Last week, William Mills attended the Spring Finovate in San Francisco and produced a “live blog” at the event. It contains a quick snap shot of the presenting companies and we thought it was worth re-publishing here on our FinTechMarketing blog. Please excuse any omissions, misspellings or grammar errors, as this was literally written “in the dark.”
Finovate Spring 2011
Finovate Spring San Francisco Live Blog
Finovate Spring is in a BIG hall, kind of old but interesting.
9:oo am Eric and Jim introduce the conference
9:06 Clover Media – Tom and Doug from Clover Media are speaking 9:07 Doug markets to FI’s – 16 years experience. It looks like Clover Media is the combination of an advertising model and payment model at the POS. Consumers have a Web site to see the loyalty offerings. 9:12 Clover Media ends.
9:13 Bundle – is now here: Jaidev Shergill, CEO – using data to show trends/facts on spending – PFM Launched “Everybody’s Money” last year. We dug the merchant data of spending against specific merchants. It seems like another loyalty play – comparing merchants by how much people that you know are spending at a merchant. Bundle is over; it’s a little confusing. Find a merchant from how much your friends spend I guess.
9:20 Intellaegis – John Lewis and Shawn. It sounds like a collections solution. It appears that they have some type of program to gather data – the product is called masterQueue. Looks Web-based, workflow, no software to install. Integrates with Bing and other maps. Pretty slick all in one collection system. Helps collectors work much faster.
9:28 Xero – from New Zealand, online accounting, CEO Rod Drury is speaking, looks like a Web-based accounting system. “Cloud” based accounting system. I guess the benefit is that if a bunch of companies used the system each company could have each others vendor data already in the system. It SOUNDS like he said that 1/2 of all accountants in New Zealand use it. A HUGE BELL RANG to end the demo.
9:36 Gold Bullion International – Savneet (CEO) and Peter (CTO). Is this a virtual trading exchange/storage for gold and other metals? Looks like it. Again, Web-based application.
9:43 Kabbage – Robert (Founder and CEO) and Kathyrn (COO) – they were here last year. They give working capital to small businesses. Use merchant data and can get cash to merchant very fast. “Fastest working capital on the planet.” They are now working with Amazon merchants. Reminds me a little bit of Capital Access Network.
9:48 Code Green – Jason Green (CEO) marketing, technology company? RATECAST: banks and CU’s need loans. Empower marketing with rates in a simple, central way. Editing rates on a Web site is hard (normally), slow, error prone. They have a centralized rate manager, marketing material and channels. He is doing a demo of using the technology through Facebook. I could see this help a community bank or credit union. Jason seems to be a good marketing executive that REALLY knows technology and social media.
9:55 BancBox – Sanj (EVP) and Praveer (Chief Engineer). We are the API of the banking system. Say you have an app you sell to a bank, but it’s hard to get the core vendors to integrate with core providers. EXPENSIVE for new fintech companies to integrate with banks. “We have created a banking services platform.” For example, open a bank account, second, move money or through a UI (Web site, mobile app, etc.). BancBox has some kind of interface with a credit or other data provider to validate users so it’s fast and easy. They are cash flow positive; something you don’t hear much. NOTE: So far, everyone is showing Web-based applications. I’m surprised there hasn’t been one mobile app yet.
10:03 HOYOS – Jeff Carter (Chief Development Officer) and Tracy Hoyos (Marketing Director). HOYOS GROUP is a type of security/identification system. Mobile iris scanning solution. User name and password screen. It’s a HANDHELD eye recognition system. Logged into system using your eyes. Jeff is talking about Sony breach that might cost $1 billion. It’s pretty cool. “The user name and password will go away.” I’ve heard of hardware identification but have never seen anything like this. Logged into her computer, Facebook and Paypal with her iris. I think the eye reader has to be plugged into a computer. The hardware is $99.
END OF MORNING SESSION ONE – BREAK
10:44 doxo – Steve Shivers (Co-Founder & CEO) and Roger. Paperless is only 15% used by folks in the U.S. Why isn’t it simple to connect to business like I connect to friends? It’s a My personal file cabinet. Set up companies you do business with. Businesses have signed up. Part two is how can companies make it easy to connect to their customers. doxo control panel for business announced today. If I’m a biller I can be paid through here.
10:54 Arroweye Solutions – Render Dahiya (Co-Founder and CEO). Highly customized card programs for FI’s. For credit and debit issuers, you can get your card to the “top of the wallet.” People can put their own photos on their cards on the Web and Steve’s company does the fulfillment.
11:01 Billeo – is launching iPad app today. Murali (CEO is speaking) wants to work with FI’s. He had connection issues.
ProfitStars Executives Speak at Finovate Spring 2011
11:09 ProfitStars – Dan Roderick and Ashley Messer. Division of Jack Henry & Associates. Today we are launching an app called Margin Maximizer to help FI’s make better decisions. Showing customer relationship the bank has with the consumer/business. In an instance, every lender can see the FI’s profit for the deal and how it compares to targets. Web-based control system for the user at the bank/FI.
11:16 BillFloat – Ryan Gilbert, CEO speaking with Robin O’Connell (VP). 36% APR for 30 days has helped consumers “keep their lights on” and they don’t have to go to alternatives. LESS IS MORE is their new product today. Smaller payment towards a larger debt, like a co-pay. Simple, easy to read fees/payments/rate information quickly. METROPCS example.
11:23 Wikinvest (new name will be SigFig) – Parker Conrad (Co-Founder) talked about upcoming name change and what they did with interfacing with brokerage accounts last year at Finovate. We have incredible data about their users. The new version will be simpler. It sounds pretty complicated but in the end I suppose this could help fairly sophisticated investors if they use these tools. They have only a splash Web page.
11:30 peerTransfer – Iker (Founder and CEO). Transfer students transfer BILLIONS of dollars to/from the U.S. They are launching here today. He is from Europe and went to MIT. Went to bank and hit by fees and exchange rates. It sounds like a good alternative to WESTERN UNION.
11:35 Bill.com – Mark Ortung (COO) and Jeff Schultz (VP, Sales and Marketing). Added tens of thousands of businesses as billers and new feature. They relieve the burdens of paper in billing. They are demoing on a phone but I don’t think it’s an app, I think it’s in the iPhone browser.
11:43 Intuit (Mint.com) – Aaron Forth (VP Product). “Mint has become more of a mobile solution. 1 million installs on iPhones and hundreds of thousands on Android. 50% use on phone, 25% come direct from the app store. Only 20% of their users even GO to the Web site. Most of ad dollars were coming from the Web but with so much smart phone usage we now have an IOS ad platform for the mobile device. The app/ads seem a little like “lowermybills.”
11:50 BREAK FOR LUNCH
Tuesday Afternoon Session One
1:03 pm Afiniate – Ram Singh (Co-Founder) and Brian Briggman (Co-Founder). On The Go! iPhone application mobile banking. Showing fraud alert function. Integrates with bank back end in order to provide customer ability to specify personal finance goals, helps bank ID products to offer customers and match products to the right customer. Provides payment alerts. Can suggest a mortgage or even balance a stock portfolio. Technical issues with phone, app or connection.
1:10 Ready Receipts – David Crossett (CEO) and Shawn Schnitker – Based in Idaho, this company helps consumers securely manage their purchase receipts from merchants. Getting consumers closer to their data. Online platform to manage a consumer’s receipts. Not working with images but data but can upload scanned or emailed receipts. Can send offers based on actual purchases. “If you want to market to me you have to know what I buy in detail.” Patent-Pending, built with security and privacy. No customer ID required at POS, loyalty programs are not required and no credit card data is stored so it’s PCI compliant. Consumers want to be closer to their data. Launching at Finovate. “We are looking for a level 2 data provider, partners and investors.”
1:18 Kiboo – Lisa Halpern (Founder & CEO) and Jacob Apelbaum (CTO) Banking/Social/Commerce – connecting FDIC products to customers through API’s – retail, banking, mobile and more. Personalize experience to the customer. “Know your money” is their motto. Today they are doing a demo of their mobile app. Using an example of an 18 year old at a mall shopping. The phone camera can scan an item bar code and it will tell the consumer that he or she can’t afford it and set a financial goal. Geo locates an item cheaper at another store and provides directions to the store. Makes payment on the phone through NFC. Probably an Android phone. Merging Geolocating, NFC and FDIC products together.
1:25 Braintree – Dan Manges (CTO) Living Social example. Reducing PCI compliance in a “revolutionary way.” Living Social is a “daily deal” site. TRANSPARENT API. The consumer doesn’t know he or she is going to a different site. Consumers abandon purchases when there are more steps to buy a product. Using their API it’s transparent to consumer and the merchant is in PCI Compliance. The user experience is superior. The merchant maintains the brand through the purchase process. PCI compliance is expensive. Working with Braintree merchants can reduce compliance costs by 90%.
1:32 pm Figlo – Sam Vassa (CEO, North America). “Financial planning tools that clients love.” Web-based. Most financial planners create reports that people don’t use. We build tools to help collaborate and help clients and financial planners set goals. First multi-language, multi-currency and multi-country. Announcing today an iPad version.
1:40 Dwolla – Ben Milne (CEO) and Jordan Lampe (Director of Communications). Send and receive money API at 25 cents per transaction (not based on dollar amount). Sending money through social networks, not phones or bank accounts. 45 days ago set up a physical location payment system but is NOT NFC. Dwolla “Spots” accept the payment system. “We have signed up 10 banks so far. As a FI, how can we use the data to better market to customers.” Geolocation data with purchase and transaction data. Dwolla Dashboard debuts today.
1:47 BankOns – Joshua Greenough (Founder) and Cameron Geisser (Lead Engineer). “Banks and Coupons.” Geolocation and purchasing. Merchant funded offers have to be presented at the time when people want to buy. Built a platform. Geolocated offers with geolocated actions. Partnered with Yodlee to bring bank transactions to special merchant offers when someone is near a merchant. “We can launch a white label version right away or use our software through the API.” Easy to launch, builds a better customer relationship. Today is the launch day and available in the app store.
BREAK
Finovate Spring 2011 Presentation Hall
2:34 pm Lendio – Brock Blake (CEO) and Trent Miskin (CTO). “We make small business loans simple.” 25 years experience in small business lending. Web-based form for small business owner (credit card/AR, etc.). Won’t impact personal credit score. System calculates best fit among 12 loan types (i.e. SBA, Peer to Peer, etc.). More loan app information is gathered. Integrated and partnered with Equifax. After info sent from Equifax to Lendio their platform matches the small business to the right FI’s. Started with a thousand banks; after going through the LOS it has narrowed the list to six best fit lenders. We make it simple for small business. We make small business lending easier for banks and credit unions.
2:41 oFlows – Scottt Pitts (CEO) plus one. Bankers are having to go out in the field and get new customers. oFlows was built as online, branch and call center and now have a mobile application for iPad. Will also work with Android; it looks like it’s Safari-based, not a native iPad app. Run through oFlows decisioning system. Can sign locked PDF’s using your finger on the iPad. Built-in cameras can capture papers and other documents for the loan. No sensitive information is stored on the device.
2:49 ID Analytics – Larry McIntosh (CMO), Eric Rosado and Cooper Bachmann Identity protection. Looks Web-based. Consumer enrolls in the service and receives an alert that someone is trying to use your ID. My ID Alert shows kind of a credit score model of a consumer’s potential to have their ID taken. I believe they get much of their data from wireless carriers but am not sure. Patent pending and protect 2 million consumers.
2:56 FISERV was scheduled to present but cancelled.
2:57 Balance Financial – Devin Miller (CEO) “Dedicated Personal Bookkeeper” Appears to let you outsource your personal finance. Every client gets a personal bookkeeper. Usually a monthly fee. All your bills go to Balance Financial. Pays any US-based bill. Your CPA can have access to the system. Uses lots of automation and workflow. Next month launching iPhone app with photo bill pay.
3:04 Lead Street Financial – R. Jerry Nemorin (Founder & CEO) and Jason Mars. Leverages social networks to help consumers, especially distressed borrowers by letting retail investors buy the debt at a discount. Web-based. Seems like it helps people in debt to keep from going into bankruptcy by micro-lending.
3:11 Backbase – Herber de Ruijter (General Manager) and Jonathan Wright (Senior Consultant) – Final demo of the day. It looks like is a platform on top of a bank’s core system to be seamless across all channels. Demo is showing a generic banking portal. Now the demo is showing a wide variety of widgets and apps that can be added, such as financial planning.
3:20 pm NETWORKING SESSION
32 more presentations tomorrow
WEDNESDAY MORNING
9:00 am FreeMonee – Founder Joe Salesky (and with him, Chief Marketing Officer Jim Taschetta) announces the “world’s first gift network.” Gifts bring consumers to merchants. Joe asks why merchants spend so much on ads as opposed to gifts. Distribution is the problem. Instead of gift cards, with FreeMonee, banks send emails or text messages to customers announcing gift cards attached to the bank card. Card is swiped at merchant, for “free money.” FreeMonee shares a “success fee” with bank. Joe calls it “customer friendly revenue.” The “secret sauce” as Joe says is optimizing merchant objectives and “customer surprise and delight.” This method is notable because banks aren’t a channel. Banks are the bearer of good gifts, revenue at no cost.
9:08 Experian – Allen Anderson presents Decision IQ. It manages a businesses commercial credit portfolio, collection campaigns. The online system sets up automated credit decisions. Can adjust auto declines, decision rules. Showed how rules can be tweaked, approving all loans under 5k, for instance. Another feature, customizable credit application with 80 options. Allows clients to monitor credit app volume, and view aggregate data from apps. Fast credit decision processing. DecisionIQ operates thru Experian’s BusinessIQ portal.
9:16 Mitek Systems – Half of top 10 banks use Mitek’s mobile deposit technology. Today, SVP Drew Hyatt and Director Diane Morgan demo mobile bill-pay feature. Diane takes photo of bill coupon, the first step in the payment process. “It’s point, shoot and pay.” Drew then explained how the technology works in the background to grab fields from the bill coupon so the customer doesn’t have to enter that information when paying by smartphone.
9:24 Wipro Technologies – Wipro’s Sushankar Daspal demonstrated technology that helps employees of small and medium size businesses handle routine tasks with their smartphones, such as expense reports and timesheets. Daspal said Wipro isn’t just creating smartphone forms to streamline bookkeeping. “We are going to provide the whole ecosystem around it.”
9:32 HelloWallet – CEO Matt Fellowes announces that HelloWallet is now available online to public. Previously, it was distributed solely as tool for wealth management by companies to their employees. Fellowes explains that the program has been built using artificial intelligence that helps customers make decisions about money. Collaboration with neuroscientists and psychologists gives program a behavioral element. Users are encouraged to look at what their peers are spending, for instance, and over-spenders are given recommendations for getting back on track.
9:40 TrustedID – CEO Scott Mitic opened by citing $1.5 billion spent by consumers on identity protection, and the rising fear of identify theft. TrustedID, a monitoring tool, is now free, but offered through partners, not direct to consumers. Scott showed example of how Lenovo offers it online. TrustedID also has premium, paid benefits. For example, identity theft protection offers. The program also refers customers back to the partner by highlighting promotional offers (in this demo, a Lenovo laptop) and other security cross-sells. The program has revenue-share potential with customer.
9:48 Silver Tail Systems – Silver Tail’s Forensics product protects online retailers and others against fraud. Debuting today is an upgrade which allows detection of fraudulent activity through population and user behavior analysis. User-specific monitoring is crucial as more sophisticated criminals attempt to mimic “normal” online behavior. Two IP addresses in two different countries, for instance, isn’t normal.
9:56 GoalMine – CEO Rimmy Malhotra explains the concept of micro-concepts, called a pledge, for purposes of investment goal-setting for consumers. A customer can set an investment goal equal to a morning coffee purchase. When he walks into a Starbucks, Rimmy says, the app can “nudge” the customer, who can immediately move money to his bank. “With this app, we turn impulse into action.” This instant investing can show up on Facebook. A generous Facebook friend can buy an investment gift card for the customer, through Facebook. “It’s real money,” Rimmy says.
10:04 Bills.com –With CEO Brad Stroh and Jon Pedley, VP of product development. Debt Coach is an online debt management tool that helps consumers prioritize their goals, such as protecting their credit score. Bills.com has partnered with Experian, so the online tool is populated with information from a person’s credit report, using info about actual creditors. DebtCoach shows options such as debt consolidation loans, debt settlement, cash-out re-fi. For the first time, consumers can see actual figures, not estimates. “Pure transparency to the consumer, for free,” Brad says.
10:45 PayPal and Discover –New collaboration. Discover’s cash-back program will now work for customers who want to send money through PayPal using Discover. With a PayPal debit card, a customer can pull out the money from an ATM. Mike Bousch from Discover demo’ed on an iPhone and a laptop, explaining that during development some customers preferred sending through a browser window as opposed to a smartphone. I’ll bet those were older customers.
10:53 Q2ebanking – Q2ebanking from Austin Texas says that commercial account takeover is large source of fraud. Company serves approx. 275 community banks with risk and fraud analytics. Ward Howell played the role of bad guy, attempting a fraudulent transaction as shown on audience screen, to demonstrate how activity can be identified and intercepted. CTO Adam Anderson emphasized their employees are dedicated to developing software that stops bank fraud before transactions can be completed.
11:01 RobotDough – Online analytical tools for investors. Users can subscribe to Investment strategies with daily updates. Software has info in its database on every publicly traded company, more than 45,000 companies around the world.
11:09 BillShrink – Company touts 97 percent satisfaction rate with customers. Helps customer save money on monthly bills. CEO Schwark Satyavavolu and VP Samir Kothari announced today a reward level that customers can unlock through additional spending. Customers spending at merchants is tracked and purchases can be rewarded, similar to a merchant loyalty program but without the need for customers to show cards at time of purchase. iPhone app demo showed Chase and merchants info, as well as social media links.
11:17 eWise – Alexander Grinberg demonstrated Secure Vault Payment with US Bank, online payment without disclosure of personal information, in real time. “Putting the bank back in the middle of a transaction,” Grinberg says, echoing other presenters seeking to shake hands so to speak with banks. The demonstration of POS payment option using mobile explained it was a software download but didn’t explain how merchants would jump on.
11:25 Currensee – CEO Dave Lemont says Currensee’s technology will democratize the $4 trillion (daily) world currency market. Allows investors to view “trade leaders” for a self directed program to diversify their portfolio. Portfolio Builder, previewed today, allows investors to “test drive” different risk levels.
11:33 Liqpay.com – Head of Web Marketing Mykhailo and VP Maia Gurina debuted Pay-to-face, an online payment system, usable through Facebook. The premise is that mobile payments can be sent quickly using a person’s mobile number as ID.
11:41 TILE Financial – TILE has developed an identity profile, similar to a Facebook profile, for developing spending, giving and saving habits of young people. CEO Amy Butte said this product is for major financial institutions that want to connect to Gen Y.
11:49 BancVue – Demo of MoneyIsland. An online product to teach children about money. Credit unions and community banks can teach financial literacy through the program, and bring parents and teachers as well into the bank as customers. “This is so much more than a game,” says Felix Brandon Lloyd, general manager.
LUNCH BREAK
12:59 pm Afternoon sessions getting ready to start.
1:01 pm Expensify – David Barrett (CEO) and Tom Jacobs. “Expense reports that don’t suck” (that’s what he really said). Launched here in 2009, presented in 2010, new product today. Showing using a phone to capture a receipt. They just passed 1 million receipts processed. True receipt scanning, no typing required. Can match credit card info reconciled. Now showing Web dashboard. Able to make receipts go to a category automatically. Android, Apple, Blackberry and Palm phones.
1:08 Openfinance – (from Spain) David Gomez and Sara Edo. “The leading provider of financial advising technology in Europe.” Looks Web-based. Allows integration from a variety of portfolios. Showing an iPad app of their technology. Used by 60 clients.
1:16 Adobe – Erik Larson and Ashish Agrawal. Customer experience application for financial institutions. All types of channels and products. Speaker is going so fast it’s hard to get a handle on what Adobe is really talking about here. Everything is Web-based and lots of screens are flashing quickly. Showing a live chat application which I didn’t know Adobe had. Showing universal account opening application. It looks like some kind of a unified application. “Banks can use Adobe to leverage social channels” but it’s unclear how. Now showing a mobile application on a Samsung phone. Last version is the unified Web space through an iPad app.
1:25 ChargeSmart – Jake Cunningham (VP, Operations) and Kimathi Marangu (VP, Plastic Jungle). Showing a gift card that someone doesn’t need. Founded in 2008, ChargeSmart was founded to help customers pay the best way online. Through Plastic Jungle’s partnership with ChargeSmart you can use gift cards to make payments, like utility bills. There is 1/4 million dollars in unused gift cards with consumers today. Pacific Gas & Electric bill is being paid in real time using ChargeSmart. Traditionally ChargeSmart has been used by traditonal cards but now can use Gift cards. I think this is BIG deal as I don’t know anyone else that can do this. Can combine using gift card values with credit card values. First of series of innovations to be announced later in the year.
1:31 Kony – Bjorn Hildahl (VP) and Ali Razi (Marketing Programs Manager). 45 global customers going live. Cash flow positive. Why KONY? “We wanted to solve the problem of an ever-changing mobile environment.” KONY Studio lets you author your apps. It sounds like a platform that is device independent. Showing native Android app. I’d say of all the mobile demos almost 1/2 are Android over the past two days. Showing a check capture with the phone (front and back) to submit the deposit. Now showing it on an iPhone. Now showing a Blackberry app. Showing how it integrates with other vendors (like VASCO). Supports iPad and Android tablets.
1:39 PayDivvy – Mike Melby (CEO) and Ray Tamblyn (VP, Product). “Bill pay for groups.” Simple, social way to pay, send, share bills for free (like for families, a room mate, etc.). Web-based. Patent-pending group bill pay solution. I could see this as a solution for an association, like the Association for Financial Technology. You wouldn’t need a central manager to get all the checks and pay for conferences; the group could pay the bill. Showing room mate example now for a Comcast bill. Sounds like a good idea. Can be used for membership dues; etc. Closed a seed round but looking for investors. Going live today.
1:46 edo Interactive – Alex Gershman (GM, Strategic Partnerships) and Jonathan Dyke (COO). Sole focus of “last mile” of advertising – digital advertising and incentive technology. Showing “Prewards” – from Fifth Third Bank (one of their partners). Capturing data from the processing infrastructure. It seems like a lot of companies are getting detailed data on transactions from banks and their processors.
BREAK UNTIL 2:30 pm
2:31 pm Enloop – Cynthia McCahon and Rob Peters – scoring technology. Web-based. In beta for 60 days. 22% conversion rate to members. 25% traffic flow from international sources. Looking for partners.
2:36 Aptys Solutions – Eric Dotson and Debbie Smart. Aptys helps eliminate silos in financial technology. Introducing mobile solution. How can FI’s maintain and monetize mobile payment offerings. How to attract new customers and retain? Showing Motorola tablet with Google platform. Showing an example of how an HVAC tech can come to a home and check schedule on my tablet. Integrates with back end and can settle payment by cash, check, credit, etc. Example now is paying by check. Helps with least cost routing. Allow’s FI to be the central trusted provider to their customers.
2:47 Mybanktracker.com – Alex Matjanec and Jason Reposa, 3 year old company, 1/2 million unique visitors a month. Conversion of 10% of customers on their banner advertisements. Adding social communications. Launching Plentifi mobile app. It sounds like a social network and Yelp for people to find FI’s.
2:52 Ideon – Matt Murphy and Inigo San Martin. A new way to use CD’s. Consumer goes to bank Web site and sees alternative products like a cash back CD. Web-based. Consumer custom chooses CD. Now can offer custom CD products. Also has patent-pending solution for a value added CD so a bank can attract new customers. Web-based system can store sales sheets and other marketing documents. Marklink CD’s example. Can bring new bank products to market fast.
2:57 OpenCuro – Ian James. Launching new payment system. Sender/receiver doesn’t have to share confidential data. “Privacy and security by design.” Web-based, showing account page. Curo code is a one time code to make a payment online, phone, email, etc. The code is the payment, does not have to share any private information. Can log in to existing bank account if part of network. Might integrate with accounts that are not part of the network.
3:05 Corduro – Mike and Robert. iPhone app wallet. Put banking and other information. Take and receive payments like Square. Square is not good for the enterprise application. Corduro lets business take mobile payments for an enterprise. Showing using mobile app to make donations to a non-profit. Just went live today.
3:18 PayNearMe – Danny Shader and John Minor. Cash payment network. 7/11 store example. “No credit card? No problem?” Yesterday Greyhound announced putting in PayNearMe at stations? Making easier to make payments with cash. Showing paynearme paper slip to be provided to the 7/11 POS with bar codes.
END OF FINOVATE SPRING PRESENTATIONS
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