Finovate Alumni News– December 6, 2011

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  • P2P Lending News reports Prosper & Lending Club issued $37.4 mil in loans in November.
  • Trade Streaming interviews Rob Foregger, co-founder of Personal Capital, on the future of online investing.
  • mFoundry receives $18 mil in growth capital from MasterCard, Intel, FIS, and Motorola Mobility.
  • Bank Systems & Technology looks at how USAA uses Yodlee to aggregate accounts and power its PFM.
  • SavvyMoney (Formerly DebtGoal) launches new site, adds Jean Chatzky to team.
  • Steve Shivers, doxo CEO, speaks up about the potential cuts to the US Postal Service.
  • Credit Unions see positive results from Mortgagebot PowerSite technology.
  • Q2ebanking ranks on The Austin American-Statesman’s List of Top Workplaces.
  • Zecco unveils its new Trading Center.
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 21, 2011

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  • BrightScope plans to tweak its blog & redesign its homepage.
  • SimpliFi wins four Achievement in Marketing awards from Columbus chapter of American Marketing Association.
  • New York Shop Exchange interviews Brock Blake, Lendio CEO, about small business loans.
  • MyBankTracker looks at Yodlee’s FinApps and the evolution of Mobile Banking.
  • Fifth Third Bank launches mobile banking apps powered by Clairmail.
  • TechCrunch reports Braintree receives investment from Capital One co-founder, Nigel Morris.
  • Currensee launches Trade Leaders Program for institutional clients.
  • TechCrunch explores the differences between Mint.com and HelloWallet’s mobile apps.
  • Family blogger Darcy shares five of DoughMain’s features.
  • Xero doubles its customer numbers, gains traction overseas.
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.

Yodlee Partners with Open Solutions

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PFM startup Yodlee announced today that it has formed a partnership with Open Solutions, a supporter of community financial institutions and credit unions.

“Open Solutions will be the first channel partner to launch the Yodlee Platform with the FinApp Center to its community bank and credit union customers. Yodlee’s FinApp Center is a consumer-driven marketplace for personalized financial applications, or Yodlee FinApps…”

Open Solutions hopes to have the FinApps available by early 2012.

To learn more about Yodlee’s FinApps, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– November 7, 2011

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  • BillGuard CEO, Yaron Samid, shares lessons learned as a startup entrepreneur.
  • Expensify listed as 1 of 7 software makers to bring integrated, cheaper add-ons to Google Apps.
  • The Globe and Mail lists Wikinvest as a tool to help ordinary investors dig through the data.
  • Investors.com explains the benefits of using Yodlee to track your finances.
  • Fast Company examines Betterment and BillGuard’s  #occupywallstreet event.
  • Dwolla alters its registration process into a more pleasant experience.
  • VentureBeat explains how Prosper is helping to support the #occupywallstreet protesters.
  • peerTransfer partners with 30 new universities.
  • Bill.com receives “Awesome Add-On” award.
  • Social Lending Network provides details on Prosper’s recent round of funding.
  • Balance Financial launches professional platform.
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.
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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.
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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.

Bank of America Will Use Yodlee’s FinApp Platform

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for yodlee.jpgYesterday, California-based Yodlee announced an extended service arrangement with Bank of America to implement Yodlee’s FinApp platform. 

FinApp capabilities include:

    • Transaction-based offers (i.e. merchant-funded rewards)
    • Tax preparation from H&R Block
    • Custom savings plans
    • Credit score improvement module
    • P2P money transfers
To learn more about how Yodlee is helping banks to tailor the client’s experience, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo

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. 
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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.
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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 at BAI Retail Delivery Conference

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The BAI Retail Delivery conference begins tomorrow with 29 Finovate alumni participating in sessions and/or exhibiting on the trade show floor.
Session Speakers
  • 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
Exhibitors 
BAI Mobile Link
Mobile Link Panel Discussions
Solutions Theatre
Jim Bruene and I (julie@netbanker.com) will be in attendance and will update the blog and Twitter with new developments throughout the event. 

Finovate Alumni News– September 30, 2011

  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgReuters advises opening a BankSimple to avoid bank fees.
  • Fox Business News interviews Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital, on the startup’s services.
  • Digital Stock Market recommends using Yodlee or Mint to help control your spending.
  • eToro makes its blog available as a WebTrader widget.
  • SmartMoney discusses Personal Capital’s advisor video chat feature.
  • Q2ebanking adds its mobile app to the Android marketplace.
  • Xero wins K2 Quality award for SaaS.
  • SecondMarket puts itself up for sale using its own site, SecondMarket.
  • Wall Street Survivor announces the winners of the August Stock Game Giveaway.
  • Lifehacker advises using BrightScope to analyze your 401(k) during a “financial bootcamp day.”
  • eToro wins 3 World Finance Awards.
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.

Yodlee Shows How Banks Can Tailor the Consumer Banking Experience

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This afternoon, Yodlee demoed The Dynamic Consumer Experience:
“Yodlee’s dynamic consumer banking experience is fast, flexible, and tailored to the unique needs of individuals, all in an anytime, anywhere online/mobile environment. 
We will be showing how financial providers can, from a single platform, enable truly differentiated consumer banking experiences that drive substantial value. We will be highlighting distinct consumer segments to demonstrate how different the experiences can be, even down to the payment vehicles. This empowers both banks and consumers while delivering exceptional functionality via a unique Yodlee FinApp architecture.”
Product Launch: November 2011
HQ Location: Redwood City, CA
Company Founded: February 1999
Metrics: 12 years’ banking leadership & innovation, 700+ employees globally, 40% annual YOY revenue growth, 30M+ registered users, 300+ customers
Website: yodlee.com
Presenting Peter Hazlehurst (Chief Product Officer), Aimeelene Hwang (Senior Product Manager), & Eric Connors (VP Product)

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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.

FinovateFall 2011 Sneak Peek: Part 1

FInFallLogo.jpgMore than 60 leading fintech innovators, both startups and established companies, are gearing up to present at the biggest Finovate ever, Sep. 20/21 in NYC.

Each company provided a sneak peek of what they’ll be demoing on stage next month. Below is the first installment of these teasers. We’ll have more next week. 
Don’t miss your chance to see the live demo from each company and meet the execs responsible. Get your FinovateFall ticket here
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Backbase is launching “Retail Bank of the Future,” representing the e-banking engagement experience of tomorrow. It embodies the newest User Experience (UX) patterns based on input gathered from customer research, industry thought leaders and UX specialists.
Innovation type: Mobile UI, online UI

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Personal finance is a chore and not too high on any To-Do list. Life is busy and finance stresses people out. 
At Balance, we manage your personal financial chores for you. We combine professional service (your own bookkeeper!) with all of your financial accounts and bills in one place for a fully managed experience that is personalized for you.
At Finovate we will show how you can now connect your financial accounts to Balance and power our newest expense tracking, budgeting and custom reporting tools. Also, look for a demo of our photo bill pay app and some other surprises!
Innovation type: Banking, payments, PFM

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Saving for a house? And retirement? And that dream vacation? No problem with Betterment.com! We’ve created the simplest, fastest, and most efficient way for consumers to invest for their goals and the future.
Innovation type: Banking, investing, PFM

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Banks need to re-define the relationship they have with consumers if they want to succeed in today’s market. StatementRewards has introduced an effective way for financial institutions to inexpensively reward their consumers for banking with them, which in turn increases loyalty and customer satisfaction. 
At Finovate, BillShrink announces a new innovation that harnesses the intelligence of aggregated transactional data and applies it to customers’ social networking and purchase management activities. By utilizing advanced analytics to present the most personalized offers and other services to customers, StatementRewards gives financial institutions a unique, competitive edge.
Innovation type: Cards, PFM, rewards

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Want to see the definitive search engine for tackling today’s banking issues? cbanc Network has created a revolutionary online collaborative platform for financial institutions to share best practices. This secure online community contains the largest repository of peer-authored, board-approved, exam-tested content anywhere. Here, banking professionals trade real, practical work — including policies, procedures, agreements, vendor reviews and more from every department of a bank or credit union. 
This network
  1. Motivates people to share their best work 
  2. Uses points as currency to incentivize users 
  3. Helps FIs prepare for exams
  4. Protects users around legal and competitive concerns of sharing
Innovation type: Back office, online UI, security

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The technology of the CLX.SentinelDisplay, a Class 4 reader with a hardened browser, hardened middleware, an integrated smart card and a high-resolution display,  ensures extremely high, comprehensive security in e-banking applications. 
Along with the reader’s extremely secure customer authentication and transaction signing mechanisms, the advanced concepts for application authentication and pro-active security updates is unique. The hardened browser (CLX.SecureBrowser) onboard the reader ensures full confidentiality of customer data – a security aspect that is often entirely ignored.
Innovation type: Identity, payments, security

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DeMystData’s new web-based modeling platform helps lenders grow thin file portfolios without increasing their risk level. With minimal inputs, our tool leverages the vast amounts of data accumulated online, applies advanced statistical techniques, and configures a bespoke predictive API that captures additional customer information without adding underwriting complexity.  
The DeMystData platform has application in variety of commercial environments incl
uding credit issuance, risk assessment, segment identification, and offer customization.
Innovation type: Identity, lending, marketing

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Credit unions, banks, financial advisors, financial institutions: How are you delivering youth financial education to your client families? How are you connecting with your next generation client? How are you fulfilling Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) responsibilities for financial literacy programs that progress in complexity as students get older? 
You’ve tried online content and even interactive online games, but the results are disappointing. Neither can hold a child’s attention for long or keep them coming back over the years. We have a better way. It’s no game. It’s real experience. It works. We can’t wait to show you at FinovateFall 2011.
Innovation type: Online UI, PFM

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Fuze Network provides innovative ways for financial companies and their customers to work together. Learn how we help billers to build brand loyalty, aid in collection efforts, reduce fees, boost your customer service efforts and help to eliminate misdirected funds.
With Fuze at your back we can help to boost your store traffic, drive sales, increase revenues and simplify the hassle of payment processing all while creating a better customer service experience.
Fuze helps connect customers with the closest payment locations, online bill payments, simple cash payment solutions, and easy utility bill payment all while saving them fees and the hassle and stress of paying bills.
Innovation type: Back office, cards, payments

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Ready to have your financial mind blown away? Lighter Capital is combining light-hearted irreverence PLUS a light-weight and flexible funding structure PLUS a social-based investment decision analysis to make it easier, faster and more fun for small businesses to access capital than ever before! Get ready!
Innovation type: Investing, lending, small business

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KulaX is a cross-sell engine that enables financial institutions to leverage their online banking platform to generate more leads faster without interfering with core banking functions. 
Online banking customers are targeted with the “next best product” where they are invited, at logout, to engage in an automated one-on-one microinterview with their financial institution about their financial products needs and preferences. Upon interview completion, customers are presented with special offers for the FI’s products and services that have been tailored based on interview responses; requested offers are emailed to customers.
Innovation type: Marketing, rewards

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Modo converts redemptions to payments, and makes payments mobile.  Our demo will show how easy it is to onboard consumers and merchants, as well as the simplicity of paying with modo.  
And of course, most importantly, why you should GET modo and PAY with modo, in the first place: MORE!

Innovation type: Mobile, payments, rewards


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When your brand is in the palm of your customer’s hand: make the most of mobile technology. Mootwin helps your business enhance the mobile customer experience, re-enforce loyalty, and accelerate revenue growth.

Innovation type: Communications, marketing, mobile


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MShift and ACI Worldwide formed an alliance in 2010 to offer mobile delivery of ACI Enterprise Banker, the industry leading business banking solution.  
They are now partnering to create a ground-breaking mobile business banking native application for the tablet. The application is focused on robust and graphically rich presentations of financial data as well operational tasks like ACH, wire release and bill payment, all with access from anywhere at anytime.
Innovation type: Banking, mobile, payments

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MyCyberTwin will demo its Artificial Intelligence solutions, called virtual agents
, and give a detailed explanation about how current leading financial institutions are using the technology today and will use the technology in the future.
It is a powerful demo to show an audience how a computer thinks and answers questions in real-time, helping customers get the answers they need while helping companies garner the intelligence of the customers visiting their websites. This demo will also showcase an emotionally responsive AI virtual agent able to capture emotion including smiling, frowning, and expressing gratitude.
Innovation type: Communications, marketing, sales

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The oFlows paperless loan and deposit originations system has expanded beyond financial institutions.  Because oFlows has seamlessly integrated credit, fraud and payment systems, now anyone can use oFlows for just about any transaction.
Think of the last time you were handed a clipboard with a paper form on it. Next time it might be a tablet computer running oFlows.
Innovation type: Banking, lending, mobile

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Consumers have plans, life plans, and want to understand how those plans affect their finances in the future, so they can make better decisions.
Planwise is launching tools that will help any consumer, from the teen buying a laptop, the 20-something buying a car, the couple buying their first home to the astute property investor, to better understand how their decisions today might look in the future financially.
The consumer can then connect with the lender or adviser of choice to quote, get advice or apply.
Innovation type: Lending, marketing, PFM

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Putting money aside for a rainy day is easier said than done. Many Americans do not have any money saved for emergencies. 
Plastyc aims to change this by introducing automated savings built into prepaid card accounts. Setting aside a few dollars every day, week or month will be just a single click away. Money accumulated in the savings purse of the card account will reward savers with cash at unprecedented rates.
Innovation type: Banking, cards, online UI

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ReadyForZero is an online program for the 77% of American families who are paying down debt. For individuals and families, ReadyForZero facilitates the management and reduction of debt. 
For financial institutions, the program is a low-touch and consumer-friendly alternative that reduces net credit loss and improves customer retention.
Innovation type: Online UI, payments, PFM

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Rebirth Financial, noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as a company to “change the US finance system,” is shaking up the small business lending game again! 
In February, Rebirth launched the nation’s first peer-to-business lending platform. Shortly after, Rebirth uniquely integrated SBA and CRA lending into the P2B mix. 
Now, Rebirth is introducing the JAS Rating System! It’s a system that will redefine the way we analyze small business and a must-see for financial institutions lending to small businesses and companies wondering whether they should extend credit to a new client. It’s just another game changer from Rebirth Financial.
Innovation type: Back office, lending, small business

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T8 Webware is bringing native mobile services to the masses by giving consumers real-time access to their financial purchase capabilities. Grip, a financial decision-making tool supports consumers’ daily needs, empowering them to understand their money flow simply and without clutter. 
Grip enables financial institutions to provide convenient information on the go; addressing consumers’ mobile needs through a highly secured mobile and tablet app. With no reliance on core integration, financial institutions can offer Grip almost immediately and without any upfront fees. It can be deployed in three weeks and costs 99 cents each month for customers who use the app.

Innovation type: Communications, mobile, PFM


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The Transecq solution, powered by ENTERSECT ITA, has revolutionized two-factor authentications by utilizing the power of the end user’s mobile device, fully encrypting the device and creating a multi-factor authentication tool. 
Strong 2-Factor authentication delivered ubiquitously across the globe puts the power of approval in the appropriate hands.Thus providing protection and security way beyond passwords and account challenges.
Transecq is the industry leading innovator and developer of mobile security sol
utions for the financial services market.  All the services leverage the security of Digital Fingerprint technology which uniquely ties a user and his/her mobile phone to an encryption key.

Innovation type: Communications, identity, security


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Weemba revolutionizes the way borrowers and lenders find each other and interact in a social-network-like online format. Borrowers create a profile and post a loan project under a nickname. 
Profiles may include everything from the Borrower’s income and education level (individuals) to their number of employees and annual sales (businesses). Lenders search projects by credit score, amount needed, purpose and more. 
When a Lender finds an interesting project, the Lender then may ask the Borrower for access to their real identity. If the Borrower grants access to the Lender, all further contact and any negotiations take place outside Weemba.
Innovation type: Lending, marketing

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At FinovateFall 2011, Yodlee will demonstrate customization without effort. The company has developed a way for banks to automatically tailor a consumer’s initial experience with personal financial management.
Or, as the company likes to say:
    Online banking can be such a chore
    Checking balances is often a bore
    With new customization
    You’ll cause a sensation
    Yodlee FinApps offers MUCH more
    All new at Finovate
    Banking that will motivate
    Inspire and personalize
    You’ll see how to stylize
    Your customers will tell you you’re so GREAT