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

ClairMail.jpg

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

iPayTechnologies.jpg

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

FinovateFall: Last Chance to Save $300 on Sep. 20-21 Event

image Thanks to everyone who made FinovateSpring a success just a week ago (my Twitter transcript here). But innovation doesn’t stand still, so we are already collecting applications and selling tickets for FinovateFall in New York City.

In fact, if you want to save on your fall ticket, register by the end of the day Friday (May 20) to receive $300 off regular ticket prices. Based on early results, it could be the biggest Finovate yet.

Last year, the conference expanded to two days (selling out 3 weeks in advance) and the audience loved it. Once again, each day will be packed with our unique blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the demoing companies.  With each company receiving just 7 minutes onstage, FinovateFall is the only place to see dozens of fintech innovations in such a short period of time.

So make sure you are part of the excitement at the fifth annual NYC Finovate on Sep. 20 & 21, and save $300, by registering today!

——————————————————–

Last year’s presenters (FinovateFall 2010)

FinovateFall demos

Finovate Spring 2011 Live Twitter Transcript

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Here’s the transcript from our Netbanker live Twitter feed during Finovate Spring last Tuesday and Wednesday. 




The entries are in reverse chronological order.


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  • PayNearMe also demoing multiple bill payment at 7-eleven and finally international remittance via Ria; great role play on stage! 
  • PayNearMe demoing three obligations paid via a cash transaction at the 7-eleven store; first a Progreso Financiero payday loan pmt 
  • Corduro demoing a use-case where a non-profit can take donations/payments on-the-go; launching today MobilizeYourArmy.com 
  • Corduro “Square meets Paypal meets your wallet” mobile payments solution 
  • Launching OpenCuro network today, so that the codes can be generated from within a bank’s secure site 
  • OpenCuro launching new online payment system with increased privacy & security; uses one-time random alpha-numeric code 
  • Ideon also launching system for FI to create new value-added CDs, speeds time-to-market “minutes, not months” 
  • Ideon launching Choice Savings, a certificate of deposit sales system where user can create a customized deposit product 
  • MyBankTracker.com, with 500,000 unique visitors/mo, launching Plentifi, an app to mobilize the PF community; includes real-time Q&A 
  • Aptys showing a mobile billing system, with invoice creation and payment by check with remote image capture through iPad2 camera 
  • Aptys Solutions, a FI payments hub, launching “aMobile” mobile payments capabilities 
  • Enloop demoing a biz owner setting up the financials for proposed business; assigns EPS performance score; creates biz plan 
  • Enloop launching beta today; allows anyone to complete online business plan & have it scored with algorithms that predict success 
  • edo Interactive showing how fast reward is redeemed; user has money in their bank account within a minute
  • edo Interactive demoing co-brand with Fifth Third Bank which is now live for its 4.5 million customers 
  • edo Interactive launching Prewards: merchant-funded rewards with real-time redemption and immediate notification
  • payDivvy launching to the public today 
  • payDivvy can be used to share and divide recurring bills among roommates; has a built in “ping” function to remind roommate to pay 
  • payDivvy launching publicly today the first social billpay system, ie. bill sharing, a “missing function in today’s systems” 
  • Kony demoing its mobile-web app, that behaves the same as native app; and first Blackberry app of the day 
  • Kony Solutions, used by 40 global customers, showing a customized mobile app with remote deposit capture
  • ChargeSmart currently processing $111/min across all payment methods 
  • ChargeSmart offers a percentage (up to 92%) of gift card balance which customer can accept/reject; then apply to bills 
  • ChargeSmart partnering with PlasticJungle to launch system to turn unused gift cards into currency to use to pay monthly bills 
  • Adobe user interface very sophisticated, both online, mobile phone and tablet (i’m ready for my bank app to look like that) 
  • Adobe showing online cross-selling platform with slick Facebook/Twitter integration 
  • Openfinance working today with 60 European financial institutions 
  • Openfinance showing customization of “Open workplace” with plug-and-play modules; includes mobile and iPad version of dashboard 
  • Openfinance from Spain launching an advisor platform to better counsel clients online 
  • Expensify launched mobile photo receipt capture to make it easier to upload expenses into the system, “a most requested feature” 
  • Expensify working on holy grail, “one-click expense reporting”, demoing auto reconcile, auto categorization, showing biz card scan 
  • Expensify hits the stage running, “expense reports that don’t suck,” great start to final afternoon
  • BancVue beta clients delivering to 100 schools, 10,000 students; showing how it is used to increase sales, build relationships 
  • BancVue MoneyIsland includes “teacher and parents dashboard” to track students’ progress, also can link to offline curriculum 
  • BancVue launching youth-oriented financial gaming system, Money Island, a financial education platform 
  • Tile Financial “young adults engage with images, not spreadsheets” so interface very visual oriented; live with FI & 2 more coming 
  • Tile Financial, a financial mgmt program for Gen Y, launching Financial Identity, the money version of a social network profile 
  • PrivatBank’s Liqpay launching PaytoFace, a peer-to-peer system for paying Facebook friends by clicking on their profile pic 
  • Currensee launching today the “Portfolio Builder”, with dynamic update of total risk in portfolio 
  • Currensee includes social piece, where you can follow and invest with the actual trades by top-performing network members 
  • Currensee has invented “new way to invest” in world currency market; targeted for retail investors ($4 tril per day in volume) 
  • eWise demoing mobile purchase at the point of sale, also mobile bill payment by scanning QR code with mobile camera 
  • eWise walking thru online purchase via US Bank, user needn’t pre-register, automatically available when bank joins network 
  • eWise onstage with U.S. Bank demoing Payo, Secure Vault Payments, online in production @ US Bank & will be piloting mobile in 2011 
  • BillShrink demoing private-branded (Chase) mobile version to find and track rewards; “geo-enhanced” of course 
  • BillShrink launching “reward discovery”; how user behavior incented to unlock additional rewards, eg. spend “X” more get, Y bonus 
  • BillShrink launching Statement Rewards Mobile; announcing 4 innovations today; showing rewards on a Chase bank statement 
  • RobotDough also includes 15,000 defunct companies to eliminate “survivor bias” from back testing; can browse investing strategies 
  • RobotDough launching worldwide coverage to ALL 45,000 global public companies; w/ 20 years historical data for powerful back tester
  • RobotDough launching investor tools, drag-and-drop visual screener; uses powerful natural-language search queries 
  • Q2eBanking launching fraud monitoring, and fraud reduction, solution for community banks and credit unions 
  • Discover Money Messenger a
    lso works online, new tab in Discover site, “Send Money” and says “powered by PayPal” on top of page 
  • Any Discover cardholder can now send money via mobile to other cardholders or to any mobile number; demoing live on stage, worked! 
  • Paypal and Discover launching Money Messenger using Paypal’s X open payment platform 
  • Bills.com debt coaching service is free to consumers; integrates with DebtGoal 
  • Bills.com shows costs and APRs for every open credit line; and helps figure savings, eg. from a mortgage refi 
  • Bills.com demoing Debt Coach to help consumers manage & minimize debt; integrates ACTUAL INFO from Experian credit report 
  • GoalMine reminds of goals, “weight watchers for money” and moves money to invest accts; also only way to invest via Facebook” 
  • GoalMine allows users to set “pledges”,eg “stop buying lattes,” then with geo, when walking in Starbucks reminds not to buy 
  • GoalMine launching mobile system for easy “retail” investing; making investing “as easy as updating twitter/facebook feed” 
  • Silver Tail dashboard has column with “user skew”, rates each click’s deviation from expected behavior, red flag for oddities 
  • Silver Tail Systems launching new behavioral monitoring on individual mobile/online clickstream 
  • In addition to credit bureaus, TrustedID monitors black market to see if card stolen; also upsells to choice of 15 paid versions
  • TrustedID launching free ID theft protection service, ID Safe; “free for life” no credit card needed; only distributed via partners 
  • HelloWallet has a secondary navigation category, “Reduce Spending” with item count, good approach; showing examples 
  • HelloWallet has been distributed through employers as employee benefit, but today are opening up to the general public 
  • HelloWallet positioning as online “wealth building service” to differentiate against other PFMs 
  • Wipro mobile also includes expense-claim module, employee time-sheet input, payroll, etc; very comprehensive 
  • Wipro showing easy mobile positive pay system, an important feature for businesses and even consumers who crave extra control 
  • Wipro demoing new mobile solution for small/mid-size business management 
  • Mitek Systems showing the photo capture of a bill, then OCR conversion captures payee name & payment amount 
  • Mitek, which made its name in mobile check deposit, introducing “mobile photo billpay, to pay bills directly with camera phone 
  • Interesting to see “override” (the credit decision) button in the Experian dashboard, looks easy to navigate 
  • Experian Business Information Systems launching Business IQ Premier, an interface for managing credit decisioning 
  • FreeMonee launching today at Finovate, first national gift (card) network delivered; distribution is through banks for trust & convenience
  • Day 2 at Finovate starts with FreeMonee by giving out some $25 Best Buy and Nordstrom gift cards to audience, benefit of sitting up front!
  • That’s a wrap for day 1; turn in those Best of Show ballots for free Starbucks card, see you tomorrow 
  • Backbase showing how banks can customize end-user experience by adding new apps in near-real time; Strands included in app store. 
  • Backbase launching Backbase App Store for online, mobile, and tablet apps 
  • LendStreet is “P2P lending meets credit counseling” and captures discounts lenders offer to get bad debt off their books 
  • LendStreet launches system to help consumers restructure debt with retail investors funding; specialized P2P lending niche 
  • Balance Financial also launching iPhone app with image capture to upload picture of bills to personal bookkeeper 
  • Balance Financial looks at bills received & determines whether to pay automatically or flag for further review; fee-based service 
  • Balance Financial launches alternative to DIY financial management using algorithms, tech & nationwide network of human bookkeepers 
  • ID Analytics demoing mobile integration; cool dashboard with patented ID score on green/yellow/red dial; protect 2 mil users now 
  • ID Analytics, “minutes count with ID theft,” leveraging cross-industry ID network to instantly alert consumers when theft occurs
  • oFlows demoing customer loan app on iPad with signature; using iPad2 camera to upload photos of two forms of ID for compliance 
  • oFlows takes the paper out of paperwork; launching new process which mobilizes the entire product application process 
  • Lendio does a soft-pull from Equifax so there’s no hit to credit score while the biz is loan shopping 
  • Lendio assists the small business lending process by matching qualified prospects with lenders who could reasonably approve loan 
  • Bankons using “Bruene C.U.” in its mobile mockup (gotta love that) and a 2-for-1 offer at Skool after the show.
  • BankOns using Yodlee data aggregation; offers white-labeled turn-key or use of API to integrate directly into FI’s mobile app 
  • BankOns launching today; delivering through the FI geo-located merchant offers, mobile optimized, android and iphone 
  • Dwolla has 10 financial institutions signed, using FiSync; showing dashboard that shows where users are transacting
  • Dwolla is demoing its person-to-person payment app; side note: our 2nd Finovate alum from Iowa (also @smartypig) 
  • Figlo demoing investment tools; today launching iPad app and Android app 
  • Figlo showing its dashboard, advanced online PFM user interface; launching multi-currency
  • Braintree helped LivingSocial sell 1.3 million Amazon gift cards in 24 hours and stay PCI compliant 
  • Braintree providing LivingSocial with credit card acceptance using “transparent redirect API ” to offload risk /compliance 
  • Kiboo mobile has goals, funds transfer, product discovery with geo-location, NFC-enabled POS purchase, social network integration
  • Kiboo launching mobile app companion to the online youth-oriented banking platform 
  • Ready Receipts allows users to upload receipts or, with merchant participation, get paperless receipt at POS and opt out of paper 
  • Ready Receipts launching system to get rid of paper receipts; showing receipt dashboard 
  • See Afiniate in the hall this afternoon; I’m sure their iphone will connect the minute they step off stage 
  • Affiniate launching on-the-go financial coach to turn mobile app into customer’s personal financial advisor 
  • Mint.com launching mobile advice, alerts when available credit gets too low; some advertisers get more leads by mobile than online 
  • Mint.com says 50% of users have smartphone attached to acct; 20-25% of new users coming via mobile app and using mobile only 
  • Bill.com charging $0.49 fee for invoices paid via electronic payment; something businesses will like 
  • Bill.com launching mobile version for biz owner to handle/approve bills, make payments and handle receivables 
  • Bill.com showing online invoicing system for small businesses; moving $2.5 billion in bill payments annually 
  • Showing peerTransfer
    in use at Boston-based Suffolk University; novel use of peer-to-peer services 
  • peerTransfer launching p2p international money transfer service; currently offering for tuition payments for intl students 
  • Wikinvest taking signups for beta users of SigFig 
  • Wikinvest launching SigFig; helps users analyze trading fees & commissions they are paying; compares to peers and other providers 
  • BillFloat showing easy to understand disclosure on complete cost of short-term loan; merchant can offer fee discount 
  • BillFloat system for helping users get individual bills paid, introducing “Less is More” to help users get correct size loan 
  • Profitstarts also allows line-level employees to make individual pricing decisions in the same tool 
  • Jack Henry’s ProfitStars introducing Margin Maximizer Interactive, a system to help FIs make better pricing decisions 
  • Billeo ShopSmart includes option to show Groupon and other daily deals into the interface; working with 2 of top 5 card issuers 
  • Billeo has seen conversions as high as 8% on offers; includes integration to Facebook to share product info 
  • Billeo launching integration of merchant offers into mobile search results; demoing slick integration on iPad 
  • Arroweye can be integrated into secure online banking; choose from clipart or upload own image and resize to fit card exactly 
  • Arroweye Solutions is launching a highly-customized online digital design platform for debit/credit/prepaid cards 
  • Doxo showing for first time the business control panel, dashboard for talking with customers, as easy as tweeting or Facebooking 
  • When billers are connected to user via doxo they can communicate billing info and other account info right through doxo
  • Doxo solving paper statement problem, only 15% paperless; “why isn’t interacting w/ billers as easy as talking to friend @Facebook 
  • HOYOS selling USB device for $99, not a hurdle for business users and high net worth 
  • HOYOS is showing actual live login with eye scan to Twitter, Gmail, Paypal and Facebook and they all worked! 
  • HOYOS launching EyeLock, a biometric system to login to any of your online accounts with iris scan via USB device 
  • Bancbox showing acct opening; integration with LoanBack (p2p loan platform); includes reporting, reg compliance, educational tools 
  • Note to self: copy that cool spotlight Bancbox is using to highlight features on screen 
  • BancBox launching “API to US banking system” (awesome opening line) so fintech startups can quickly offer bank & pay services 
  • Code Green showing how FI clients can customize how their rates look; showing results via Virginia Credit Union mockup 
  • Code Green launching Ratecast to help FIs get their rate info into the market, showing integration with Facebook
  • Kabbage is launching today their support for Amazon merchants in addition to eBay 
  • Kabbage, which funds online merchants, launching system that rewards them (w/ more capital) for adding more data to Kabbage acct 
  • Gold Bullion showing dashboard: buy & choose where metal is stored. Fully audited & insured; integrate with other asset mgmt systems 
  • Gold Bullion International showing online precious metals trading platform; makes buying the metals as easy as buying securities 
  • Xero showing simple report generation via drop-down boxes, makes it easy create and share reports; showing NZ accountant search 
  • Xero out of New Zealand is showing its online accounting dashboard with business indicators to help manage 
  • Intellaegis tools save 1 hour /day per employee plus increases their effectiveness; Findex score = how easy to find person 
  • Intellaegis demoing MasterQueue dashboard which gathers public data on loan holder incl. social networks; develops Findex score 
  • Intellaegis launching system to better manage massive data gathered for loan collections 
  • Bundle’s merchant tool shows average ticket value to see how expensive, showing example from Ozumo in SF; also discovery tools 
  • Bundle is demoing new merchant recommender so users can see where others are spending their $$; calculates loyalty score 
  • Clovr Patch is the consumer UI for tracking offers and redemption; good web 2.0 look and feel; also links offers to mobile 
  • Clovr Media (Card Linked Offers Virtual Redemption) starts Finovate off with huge new opportunity, merchant-funded rewards systems

Finovate Spring 2011 in the Press

2MinuteFinance
What is Finovate?
by Bobby Lee
American Banker
Dwolla Mobile Pay App Uses Location
by Daniel Wolfe 
Bank Innovation
by JJ Hornblass
5 Surprising Choices for ‘Best of Show’ at Finovate
First Bank to Go Live With Mitek’s ‘Mobile Photo Bill Pay’ by Yearend

Mint: ‘Don’t Count Us Out on Payments’
Card Companies Circle BillFloat
FinovateSpring Grades: BancBox, Mitek, eWise, Lead the Pack
Bank Technology News
Aptys Demos Tablet-based Paperless Invoices
by Penny Crosman
6 Best Ideas For Banks at Finovate Day 1
by Penny Crosman


Boston Innovation
The Future of Finance: 3 Boston Startups Demo at Finovate 2011
by Cheryl Morris


Business Wire
FinovateSpring 2011 Best of Show Award Winners Announced by The Finovate Group 

Link 

TILE Financial Unveils Financial Identity Profile to Stengthen Connection Between Financial Advisors and Under-30 Consumers
Link

Celent
Finovate Spring 2011 Roundup
by Jacob Jegher

CNNMoney

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Log in to Facebook… with your eye
by Blake Ellis


Credit Karma
Finovate Spring 2011: Our Picks


Credit Union Times
by Marc Rapport
CUSO-Backed P2P Specialist Dwolla wins “Best of Show” at Finovate
On-Site Coverage: CUs Need To Look Beyond ‘Comfort Zone’
CUbroadcast
Getting “Mo-cial” at Finovate Spring 2011
by Mike Lawson

DesMoinesRegister.com
Dwolla wins award in S.F., moves closer to “holy grail” of direct access to bank accounts
by Adam Belz

Enhanced Online News
FinovateSpring 2011 Best of Show Award Winners Announced by the Finovate Group

Entrepreneur
How to Cut Transaction Costs on Customer Purchases
by Eileen Gunn
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Forbes
Start-ups talk Money, Cash, Credit At Finovate     &nbs
p; 
by Tomio Geron
Link     
Huffington Post
Fintech Leaves Fake-o-nomics Behind
by Ben Mangan

HuffPost.jpg



Lazy Man and Money
Finovate Spring 2011 Live Blog

Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

MarketWatch
Investing Meets Social Networking
by Stacey Delo
Mashable 
Expenses Made Fun: Expensify Adds Automatic Receipt Scanning [PICS]
by Jennifer Van Grove
MyBankTracker.com
Coupon Clipping of the 21st Century
by Zachary Ehrlich

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New York Times
by Ann Carrns
Consumer Reports Offers New Comparison Tool
A Tool To Weigh Debt Payment Options
P2P Lending News
LendStreet to Offer Peer to Peer Debt Restructuring Service
by Matthew Paulson
PaymentsViews
by Jacqueline Chilton
FinovateSpring 2011
FinovateSpring 2011: Best of Show and Glenbrook Perspectives
PCMag.com
Forget Passwords, Eye-Scanning Is Here
by Damon Poeter
PCWorld
Web Services Promise to Save you Money, Slash Paperwork
by Yardena Arar
PYMNTS.com
Outstanding in the Field: FinovateSpring 2011 Showcase
by Tim Attinger


Reuters

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Brokerage rip-off datapoint of the day
by Felix Salmon

San Francisco Chronicle

Lendio to Demo Business Loan Matching Tech at Finovate

SFChronicle.jpg


Social Lending Network
LendStreet Takes an Innovative Approach to P2P Lending
by Peter Renton

TechAxcess
Lendio to Showcase Loan Software
Link                                                                            
TECHcocktail
HelloWallet Launches to Consumers to Grow Personal Wealth
by Frank Gruber
TechCrunch
BillShrink Upgrades Its Statement Rewards With Rewards Discovery, Geolocation, And Social Features
by Alexia Tsotsis

TechCrunch.jpg

Google-Backed Corduro Promises Even Lower Mobile Payment Fees Than Square
by Erick Schonfeld
Expensify Adds Intelligent Receipt Scanning To Expense Report System
by Leena Rao
Former eBay, Oracle Execs Raise $11 Million for “Gift Network” FreeMonee
by Robin Wauters
PayNearMe’s Cash Payment Product Can Now Be Used For Money Transfers, Bill Pay and More
by Leena Rao
The Simplifier
What Was Missing at Finovate
by Bryan Link
TMCnet.com
PayNearMe Awarded Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2011
Venture Beat

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No more deadbeat friends: PayDivvy launches social bill service
by Anthony Ha
Washington Post
The Download: HelloWallet debuts its financial health software
by Steven Overly
Williammillsagencyevents
Finovate Spring San Francisco Live Blog
Xconomy Boston
PeerTransfer, Inspired by Raw Deals for International Students, Rolls Out Online Tuition Payment Service
by Gregory Huang

Alumni News: Week of May 2 and May 9

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Backbase

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Backbase will provide TCS Bank in Russia with a website integration solution through Bank 2.0 Portal. Link

Bill.com

Bill.com rolled out Sage Peachtree Sync, software for controlling bill payment and management. Link

BrightScope

BrightScope released its second annual list of the Atlanta-based companies with the best 401k plans. Link

CashEdge

CashEdge expanded Popmoney service by adding Popmoney for Prepaid. It also announced a partnership with TxVia. Link 

CashEdge.jpg


Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point was listed on Acadian Asset Management’s Top 15 Buys list.  Link


Cortera

Cortera announced a new version of its PULSE app, a customer monitoring service. The new version will add Growth Clues alert.  Link


DebtGoal

DebtGoal.jpg

DebtGoal hired Igor Vaks, former Experian CIO, as new COO. Link


eToro

eToro emerged as the preferred platform for building forex wealth through web trading.  Link

Expensify

Expensify advertised on giant billboard in the Bay Area. Link

Fiserv

fiserv.jpg

Fiserv announced improvements to its Relationship Rewards. Link

ID Analytics

CoreLogic partnered with ID Analytics to integrate ID Network with LoanSafe Fraud Manager. Link

ID Analytics will host Advance 2011, its 9th Consumer Risk Management Conference, this September.  Link

IP Commerce

IP Commerce recently raised another round of funding. Link

Lending Club

Lending Club issued a record high of $17.5M loans in April. It is the 4th record month in the past 5. Link

Lending Club won Webby Award for the Banking/ Bill Paying category. Link


Mint 

Mint won Webby Awards for the Financial Services category. Link

MoneyAisle

Mone
yAisle launched live auctions for unsecured personal loans to help consumers across a wide range of credit scores. Link

PayNearMe

paynearme.jpg

PayNearMe raised $16M in funding from new and current investors. Link

Plastyc

Plastyc won a patent for improved online payment methods. Link

Prosper

Prosper increased loan volume by more than 50% compared to 3 months ago, issuing over $5M in new loans in April. Link

Yodlee

Yodlee is looking into developing mobile apps with new “FinApp Store” strategy. Link

FinovateSpring 2011 Best of Show: BancVue, BankOns, Dwolla, oFlows, Mitek, PayNearMe & Wikinvest

imageFinovateSpring 2011 is a wrap. It was an inspiring two days, with 64 demos, all with an interesting twist or two or three on the state-of-the-art.

In the end, seven were chosen by the audience as best of show, but it was a tight race. Most companies received a significant number of audience votes and piles of business cards in the networking sessions.

The FinovateSpring 2011 Best of Show winners (in alphabetic order):

  • BancVue for its youth-oriented financial game system, MoneyIsland
  • BankOns (company launch) for its mobile merchant-funded rewards system
  • Dwolla for its alternative payment service (taking root in Iowa)
  • oFlows for taking mobilizing the application process via iPad2
  • Mitek Systems for Mobile Photo Billpay, doing for paper bills what it did for checks
  • PayNearMe for enabling online bills and transfers to be paid with cash at a 7-11 store
  • Wikinvest for SigFig, a service to help users understand investment costs & alternatives

Congratulations! And thanks to everyone who presented, sponsored, attended and followed the #finovate tweets.

——————————

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.   
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites as the day went on and choose 3 favorites from just the demos of that day. Ballots were turned in at the end of the last demo session each day. 
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation they demoed. Note: Ballots with more than three companies circled will not be counted.” 
4. The seven companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named Best of Show.

BrightScope’s New Tool Shines on Financial Advisors

Last week, BrightScope launched Advisor Tool, a new and improved way to search for investment advisors.

BrightScope9.jpg

Twin brothers Mike and Ryan Alfred founded BrightScope in 2007 with a goal to “bring transparency to opaque markets.” It accomplishes this through two free services:

  • A tool that allows users to view the ratings and rankings of public-company retirement plans (401ks) accessed through a public database.
  • The new Advisor Tool, which provides key info for selecting an advisor such as experience, fees, and average account balance.

Here’s how Advisor Tool works:

  1. Decide: Choose to search for an individual advisor or firm
  2. Set parameters: Enter what you’re looking for, such as the advisor’s name, city or state, the value of assets, and so on (see inset below).
  3. Compare: The results include basic info: location, qualifications, area of specialty, client types and more detailed data such as legal disputes, formal complaints, cost of services, and a list of exams passed.  
BrightScope8.jpg
Advisor Tool Features

It allows you to compare and contrast the following characteristics of up to three advisors at a time:

  • Type of registration held
  • Current employer
  • Dollar value of the assets under management
  • Average account balance
  • Primary client type
  • Years of experience
  • Fees the advisor charges
  • SEC & FINRA disputes

Results can be filtered by the following criteria:

  • Number of assets
  • Average account balance
  • Current employer
  • Client types

Analysis

Besides sitting down with a phone book, asking Aunt Laura, or Googling financial advisors, users can search directly through the FINRA and the SEC databases. However, both have been described as “clunky” and “needlessly complex.” BrightScope brings web 2.0 search and discovery to this important area.

Calgary_phone_book.jpg

While the tool is powerful, it is not without limitations. The results are only as good as the sources of information used, primarily Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) BrokerCheck database and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) investment advisor database. 

But as advisors upgrade their listings, for a fee, with photos and other detailed information,

search results will prove even more useful. BrightScope expects to be one of the most effective marketing tools available to advisors. 

And BrightScope has ambitions beyond investment advisors. It’s already working on a similar service for insurance agents that should be available later this year.
Search results allow for a quick view of advisor info (5 May 2011)

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