Betterment Expands Portfolio Options by Adding International Investments

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Investment platform Betterment recently expanded portfolio options for users to include international investments. The New York Times blog, Bucks, reports:
“As of last month, Betterment’s portfolio includes international exposure through the addition of two new exchange-traded funds: Vanguard Europe Pacific and Vanguard Emerging Markets.”
New users will have immediate access to this while existing users will transition into the new options throughout the course of the next few months.
To learn more about Betterment, check out its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

FinovateFall 2011 Sneak Peek: Part 1

FInFallLogo.jpgMore than 60 leading fintech innovators, both startups and established companies, are gearing up to present at the biggest Finovate ever, Sep. 20/21 in NYC.

Each company provided a sneak peek of what they’ll be demoing on stage next month. Below is the first installment of these teasers. We’ll have more next week. 
Don’t miss your chance to see the live demo from each company and meet the execs responsible. Get your FinovateFall ticket here
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Backbase is launching “Retail Bank of the Future,” representing the e-banking engagement experience of tomorrow. It embodies the newest User Experience (UX) patterns based on input gathered from customer research, industry thought leaders and UX specialists.
Innovation type: Mobile UI, online UI

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Personal finance is a chore and not too high on any To-Do list. Life is busy and finance stresses people out. 
At Balance, we manage your personal financial chores for you. We combine professional service (your own bookkeeper!) with all of your financial accounts and bills in one place for a fully managed experience that is personalized for you.
At Finovate we will show how you can now connect your financial accounts to Balance and power our newest expense tracking, budgeting and custom reporting tools. Also, look for a demo of our photo bill pay app and some other surprises!
Innovation type: Banking, payments, PFM

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Saving for a house? And retirement? And that dream vacation? No problem with Betterment.com! We’ve created the simplest, fastest, and most efficient way for consumers to invest for their goals and the future.
Innovation type: Banking, investing, PFM

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Banks need to re-define the relationship they have with consumers if they want to succeed in today’s market. StatementRewards has introduced an effective way for financial institutions to inexpensively reward their consumers for banking with them, which in turn increases loyalty and customer satisfaction. 
At Finovate, BillShrink announces a new innovation that harnesses the intelligence of aggregated transactional data and applies it to customers’ social networking and purchase management activities. By utilizing advanced analytics to present the most personalized offers and other services to customers, StatementRewards gives financial institutions a unique, competitive edge.
Innovation type: Cards, PFM, rewards

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Want to see the definitive search engine for tackling today’s banking issues? cbanc Network has created a revolutionary online collaborative platform for financial institutions to share best practices. This secure online community contains the largest repository of peer-authored, board-approved, exam-tested content anywhere. Here, banking professionals trade real, practical work — including policies, procedures, agreements, vendor reviews and more from every department of a bank or credit union. 
This network
  1. Motivates people to share their best work 
  2. Uses points as currency to incentivize users 
  3. Helps FIs prepare for exams
  4. Protects users around legal and competitive concerns of sharing
Innovation type: Back office, online UI, security

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The technology of the CLX.SentinelDisplay, a Class 4 reader with a hardened browser, hardened middleware, an integrated smart card and a high-resolution display,  ensures extremely high, comprehensive security in e-banking applications. 
Along with the reader’s extremely secure customer authentication and transaction signing mechanisms, the advanced concepts for application authentication and pro-active security updates is unique. The hardened browser (CLX.SecureBrowser) onboard the reader ensures full confidentiality of customer data – a security aspect that is often entirely ignored.
Innovation type: Identity, payments, security

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DeMystData’s new web-based modeling platform helps lenders grow thin file portfolios without increasing their risk level. With minimal inputs, our tool leverages the vast amounts of data accumulated online, applies advanced statistical techniques, and configures a bespoke predictive API that captures additional customer information without adding underwriting complexity.  
The DeMystData platform has application in variety of commercial environments incl
uding credit issuance, risk assessment, segment identification, and offer customization.
Innovation type: Identity, lending, marketing

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Credit unions, banks, financial advisors, financial institutions: How are you delivering youth financial education to your client families? How are you connecting with your next generation client? How are you fulfilling Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) responsibilities for financial literacy programs that progress in complexity as students get older? 
You’ve tried online content and even interactive online games, but the results are disappointing. Neither can hold a child’s attention for long or keep them coming back over the years. We have a better way. It’s no game. It’s real experience. It works. We can’t wait to show you at FinovateFall 2011.
Innovation type: Online UI, PFM

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Fuze Network provides innovative ways for financial companies and their customers to work together. Learn how we help billers to build brand loyalty, aid in collection efforts, reduce fees, boost your customer service efforts and help to eliminate misdirected funds.
With Fuze at your back we can help to boost your store traffic, drive sales, increase revenues and simplify the hassle of payment processing all while creating a better customer service experience.
Fuze helps connect customers with the closest payment locations, online bill payments, simple cash payment solutions, and easy utility bill payment all while saving them fees and the hassle and stress of paying bills.
Innovation type: Back office, cards, payments

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Ready to have your financial mind blown away? Lighter Capital is combining light-hearted irreverence PLUS a light-weight and flexible funding structure PLUS a social-based investment decision analysis to make it easier, faster and more fun for small businesses to access capital than ever before! Get ready!
Innovation type: Investing, lending, small business

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KulaX is a cross-sell engine that enables financial institutions to leverage their online banking platform to generate more leads faster without interfering with core banking functions. 
Online banking customers are targeted with the “next best product” where they are invited, at logout, to engage in an automated one-on-one microinterview with their financial institution about their financial products needs and preferences. Upon interview completion, customers are presented with special offers for the FI’s products and services that have been tailored based on interview responses; requested offers are emailed to customers.
Innovation type: Marketing, rewards

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Modo converts redemptions to payments, and makes payments mobile.  Our demo will show how easy it is to onboard consumers and merchants, as well as the simplicity of paying with modo.  
And of course, most importantly, why you should GET modo and PAY with modo, in the first place: MORE!

Innovation type: Mobile, payments, rewards


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When your brand is in the palm of your customer’s hand: make the most of mobile technology. Mootwin helps your business enhance the mobile customer experience, re-enforce loyalty, and accelerate revenue growth.

Innovation type: Communications, marketing, mobile


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MShift and ACI Worldwide formed an alliance in 2010 to offer mobile delivery of ACI Enterprise Banker, the industry leading business banking solution.  
They are now partnering to create a ground-breaking mobile business banking native application for the tablet. The application is focused on robust and graphically rich presentations of financial data as well operational tasks like ACH, wire release and bill payment, all with access from anywhere at anytime.
Innovation type: Banking, mobile, payments

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MyCyberTwin will demo its Artificial Intelligence solutions, called virtual agents
, and give a detailed explanation about how current leading financial institutions are using the technology today and will use the technology in the future.
It is a powerful demo to show an audience how a computer thinks and answers questions in real-time, helping customers get the answers they need while helping companies garner the intelligence of the customers visiting their websites. This demo will also showcase an emotionally responsive AI virtual agent able to capture emotion including smiling, frowning, and expressing gratitude.
Innovation type: Communications, marketing, sales

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The oFlows paperless loan and deposit originations system has expanded beyond financial institutions.  Because oFlows has seamlessly integrated credit, fraud and payment systems, now anyone can use oFlows for just about any transaction.
Think of the last time you were handed a clipboard with a paper form on it. Next time it might be a tablet computer running oFlows.
Innovation type: Banking, lending, mobile

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Consumers have plans, life plans, and want to understand how those plans affect their finances in the future, so they can make better decisions.
Planwise is launching tools that will help any consumer, from the teen buying a laptop, the 20-something buying a car, the couple buying their first home to the astute property investor, to better understand how their decisions today might look in the future financially.
The consumer can then connect with the lender or adviser of choice to quote, get advice or apply.
Innovation type: Lending, marketing, PFM

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Putting money aside for a rainy day is easier said than done. Many Americans do not have any money saved for emergencies. 
Plastyc aims to change this by introducing automated savings built into prepaid card accounts. Setting aside a few dollars every day, week or month will be just a single click away. Money accumulated in the savings purse of the card account will reward savers with cash at unprecedented rates.
Innovation type: Banking, cards, online UI

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ReadyForZero is an online program for the 77% of American families who are paying down debt. For individuals and families, ReadyForZero facilitates the management and reduction of debt. 
For financial institutions, the program is a low-touch and consumer-friendly alternative that reduces net credit loss and improves customer retention.
Innovation type: Online UI, payments, PFM

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Rebirth Financial, noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as a company to “change the US finance system,” is shaking up the small business lending game again! 
In February, Rebirth launched the nation’s first peer-to-business lending platform. Shortly after, Rebirth uniquely integrated SBA and CRA lending into the P2B mix. 
Now, Rebirth is introducing the JAS Rating System! It’s a system that will redefine the way we analyze small business and a must-see for financial institutions lending to small businesses and companies wondering whether they should extend credit to a new client. It’s just another game changer from Rebirth Financial.
Innovation type: Back office, lending, small business

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T8 Webware is bringing native mobile services to the masses by giving consumers real-time access to their financial purchase capabilities. Grip, a financial decision-making tool supports consumers’ daily needs, empowering them to understand their money flow simply and without clutter. 
Grip enables financial institutions to provide convenient information on the go; addressing consumers’ mobile needs through a highly secured mobile and tablet app. With no reliance on core integration, financial institutions can offer Grip almost immediately and without any upfront fees. It can be deployed in three weeks and costs 99 cents each month for customers who use the app.

Innovation type: Communications, mobile, PFM


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The Transecq solution, powered by ENTERSECT ITA, has revolutionized two-factor authentications by utilizing the power of the end user’s mobile device, fully encrypting the device and creating a multi-factor authentication tool. 
Strong 2-Factor authentication delivered ubiquitously across the globe puts the power of approval in the appropriate hands.Thus providing protection and security way beyond passwords and account challenges.
Transecq is the industry leading innovator and developer of mobile security sol
utions for the financial services market.  All the services leverage the security of Digital Fingerprint technology which uniquely ties a user and his/her mobile phone to an encryption key.

Innovation type: Communications, identity, security


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Weemba revolutionizes the way borrowers and lenders find each other and interact in a social-network-like online format. Borrowers create a profile and post a loan project under a nickname. 
Profiles may include everything from the Borrower’s income and education level (individuals) to their number of employees and annual sales (businesses). Lenders search projects by credit score, amount needed, purpose and more. 
When a Lender finds an interesting project, the Lender then may ask the Borrower for access to their real identity. If the Borrower grants access to the Lender, all further contact and any negotiations take place outside Weemba.
Innovation type: Lending, marketing

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At FinovateFall 2011, Yodlee will demonstrate customization without effort. The company has developed a way for banks to automatically tailor a consumer’s initial experience with personal financial management.
Or, as the company likes to say:
    Online banking can be such a chore
    Checking balances is often a bore
    With new customization
    You’ll cause a sensation
    Yodlee FinApps offers MUCH more
    All new at Finovate
    Banking that will motivate
    Inspire and personalize
    You’ll see how to stylize
    Your customers will tell you you’re so GREAT

PayPal and Cortera Take Charge in May’s Web Traffic

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of our alums, using data from Web-analytics company Compete to review the sites they operate. 

Out of 255 alumni, 62 (24%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in May 2011 (see tables below). Of the 62 reviewed, 25 (40%) had fewer visitors than in the previous month and 28 (45%) saw a decline year-over-year.

Private Companies
The 44 private companies are as follows:

Notable successes:

  • Cortera saw the highest number of unique U.S. visitors in May, with almost 2 million hits.
  • HelloWallet experienced the greatest month-over-month growth, with more than four times as many visitors.
  • Betterment saw its traffic increase an impressive 38 times from May of last year.

Private Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011

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Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011

Public Companies
The 18 public companies are as follows:

Notable successes:

  • PayPal experienced the highest number of U.S. visitors in May, with over 32 million visitors.
  • TransUnion Interactive saw the highest month-over-month growth with more than two times the number of visitors in May than in April.
  • Sybase 365 experienced the highest year-over-year growth, with its traffic up almost 80% from last year.

Public Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011 

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Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011

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Notes:

1. We reviewed 255 unique sites. Data was unavailable or irrelevant for 201 sites because: 

  • They had been acquired.
  • They were no longer available online.
  • They were not covered by Compete for various reasons (including some that were not U.S. domestic companies).
  • The number of unique visits was too small to be considered accurate.
  • They were subdomains of larger websites.

2. Numbers have been rounded to three significant digits.

3. The charts include companies that did not have measurable traffic in May 2011, indicated by “N/A.”

4. Compete draws its information from the online activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic, and may undercount at-work usage.

Alumni News — Week of May 30, 2011

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Betterment
Medill Reports discussed the benefits of Betterment and Currensee, claiming that the social networking craze changes the way some people invest. Link
BrightScope
BrightScope announced the top 10 treasury inflation protected securities funds in America’s 401ks. Link
ChargeSmart

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Fox News’ Studio 10 reviewed ChargeSmart, PlasticJungle, and Bills.com and found a number of money saving tools and ideas. Link
Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies won The Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2011 Award from The Association of Support Professionals for its exceptional web support design, implementation, and customer experience. Link
ClairMail
ClairMail announced record customer expansion with a 300% year-over-year growth in users. Link
Corduro

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The New York Times reported that Corduro’s cloud platform challenges PayPal and Square’s mobile payment services. Link
Credit Sesame
The Wisdom Journal depicted Credit Sesame’s services as more than just credit scores. Link
Currensee
See Betterment above.
doxo
  • doxo explained how to use its online filing cabinet and “due date” alerts to help organize GroupOn, Living Social, and other daily deals. Link
  • TheFinancialBrand.com discussed Oregon Federal Credit Union’s use of doxo and discussed other usage ideas such as uploading a scan of your passport prior to travelling. Link
Dwolla 
  • Credit Union Times listed Dwolla as a contender in the P2P payment space. Link
  • Dwolla rallied community efforts to gather donations for the tornado-stricken town of Joplin by selling its t-shirts and accepting donations. Link
  • Omaha World-Herald covered Dwolla’s arrival into Nebraska. Link
Enloop

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  • About.com highlighted Enloop’s business plan creation service. Link
  • Forbes blog discussed “How Not to Fail” by using Enloop to assess the potential success of a business plan. Link
Geezeo
Call Federal Credit Union, based in Richmond, VA, selected Geezeo for its PFM solution. Link
Guardian Analytics
Guardian Analytics positioned by Gartner in the “Visionary” quadrant for web fraud detection. Link
HelloWallet

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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom urged residents to improve their money management by using HelloWallet. For every five subscriptions purchased, HelloWallet will give away one subscription to a family in need. Link
Hidden Levers
Financial Advisor Blog discussed using Hidden Levers to build better portfolios, highlighting risk management and accuracy of the service. Link
Lending Club
  • Lending Club exceeded a quarter million dollars in cumulative loans and is offering cash bonuses. Link
  • Wall Street Journal blog discussed growth of P2P Lending sites Prosper and Lending Club. Link
Lendio

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Lendio raised $2 million in debt financing. Link
PayNearMe
PayNearMe founder Danny Shader, in an interview with Vator News, revealed the service is used beyond the unbanked population, including teens who prefer to pay with cash and consumers who would like to keep their online transactions private. Link
Prosper
See Lending Club above.
RobotDough

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Dow Jones Financial reports that a UCLA professor backed RobotDough. Link
SecondMarket
The Washington Business Journal discussed SecondMarket’s recent popularity. Link
Sybase

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Sybase launched the M-Commerce Guide, a publication for examining global market opportunities for mobile network operators, advisors, and FIs. Link
TradeKing
TradeKing CIO Dan Raju discussed security issues that may arise with the NYSE cloud community, citing its security. Link
Tyfone
Tyfone contracted with Star One Credit Union to use its NFC technology.
 Link

UBank

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CEO of UBank examined security concerns and competitors during an interview with ZDNet. Link

Alumni News — Week of May 23, 2011

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Aptys Solutions
Aptys Solutions signed with Banker’s Bank, a top check depositor with the Federal Reserve Link

Backbase
Backbase to host webinar on how to use social media in financial services Link

Betterment

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  • Betterment announced a growth of over $10M under management and over 4000 customers in first year Link
  • Betterment celebrated its first birthday Link

Bill.com
Bill.com is working to improve its mobile offering for small and midsized businesses Link

Boku
Mobile Entertainment explained how Boku will revolutionize pay-by-mobile for digital goods Link

Capital Access Network
CNBC explained how Capital Access Network solves the need to use financial creativity Link

Credit Karma
WiseBread Blog interviewed Credit Karma CEO Link

doxo

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  • doxo’s first fan video was posted online Link
  • Oregon employees were the first to give its members doxo’s online file cabinet Link
  • TechFlash highlighted the benefits of using doxo to achieve paperless business Link
  • 2Minute Finance interviewed doxo at FinovateSpring Link

Dwolla

  • Dwolla was listed by inc Tech as one of three startups you must know from Big Omaha Link
  • Credit Union Times listed Dwolla as a new P2P service rivaling ‘bank giants’ Link

edo Interactive
MyBankTracker interviewed edo Interactive COO about its Prewards service Link

Expensify
Slate explained how Expensify will help the ‘frequent flier’ Link

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Kabbage
Technorati described how Kabbage works with eBay Link

Lending Club

  • Mint.com’s blog covered what you need to know about Lending Club Link
  • San Francisco Business Times commented on Lending Club’s strong backing from both investors and lenders Link
  • San Francisco Times reported that Lending Club stated it is not planning to go public for several years Link

LendingKarma
Entrepreneur featured LendingKarma as a good tool to use when borrowing money from family or friends Link

Lendio
San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lendio offers funding opportunities for new grads Link

Lodo Software
Lodo Software was described as a startup providing jobs in the “Silicon Prairie” region, a.k.a. Omaha Link

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Monitise
Monitise released a report predicting that the majority of consumers will use mobile money services within the next three years Link

Mortgagebot
Mortgagebot reached 1000 clients, one of its goals from the beginning Link

PayDivvy
2MinuteFinanced interviewed PayDivvy about its services Link

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PayNearMe
BillShrink examined PayNearMe’s cash payment service Link

peerTransfer
Mass High Tech interviewed Iker Marcaide from peerTransfer about becoming an entrepreneur Link

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ProfitStars
ProfitStars announced a new version of Margin Maximizer that’s now available as a hosted solution Link

Robot Dough
2MiniuteFinance toured RobotDough’s demo during interview at Finovate Spring Link

SecondMarket

  • Wall Street Journal stated that SecondMarket helped fuel the tech boom Link
  • CNBC interviewed SecondMarket for an explanation of the change in trading numbers Link and LinkThumbnail image for smartypig.jpg

Smarty Pig
Smarty Pig launched new sharing features, including activity sharing and goal sharing Link

Striata
Striata will host a June 2 webinar for implementing successful ebilling strategies Link

ThreatMetrix
San Francisco Chronicle covered ThreatMetrix’s research around mobile transaction activity Link

TILE Financial
TILE Financial released a Financial Identity Profile to strengthen the connection between advisors and under-30 consumers Link

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TradeKing
TradeKing divulged the lineup of its free webinars in June Link

Tyfone
Tyfone won 2010 Asia Pacific Smart Card Association Award for its NFC innovation and implementation Link

Wikinvest
Dow Jones Advisor highlighted Wikinvest as a way to analyze portfolios Link

Wonga

  • Wonga won 2011 Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award for exceptional accomplishments Link
  • Wonga won the Media Momentum Awards, a coveted award for digital media companies in Europe Link
  • Wonga’s Errol Damelin discussed consumer-centric credit Link

Xero

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  • Diversity Limited commented on Xero’s move to the US markets Link
  • Xero and Keebo teamed up to help you manage and process receipts Link
  • New Zealand Herald commented on Xero’s surging revenue Link

Zecco

  • The Wall Street Journal reviewed Zecco’s new Facebook app Link
  • Zecco launched an app for stock trades & viewing realtime market data on Facebook Link

Zopa
Zopa shows how it helps consumers protect against inflation Link

Alumni News — Week of March 28, 2011

To follow Finovate alumni news in real time, follow us on Twitter here

Bill.com and Doxo recognized as “AlwaysOn OnDemand 100 Top Private Company.” http://bit.ly/finovate329114 http://bit.ly/finovate329115
Bling Nation launches Social Connect platform. The platform allows Bling users to connect online with social rewards features from their favorite merchants. http://bit.ly/finovate328113
Bobber Interactive garners $1.1 million Series A funding round. This funding round was led by PEAK6 Investments. http://bit.ly/finovate41113
Capital Access expands remittance program to include Puerto Rico and 21 more countries. The Capital Access platform is designed for “daily” remittances and revenue-sharing programs.  http://bit.ly/finovate329111
COCC selects mFoundry as mobile banking partners. The company has selected mFoundry’s mobile INSIGHT product for multi-mode mobile banking services. http://bit.ly/finovate328114
Mint.com launches “Quest for Money” online game. The game is intended for middle school students and is available to play online. http://bit.ly/finovate411111
Morningstar to provide mutual fund Platform to eRollover. eRollover users will have access to Morningstar’s historical information and comparison tools for mutual funds. http://bit.ly/finovate329113
Silver Tail Systems wins Emergent Technology Award. The award, given by the Merchant Risk Council, is rewarding the company’s innovative security systems. http://mwne.ws/finovate328112
Sybase argues NFC is “way overhyped.” In VentureBeat Sybase President Marty Beard argues that it isn’t proven that NFC really is better than the other technologies available. http://bit.ly/finovate41112
Xero launches integrated payroll solution. http://bit.ly/finovate329112 

Alumni News, Weeks of February 21st and February 28th, 2011

To see our alumni news feed in real time, visit us on Twitter
Bank of Internet will use Intuit’s FinanceWorks. http://mwne.ws/finovate2241
Betterment reduces fees on retirement accounts. http://bit.ly/finovate224114
Service enhancements at Bill.com. Clone invoices ease automated payments. http://bit.ly/finovate224112
eToro completes $8.3 million funding round led by Spark Capital. eToro has 1.5 million users in 130 countries worldwide. http://bit.ly/f1G99d
eToro launches new user tools, and deposit bonuses. New eToro users can get a bonus of up to $500 to try Forex trading. http://bit.ly/finovate34112
eWise is moving to Denver. The company processes electronic payments and is moving to attract employees. http://bit.ly/finovate22311
Fiserv acquires M-Com to enhance mobile banking and payments capabilities. http://bit.ly/finovate34117
Kiboo got a makeover. The new interface focuses on usability and design. http://bit.ly/finovate34111
Lending Club exceeds $200 million in cumulative peer-to-peer  loans. The combined Lending Club and Prosper volume is now approaching the half-billion dollar mark. http://bit.ly/finovate34118
Lodo Software signs thirty more banks for its OurCashFlow PFM platform. http://bit.ly/finovate34113
MiiCard featured as Microsoft’s Startup of the Day. http://bit.ly/finovate224113
Striata adds Iconix Truemark sender recognition technology to electronic communications. The system adds branded visual identity to help identify genuine emails from financial institutions. http://bit.ly/finovate34116

Alumni News — Weeks of January 24, 31, and February 7, 2011

To see Finovate alumni company news in real-time, follow our feed on Twitter here.


Betterment and Mint.com partner for “set it and forget it” investment accounts. The accounts have no minimum balance. http://bit.ly/finovate210111

Bling Nation rolls out the “fan connect” platform in Chicago. The Chicago rollout is part of a broader national rollout to come. http://bit.ly/finovate210112

Cardlytics and NetSpend partner to bring reward offers to the underbanked. The partnership will create opportunities for targeted offers to reach users of prepaid debit cards. http://bit.ly/finovate28112

Cardlytics wins Red Herring Global 100 winner. — Cardlytics is a pioneer in in-statement merchant-funded rewards. http://bit.ly/finovate27114

CashEdge and NYCE join forces to provide person to person payment technology. Popmoney will now be available to 3,000 NYCE financial institution clients. http://bit.ly/finovate211112

ClairMail announced that revenue tripled in 2010. The company attributes the growth to the launch of their mobile connectivity architecture in early 2010. http://mwne.ws/finovate28115

DebtGoal launches OWEing.com. The new site acts as the flagship domain and provides a tools and content supporting debt reduction. http://bit.ly/finovate131112

eRollover launches Advisor Center. Ask retirement questions online in the new Advisor Center. http://bit.ly/finovate124112

Fiserv and WorkLight partner to make mobile application deployment and development faster. http://bit.ly/finovate125111

Frost and Sullivan names mFoundry “Entrepreneurial Company of the Year” in the mobile banking category. http://bit.ly/finovate121114

Guardian Analytics announces 150%  growth. The company attributes the rapid growth to the success of its FraudMap technology. http://bit.ly/finovate210113

Jack Henry’s ProfitStars.com launches new services to help small businesses accept online payments. http://bit.ly/finovate211111

Lending Club increased the maximum loan amount from $25,000 to $35,000. http://bit.ly/finovate27113

mFoundry launches standalone mobile deposit solution that can be implemented at a financial institution within 30 days. http://bit.ly/finovate28114

Intuit’s Mint and TurboTax team up to make taxes easier. http://bit.ly/finovate121111

Mozo launches Money Q & A portal where users can ask questions or answer questions posed by others. http://bit.ly/finovate211113

On Deck Capital secures $15 million Series-C funding. The funding round was led by SAP Ventures. http://bit.ly/finovate131111

Plastyc closes $2 million strategic investment from Core Innovation Capital. Core Innovation Capital is the investment partner for the Center for Financial Services Innovation. http://bit.ly/finovate28111http://www.silvertailsystems.com/

Silver Tail Systems announces the addition of a user-specific monitoring system. http://bit.ly/finovate124111

SmartyPig.com adds sixty new online retailer cash-back partners, and six more gift card partners. Expedia, Hotels.com, Cabela’s and Babies R Us are included in this latest offering. http://bit.ly/finovate131113

SmartyPig’s cash rewards card wins Paybefore award twice. http://bit.ly/finovate12112

The Receivables Exchange partners with Biz2Credit, an online loan-matching portal. http://bit.ly/finovate125113

Alumni News — Weeks of November 28 and December 5, 2010

PopMoney (from CashEdge) wins award for excellence in Web design from the Interactive Media Council. http://bit.ly/finovate11301
Speculation from MarketWatch: Could ClairMail be headed for an IPO? http://bit.ly/finovate11306
ClairMail and Cardlytics partner to provide transaction marketing opportunities. http://bit.ly/finovate1281 
Expensify continues to grow its currency support base — Expensify is now supporting 159 currencies. http://bit.ly/finovate1232
Robert Scoble uses Expensify for expense reports. http://scoble.it/finovate11305
FIS launches innovative new mobile banking product. — Users can establish mobile account management with their debit card, no online banking signup needed. http://bit.ly/finovate1291
GoalMine hosting cash contest via Facebook to spread the word. http://bit.ly/finovate1292
This week’s Jem 5 at Jemstep explores diversified fixed income funds. http://bit.ly/finovate1294
Generations FCU goes live with Jwaala’s “Better Online Banking.” http://bit.ly/finovate1237
Just for fun: Kasasa releases banks’ playlists. See this week’s from Jeff Davis Bank. http://bit.ly/finovate1236
Lending Club enjoyed a flurry of news coverage. Read the summaries  here: http://bit.ly/finovate1224 
Lending Club mentioned in PBS nightly business report. http://to.pbs.org/finovate1297
Mint.com now available in Canada. http://tcrn.ch/finovate1234
Congratulations to Mint founder, Aaron Patzer; winner of a TechFellow Award for General Management. http://tcrn.ch/finovate1296
Monitise to bring mobile payments to Nigeria. http://bit.ly/finovate1231
Mozo powering new “Compare, Ditch and Switch” campaign to allow Australians to shop around for better banking services.  http://bit.ly/finovate1283
Just in time for the Holidays, PopMoney gift cards at www.giftcardmall.com
The new SmartyPig rewards MasterCard provides up to 10% cash back at select retailers. http://bit.ly/finovate11303
Tyfone receives additional patent for electronic wallet technology. http://bit.ly/finovate11304
Wikinvest is even more mobile with Blackberry and Android Apps. http://bit.ly/finovate1235
Y Combinator and Yodlee cooperate to provide financial data services to startups. 

FinovateFall 2010 Demo Videos Now Available

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We’re pleased to announce that the demo videos from FinovateFall 2010 are now available for free download (or immediate consumption) from the Finovate archives.

This fall’s NYC conference showcased 56 handpicked companies doing 7-minute demonstrations (no slides allowed) of their latest technology innovations to a sold-out audience of 650 financial & banking executives, venture capitalists, press, analysts and entrepreneurs.

Check out these cutting-edge ideas in financial, banking, payments, mobile, lending, investing and security technologies today for inspiration and your next edge on the competition! 

(P.S. If you’re interested in joining us at the next Finovate event, tickets are now on sale for FinovateEurope (Feb, 1, 2011 in London). It is going to be an amazing showcase of European and global fintech innovation!)


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Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

Finovate Fall 2010 Best of Show Winners Announced

image[6][1]It was an incredible two days in NYC (Oct. 4&5) as we witnessed 56 new
products, services, and features debut on the big stage. Of 56 live
demos, there were a few slow connections, an occasional timeout, a
missed download or two, and a few lost seconds waiting for mobile
screens to refresh, but only one that we had to completely restart. So, overall it went very smoothly.

And the packed house had a great time, found a number of things they could take back to their own companies, and made some great connections (at least that’s what they told me anyway).

At
the end of each day, attendees voted on three “Best of Show” demos from
the 28 just seen. Then, at the end of the conference, we ranked
all 56 companies based on this audience vote (see notes). The top seven were named Best of Show.

Every company that presented was named Best of Show by some portion of the audience. But the ones that ended on top are as follows (in alphabetic order):

Betterment    BillShrink  Bundle Dynamics 
    oFlows          PayNearMe   SecureKey

Congratulations! And thanks to everyone that presented, sponsored, attended and followed the #finovate tweets. If I ever recover, I look forward to writing more about where this is all headed.

——————————

Notes on methodology:
1.
Only audience members not associated with demoing companies
were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.  
2. Because a different number of ballots was cast each day, we ranked the demos based on the percentage of ballots voting for each presenter. 
3. The exact written instructions given attendees:
“Please
rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact
of the innovation they demoed. PLEASE CIRCLE ONLY THREE”

FinovateFall 2010 Demo Lineup Revealed

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We’re very excited to reveal the 56 cutting-edge companies that have been selected to demo their latest technology innovations on October 4 and 5 in New York City at FinovateFall.

Over the show’s two days, attendees will get to watch the future of fintech and banktech unfold on stage via fast-paced demos (28 each day) from these innovators. And then have a chance to interact with top executives from each of the demo companies during intimate networking sessions.

Without further delay, here’s the list of companies we’re excited to showcase:

If you’re interested in attending the conference, registering now will save you $100 on your ticket via the early-bird discount and reserve your spot (space is limited and we’re expecting to sell out). We’ll see you in New York!


ericphoto.jpg

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.