Discover Archives

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By David Penn Posted on February 20, 2024
Categories: Capital One, Discover, Revolut, Temenos, Weekly Alumni News, Weekly News

The week begins with big news on the payment cards front as Capital One announces plans to acquire Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal valued at $35 billion. Check out what else is going on in fintech and financial services in our latest fintech weekly news rundown!

Embedded finance

German embedded finance platform Monite raises $6.5 million (€6 million) in funding.

Quaint Oak Bank selects Finzly to modernize payments and enable its embedded banking practice.

Lending

BankiFi teams up with Praetura to enhance lending to SMEs.

U.S.-based Commerce Bank deploys loan origination technology from Temenos.

CCBank selects Lendio Intelligent Lending to fuel small business funding growth.

Mortgage Cadence releases version 4.0 of its Mortgage Cadence Platform (MCP) Loan Origination System (LOS).

Payments

Payment orchestration provider BR_DGE forges new partnership with PayPal.

Kani Payments announces strategic partnership with Brazilian core banking platform Pismo.

OpenPayd forges partnership with TrueLayer to enhance its instant payment services.Paym

Gorham Savings Bank partners with CorServ to implement modern commercial credit card program.

REPAY enhances accounts payable integration for Sage Intacct.

REPAY partners with Maxyfi to modernize the collection of payments.

FXC Intelligence signs a data and intelligence partnership with dLocal to support its expansion into the remittance segment of the cross-border payments industry.

UNIPaaS launches AI Assist solution.

Regtech / Compliance

AML compliance and fraud prevention solution provider Flagright teams up with digital transaction solution Traxion.

Napier AI lands £45 million backing from Crestline Investors.

Ncontracts and America’s Credit Unions announce alliance.

Silent Eight expands partnership with HSBC to provide transaction screening solutions.

Digital Banking

Singapore-based digital bank Tonik unveils new joint savings account for couples, Luv Stash, with a 4.5% interest rate.

Personetics appoints Udi Ziv as new CEO.

Nigerian digital bank FairMoney is considering acquiring Umba, digital bank with operations in Nigeria and Kenya, in an all stock deal valued at $20 million.

Crypto

Revolut announces plans to open an advanced cryptocurrency exchange.

RockWallet to onboard former Wyre users after acquisition of its customer base.

Mastercard and Swoo partner to offer crypto cashback on everyday purchases.

Helius raises $9.5 million in Series A funding to enhance the developer experience on Solana.

Fraud and security

U.K.-based AML platform Napier AI secures $56.8 million (£45 million) in a round led by Crestline Investors.

Featurespace appoints Dr David Sutton as Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) and Kendra Rogers as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer (CCMO).

Investing and wealth management

Revolut launches new robo-advisor service in Ireland.

Velexa introduces Fractional Bonds, democratizing investment in high-quality bonds.

TIFIN receives $10 million from SEI to power the future of wealth through artificial intelligence.

Open banking

Data intelligence platform Bud Financial is partnering with open banking company Fintech Galaxy to strengthen the open banking scene in the MENA region.

Insurtech

Insurtech Mylo selected by 1-800Accountant as digital insurance partner.

Photo by Markus Spiske

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Feature Friday: Discover’s Interactive Checking Account Comparison

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 21, 2017
Categories: Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, Discover, Discover Card, Sales Techniques

Discover’s responsive page dedicated to selling its Cashback Checking is a thing of beauty from top to bottom (though we have some suggestions on a few of the finer points of the UX). We especially like the interactive comparison to the competition. Discovers starts by comparing its fees to Chase, Citi, and BofA. But the card giant makes it easy to compare against four other major brands (US Bank, Wells, Capital One and Fifth Third). Simply click on the + sign in the empty fifth column on the right and choose one of the brands from the popup (see below).

The table works on smaller screens including smartphones. But you can only compare to one other bank at a time. Users select the competitor with from a drop-down box.

Bottom line: If you clearly offer better price/value, then by all means flaunt it. While Discover makes a great case here for its Cashback Checking, it could be even better with more benefits listed (e.g., mobile deposit for one) and a tool to calculate financial savings and rewards. But overall, excellent work!

Author: Jim Bruene is Founder & Senior Advisor to Finovate as well as
Principal of BUX Advisors, a financial services UX consultancy.

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Alerts: Discover Card Highlights Merchant Refunds

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 5, 2016
Categories: Alerts & Messaging, Credit/Debit Cards, Discover, UX

So much of day-to-day banking is either negative or at best, incredibly boring. I spent too much, my payment is late, I can’t remember where that last $40 from the ATM went, and so on. No wonder consumers are less than enthusiastic with their banking relationships.

What to do about it? For one, when you have good news, CELEBRATE! And one of the easiest ways to do that is when a merchant refund appears on a credit or debit card account. For example, Discover does a great job with its email. It’s personalized, and clearly shows the date, credited amount and merchant name (including hyperlink to Netflix). And there is a huge button at the bottom to check out the transaction online (not that you’d really need to).

**Discover Card merchant refund notification email (29 Sep 2016)**

But after clicking through the email, the user experience (UX) gets a bit gummed up. The first webpage displayed is the main secure homepage (first screenshot below). That makes sense since the email button says See Transactions. However, since my statement cycled since the refund was processed, the $15.34 Netflix credit is nowhere to be seen. (Granted, had I clicked on the message when it first came in, the transaction would have been listed on the lower portion of the screen.)

But now I have to play “guess where to click” with the Discover site in order to find my transaction on the previous statement. Not rocket science, but also not super-intuitive either. The obvious starting point is the big orange “recent transactions” button in the middle. But again, that leads only to the current statement. Astute users will find the link to the previous statement (ambiguously called Current Statement) at the bottom of the page. Clicking that leads to a page with the desired transaction, though it’s not particularly called out, appearing in a slightly different font shade and a Payments and Credits description (third screenshot below).

Bottom line: The email is fantastic (A+). The website has a great layout and look (go, orange). But insisting on displaying transactions on a monthly statement basis is so last decade. For the most part, users want to consume transaction data like email. Make it easy to see everything by paging through them and let me flag, pin, label, and mark as unread, significant transactions. For extra credit, put the most important ones on top like Priority Mail (Gmail) or Focused (Outlook Mobile).

**1. Discover card home page (displayed after clicking on link in email above)**

Discover Card previous statement page. — **2. Discover Card transaction page (displayed after clicking “Recent Activity” on homepage).**

Discover Card "current statement" page — **3. Discover Card “current statement” page**

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Finovate Alumni News– November 30, 2011

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 30, 2011
Categories: ActivePath, Cardlytics, Discover, eRollover, FeeFighters, FiPath, Mitek, PayPal, Simplifi, smartcredit.com

Fox Business News interviews SmartCredit.com’s John Ulzheimer.

TechCrunch reports PayPal’s cyber Monday mobile payment volume is up over 500% from last year.

PayPal now integrated into Red Laser App.

Bank Technology News profiles ActivePath.

Samurai from FeeFighters is now incorporated into Shopify in beta.

eRollover.com changes its name to FIPath.com.

Discover placed on 2011 InformationWeek 500 list that honors America’s most innovative users of business technology.

Bank Technology News profiles Cardlytics.

E*Trade to use Mitek’s remote check deposit technology.

Silicon India Startup lists SimpliFI as a tech tool to track investments.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in September

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on November 2, 2011
Categories: Adobe, Andera, Betterment, Bill.com, Billeo, BillFloat, Bills.com, Boku, BrightScope, Bundle, Cardlytics, CashEdge, CashStar, ChargeSmart, Check Point, CheckFree, Cortera, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Credit.com, DebtGoal, Discover, Doxo, Equifax, eRollover, eToro, Expensify, Experian, FeeFighters, findabetterbank.com, Fiserv, Google, HR Block, Infosys, Intuit, Jack Henry, Kabbage, Kapitall, Kasasa, Leadfusion, LearnVest, Lending Club, Lendio, MasterCard, Metavante, Mint.com, MoneyAisle, Motley Fool CAPS, MyBankTracker, Offermatic, Online Resources, Outright.com, Pageonce, PayPal, Prosper, Receivables Exchange, S1, Sears Credit Score, Seeking Alpha, Simple, Simple Tuition, smartcredit.com, SmartyPig, Standard Chartered Bank, Stocktwits, Striata, Sybase 365, TradeKing, TransUnion Interactive, Truaxis, TrustedID, TSYS, VISA, Wall Street Survivor, Weemba, Wesabe, Wikinvest, wipro, Yodlee, Zecco

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.

Out of 268 alumni, 80 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in September 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 33 (41%) had more visitors in September than August. Year-over-year, 42 (52%) had traffic increases.

Private Companies

Seeking Alpha and Cortera had the highest traffic in September with 2.1 and 2.0 million unique visitors, respectively. Cortera also had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visits with over 1.5 more visits in 2011 than in 2010.
Kabbage had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 280x.
Weemba saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 7.5 times the number of unique visitors in September compared to August.
SmartCredit.com had the highest increase in number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 126,000.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was August 2011

2) Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com

3) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink

4) Kasasa is powered by BancVue

Public companies

CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 7 times the number of visitors this year than last year.
Intuit had a notable increase in number of unique, year-over-year visitors, increasing by 300,000 visits.
Check Point had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 41% more visitors in September than in August.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.

_______________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed.

3. NM = not measurable

4. t= tie

5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the 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.

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Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in August

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 20, 2011
Categories: Adobe, Andera, Betterment, Bill.com, Billeo, BillFloat, Bills.com, BillShrink, Boku, BrightScope, Budgettracker, Bundle, Cardlytics, CashEdge, CashStar, ChargeSmart, Check Point, CheckFree, Cortera, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Credit.com, DebtGoal, Discover, Equifax, eRollover, eToro, Experian, findabetterbank.com, Fiserv, Geezeo, Google, HR Block, Infosys, Intuit, Jack Henry, Kabbage, Kapitall, Kasasa, Leadfusion, LearnVest, Lending Club, Lendio, MasterCard, Metavante, Mint.com, MoneyAisle, Motley Fool CAPS, MyBankTracker, Offermatic, Online Resources, Outright.com, Pageonce, PayPal, Prosper, S1, Sears Credit Score, Seeking Alpha, Simple Tuition, smartcredit.com, SmartyPig, Standard Chartered Bank, Stocktwits, Striata, Sybase 365, TradeKing, TransUnion Interactive, Truaxis, TrustedID, VISA, Wall Street Survivor, Wesabe, Wikinvest, wipro, Yodlee, Zecco

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.

Out of 268 alumni, 75 had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in August 2011 and are included in the tables below. Of those, 41 (55%) had more visitors in August than July. Year-over-year, 45 (60%) had traffic increases.

Private Companies

Seeking Alpha — the most-trafficked in August with 2.5 million unique visitors — also had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits with 300,000 more visits in August than in July.
Budgettracker.com saw the highest monthly growth percentage with more than 6.5 times the number of unique visitors in August compared to July.
Betterment had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, up 88x.
Cortera had the highest number of unique year-over-year visitors, growing by 1.5 million.

Source: Compete.com retrieved week of October 3, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011

2) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink

3) Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com

4) Kasasa is powered by BancVue

5) Checkingfinder.com is powered by BancVue

Public Companies

Fiserv had the highest month-over-month percent growth, with 50% more visitors.
CheckFree had the highest percentage growth year-over-year, with over 5 times the number of visitors.
S1 also had a high percentage growth year-over-year, doubling its visitors.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 3, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.

_______________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed.

3. NM = Not measurable

4. t= Tie

5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the 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.

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Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in July

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 29, 2011
Categories: Adobe, Andera, BancVue, Betterment, Bill.com, Billeo, BillFloat, Bills.com, BillShrink, Blippy, Boku, BrightScope, Bundle, Cardlytics, CashEdge, ChargeSmart, Check Point, Cortera, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Credit.com, DebtGoal, Discover, eRollover, eToro, Expensify, Experian, FIS, Fiserv, Infosys, Intuit, Jack Henry, Kapitall, Kasasa, Leadfusion, Lending Club, Lendio, Metavante, Mint.com, MoneyAisle, MyBankTracker, Online Resources, Outright.com, PayPal, Prosper, S1, Seeking Alpha, Simple Tuition, smartcredit.com, SmartyPig, Standard Chartered Bank, Sybase 365, TransUnion Interactive, TrustedID, Wesabe, Wikinvest, wipro, Yodlee, Zecco

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete.

Out of 255 alumni, 59 (23%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in July 2011 (see tables below). Of those, 19 (32%) had more visitors than in the previous month and 25 (42%) were flat. Year-over-year, 26 (44%) had an increase, 10 (17%) were flat, and 23 (39%) were down.

Private Companies

Notable successes:

Seeking Alpha had the most traffic in July with more than 2 million unique visitors.
eToro saw the highest monthly growth percentage with 3 times the number of unique visitors in July compared to June.
Bundle had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits, with 450,000 more visitors in July than in June.
eRollover had the highest percent year-over-year traffic increase, with 260,000 more visitors from last July.

Source: Compete.com retrieved week of August 15, 2011

1. The previous month recorded was May 2011

2. Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com

3. Kasasa is powered by BancVue

Public Companies

Notable successes:

PayPal had the highest number of U.S. visitors in July, with more than 30 million visitors.
Jack Henry & Associates saw the highest monthly growth with twice as many visitors in July than June.
Wipro Technologies had the highest year-over-year growth, with 3 times as many visitors this year compared to last year.
FIS Global and Online Resources also doubled their traffic compared to last year.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of August 15, 2011

1. The previous month recorded was May 2011.

_______________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 255 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed.

3. NM = Not measurable

4. Compete estimates online visitors based on the 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.

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PayPal and Cortera Take Charge in May’s Web Traffic

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on July 7, 2011
Categories: Adobe, Andera, BancVue, Betterment, Bill.com, Billeo, BillFloat, Bills.com, BillShrink, Blippy, Boku, BrightScope, Bundle, Cardlytics, CashEdge, ChargeSmart, Check Point, CheckingFinder, Cortera, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Credit.com, DebtGoal, Discover, eRollover, eToro, Expensify, Experian, Fidelity National Information Services, Fiserv, HelloWallet, Infosys, Intuit, Jack Henry, Kapitall, Leadfusion, Lending Club, Lendio, Metavante, Mint.com, MoneyAisle, MyBankTracker, Online Resources, Outright.com, PayPal, Prosper, S1, SecondMarket, Seeking Alpha, Simple Tuition, smartcredit.com, SmartyPig, Standard Chartered Bank, Sybase 365, TransUnion Interactive, TrustedID, Wesabe, Wikinvest, wipro, Yodlee, Zecco

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

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

Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011

_____________________________________________________________________________

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.

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