Celebrate Canada Day with Our Alums from the Great White North

Celebrate Canada Day with Our Alums from the Great White North

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July 1st is Canada Day, the day Canadians from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and all the provinces in between celebrate the day the country we know as “Canada” was officially formed as a single nation within the British Empire.

So if you’ve got room in your schedule for one more Canada Day Celebration, then please join us in spending a little time celebrating with a score of Finovate alums that are driving fintech innovation in and out of “the Great White North.”

And a special Canada Day shout-out to Finovate partner, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, which supports Canadian startups through mentorship and access to U.S. partners and investors.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • Seeking Alpha explains why a merger between Yodlee and FutureAdvisor makes sense.
  • Xconomy features Vince Turner’s Planwise.
  • American Banker features how Seattle-based Lighter Capital loans money to tech startups.
  • Cardlytics Wins 2 Silver Stevie Awards at 2015 American Business Awards.
  • Tradeshift to partner with C2FO to expand dynamic discounting solutions to a broader network of suppliers and buyers.
  • Financial Conduct Authority mentions how Nutmeg explains its fees and charges graphically.
  • Jack Henry acquires Bayside Business Solutions.
  • Fox News features Trulioo, Bionym, TransferWise, Kofax, and Numbrs in its column on “10 CEOs who are disrupting finance with technology.”
  • ProfitStars introduces Call Report Pro CU, a solution for meeting regulatory reporting requirements.
  • Hedgeweek takes a look at how QuantConnect enables quantitative traders to operate at a low cost.
  • PayPal acquires money-transfer provider Xoom.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “CardFlight Unveils EMV-Ready Chip Readers for SwipeSimple”

Around the web

  • Sonavation launches its IDKEY biometric security key that uses 3D Surface Scan Ultrasound technology.
  • CMSWire interviews Michael Laurie, co-founder and VO of product strategy at Silanis Technology.
  • iExpats takes a look at Azimo in a column on the costs of foreign currency transfers.
  • Arxan Technologies Security Solutions architect Matt Clemens talks mobile app security on Federal News Radio.
  • PaymentsSource’s look at “strange mobile security methods” features EyeVerify and Bionym.
  • IntelliResponse wins bronze at 9th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
  • Jack Henry & Associates to be honored at Cedar Falls Business & Industry Association event.
  • Now Digital Network reviews Kashoo in column on ways to streamline small business accounting.
  • Computing U.K. features TransferWise and its use of big data to drive its social media marketing.
  • The CoinFront reports on Klarna’s “experiments” with bitcoin.
  • AMP Credit Technologies wins “Highly Commended Award for Best Initiative in Financial Inclusion” at the 6th Retail Banker International Asia Trailblazer Awards in Singapore.
  • TIO Networks now has 1+ million registered members in its direct-to-consumer user base.
  •  Taulia names Cedric Bru as new CEO.

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.

Finovate Alumni News: March 4, 2015

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgSecureIDNews takes a look at the partnership between FinSphere and Visa.
  • Fiserv launches four new modules for its Financial Crime Risk Management platform.
  • iQuantifi wins “Best in Show” at Bank Innovation 2015 DEMOvation Challenge.
  • Silanis earns spot on KMWorld’s “100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management” list for 2015.
  • IT Business Edge interviews Flint Mobile CEO Greg Goldfarb.
  • American Banker considers the benefits of banks using Ripple.
  • Innovation in Finance interviews CoinJar at FinovateEurope in London.
  • Capital Bank’s OpenSky Puts CRIF’s CreditFlow & StrategyOne to the Test.
  • Inc: How OnDeck Plans to Make Alternative Lending a Blue Chip Business.
  • Inc. lists Bionym as one of 8 Canadian startups to watch out for in 2015.
  • Yodlee now provides data APIs to nearly 50 fintech applications and services in the personal wealth-management space.
  • Braintree expands its Asia-Pac operations into Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
  • PandoDaily: PayNearMe partners with Grameen America to help lift women out of poverty.
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.

Alumni News– January 19, 2015

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgWordline extends partnership with Kalixa.
  • Misys signs deal with fixed income data and cash flow model specialist, Intex.
  • defiSolutions unveils ESSENTIAL LOS automated application processing solution.
  • Benzinga looks at how LikeFolio helps investors spot trends in stocks.
  • Engineering and Technology Magazine features biometric authenticators EyeVerify, Bionym, and BioCatch.
  • Wipit Named Winner in Ninth Annual Paybefore Awards.
  • Banking Tech features how RBS subsidiary, Ulster Bank, is holding a hackathon with Open Bank Project.
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.

Alumni News– November 21, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgUmbrella.co.uk migrates client base of 1,000+ freelancers and contractors to the FreeAgent platform.
  • Uber helping drivers manage and pay back their student loans by partnering with Tuition.io.
  • Actiance recognized in Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving.
  • Bloomberg: CAN Capital to weigh IPO with up to $2 billion value.
  • Intuit’s Quickbooks and Xero coming to Square App Marketplace.
  • PayStand sets flat fees for e-check payment option.
  • Virtual Piggy, provider of Oink, launches the Oink Discover prepaid card for teens.
  • Fiserv links its Popmoney P2P payment solution to charitable giving.
  • Yodlee wins top honors at Citi Mobile Challenge Latam 2014.
  • Bazaarvoice announces plans to relocated to new corporate HQ in North Austin.
  • Kashoo announces enhancements to its web app, including more P&L options and increased security.
  • VoiceTrust launches strategic partnership with German biometric cloud security company, BioID AG.
  • The Washington Post features Bionym’s Nymiband.
  • Accenture mentions Thinknum as an innovation that is helping to change the banking industry.
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.

Alumni News– November 10, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNHS Choices selects Narrative Science to Assist with Delivery of Healthcare Information.
  • Visa using Kofax TotalAgility to deploy enhanced data and invoice management in Asia Pacific.
  • PostFinance integrates Strands PFM in their new digital banking platform.
  • BNN interviews Bionym CEO on how its Nymi band could work for payments.
  • The Australian Business Review considers how SocietyOne is contributing to the P2P lending boom.
  • Livemint.com features Bankbazaar.com’s growth.
  • Hoyos Labs launches iOS & Android password manager that uses the user’s face to log into websites.
  • BillGuard and Experian Data Breach Resolution partner to offer an advanced ID protection suite.
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 the Hack to do With All those APIs?

What the Hack to do With All those APIs?
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We’re in Vegas this week, catching up with several Finovate and FinDEVr alums. Before the week even started, however, we took a gamble and spent the weekend at the Money20/20 Hackathon.

Many Finovate and FinDEVr alums have powerful APIs to enable the creation of solutions to solve all types of problems. At the hackathon, the crowd of 450 developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs developed a myriad of solutions over the course of 25 hours.

Here are the winners for each company:

BionymLogo_FinDEVr

Bionym winners

  • OffBank, which uses Bionym’s Nymi band to authenticate bank customers before initiating a wire transfer
  • I Heart Pay, which uses Bionym’s Nymi band, combined with an app, to enable merchants to verify a customer’s identity to charge them for a transaction

Check out Bionym’s demo from FinDEVr 2014, San Francisco

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Blockchain winner:

Samaritus, which uses barcode scanners inside of recycling bins that read bar codes on recyclable materials to reward people for recycling. The app pays them in bitcoin, while simultaneously collecting data on what and where users recycle.

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Feedzai winner:
Bacon, which places a multi-layer authentication platform that layers more security data on top of Feedzai’s algorithm to authenticate customers before a transaction. 

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Intuit winner:
In Reach, which uses the QuickBooks Online API to determine the availability of a retailer’s inventory, then enables customers to purchase goods via a native app, and pick up the item in the store.
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MasterCard winner:

Enterchange, which uses MasterCard’s API to enable customers to order food and pay at sit-down restaurants.
Modo Payments winners:
    • ShopperPal (for FIS), an app that incents consumers to enter a physical retail store by giving them points for entering a 
      ModoLogo_FinDEVr

      store, liking the company on Facebook, and making purchases in the store. The points are added to the consumer’s Modo Payments app.

    • KidFit (for Alliance Data), an app that syncs with wearable devices, such as a smartwatch, to enable parents to reward their children for elevating their heart rate for a set amount of time. The rewards are given in the form of points in the Modo Payments app. 
    • Nike Modo, a system that uses the Nike Fuel band to track a consumer’s geolocation and add reward points to their Modo Wallet when they enter a store and make a purchase.
Swift, a solution for retail stores that uses an RFID sensor to track each product that is placed into shopping carts. The data syncs to the consumer’s PayPal app to enable a quick and mobile checkout experience.

Alumni News– October 23, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgJingit’s Head of Product, Chris Ohlsen, weighs in on loyalty and rewards.
  • Intuit launches developer experience and global app store for QuickBooks Online, including payments API.
  • Anovia Payments partners with CardFlight to offer mobile point of sale solutions to merchants and developers.
  • Richwood Bank hires Insuritas for its insurance agency solution.
  • Bionym forges own path to biometric harmony with the Nymi band.
  • Forte CEO Jeff Thorness comments on why omnichannel  is not just a buzzword.
  • MECU to provide members with digital banking services from Digital Insight.
  • PayPal’s Venmo earns a spot on VentureBeat’s list of 13 must-own apps for your smartphone.
  • Flint announces Verizon-led $9 million investment round.
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.

FinDEVr 2014: Bionym Shows How its Wearable Nymi Band Can Create a Secure Banking Experience

FinDEVr 2014: Bionym Shows How its Wearable Nymi Band Can Create a Secure Banking Experience
This post is part of our live coverage of FinDEVr San Francisco 2014.
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Bionym showed use cases of how Nymi Band can be used in fintech:

Here I Am: Revolutionizing FI and Banking Experiences with Persistent Identity and the Nymi
Balaji is presenting the Nymi Persistent Identity vision and User flow and will review the key aspects of the SDK and Developer offering. In addition, he will propose and inspire discussion on select use cases in FinTech where the Nymi can improve engagement, security and customer satisfaction.
Presenter: Balaji Gopalan, Director of Platform
BioNymHomepage
About
Toronto-based Bionym is a team of experts in cryptography, biometrics and security. Our first product is the Nymi, a wearable device that enables the user to authenticate once via unique cardiac rhythm and securely and seamlessly assert Persistent Identity to any system.
Website: getnymi.com  
Twitter: @nymiband

Oh Bionym! Canadian Security Startup Raises $14 Milion

Oh Bionym! Canadian Security Startup Raises $14 Milion
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In a round led by Ignition Partners and Relay Ventures, Toronto-based authentication specialist, Bionym has brought in $14 million in new funding

Bionym is the maker of the Nymi, a wearable authentication solution that uses an individual’s cardiac rhythm to provide a unique identifier that makes pass codes and PINs passé.

The Series A funding comes just days before Bionym is scheduled to demonstrate the Nymi – and the technology behind it – at FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers, in San Francisco.
BionymNymiHomepage
Karl Martin, Bionym CEO, said that the new funding will help the company meet “manufacturing milestones” as well as help add talent to the team. Quoted in Reuters, Ignition Partners managing partner, Nick Sturiale pointed to commitments from a broad range of third-party app developers as key in helping Bionym grow the number of use cases for its wearable authentication solution.
Also participating in the round were Export Development Canada (EDC), MasterCard, and the corporate investment arm of Salesforce.com, Salesforce Ventures. Bionym’s total capital now stands at $15.4 million.
Bionym’s Nymi is an example of how innovators are looking at new ways to both make the authentication process seamless as well as take advantage of the trend toward wearables. Founded in 2011, Bionym just announced its 40th employee, and a move into new offices in downtown Toronto.
Meet the team from Bionym next week at FinDEVr. Tickets to the two-day event are available here.

Day Two at FinDEVr: A Festival of Fintech Innovation

Day Two at FinDEVr: A Festival of Fintech Innovation
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FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers, is right around the corner. For the past few weeks we’ve introduced you to some of the innovators who will be presenting, demoing, and holding workshops on Day One.

Today, we’re happy to help you get to know some of the companies that will be showcasing and sharing their APIs, SDKs and more on Day Two.

There’s still time to save your spot. Pick up your tickets today and we’ll see you in San Francisco next week!


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BCL Technologies develops APIs for Financial Text Extraction that unlock Big Data in unstructured documents and websites, enabling FinTechDevelopers to easily extract structured Financial Triplets from any source.

Presentation: Unlocking Financial Text
Explore the different use cases for BCL’s Financial Data Extraction APIs for unstructured text, to generate structured data Triplets.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
Automated Financial Extraction APIs to extract Financial Triplets
  • More Quickly
  • More Accurately
  • Without Human Intervention
Unlock Financial Text fast and with high accuracy.


BionymLogo_FinDEVr

Toronto-based Bionym is a team of experts in cryptography, biometrics, and security. Our first product is the Nymi, a wearable device that enables the user to authenticate once via unique cardiac rhythm and securely and seamlessly assert Persistent Identity to any system.

Presentation: Here I Am: Revolutionizing FI and Banking Experiences with Persistent Identity and the Nymi
Balaji Gopalan is presenting the Nymi Persistent Identity vision and User flow and will review key aspects of the SDK and Developer offering. In addition, he will propose and inspire discussion on select use cases in FinTech where the Nymi can improve engagement, security, and customer satisfaction.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Increases both security and convenience
  • Enables the creation of new personalized experiences
  • Light, shallow yet robust API for all major OSes
The Nymi platform allows Users to be recognized and authenticated for service, workflows, or transactions simply by being present – completely safely and securely.


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Blockchain is the world’s most popular, web-based Bitcoin wallet and the most highly trafficked Bitcoin website. Blockchain is the defacto search engine for the Bitcoin community. Blockchain has over 2 million wallets and our footprint continues to grow quickly.

Presentation: Blockchain: The Core API for Bitcoin Development
Blockchain’s API’s power most of the Bitcoin companies in the ecosystem, Utilizing our APIs, you can start a Bitcoin business in minutes. From wallet creation to transaction verification, Blockchain’s APIs have you covered.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Most popular Bitcoin API
  • Wallet Creation API
  • Transactions submitted with our API have fast network propagation time (3-5 seconds)
If you’re wanting to build a Bitcoin product, Blockchain is the one stop shop API for your development needs.


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CrowdCurity is a web security marketplace. We connect businesses with security testers. We do bug bounty programs-as-a-service. Bitcoin First.

Presentation: How to Invite Hackers to Your Website
Too many websites are being exploited, and we need to rethink web security. The best way to stay secure and ahead of the bad guys is to invite good, white-hat hackers to test your security. We have made it easy to connect businesses to a crowd of security researchers.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • No bugs, no cost. Don’t pay for expensive consultants.
  • Leverage the knowledge of the crowd
  • Agile security around the clock


EntersektLogo_FinDEVr

Entersekt is an innovator in transaction authentication and mobile app security. Our one-of-akind approach to harness the power of electronic certificate technology with the convenience of mobile phones providing financial institutions and their customers with full protection from online and mobile banking fraud.

Presentation: Securing Mobile Applications Through Transport iLayer Diversity
Mobile security is becoming increasingly important as more functionality is shifting to these devices. But how do we ensure the integrity of the phone and the server we’re connecting to? This is a common problem and has been addressed by recommending out-of-band authentication schemes.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Avoids the open Internet of SMS for user and transaction authentication
  • Provides end-to-end encrypted communication
  • Counters phishing, man-in-the-middle/browser attack
Harnessing the power of public key infrastructure, Transakt transforms almost any mobile phone into a powerful weapon in the fight against account takeover fraud.


GoogleCloudPlatformLogoFinDEVr

Google Cloud Platform enables
developers to build, test, and deploy applications on Google’s highly scalable and reliable infrastructure. This suite of services allows developers to choose from computing, storage, and application services for web, mobile, and backend solutions.

Presentation: Big Data on Google
Google has been the most innovative Big Data company in the World, having paved the way for highly distributed parallelized workflows. Technologies like Hadoop, Flume, Dremel, and HBase were made possible by Google’s research and development efforts. Now Google is outsourcing its own Big Data secret.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Seamlessly scale into petabytes of data and dozens of thousands of servers
  • Simplicity and ease of use
  • Performance
Google’s BigQuery and Dataflow services are the next generation of Big Data tools, allowing you to focus on solving your Big Data problems rather than building systems.


GreenAddressITLogo_FinDEVr

GreenAddress IT is a leader in securing bit coins and providing instant clearing confirmations. It supports desktop, mobile, and web apps, and offers a very featureful and secure wallet as well as APIs to enable third party developers.

Presentation: GreenAddress: Instant and Secure Bitcoin
The presentation is introducing bit coin’s multi signature features. These features allow users to radically improve the security of bitcoin wallets, as well as create new services like instant confirmation allowing for faster arbitration between exchanges.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Available for all platforms and easy to use
  • Instant confirmation for super smooth transactions
  • Vastly improved security model via multisig and two-factor authentication
GreenAddress’ API gives 3rd parties the ability to securely manage and receive instant confirmations without having to wait for transactions.


Kiind

Kiind helps businesses reward their employees and customers with gift cards., With Kiind, you can easily send personalized offers to multiple contacts, and Kiind’s technology allows you to defer when you pay for rewards and gifts, thereby saving you money.

Presentation: Making Gifting Easy
We’ll touch on Kiind’s API and where it is headed as well as our marketplace
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • Measurable tracking and reporting
  • Branding
  • Offer a choice between gifts
Send measurable gifts and only pay for what is used. Kiind makes your gifting easy so you can focus on what you know best.


KnoxPaymentsLogo_FinDEVr

Knox Payments allows people to make ACH payments using only their online banking login information, providing the cheapest, safest, and easiest way to accept digital payments.

Presentation: ACH That Doesn’t Suck: No Account and Routing Numbers Needed
Developing ACH processing the traditional way is horrible. Your users don’t know their account and routing numbers and you don’t know if they actually have the money. Knox has solved these problems with the ease of just logging into your online banking, making ACH cheaper, safer, and easier.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • No account and routing numbers needed
  • No new accounts for your users
  • Guaranteed overnight funds for ACH
ACH sucks and credit cards are expensive: Knox fixes that without needing your users to create any new accounts.


masspay_black_cs5

MASSPAY is m-payments for every(f)one. If you know how to dial, you know how to pay. It’s simple and convenient. You don’t even need a smartphone with a data plan – you can use it with an NFC QR code. MASSPAY is the first solution dedicated to emerging and developed markets with minimum investment.

Presentation: Mobile Payments for Every(f)one
How to pay using a feature phone or a smartphone without any app. Why MASSPAY is a perfect solution for developed markets as well as emerging or developing countries. Why MASSPAY is for every phone and everyone.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
With MASSPAY you can process:
  • Any transaction
  • From any phone (with or without application or data plan)
  • In a single easy scenario
If you know how to make a phone call, you know how to pay. With minimum of investment and maximum of simplicity and convenience, from any phone.


MorpheusLogo_FinDEVr

Morpheus Aiolos is a company based in Spain that has developed financial software since 2012. We have two featured products: an API to extract bank transactions and a clone of Mint, which uses the API.

Presentation: API for Banking
Our API standardizes the way an application can extract information form any bank account. We’re describing how it works, with some examples.
Why it’s Great for Developers:
  • First API that works in countries where there is not a standard for banking
  • Already tested in a production environment
  • 5,000 users in Spain
We can add banks to adapt the API to other countries in a matter of days