Finovate Alumni News– April 10, 2012

• Credit Karma is moving its headquarters to San Francisco’s financial district.

• Linkable Networks is listed as 1 of 5 startups you should follow.

• Tablet PC review lists Wikinvest Portfolio as one of the best iPad apps for tracking Wall Street stocks.

• AOL Daily Finance names HelloWallet as 1 of 5 money-smart apps for business travelers.

• UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School turns to Ping Identity to solve identity management complexity.

• Daily Herald looks at Credit Sesame.

• Kony Solutions appoints Harold Goldberg as CMO.

• The Bellingham Herald recommends using Expensify to organize your expenses for tax time. Come see the live demo at FinovateSpring next month in San Francisco.

• Scotsman covers UK P2P company, Zopa.

• CNN Money lists SecondMarket as 1 of 8 crowdfunding sites to watch.

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 Best of Show Winners: 2007 to Present

We recently looked back at Finovate’s Best of Show Awards archives and wanted to share the list of the 41 award-winning companies.

Here’s the Best of Show history that stretches back to 2007, the inception of Finovate:

Held October 2, 2007

Mint: Online PFM for individuals

Demo

Mortgagebot’s Mortgage Marvel: Mortgage marketplace

Demo

Prosper: P2P lending network

Demo

Held April 29, 2008

First ROI (now BancVue): Develops products and services for community financial institutions

Jwaala: Provides software solutions to help financial institutions compete

Demo

Zecco: Online stock and options trading

Demo

Zopa: P2P lending network

Demo

Held October 14, 2008

CheckFree: Online banking platform 

Demo

Credit Karma: Provides a free and easy way for consumers to understand, monitor and monetize their credit profile

Demo

Mint: Online PFM for individuals

Demo

Neosaej’s MoneyAisle: Platform where banks compete in live auctions for an individual consumer’s business 

Demo

Held April 28, 2009

BillShrink (now Truaxis): Provides a free cost-savings tool that saves consumers money on everyday bills

Demo

Prosper: P2P lending platform

Demo

Silver Tail Systems: Predictive analytics to prevent fraud abuse

Demo

SimpliFi: A web service that allows anyone to create and update their own financial plan

Demo

Held September 29, 2009

BancVue’s Kasasa: national checking/ savings account brand for community financial institutions

Demo

Credit.com: Provides free interactive tools, education, and unbiased comparisons of quality financial products and services

Demo

Digital Insight from Intuit: Provides on-demand banking services to help financial institutions serve clients

Demo

Silver Tail Systems: Provides online fraud detection platform 

Demo

Yodlee: Provides personalized financial solutions to financial institutions

Demo

Held May 11, 2010

Bobber Interactive: Money management platform for youth

Demo

Expensify: Online and mobile expense report platform

Demo

oFlows (Purchased by Andera in 2011): Multichannel paperless solutions for account openings

Demo

Wikinvest: A platform for investors to share trading tips

Demo

Held October 4-5, 2010

Betterment: Investment account for savings management 

Demo

BillShrink (now Truaxis): Loyalty rewards provider

Demo

Bundle: Provides socially informed money management for individuals

Demo

Dynamics: Produces and manufactures intelligent powered cards

Demo

oFlows (Purchased by Andera in 2011): Multichannel paperless solutions for account openings

Demo

PayNearMe: Cash transaction network for the underbanked

Demo

SecureKey: Token-based authentication technology

Demo

Held February 1, 2011

eToro: Social investment network

Demo

Finantix: Provides sales and advice solutions for financial services 

Demo

Liqpay: Payments platform

Demo

Meniga: Online PFM for financial institutions

Demo

Held May 10-11, 2011

BancVue: Develops products and services for community financial institutions

Demo

BankOns: Mobile app offering consumers real-time savings at local merchants

Demo

Dwolla: Online, mobile, and social peer-to-peer payment platform

Demo

oFlows (Purchased by Andera in 2011): Multichannel paperless solutions for account openings

Demo

Mitek Systems: Provides apps for smartphones that allow users to deposit checks and pay bills via their devices’ cameras

Demo

PayNearMe: Cash transaction network for the underbanked

Demo

Wikinvest: A platform for investors to share trading tips

Demo

Held September 20-21, 2011

BillGuard: People-powered antivirus for bills

Demo

Dynamics:  produces and manufactures intelligent powered cards

Demo

eToro: Social investment network

Demo

FamZoo: Online “virtual family Bank”

Demo

FeeFighters: Platform that simplifies the process of choosing a merchant account provider

Demo

LearnVest: Online PFM for women

Demo

Offermatic: Targeted online offers provider

Demo

oFlows (Purchased by Andera in 2011): Multichannel paperless solutions for account openings

Demo

Personal Capital: Online financial advisor helping people manage their investments

Demo

Held February 2, 2011

Cardlytics: Transaction-based rewards

Demo

Dynamics: produces and manufactures intelligent powered cards

Demo

eToro: Social investment network

Demo

Nutmeg: Online investment manager that democratizes saving and investing

Demo

Finovate Alumni News– November 7, 2011

• 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.

• FTRANS raises $1 million.

• 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.

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.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 26, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.

_______________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 

3. NM = not measurable

4. t= tie

5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.

Finovate Alumni News– November 1, 2011

• Kashoo’s small business iPad accounting app hits 5,000 downloads on iTunes.

• CarryQuote named аѕ a winner οf the European Bully Awards.

• Investment News examines how Personal Capital plays into the online-advice space.

• The Washington Post surveys HelloWallet’s business model.

• RobotDough.com announces its student financial writing competition.

• Silicon Angle compares the 3 iPad apps launched last week: Wikinvest, Pageonce, & Mint.

• Q2ebanking discusses mobile-banking security in Credit Union Times.

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.

Wikinvest Launches iPad Version of its Portfolio Tracker

Today, Wikinvest launched Wikinvest Portfolio HD, an iPad version of its portfolio tracker. The app aggregates accounts from more than 60 of the largest U.S. brokerage firms. 

The app features: 

• Visual analytics to provide insight into metrics
• True asset allocation
• Geographic allocation (shown below)

To learn more about the technology behind the app, watch the Wikinvest demo from FinovateSpring 2011 and its SigFig demo from FinovateFall 2011.

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. 

Source: Compete.com retrieved week of October 3, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011

2) Truaxis was formerly BillShrink

3) Sears Credit Score is powered by CreditKarma.com

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.

Source: Compete.com retrieved the week of October 3, 2011

1) The previous month recorded was July 2011.

_______________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 268 Finovate alumni. Only those with at least 10,000 unique visitors in July are listed. 

3. NM = Not measurable

4. t= Tie

5. Compete estimates online visitors based on the activity of a panel of more than 2 million U.S. Internet users. It is only an estimate of traffic and may undercount at-work usage.

Finovate Alumni Website Traffic in July

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of Finovate alums using data from Web-analytics company Compete. 

Out of 255 alumni, 59 (23%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in July 2011 (see tables below). Of those, 19 (32%) had more visitors than in the previous month and 25 (42%) were flat. Year-over-year, 26 (44%) had an increase, 10 (17%) were flat, and 23 (39%) were down. 

Private Companies

Notable successes:

• Seeking Alpha had the most traffic in July with more than 2 million unique visitors.
• eToro saw the highest monthly growth percentage with 3 times the number of unique visitors in July compared to June.
• Bundle had the highest increase in number of unique month-over-month visits, with 450,000 more visitors in July than in June.
• eRollover had the highest percent year-over-year traffic increase, with 260,000 more visitors from last July. 

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. 

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.

Alumni News — Week of July 18, 2011

ChargeSmart 

AOL’s Daily Finance highlighted Chargesmart’s secondary gift card market that allows 

consumers to pay for bills in exchange for gift cards. Link

CheckFree 

Family Wealth Report stated that CheckFree is leading the way in UMA processing. Link

Credit Karma 

• CBS Money Watch discussed Credit Karma’s data on America’s debt. Link
• Fox Business News listed Credit Karma’s credit score simulator tool as a 15-minute fix for your credit score. Link

doxo 

Practical Ecommerce listed doxo as one of 17 apps for productivity. Link

Dwolla  

• Dwolla hit $1 million in payments per day and Ben Milne, CEO, shared a sneak peak of future plans. Link
• Ace Community Credit Union provided customers with access to Dwolla through its site.
• Dwolla CEO Ben Milne explained why starting a business in Iowa isn’t hard. Link
• Dwolla introduced a new Autoload feature. Link
• Dwolla was listed on The Next Web as one of eight awesome ways to pay with your phone. Link

eToro 

eToro Partners began testing a new foreign exchange affiliate tool called Custom Links. Link

Expensify 

• The Info.rmatics blog testified to Expensify’s ease of use. Link
• ipCommerce showcased Expensify’s innovation. Link

GoalMine 

Mango Money added GoalMine to its list of services. Link

HelpMyCash 

HelpMyCash revamped its website to be more consumer-friendly. Link

IDTheft 911

Barnstable County Mutual Insurance Company selected Identity Theft 911 for its LifeStages service. Link

iPay Technologies 

TechCrunch reported that Bill Ready, former President of iPay Technologies, joined Accel Partners as an Executive in Residence. Link

Lending Club 

• ATM Options discussed seven good reasons to invest through Lending Club. Link
• Netbanker discussed Lending Club’s record high growth. Link

Lendio 

• Lendio added TAB Bank to its network of lenders. Link
• Reuters reported that Swift Capital and Lendio partnered to help small businesses. Link

mFoundry 

• American Banker considered Bank of America’s recent investment in mFoundry. Link
• Credit Union Journal discussed Colombia Credit Union’s adoption of mFoundry’s mobile banking. Link

Mint.com

• Mint.com introduced a manual transactions feature for its iPhone app. Link
• TechCrunch reported Mint.com’s debut of a new feature that tracks bills and sends reminders. Link

Monitise 

• Monitise signed over 6,000 users in Nigeria to a mobile payments trial. Link
• TechMarketView discussed Monitise’s financial success. Link

peerTransfer 

Yahoo! Finance reported peerTransfer’s growth in international student payment processing. Link

Prosper 

• Netbanker discussed Prosper’s record high growth. Link
• Prosper raised its interest rates by 2.5 percent. Link

SmartyPig 

SmartyPig introduced its back-to-school cash giveaway contest. Link

ThreatMetrix 

ThreatMetrix announced its upcoming user conference October 9th through 10th. Link

TradeKing 

TradeKing launched a new video series to help consumers understand options trading. Link

Tyfone 

Oregonlive.com described Tyfone as a major player in mobile payments. Link

Wikinvest 

Forex Promos shared an interview with Mike Sha, Wikinvest CEO. Link

Xero 

Reuters reported that Xero agreed to acquire Paycycle, a payroll company. Link

Zecco 

Wealth Building Tips and Strategies blog shared Zecco’s options trading video series. Link

ZimpleMoney 

ZimpleMoney adjusted its services in response to the Dodd-Frank reform. Link

Alumni News — Week of July 11, 2011

Last week, AlwaysOn released its 2011 AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies List that represents the top emerging companies Worldwide. Twelve Finovate Alumni were selected:

• BillFloat
• Bling Nation
• Boku
• Cardlytics
• ClairMail
• Expensify
• IDAnalytics
• Lending Club
• SecondMarket
• Wikinvest
• Wonga
• Yodlee

_________________________________________________________________________

In other Alumni News:

Aptys Solutions

Aptys Solutions announced that the ACH functionality in its PayLogics payment platform provides same-day settlement. Link 

Balance Financial

• Balance Financial launched Balance Certified Pro, a new software that is geared toward professionals. Link
• Balance Financial released an iPhone App. Link

BillGuard

TechCrunch reported that BillGuard’s “Anti-virus for Bills” is now completely free for users. Link

BrightScope

CNNMoney’s article, Simplify Your Retirement Savings, pointed to BrightScope to provide a clear understanding of retirement savings. Link

ChargeSmart

ChargeSmart announced that its Bill Payments customers can now pay many of their utility bills with an American Express card. Link

Continuity Control

Continuity Control raised $1.1 million in financing from convertible promissory notes and warrants. Link

Cortera

The Miami Herald reported that Cortera’s Risk Data and Reporting is now an SAP-endorsed business solution. Link

Cortal Consors

Institutional Investor ranked Oliver Le Grand, CEO of Cortal Consors, number 13 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link

Credit Karma

Credit Karma’s new feature, Credit Alerts is available for free to the first 200 people to click the link. Link

Credit Sesame

The Hands On Home Buyer blog recommended Credit Sesame for its interactive property taxes tool. Link

Currensee

The Business Insider reported that Currensee plans to launch its Trade Leaders program in China. Link

Dwolla

• The E-News publication, Business Record, commented on Dwolla’s positive impact on Iowa’s startup culture. Link
• Financial Plus Credit Union adopted Dwolla’s FiSync integration. Link

Dynamics

Dynamics revealed its angel investors in Series A and Series B funding rounds. Link

Guardian Analytics

• American Banker reported that Guardian Analytics is planning to launch an outsourced fraud prevention service that will help financial institutions meet new FFIEC guidelines. Link
• Guardian Analytics introduced its FraudDESK service to provide fraud analytics support to financial institutions. Link
• Guardian Analytics is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday that will explore FFIEC guidance. Link

iPay Technologies

iPay Technologies helped Generations Community Federal Credit Union increase bill pay adoption and its number of transactions. Link

Lending Club

• San Francisco ABC News Channel 7 explained the benefits of P2P loans from Lending Club. Link
• Finextra news blog discussed Lending Club’s success. Link
• American Banker reported that, in June, Lending Club saw an increase of 7% in loans originated that totaled a record $20 million. Link

Lodo Software

The Silicon Prairie News reported that Lodo Software is seeking to raise $5 million in a round of Series D funding. Link

mFoundry

Columbia Credit Union announced that it deployed mFoundry’s mBanking, a mobile banking platform. Link

Mitek

MSN Money reported that Mitek Systems began a NASDAQ market listing on July 14th, and is trading under the symbol MITK. Link

Monitise 

• CNBC reported that Monitise’s ReliaCard will be offered to U.S. Bank’s Visa cardholders in some states. Link
• Monitise, US Bank, and FIS announced that they are planning to offer a mobile app for Visa’s ReliaCard users. Link

Prosper

• San Francisco’s ABC News Channel 7 explained the benefits of P2P loans from Prosper. Link
• Finextra news blog discussed Prosper’s success with its P2P lending service. Link

Q2ebanking

Q2ebanking’s director of security solutions, Ward Howell, published an article detailing a Credit Union’s perspective of the FFIEC guidelines in The Credit Union Ti
mes. Link

Receivables Exchange

Institutional Investor ranked Justin Brownhill and Nicolas Perkin, Co-Founders of The Receivables Exchange, as number 42 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link

Standard Chartered

Institutional Investor ranked Jan Verplancke, CIO of Standard Chartered, as number 37 of 50 in its Tech 50 ranking of financial tech leaders and innovators. Link

TILE Financial

Daily Finance interviewed Amy Butte, CEO of TILE Financial. Link

TradeKing

TradeKing announced the public availability of its API. Link

Tyfone 

CoVantage Credit Union chose to implement Tyfone’s mobile wallet solution. Link

Zopa 

• Zopa founder Giles Andrews was interviewed on BBC’s The Bottom Line. Link
• Finextra news blog discussed Zopa’s success as a P2P lending service. Link