Finovate Alumni News– January 18, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgReady Receipts officially launches paperless receipt technology.
  • nFinanSe seeks to halt new debit card network by InComm, alleges price-fixing conspiracy.
  • VentureBeat discusses the IPO market with SecondMarket CEO Barry Silbert.
  • On Deck partners with the National Association for Small Business.
  • SignatureLink to integrate ThreatMetrix’s Cybercrime Defender Platform with its technology
  • Intuit hires former Apple executive to lead Canada division.
  • Fox Business News interviews LearnVest founder and CEO, Alexa von Tobel.
  • The Next Web compares and contrasts PayPal and Dwolla with other payment methods.
  • Plastyc’s UPside cardholders can now load cash onto cards at 7-Eleven stores.
  • Oregon-based Credit Union launches BancVue’s Kasasa.
  • BrightScope partners with social media expert Arkovi.
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.

Intuit Works With Visa to Launch Prepaid Card

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Visa shared on its blog yesterday that California-based Intuit recently launched a prepaid Visa card called GoPayment:

“Those who use Intuit’s GoPayment mobile acceptance app and reader can now link their GoPayment account to a Visa prepaid card, conveniently separating the funds collected through GoPayment from other finances.”

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Users can make purchases with the card online and in-store, and they can use it to withdraw cash at an ATM.

To learn more about the two companies, watch Visa’s FinovateSpring 2010 demo and Intuit’s Finovate 2009 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– January 6, 2012

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  • Kony Solutions partners with Independence Blue Cross to power its mobile app.
  • Fiserv announces patent infringement lawsuit.
  • The Receivables Exchange provides over $1 billion in funding to businesses.
  • Intuit works with Visa to launch prepaid card.
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– November 9, 2011

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  • Read Write Web argues the mobile payments capital of the US is Des Moines, IA thanks to Dwolla.
  • Fox Business News reports GoalMine seeks to level the investing field.
  • PayPal updates its Android app with support for NFC payments.
  • eWise hires Alexandre Gonthier, former Boku CTO, as new CEO.
  • Lendio makes its business loan matching service free.
  • Finextra reports Intuit partners with AT&T to take on Square in the emerging mobile card processing market.
  • Xero updates its app: increases speed and improves UI.
  • Business Insider lists Dwolla and Simple as 2 of 20 most innovative startups in tech.
  • Billeo launches ShopSmart to bring consumers relevant discounts.
  • Zecco hosts $500 sweepstakes.
  • miiCard gives first 10,000 users free accounts for life.
  • Netbanker: Top 10 Reasons Why BankSimple Dropped the Bank.
  • Expensify creates four pricing plans.
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 Website Traffic in September

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.
PrivateWebTrafficSeptember2.jpg
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.
PublicWebTrafficSeptember2.jpgSource: 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.

Finovate Alumni News– October 31, 2011

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  • Prosper.com creates account enhancements for investors.
  • Bank Technology News looks at Pageonce’s decision to add a bill pay service.
  • PSFK gives a sneak peek of BankSimple’s mobile app.
  • CNN Tech discusses the differences between Intuit’s Quicken and Mint.com.
  • Clairmail announces a record increase in cumulative mobile banking transactions.
  • ReadyForZero now supports auto loans, mortgages, and student loans.
  • The Des Moines Register looks at how Dwolla & T8 Webware contribute to Des Moines’s startup culture.
  • Benzinga looks at DoughMain’s family finance tool.
  • CU Times examines the usage of Mint.com’s iPad app.
  • The Republic examines LearnVest’s budgeting and advice platform.
  • Mint.com explores its history as an infographic and includes being a two-time Finovate Best of Show Winner.
  • Intuit receives two prestigious awards for social customer support, engagement.
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 Website Traffic in August

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. 
August2011PrivateWebTraffic4.jpg
Source: Compete.com retrieved week of October 3, 2011
1) The previous month recorded was July 2011
2) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink
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.
August2011PublicWebTraffic5.jpg
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.

Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in July

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. 
JulyWebTrafficPrivate6.jpg
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. 
JulyWebTrafficPublic4.jpg
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.

Alumni News — Week of July 25, 2011

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Clairmail
Clairmail chose Jigsaw’s Data Cloud to help its mobile banking client improve marketing and receive more leads. During vendor trials it saw an increase in productivity, response rates, sales, and marketing effectiveness. Link

Clovr Media 
Boston Business Journal reported that Clovr Media is preparing for the launch of its credit 

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card-linked offers at the end of the fourth quarter by hiring 12 new staff members. Link
Confident Technologies
Confident Technologies released a two-factor mobile phone authentication platform that requires the user to memorize images. Because this second factor security is not stored on the user’s device, it mitigates the opportunity for Zeus-in-the-middle attacks. Link
Currensee
The Forbes blog looks at Currensee for social foreign exchange investing, paying special attention to its rapid growth rate. Link
doxo 
The Entrepreneur blog compared doxo’s document storage and online payment system to PayPal, citing that the cost to collect payment is less than half of a typical PayPal transaction. Link
Dynamics
The Pittsburgh Business Times interviewed Jeff Mullen, CEO of Dynamics, Inc on the naming of the company. Link
eToro 
  • The Forbes blog looked at eToro for social foreign exchange investing, paying special attention to its rapid growth rate. Linketoro.jpg
  • The World Finance Awards selected eToro as Best Social Trading Network, Best Mobile Trading Platform, and Best Trading Software Provider. Link
Geezeo
Geezeo was selected by The Coca-Cola Family Credit Union to provide a PFM solution and integrated marketing platform. Link
Ideon Financial Solutions
Ideon Financial Solutions was granted a patent for its Choice Savings technology, a system that allows financial institutions to provide their clients with a variety of customizable savings products. Link
Identity Theft 911
Identity Theft 911 partnered with Arabella Protection Insurance Company to offer commercial data breach services like preparedness and response. Link
Intuit 
TechCrunch reported that Intuit launched a QuickBooks mobile app for the Android that 

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allows small businesses to access their data from QuickBooks Pro, Online, and Premier. Link
Lending Club 
  • American Consumer News provided a comparison guide for borrowers and lenders to Prosper’s and Lending Club’s services. The benefits included high rates of return and flexibility. Link
  • Brian Wong’s Database blog looked at what its like to invest in Lending Club. He presented his opinion on the usability of the service. Link
Metavante 
EverBank, a $7 billion Internet bank, announced that it is seeking to be an early adopter of Metavante’s customer information management product, a product that was built from the Temenos Core Banking Platform, a result of the partnership formed in 2007. Link
mFoundry 
NEFCU added a mobile app for the Android, using mFoundry’s technology to offer account balances, check history, transfers, and bill pay. This is in addition to its existing apps for Blackberry and the iPhone. Link
Micronotes 
1st Advantage Federal Credit Union, a major Virginia credit union, announced that it will use

micronotes.jpg

 Micronotes’ cross-sell engine, KulaX, to improve lead generation. Link
Prosper 
American Consumer News provided a comparison guide for borrowers and lenders to Prosper’s and Lending Club’s services. The benefits included high rates of return and flexibility. Link
Syphr 
Syphr was among 6 out of 90 fintech companies selected by the Fintech Innovation Lab who will present their innovations to Wall Street venture capitalists. Link

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 

May2011PublicWebTraffic.jpg

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.

Alumni News — Week of June 27, 2011

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ActivePath
A top Brazilian card issuer implemented an ActivePath solution. Link
AlphaClone
AlphaClone incorporated new sentiment scores into its stock view pages. Link
Bills.com
Bills.com released the results from its Consumer Money Survey that gauges money attitudes and behaviors. Link
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Blaze Mobile
Blaze Mobile was awarded a patent for NFC on stickers. Link
BOKU
BOKU released 1-Tap Mobile Billing for the Android and took it live in 56 countries. Link
Braintree
Braintree received $34M in Series A funding from Accel. Link
Currensee

Currensee.jpg

Reuters outlined the benefits of Currensee. Link
Credit Karma
Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin advised consumers how they should deal with credit card offers. Link
doxo 
doxo won the Stevie Award for New Product of the Year for financial services in the 2011 American Business Awards. Link
Dwolla
Dwolla said its Grid payment network is more secure than Visa and MasterCard’s card networks. Link
Dynamics
Dynamics raised $35M for computerized smartcards and payment systems. Link
eToro

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Reuters outlined the benefits of eToro. Link
eWise
gotoBilling, Inc. added eWise’s Secure Vault Payments as another payment platform. Link
Expensify
The Wall Street Journal listed Expensify as a must-have mobile tech tool for entrepreneurs. Link
Fiserv
Fiserv entered into an agreement to acquire CashEdge for $465 million to advance its digital payments and channel strategies. Link

Guardian Analytics

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Yahoo! Finance reported that Guardian Analytics’ FraudMAP is helping financial institutions meet FFIEC guidelines. Link
HelloWallet
HelloWallet was added to Mercer’s Outsourcing business benefits administration. Link
Intuit
Intuit purchased Mobile Money Ventures’ web banking technology to augment its mobile banking capabilities. Link
Kony Solutions

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The American Business Awards selected Kony Solutions as the Most Innovative Company of the Year. Link
Lendio
The Launch blog highlighted Lendio. Link
Outright
Outright rolled out a new report function allowing clients to view sales by state. Link
PayPal
PayPal reached 100 million active users. Link

Profit Stars
Profit Stars introduced its new Remote Deposit Anywhere solution. Link
Prosper
  • Former Lending Club director Joseph Toms joined Prosper as its Chief Investment Officer. Link
  • The San Francisco Times reported on Prosper’s growth. Link
Q2ebanking

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Q2ebanking was noted as a service to help community financial institutions meet FFIEC Guidance. Link
SimpleTuition
SimpleTuition expanded its student loan payment options by partnering with Discover Card. Link
SmartyPig
SmartyPig was recommended by Mint.com as a way to save for impulse purchases. Link
TradeKing
TradeKing implemented SunGard’s MarketMap to deliver market data to its active trading platform. Link
UBank
Mashable highlighted UBank’s feedback forum. Link
Voice Commerce
Voice Commerce launched a payment solution for the iPhone. Link
Wikinvest

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PC mag reviewed Wikinvest’s mobile app. Link
Xero
Tech Day assessed Xero’s Debtor Daddy service. Link

Alumni News — Week of May 16, 2011

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Bill.com
Practical Ecommerce listed Bill.com as 1 of 19 tools for online bookkeeping and invoicing Link


BrightScope
BrightScope announced the top 10 commodities funds held in America’s 401k plans Link
Frazier & Deeter, FD Alliance, BrightScope and SignatureFD conducted a national webinar on BrightScope’s tool that rates employee benefit plans. Link 
ClairMail

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ClairMail reported record growth with a record number of customer acquisitions and a 300% increase in user growth Link  
eRollover
eRollover announced its Facebook Early Retirement Vacation Sweepstakes Link
Finantix
Wealth Management 360 highlighted Finantix’s Finovate Europe demo Link

Intuit
Intuit reported an increase of internet banking users by 9% and bill pay users by 23% Link
iPay Technologies

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iPay Technologies reached 1 Million users of its P2P electronic payment service, with almost 8 million payments processed to date Link
Kapitall
Kapitall implemented an alert system for current news on stocks and funds. These new alerts will keep users informed and will link directly to Kapitall’s analytical tools for a quick understanding of changes. Link
Kashoo

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Practical Ecommerce listed Kashoo as 1 of 19 tools for online bookkeeping and invoicing  Link
Kashoo was selected by IDC as one of Canada’s Top 10 cloud companies to watch Link

On Deck Capital
Tech Crunch reported On Deck Capital’s announcement of the On Deck Score, a credit score for small businesses. This program seeks to fix the problem of businesses borrowing money as consumers http://tcrn.ch/kNjGX6 Link
Outright.com
Practical Ecommerce listed Outright.com as 1 of 19 tools for online bookkeeping and invoicing Link

SecondMarket 
SecondMarket experienced $115M in private stock sales during Q1 Link

TradeKing
TradeKing ranked number four in customer service for the second consecutive year in the Annual Broker Survey by Wall Street Journal’s magazine, SmartMoney Link 
Wonga

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Wired UK mag covered Wonga’s disruptive process of making borrowing money completely automatic. Are they transforming personal finance? Link
Wonga should have won of Startup 100 Awards, not Spotify Link