A Look at the First Week of Nasdaq’s Fintech Index

A Look at the First Week of Nasdaq’s Fintech Index

While many of you were busy catching Pikachu last week, you may have missed that Nasdaq, in collaboration with KBW, launched an index to track financial technology. Officially named KBW Nasdaq Financial Technology Index (KFTX), the fund tracks 49 fintech companies, including 17 Finovate and FinDEVr alums.

On Monday, 18 July, the index opened at 1,000 points and closed at almost 1,014 points on Friday, 22 July.

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Finovate and FinDEVr alums listed in the index include:

According to Nasdaq’s press release, the companies in the index “represent roughly one-fifth (18%) of the investable domestic financial universe and nearly 4% of the investable domestic equity universe to account for approximately $785 billion in total market cap.”

It’s worth noting that the index, which will be rebalanced quarterly, does not consider activity from private companies, startups, or banks. Large, public companies may not be as sprightly as two guys in a garage, but they create their fair share of cutting-edge products and services. When creating the index, KBW and Nasdaq adhered to three guidelines:

  1. The companies mainly sell financial services
  2. Not primarily brick-and-mortar operated
  3. Income is generated from fees, rather than interest

Other companies in the index include (each company in the index is weighted equally):

Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS); Bankrate Inc. (RATE); Black Knight Financial Services Inc. (BKFS); BofI Holding Inc. (BOFI); Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (BR); Cardtronics Inc. (CATM); CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE); CME Group Inc. (CME); CoreLogic Inc. (CLGX); Dun & Bradstreet Corp. (DNB); Euronet Worldwide Inc. (EEFT); EverBank Financial Corp. (EVER); EVERTEC Inc. (EVTC); FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS); First Data Corp. (FDC); FleetCor Technologies Inc. (FLT); Global Payments Inc. (GPN); Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE); MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX); Moody’s Corp. (MCO); MSCI Inc. (MSCI); Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ); S&P Global Inc. (SPGI); SEI Investments Co. (SEIC); Square Inc. (SQ); SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. (SSNC); Total System Services (TSS); The Western Union Co. (WU); VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY); Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK); Virtu Financial Inc. (VIRT); and WEX Inc. (WEX).

Quick & Dirty Details of the PayPal – Visa Partnership

Quick & Dirty Details of the PayPal – Visa Partnership

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Launched in 1998, PayPal is no stranger to fintech. However, most consider the company a competitor rather than an ally to banks and traditional financial services companies such as Visa. This week’s news may change that perspective, though not all PayPal shareholders were enamored with the deal, as the stock fell 7% today.

The two payments companies entered into a strategic partnership in which PayPal aligned itself with Visa, conceding some of its turf in the fintech arena. The details below:

Benefits to Visa

  • During customer enrollment, PayPal will present Visa cards as a “clear and equal payment option,” making it easy for consumers to set visa as their preferred payment method
  • The image of Visa digital cards will be incorporated into payment flows
  • PayPal will not encourage Visa cardholders to link to a bank account via ACH (PayPal used to do this to avoid paying fees to the card networks)
  • PayPal will work with issuers to identify consumers who choose to migrate existing ACH payment flows to their Visa cards
  • Consumers can use their Visa debit cards to move money from their PayPal and Venmo accounts to their bank account

Benefits to PayPal

  • PayPal joined the Visa Digital Enablement Program (VDEP), meaning that consumers can pay using their PayPal wallet at all physical retail locations where Visa contactless transactions are accepted
  • Visa is paying PayPal for increasing the number of transactions on its rails
  • Visa has promised “greater long-term Visa fee certainty,” meaning the company will not raise or impose new fees charged to PayPal when a customer uses a Visa card to make a purchase on PayPal

 

For more in-depth analysis, check out the Wall Street Journal’s coverage.

PayPal, which spun-off from eBay in 2015, released financial and growth figures in tandem with this announcement. The company’s earnings are up 11% YTD. From PayPal’s Braintree division, Venmo transactions increased by 141% in Q2 of 2016 to $3.9 billion. PayPal’s quarterly earnings rose from $305 million to $323 million and its quarterly revenue was up 15% to $2.65 billion.

PayPal’s last Finovate demo was in 2012 where it debuted Instant Account Creation. The company’s Braintree Developer Evangelist, Justin Woo, presented at FinDEVr New York 2016. Visa has also presented at FinDEVr. The company’s VP of Product Development M. Tad Tilahun and Senior Director of Digital Developed Markets
Alan Johnson presented at FinDEVr San Francisco 2014. The company’s last Finovate presentation was at FinovateSpring 2010, where it demoed a tool to help consumers collect and organize products.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Sberbank Earns Multiple Honors in Global Finance Awards.
  • California Bankers Association Selects Vantiv as EFT Processing Partner.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Prevoty Wins 2016 Stratus Award for Best Small Company Cloud Security Service.

Around the web

  • ITProPortal interviews Temenos Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Ben Robinson.
  • Fiserv launches Grapevine6 to help deliver content over its wealth management network.
  • Quantopian adds new Head of Trading, Dragan Skoko.
  • VISA and PayPal enter strategic partnership to improve payment experience for consumers.
  • Mobile Payments Today quotes Prairie Cloudware co-founder and CMO Michael Carter on banks and mobile wallets.
  • Wealthfront unveils updated iPhone app.
  • ProfitStars earns 2016 Top Workplace commendation from The Tennessean.
  • Espresso Capital features Outside IQ’s creativity in raising capital.
  • Yoyo Wallet expands to Singapore.
  • ThetaRay opens office in Singapore.

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.

Seven Alums Make the Fortune 500 List

Seven Alums Make the Fortune 500 List

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Fortune Magazine released its famed list of 500 companies, a ranking of top U.S.-based companies by revenue. This year, seven Finovate and FinDEVr alums made the cut. Here are a few quick facts about these seven companies:

  • Almost half ranked in the upper half of the list
  • Combined revenues of the alums make up almost $88 million
  • Companies represent 170,000 employees
  • This is the first time on the list for both PayPal and Fiserv

Qualcomm (Firethorn)

  • Rank: #110 (up from #113 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $25.3 million
  • 17th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 33,000 employees
  • Headquartered in San Diego, California
  • Ranked #448 on Fortune’s Global 500 list
  • FinovateFall 2009 demo

CenturyLink

Visa

  • Rank: #204 (up from #238 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $13.9 million
  • 8th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 11,300 employees
  • Headquartered in Foster City, California
  • Ranked #47 on Fortune’s list of World’s Most Admired Companies
  • FinDEVr San Francisco 2014 demo

MasterCard

  • Rank: #294 (up from #308 in 2015)
  • Revenues: $9.7 million
  • 8th year on the Fortune 500 list
  • 11,300 employees
  • Headquartered in Purchase, New York
  • Ranked #11 on Fortune’s list of Change the World
  • FinDEVr San Francisco 2014 demo

PayPal

NCR

Fiserv


*This was PayPal’s first year as a stand-alone company. The company’s CEO Daniel Schulman explains what the honor means to the company in a short video.

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FinDEVrNY16-V2(wdate)We’re taking our FinDEVr developer showcase to New York on March 29 & 30, 2016. Register today.

Developer news

The latest from FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 presenters

  • Aerospike unveils version 3.7 of its NoSQL database.
  • Mitek to combine its Mobile Verify solution with fraud prevention and risk management technology from IdentityMind Global.
  • Wallaby’s Chrome 2.0 provides access to credit card advice in the browser.
  • Markit acquires systems integration technology from JP Morgan.

Alumni updates

  • VISA launches consumer transaction controls for card-issuing FIs.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com:

  • Welcome to FinovateEurope 2016, Day Two.
  • FinovateEurope 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced.

Around the web:

  • Betterment and Wealthfront featured in Bloomberg column on the disruptive power of roboadvisors.
  • Reduced costs for Nutmeg yield lower fees for investors using the platform.
  • Markit acquires systems-integration technology from JP Morgan.
  • VISA launches Consumer Transaction Controls for card-issuing FIs.
  • PYMNTS.com takes a look at Expensify and its expansion into Europe.

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

Around the web:

  • Blackhawk Network acquires NimbleCommerce, a digital commerce platform and network.
  • Wipro wins seven-year, IT-infrastructure contract with international insurer RSA.
  • Visa unveils its new Visa Developer Program, giving developers API-based access to many of Visa’s payment technologies.

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 APIntelligence

FinDEVr2016-NY-(Stacked)V2Are you building new financial technology? Be sure to check out coverage from our recent developers conference in San Francisco. We’re taking the fintech developer tool showcase to New York on 29/30 March 2016. Stay tuned for details.

Developer news

  • “The Next Web: How to Design with Developers”

The latest from FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 presenters

  • Think Big Data mentions Praesidio as a startup using machine learning in its cyber-security solution.
  • “Xignite Surpasses 50 Billion API Calls in a Single Month”
  • VentureBeat: Twilio rolls out new feature set designed to help developers build messaging apps using its platform.
  • Arxan Technologies extends its app-security protection to Apple TV.
  • “Digital Asset Holdings Acquires Blockchain-as-a-Service Innovator, Blockstack.io
  • Security solutions from Arxan Technologies now running on more than 500 million devices.

Alumni updates

  • Tradier teams up with Equities Lab to bring real-world trading experience to college students.
  • Google appoints Entersekt CTO Christiaan Brand as product manager for security and identity teams.
  • Pymnts looks at how SimplyTapp is addressing host card emulation.
  • Visa Inc. to Acquire Visa Europe.
  • Fierce Finance IT features BehavioSec.
  • Avoka partners with Trulioo to provide digital identification authentication to international banks.

Stay up-to-date on daily developments by following FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Xignite Surpasses 50 Billion API Calls in a Single Month”
  • “Feedzai Unveils its New Antifraud Solution, Data Science Studio”

Around the web

  • Comarch supports insurance sales and after-sales service by automating sales force at UNIQA Poland.
  • Let’s Talk Payments talks about Photo Verify with Sarah Clark, Mitek VP of product.
  • AcceptEmail and Kansys team up to provide email billing and payment options to telecoms via OCPay.
  • Fiserv and Early Warning partner to enable real-time bill pay and deposit services for U.S. FIs (financial institutions).
  • Corporate One partners with Gro Solutions to expand credit unions’ digital platforms.
  • Mitek launches mobile multicheck-capture for Commercial Mobile Deposit.
  • USAA and Coinbase partner to bring bitcoin to USAA members.
  • The Daily Telegraph features SocietyOne.
  • Euronext launches sentiment analysis partnership with Heckyl Technologies.
  • GEICO employees get access to HelloWallet, helping them manage their 401(k).
  • Visa Inc. to Acquire Visa Europe.
  • DriveWealth teams up with CQG, Direct FX to launch new, multi-asset trading platform.
  • FX Street calls Ayasdi “the next evolution in science.”
  • Arxan Technologies extends its app-security protection to Apple TV.
  • Mobile World Magazine looks at Fastacash and its new partnership with Xpress Money Services.

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

 

SumUp Brings its mPOS Technology to America

SumUp Brings its mPOS Technology to America

SumUp_homepage_Oct2015

SumUp, a leading European mPOS (mobile point of sale) innovator, is launching in the United States.

And if you ask SumUp CEO Daniel Klein, the company has arrived just in time.

“We are here to help U.S. merchants and partners, such as cash register vendors, to transition quickly and securely to EMV, by making payments as easy as possible for their customers,” Klein said. He pointed out that SumUp is the “platform of choice for EMV transactions in 14 countries” serving tens of thousands of merchants.

SumUp_stage_FEU2013b

SumUp CMO and co-founder Stefan Jeschonnek demonstrated his company’s platform at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

As part of its U.S. launch, SumUp will be unveiling a new EMV contactless card terminal, available for pre-order at $99. The new terminal is designed specifically for the U.S. market, enabling merchants to accept electronic and e-wallet, Apple Pay and Android Pay payments via NFC, as well as accept payments with EMV chip-cards. “The shift to EMV chip-cards puts more costly fraud liability on stores without chip terminals,” Klein added, “but only half of small businesses are even aware of EMV liability.”

SumUp provides end-to-end payment-processing solutions supported by its own proprietary EMV card terminals, and mobile apps. U.S. merchants using the technology will be able to accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express payments. SumUp will charge a transaction fee of 2.75%. The company plans to announce strategic partnerships with “major U.S. companies” soon.

One company already partnered with SumUp is Visa, whose SVP for Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Bill Gajda, praised SumUp’s “impact on the conversion of cash to electronic commerce” around the world. Gajda added that encouraging EMV adoption was also important. “We are focused on encouraging and supporting the adoption of EMV chip technology in the U.S. as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that everyone can realize the powerful security benefits that EMV chips provide,” he said.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, SumUp demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. The company has more than $56 million in funding.

For more information about our upcoming FinovateEurope 2016 conference, visit our information page.

The FinDEVr APIntelligence

The FinDEVr APIntelligence

Are you building new financial technology? Be sure to register now for the only event exclusively for fintech developers, FinDEVr 2015, Oct 6-7 in San Francisco.

FinDEVr2015-SF-Logo-Stackedwdate

The latest from FinDEVr 2015 presenters

  • Pinterest turns to Braintree to power PayPal payment option for browsing consumers.
  • FinDEVr 2015: First Round of Presenting Companies Revealed.
  • Backbase set to launch its first hackathon, 19/20 June 2015.
  • Spreedly now supports third-party tokens to help merchants continue to process transactions using their existing gateway-specific tokens from within Spreedly.
  • Thinking Capital announces new name, visual identity and tagline.
  • SandHill mentions SnoopWall as 1 of 5 Cool, Pre-VC, Cybersecurity Startups.
  • Avalara acquires Belgium-based VAT Applications.
  • UPS Capital Partners integrates with Kabbage to offer more SMBs access to a loan through UPS.

Alumni updates

  • Xero developed business apps that Apple is using to help market the iPad’s use in business.
  • Tech.co looks at how Trulioo’s API defends startups against credit-card fraud.
  • Xero reaches 500,000 customers for its cloud accounting service, sets sights on 1 million customer milestone.
  • Verizon Ventures welcomes SimplyTapp to its portfolio of investments.
  • Dunkin’ Donuts, Fandango, Sundance Catalog and Williams-Sonoma have all integrated Visa Checkout into their apps.
  • NerdWallet turns to Trulioo CEO Stepehn Ufford who offers 5 steps to protect against cyberthreats.

Stay up to date on daily developments by following FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: TrueAccord Provides Kinder, Gentler Automated Debt Collection”
  • “HedgeCoVest Adds Two New Models to its Platform”
  • “CashSentinel Closes Seed Round of Undisclosed Amount”

Around the web

  • Dunkin’ Donuts, Fandango, Sundance Catalog and Williams-Sonoma now accept Visa Checkout.
  • Moven updates Android mobile app.
  • The Fintech blog features Q&A with LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff.
  • Bank Innovation profiles Hedgeable and its “one simple trick.”
  • Westpac Banking Corporation and New Zealand Banking Group are testing Ripple for payment transfers between subsidiaries.
  • Ixaris announces €4m Open Payments Ecosystem (OPE) project to support developers building payment apps.
  • TSYS to support Apple Pay when it launches in the U.K. in July.
  • Omnichannel account-opening solution from Zenmonics goes live at BBVA.
  • Austin Energy to adopt PaySecure platform from Acculynk.
  • Investopedia column on the “Top 5 Myths of Robo-Advisors” features Betterment, Wealthfront, and Vanguard.
  • BrightScope launches Fund Pages to provide detailed information about open-ended mutual funds.
  • Sam’s Club using Lending Club to offer financing to SMB customers.
  • FitSmallBusiness.com names OnDeck best provider of small business loans.
  • SunGard terminal selects Heckyl news and sentiment analysis.
  • Pindrop Security granted patent for phone antifraud and authentication technology.
  • Top Image Systems taps Bob Fresnel as new TIS Americas President.

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.