Finovate Alumni News– July 23, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgVirtual Piggy expands merchant base with Blee Inara’s handcrafted original jewelry.
  • Umbel forms NetAlliance partnership with Akamai. Come to FinovateFall to see Akamai’s live demo.
  • Fast Company talks with Alexa Von Tobel, LearnVest CEO. Check out LearnVest’s live demo at FinovateFall.
  • USA Today features Social Money’s SmartyPig.
  • Startup America features Bolstr. Come see Bolstr’s live demo at FinovateFall.
  • The Independent looks at how CurrencyFair helps cut cost of cash transfers abroad.
  • The Financial Brand looks at how ImpulseSave hopes to create spontaneous savers.
  • GigaOM reports Corduro aims to win over big organizations that want to modernize their payment systems.
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– June 20, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpg2 Minute Finance interviews TIO Networks at FinovateSpring.
  • 2 Minute Finance interviews Flint Mobile at FinovateSpring.
  • Check Point provides FXCM with integrated network protection.
  • IND Group’s technology initiates the world’s first Facebook money transfer.
  • Kashoo named most promising startup at 2012 BCTIA Technology Impact Awards.
  • DCisions awarded an Australian patent for business method.
  • SmartyPig, Social Money’s goal-based savings product, increases its interest rate to 1% APY.
  • TechCrunch reports PayPal rolls out a touch-friendly website redesign.
  • US News lists Buxfer, YouNeedABudget, Pennyminder, Yodlee, Geezeo, Mint as personal finance tools you should use.
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.

Mobile Monday: Intuit Launches 17th iPhone App, MoneyDue

Note: Since I didn’t get my Feature Friday post finished last week, it’s now been transformed into Mobile Monday.

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imageWhile most banks still have a single mobile app, the big players will eventually have a portfolio of apps for their various product lines, business units, and disparate customer segments (note 1).

While technically not a financial institution, Intuit shows why multiple apps are needed. With the launch of MoneyDue (see below), the company now has at least 17 apps available for the iPhone.

Tax-related (7)
Earned Income Tax Credit calculator
Intuit Tax Online Accountant
MyTaxRefund by TurboTax
TaxCaster by TurboTax
TurboTax 2011 Tax Preparation
TurboTax Card Mobile
TurboTax SnapTax

Payments (2)
Intuit GoPayment Credit Card Terminal
MoneyDue (ebilling for small service providers; see below)

Small biz (5)
Online Payroll
QuickBooks Mobile
Small Business Blog
Snap Payroll California Free Mobile Paycheck Calculator
Weave (project management)

Consumer (3)
Quicken Essentials for Mac
Intuit Health Debit Card
• Mint.com

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MoneyDue: Ebilling app for hourly-based professional services
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Intuit's MoneyDue iphone appFor almost 30 years, Intuit has been a key financial services innovator. So I’m always interested in the new services coming out of its R&D area.

Here’s one that seems like a winner, a mobile small biz ebilling app specifically targeted to those that bill their time by the hour (or appointment).

The app integrates with the iPhone calendar and contacts to seamlessly turn appointments into ebills in a 3-step process (see screenshots below):

  1. Select an existing appointment from iPhone calendar
  2. Select the corresponding person to bill from the iPhone contact list
  3. Enter the billing amount and send

It would be especially useful for one-person shops such as lawn care, home improvement, cleaning services, tutors, etc. The main downside is that the appointment and contacts must already be loaded into those iPhone functions. You cannot create a new bill directly from the MoneyDue app if it hasn’t already been scheduled on your calendar (note 2). 

The app hit the app store on May 30 and has been a top-150 finance app since for the past few days.

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Intuit’s MoneyDue iPhone app (2 June 2012)

  image   image   image    

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Notes:
1. See our mobile apps forecast here (April 2010, subscription)
2. The iPhone automatically syncs with your desktop calendar (eg. Google’s Gmail calendar) so you needn’t set up the appointment on your mobile phone.

Social Money Announces Partnership with ICICI Bank in India

SocialMoneyLogo.jpg

Des Moines-based Social Money, the creator of GoalSaver technology and owner of SmartyPig, announced a partnership with ICICI Bank in India yesterday.

The 2,700-branch bank will have access to Social Money’s GoalSaver product (pictured right). While the bank has not yet disclosed how it will use the product, Bank Innovation shares an inside scoop:

Goals.jpg

“Broadly, GoalSaver hopes to enliven checking accounts with social networking features and a better user interface. The product boasts a goal feature, for example, which lets a customer share his goal savings progress with his networks on Facebook and Twitter, if he wishes.”

ICICI Bank, located in 20 countries, plays a large role in Social Money’s international strategy. It will launch the product later this year. 

ICICIBank.jpg

To learn more about Social Money, come to FinovateSpring and watch its live demo. To learn more about SmartyPig, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– April 13, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAdvisors4Advisors describes inStream Solutions as the future of professional wealth management software.
  • Bank Technology News highlights tech startups Dwolla, T8 Webware, and SmartyPig in the silicon prairie.
  • Main St looks at how TIO Networks helps the underbanked consumer.
  • HSBC UK introduces Fast Balance app from Monitise.
  • U.S. Bank now offers FreeMonee to cardholders.
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 16, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCEO Interview: Peter Kwakernaak of AcceptEmail.
  • P2P-Banking reports Prosper CEO Chris Larsen steps down, will be replaced by Dawn Lepore.
  • Zopa states its P2P lending platform will help the food manufacturing industry spur innovation.
  • FreeMonee listed as 1 of 10 companies to receive the Netexplo 2012 Award for leading the world in digital innovation.
  • SmartyPig’s cash rewards card now offers 1% cash-back on all purchases.
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– February 15, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAmerican Banker reports SmartyPig adds office in India.
  • American Banker reports PayPal digs even further into the prepaid card market.
  • TechCrunch Europe covers ETRONIKA’s FinovateEurope presentation.
  • VentureBeat lists Danny Shader, CEO of PayNearMe, as an entrepreneur using startups to change the world.
  • Since Aptys Solutions 2010 launch, over 1,000 commercial banks now use PayLOGICS platform to process payments.
  •  Diversinet Corp. appoints Dr. Hon Pak as the company’s CEO.
  • Cartera Commerce named to OnMedia 100 Top Private Companies List.
  • AccMan looks at how CurrencyFair solves multi-currency cost issues.
  • INDYCAR partners with Segmint to reward race fans.
  • MasterCard forms alliance with Silver Tail Systems.
  • Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures contributes to Xero’s recent $16.6 million in funding.
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.

SmartyPig Changes Name, Launches GoalSaver Platform

SocialMoneySystemsLogo2.jpg

Iowa-based SmartyPig, a social savings innovator, made two announcements today:

    • Changed its corporate name to Social Money Systems
    • Launched GoalSaver, a bank-branded social savings and transaction platform

GoalSaver features include:

    • Customizable user interface
    • Financial education 
    • A Dashboard to view goal details (see screenshot 1)
    • Shared goal page (see screenshot 2)

In addition to benefitting banks, GoalSaver is also available to industries such as insurance, prepaid cards, and merchants who need layaway solutions.

To learn more about SmartyPig, watch its FinovateFall 2010 demo.

(Screenshot 1: goal dashboard)

Thumbnail image for Dashboard.jpg

(Screenshot 2: shared goal page)
SocialSharedGoal.jpg

Finovate Alumni News– January 16, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgSmartMoney (Feb 2012) article, “Attack of the 6.5-point Typeface” cites research from Transparency Labs.
  • Rescuecom asks if Dwolla can become the new PayPal.
  • CNN Money names SmartyPig “Best Savings Alternative”.
  • Missouri News channel KY3 recommends using Prosper and Lending Club as a creative way to fund your business.
  • NY Times blog talks about LearnVest as a financial planner for the middle class.
  • AARP lists ChargeSmart as a future way to pay bills using unwanted gift cards.
  • FeeFighters hosts webinar about ecommerce on January 16.
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 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.