans. It is growing at 100% year-over-year in revenue and new loans.

Prosper demonstrated at the first Finovate, held in 2007 in New York.

John O’Malley Takes Helm as New Digital Insight CEO

By David Penn Posted on September 25, 2013
Categories: Digital Insight, Intuit, Intuit Financial Services

Digital Insight announced this week that John O'Malley will serve as the fintech company's new Chief Executive Officer. The new appointment is effective on November 1st.

O'Malley brings more than 30 years of experience in both financial services and financial technology. He was most recently CEO of Panini, a payment technology company. Previously, O'Malley served as chief executive officer for Memento and Harland Financial Solutions, where he was also President.

Formerly known as Intuit Financial Services, Digital Insight was acquired by Thoma Bravo this summer. Read our coverage of the billion-dollar deal here.

Digital Insight was one of our original alumni, presenting at the first Finovate in 2007. Video of the company's presentation is available here.

Finovate Alumni News– September 25, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on September 25, 2013
Categories: Intuit, MasterCard, MiiCard, SafetyPay, SumUp

Intuit integrates QuickBooks with Square's POS products via an API deal. Xpenditure selects miiCard certified digital bank statements for expanded and automated expense report verification. SafetyPay and Paymentez partner to offer Latin American gamers a secure and seamless payment option. TechCrunch reports: SumUp cuts 2.75% per transaction fee across Europe. PYMNTS.com talks small business lending with MasterCard and the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL). 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.

New Online Banking Report Published: 2014 Guide to Remote Banking Products, Marketing & Strategy

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 24, 2013
Categories: Online Banking Report

Has anyone started their 2014 plan? We didn't think so. But with only 141,000 minutes until the new year (see inset), it's high time to start working on it.

And we are here to help. Our annual reference, OBR's 2014 Product, Pricing, & Strategy Guide is now available. It's a thorough resource for financial institution product/marketing managers prioritizing next year's remote-banking efforts.

The latest version was posted online last a few days ago.

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About the report
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2014 Product, Pricing & Strategy Guide for Remote Banking (link)
Embracing new business models for a digital world

Author: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder

Published: 20 Sep 2013

Length: 76 pages (39,000 words)

Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, $595 for others here

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Table of Contents

The report contains a list of every idea that has appeared in Online Banking Report or this blog…