CoverHound Announces Partnership with Source Interlink Media

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Motor vehicle insurance comparison website, CoverHoundannounced a partnership with Source Interlink Media.

Through this partnership, CoverHound will power auto insurance comparison engines on Motor Trend Auto Group sites, including:

    • MotorTrend.com
    • IntelliChoice.com
    • Automotive.com
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In addition, the San Francisco-based startup announced that Source Interlink Media, along with returning investor Blumberg Capital, has made a strategic financial investment in CoverHound.

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

Kabbage Lands $30 Million in Series C Financing, Adds Former PayPal President to Board

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Over the past two weeks, Kabbage, a provider of capital to online small businesses, made two big announcements.

First, it raised $30 million in Series C financing. This installment brings Kabbage’s total financing to $56 million. Investors include:

    • Thomvest Ventures
    • UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund
    • Mohr Davidow Ventures
    • BlueRun Ventures
    • Warren Stephens
    • David Bonderman

According to Forbes, Kabbage plans to use the $30 million to expand the business by funding offline businesses as well.

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Kabbage also announced that Scott Thompson, former President of PayPal, will join its board of directors. The Atlanta-based startup’s board currently includes:

    • Rob Frohwein (Kabbage CEO)
    • Marc Gorlin (Kabbage Chairman and Co-Founder)
    • Bryan Stolle (General Partner Mohr Davidow Ventures)
    • Jonathan Ebinger (Partner Blue Run Ventures)
    • Bruce Miller (Managing Director Stephens)
    • Don Butler (Managing Director of Thomvest Ventures)

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

Finovate Alumni News– October 1, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAmerican Banking Journal reflects on FinovateFall.
  • USA Today launches portfolio tracker powered by SigFig.
  • Tagit appoints new CEO, gears up for rapid expansion.
  • American Banker looks at Dwolla’s ACH alternative.
  • Moment NYC blog considers tech from FinovateFall.
  • GigaOM reports Outright teams up with PayPal and Expensify.
  • Inc. Magazine features financing from Lighter Capital as a way to expand small business.
  • Huffington Post reports Kabbage faces competition from Amazon’s new lending service.
  • InComm partners with Ifeelgoods to offer electronic gift cards.
  • WSJ names ThreatMetrix to “Next Big Thing” list. Ranks among top 50 startups in US.
  • Singapore-based PlayMoolah announces partnership with OCBC Bank.
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: The Best of FinovateFall 2012

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We wrapped up FinovateFall in New York City about a week ago. Over the course of two days, 64 companies give seven-minute demos to an audience of around 1,100. We’ve summarized the information and presented in our latest Finovate Report, Fall Edition.

Introducing:

The Best New Products at FinovateFall 2012

This post-show wrap-up is designed to help those that weren’t there get a better understanding of the major themes. And for those that were in attendance, it’s a box score to compare with your own notes and impressions.

In the report, we looked at the three big trends that emerged at FinovateFall:

    • Small businesses get the same financial tools as bigger businesses
    • Security moves past the PIN 
    • Beyond plastic, the mobile wallet is here

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And we profiled each of the seven companies voted Best of Show by the attendees at the event (note 1):

__________________________________________________________________

About the report
__________________________________________________________________

The Best New Products at FinovateFall (link)
Includes a look at all eight Best of Show winners

Author: Julie Schicktanz, Finovate Group Research Analyst
Editor: Jim Bruene, Finovate Group Founder

Published: 28 September 2012

Length: 59 pages, 12,000 words

Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, US$195 for others

The printed version will be mailed to subscribers next week

_________________________________________________________________

Note:
1. See Best of Show methodology here.

Finovate Alumni News– September 28, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAustin Business Journal profiles Bazaarvoice CEO, Brett Hurt.
  • Lending Club announces updates and enhancements.
  • Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Cardlytics to add over 100 jobs.
  • CreditUnions.com looks at solutions demoed at FinovateFall earlier this month.
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.

Bank of Internet Launches No-Overdraft-Fee Checking Account

imageI’ve been working on a blog post, “overdrafts in the digital age,” for a few days. But it’s ballooning to the point where I may turn it into a full Online Banking Report. Or just publish it in several parts here.

Either way, I’m looking for examples of new approaches to overdraft protection. For example, Bank of Internet recently did away with the fee altogether on its Rewards Checking account. The bank won’t necessarily honor the check (unless the user is covered by linked-account overdraft protection), but they won’t charge a fee if they give it the heave-ho (note 1).

The account also boasts no monthly fee, an APY up to 1.25% (if electronic transaction minimums are met), an ATM fee rebate, Intuit’s FinanceWorks PFM with Cardlytics-powered cash-back, mobile remote deposit (Mitek-powered, I presume) and Fiserv’s POPmoney P2P payments. It’s like a Finovate greatest-hits account.

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Bank of Internet homepage features Rewards Checking (27 Sep 2012)

Bank of Internet homepage featuring no-overdraft-fee checking

Rewards checking landing page (link)

BofI rewards checking landing page

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Note:
1. Bank of Internet won’t impose a fee, but the merchant who submitted the check (and who will be dinged by their bank) very likely will. So it’s not necessarily a fee-free event.
2. For info, our report on fee-based online services (subscription, May 2011)

Finovate Alumni News– September 27, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgZipZap to power global cash payments for omba.
  • Forbes mentions Credit Sesame, Tuition.io, PayTap, Digital Mailer as 4 tools to help you manage your money.
  • Capital Access Network closes $295 mil credit that to serve the small business community.
  • PYMNTS chats with Kabbage’s co-founder & chief operating officer, Kathryn Petralia.
  • GambleID taps Locaid for geolocation services.
  • PC World features Yodlee, ShopKeep POS, Bolstr, PaySimple, CommunityLend, & Billhighway.
  • CU Times reports Mortgagebot Launches First Credit Union on Integrated Platform.
  • SafetyPay, in conjunction with the Bank of Montreal, the RBC, TD Bank & Scotia Bank, offers online payment service via Canadian Interac network.
  • Fiserv selected as Affinity Provider in FPA Practitioner Resource Guide.
  • Currensee delivers PAMM Replacement Solution for CTAs and Money Managers.
  • Netbanker: BillGuard is first financial service to Integrate with the New iPhone Passbook Wallet.
  • Compass Plus partners with WorldWide Financial Services.
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.

FinovateAsia’s Early-Bird Ticket Deadline is this Friday September 28th — Register Now to Save!

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In just six weeks, three dozen cutting-edge fintech companies will take the stage in Singapore for the inaugural FinovateAsia. As usual, each of the hand-selected presenters will get only seven minutes and no slides to demo their new innovations in everything from big data to mobile, security to personal finance, payments to investing, and much more.

But the innovative companies on stage are just half the story. The other half is the high-quality audience. The auditorium is filling quickly with innovative leaders from companies like ANZ, Celent, Citibank, Citi Ventures, Cradle Fund, Gartner, Financial Technology Partners, Javelin Research, IDC Financial Insights, Mastercard, Maybank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, SWIFT Innotribe, The Bancorp, UBank, UBS, UOB, and Visa.

If you’d like to join these leaders and watch the future of Asian fintech debut live, tickets are still available at the early-bird price of S$895 on the FinovateAsia website. But early-bird tickets are only available through this Friday September 28th, so please get your ticket now to lock in your seat and the savings.

Thanks and we hope to see you in Singapore in November!

FinovateAsia 2012 is sponsored by: The Bancorp Inc., Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Standard Chartered, & Visa

FinovateAsia 2012 is partners with: Asian Banking & Finance, BankInnovation, BankerStuff, Celent, Finance on Windows, PYMNTS.com & The Emerging Finance

FinovateAsia’s Early-Bird Ticket Deadline is this Friday September 28th — Register Now to Save!

FinovateAsiaLogo.png

In just six weeks, three dozen cutting-edge fintech companies will take the stage in Singapore for the inaugural FinovateAsia. As usual, each of the hand-selected presenters will get only seven minutes and no slides to demo their new innovations in everything from big data to mobile, security to personal finance, payments to investing, and much more.

But the innovative companies on stage are just half the story. The other half is the high-quality audience. The auditorium is filling quickly with innovative leaders from companies like ANZ, Celent, Citibank, Citi Ventures, Cradle Fund, Gartner, Financial Technology Partners, Javelin Research, IDC Financial Insights, Mastercard, Maybank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, SWIFT Innotribe, The Bancorp, UBank, UBS, UOB, and Visa.

If you’d like to join these leaders and watch the future of Asian fintech debut live, tickets are still available at the early-bird price of S$895 on the FinovateAsia website. But early-bird tickets are only available through this Friday September 28th, so please get your ticket now to lock in your seat and the savings.

Thanks and we hope to see you in Singapore in November!

FinovateAsia 2012 is sponsored by: The Bancorp Inc., Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Standard Chartered, & Visa

FinovateAsia 2012 is partners with: Asian Banking & Finance, BankInnovation, BankerStuff, Celent, Finance on Windows, PYMNTS.com & The Emerging Finance

Finovate Alumni News– September 26, 2012

  • Upstart Business Journal mentions Virtual Piggy, Waspit, & Kiboo as catering to young customers.
  • On Deck reaches 1 million daily debit payments.
  • Communication FCU enlists Tyfone to provide customers with mobile banking solution.
  • TRADESHIFT increases language support to 190 countries.
  • TIO hits $100M mark for mobile bill payments.
  • Boston Business Journal reports Linkable Networks raises $3.2M.
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.

BillGuard is First Financial Service to Integrate with the New iPhone Passbook Wallet

imageApple’s Passbook is a massive wildcard in the race for mobile payments, banking and rewards. Will the iPhone’s massive user base take to it like they did iTunes, or will it be one of those ideas that sounded good on the drawing board, but just doesn’t resonate with consumers?

imageNo one knows if it will stick (although I got pretty carried away with the possibilities when it was announced in June), but given the potential upside, it seems a solid bet.

Starbucks is about to push its massive mobile base onto Passbook, a pretty strong endorsement. American Express has thrown in its support. No word yet from other financial players. 

Except BillGuard, which gets to lay claim to being first. CEO Yaron Samid emailed yesterday announcing beta support for Passbook. The startup built a landing page for the new service at <passbook.billguard.com/> (see first screenshot) and is even testing some Google Adwords spending around the feature.

BillGuard users can now view each of their monitored credit cards within the Apple Passbook application. It’s a two-step process to get the cards added to the Passbook utility.

  1. Users click on “Add to Passbook” at top of BillGuard’s normal online dashboard (see second screenshot)
  2. BillGuard sends an email with a “pass” attached for each card. Users view the email on their iPhone, then click each attachment to add to the iPhone utility (see third screenshot)

Once added, user can view their current card balance and recent transactions from the Passbook card (see last screenshots).

Bottom line: It’s a great move for BillGuard, especially since it does not yet have a native mobile app. Now I can click on the Passbook icon and without logging in, quickly see the activity on all my registered cards, and whether there are any suspicious charges.

Banks could do something similar. Basically, creating a no-login card mini-app that aligns their brand with the iPhone 5. However, one area to consider is security. Anyone who got a hold of the email BillGuard sent me could start monitoring my card(s) through Passbook without my knowledge. For a bit more security, passes can be distributed directly through native apps and websites.

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BillGuard Passbook landing page (link, 25 Sep 2012)
Note: Example is a Chase card “protected by BillGuard” image

Step 1: Click the “Add to Passbook” button on top of BillGuard’s main online dashboard

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Step 2: BillGuard emails a “pass” for each card on file. Users open the email from their iPhone and click the attachment(s) to add each card to Passbook

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Results: Each pass has its own “virtual card” in Passbook, with a “front” and “back”
Front includes current balance                     Back includes recent transactions

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Note: The placeholder barcode displayed in the BillGuard pass is a customer referral form according to MyBankTracker. When Starbucks unveils its Passbook support next week, I’m sure the barcode will be usable to make a mobile payment at the Starbucks counter.

Finovate Alumni News– September 25, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNew Dutch bank uses Figlo Platform to offer online financial overview.
  • InComm & ValuAccess partner to expand prepaid market in Hong Kong.
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Kabbage helps e-tailer keep the orders moving.
  • FreeMonee wins Bronze Stevie Award in 2012 American Business Awards.
  • ChecknGo FinLab Blog interviews Casper Wong of CommunityLend.
  • Capital Access Network announces increased availability of small business loans through subsidiary, NewLogic Business Loans.
  • Bill.com named 2012 Product of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group.
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.