- 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.
MasterCard
Finovate Alumni at BAI Retail Delivery Conference
- Tuesday, Global Game-Changer Session
Speaker: Jim Taschetta from FreeMonee
- Wednesday, Technology for Business Summit
Speaker: Mitch Jacobs from On Deck Capital
- Wednesday, Technology for Business Summit Session
Speaker: David Eads from Kony Solutions
- Thursday, Technology for Business Summit Session
Speaker: Eric Connors from Yodlee
- Thursday, Marketing & Product Management Summit Session
Speaker: Rod Witmond from Cardlytics
- ACI Worldwide
- Adobe
- Arroweye Solutions
- CashEdge
- Clairmail
- Dynamics
- Equifax
- Experian Consumer Direct
- FIS
- Fiserv
- Guardian Analytics
- Ideon Financial Services
- Kony Solutions
- Lodo Software
- MasterCard Worldwide
- mFoundry
- MITEK Systems
- oFlows
- On Deck Capital
- PayPal
- ProfitStars
- Q2eBanking
- Safety Pay
- Truaxis (formerly BillShrink)
- Visa
- Yodlee
- David Youker from Sybase 365
- Carl Tsukahara from Clairmail
- Drew Hyatt from Mitek Systems
- Jeff Mullen from Dynamics
- Matthew Lifshotz & Inigo San Martin from Ideon Financial Solutions
MasterCard’s inControl Service Features the Small Business Controller Product
“MasterCard inControl is an innovative, flexible service, which enables issuers to easily introduce payment products that offer unparalleled controls and real-time alerts to both consumer and commercial cardholders.
The suite of inControl offerings satisfies strong end-user needs for high security and controlled access to spending accounts, while providing cost-efficiencies and speed-to-market for issuers without the need for any changes in the payment process at the merchant.”
FinovateFall 2011 Sneak Peek: Part 2
More than 60 leading fintech innovators, both startups and established companies, are gearing up to present at the biggest Finovate ever, Sept. 20/21 in NYC.
ti-media content directly to your clients’ Apple, Android, BlackBerry, or Microsoft smartphones and tablets.

the support center. IND Mobile banking is more than just the extension of online banking features, unique ergonomic design, user experience, security and the fact that it is always-online.

o create missions.
MasterCard Launches ATM Hunter iPhone App
A few weeks ago there wasn’t a single dedicated ATM finder in Apple’s App Store, and now there are three, not counting the bank-branded versions (more on that below). MasterCard is the latest entrant with a cute app called ATM Hunter (see inset; iTunes link) launched six days ago.
The free app can lead you and your iPhone to any of more than one million ATMs worldwide. The app automatically senses your location and lists nearby machines. And it’s integrated with Google maps so you can map the location with a single click.
Unlike other ATM finders, MasterCard’s version has a helpful filter to zero in on the following ATM types:
- surcharge-free
- drive-thru
- wheelchair accessible
- 24-hour
- deposit sharing
It also has a “share” function (upper-right of second screenshot below) that allows you to text the ATM location to a friend or to yourself for later reference.
Here’s what’s in the app:
Main page List after “location” search
Filtering by feature ATM detail
The launch is supported with a webpage at MasterCard’s Priceless.com (see screenshot below).
Bottom line: It’s an excellent app that should prove popular; however, I wonder if MasterCard is encroaching a bit on its banking clients’ turf. Location-based ATM/branch finders are one of the cornerstones of a retail bank’s mobile application (note 1). If customers are already using MasterCard’s app, they have less reason to go mobile with their own financial institution.
On the other hand, the vast majority of financial institutions that don’t yet have their own mobile app can safely recommend MasterCard’s app and keep customers from using a banking competitor’s app.
MasterCard’s ATM Hunter landing page (link, 10 April 2009)
Notes:
1. For more info, see our Online Banking Report on Mobile Banking: iPhone Edition.
2. Apple is approaching 1 billion downloads since the App Store opened last July. The company is celebrating the coming milestone with a $15,000 gift to the person that downloads lucky 1 billion. It also has a huge ticker on its website (below) that counts to the big number in real time (here).
Billion-download counter at Apple’s website (10 April 2009, 6 PM Pacific)
Bank of America Integrates Small Business Financial Services into Microsoft’s Startup Center
It's extremely difficult to win the transaction accounts of small businesses. By the time you know of their existence, they already have their bank accounts in place. And most small businesses are too busy to bother switching accounts to save a few bucks a month, or even to get better products or services.
One way to grab market share is to find businesses when they are in the pre-startup phase, before they've set up banking accounts. In pre-startup, the prospective business owner is in pure research mode, spending little or no cash. To find these businesses, you need to offer online information that startups value and can find at your site, such as new-business planning advice. Then entice the owner to establish bank accounts with a package of services that appeal to a new business owner.
Bank of America is on the right track with its sponsorship of Microsoft's new Startup Center <startupcenter.com>. It's more like a product placement than a "banner ad" sponsorship. The BofA logo is never even seen in the main content area.
However, the bank's content is tightly integrated throughout, especially in the Finances area. For instance, if a business owner wants to "set up a checking account," the links to detailed information such as "compare now," "get a recommendation," and "get a business check card" all link directly to content housed on Bank of America's website (see screenshot below).
MasterCard is also a primary sponsor, but its content is less integrated. The third core sponsor is Startup Nation.
Analysis
It makes sense for Bank of America to be involved in Microsoft's Startup Center, a beautifully designed tool all decked out in "Web 2.0" colors and graphics. The content seems appropriate and useful for a startup. However, it will be a challenge for the area to gain traction with actual startups, who are unlikely to be looking to Microsoft for assistance, unless they are software developers.
But you don't have to be a mega-bank or mega-software company to provide valuable services to startups. Financial institutions can partner with local professional service firms such as accountants, consultants, and attorneys, to create content for startups such as Webinars, and in-person seminars. A well-priced package of banking services, positioned and priced for startups, will help you grab new business in the startup sector.
Examples of startup products and services at financial institutions:
- CIBC startup area
- Lloyds TSB Business Extra package for startups
- Bank of Montreal business startup package
- Simply Startup Business Checking from First Light Federal Credit Union
For more information, see our Online Banking Report on Small and Microbusiness Online Banking (here). Thanks to Payments News for the link.
Personnel Moves from MasterCard, Optimal Group and Asia Payment Systems
Who’s gone where this week at MasterCard, Optimal Group, and Asia Payment Systems.
Javier Perez was named president of MasterCard Europe, effective March 10. Perez reports to MasterCard’s chief operating officer, Alan Heuer. Perez joined MasterCard in 1996 and has been president of MasterCard’s Latin America and Caribbean Region since 2004. (Contact: MasterCard Int’l, 914-249-5622)
Mitchell Garber resigned from Montreal, Canada-based Optimal Group Inc. on March 6 to pursue other opportunities. Garber was executive vice-president of Optimal Group, president and chief executive officer of Optimal Payments Inc. and executive chairman of FireOne Group PLC. Benjamin Dalfen, previously director and chief operating officer of FireOne Group PLC, was promoted to chief executive officer of FireOne Group, and Douglas Lewin became president of Optimal Payments. Lewin had been director and executive vice-president of Optimal Payments Inc. (Contact: Optimal Group Inc., 514-738-8885)
Rosaline Tam is joining the board of Hong Kong-based Asia Payment Systems Inc. Tam, a long-time payments veteran, replaces Matt Mecke, who resigned from the board. (Contact: Asia Payment Systems Inc., 760-918-5592)
Will MasterCard Allow Non-bank Issuers?
We are beginning to hear intriguing whispers that, post-IPO, MasterCard will begin authorizing non-banks to be card issuers.
Credit Card Portfolios: More Pressure, Less Profitability.
People have grown wary of credit cards. They’re paying them off faster; generally, debit cards are edging them out as payment vehicles. And at least for now, home equity loans are increasingly more popular than credit cards among consumers (click on inset for more details and see tables below).
The result? Credit card portfolios are losing profitability, even though net losses and delinquencies are down, and serious questions about the industry’s future are surfacing. So are questions about how wise banks were when they snapped up most of the monoline credit card operations last year. The business model needs an overhaul, says observers, but so far, issuers are just changing the oil. And there may be no way out.
Continue reading “Credit Card Portfolios: More Pressure, Less Profitability.”
New Financial Products from Mastercard and others
New product announcements from The Clearing House LLC, MasterCard, VISA, and more.
Continue reading “New Financial Products from Mastercard and others”
Mobile Payments: Japan Leads the Pack
The potential of cellphone-based mobile payments to eventually squeeze banks out of their central role in payments can already be seen in East Asia, says Andrei Hagiu, a principal at Market Platform Dynamics, and by ignoring it, American banks have nothing to lose but their business.
Hong Kong’s Octopus prepaid debit card (see inset) is one example: Issued by Hong Kong’s subway system and several other transportation companies—with no bank involved—Octopus cards drive about $2.2 billion in annual payments volume.
Interchange Front Shifts to Germany
Germany’s federal monopolies body, the Bundeskartellamt, received a legal complaint from the German Retail Association, alleging that interchange fee charged MasterCard and VISA, which average 150 basis points, prevents widespread credit card acceptance in Germany.
In a statement, the Association, a lobbying group, said that credit card payment account for only 5 per cent of all retail sales in Germany. The complaint calls on the Bundeskartellamt to cut interchange fees and to increase payment card transparency. It claims these steps will improve competition in the credit card sector. Spain, says the group, has ordered a step-by-step reduction of interchange to between 0.54 per cent and 1.10 per cent by 2008.