April 2010 Archives

The peer-to-peer lending sector just received an encouraging boost of $40 million in new venture capital. The two primary U.S. P2P lenders, Finovate alums Lending Club and Prosper, recently received venture capital infusions (Finovate videos: here and here). The total invested in the two firms now tops $100 million.

Lending Club raised $24.5 million in a C round from Foundation Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Northwest Venture Partners, and Canaan Partners.

TomorrowVentures is the investment vehicle for Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Omidyar Network was established by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. Court Coursey, managing partner at Tomorrow Ventures, will join Prosper's board.

Prosper CEO Chris Larsen said that the funding would help the company bring peer-to-peer lending into the mainstream. The company has nearly one million members and has funded more than 32,000 loans valued at nearly $200 million.

History of VC investment in Lending Club and Prosper

(all dollar amounts in millions)

Source: CrunchBase, April 20, 2010

1. Prosper also raised $1 million in November 2009 by selling a convertible promissory note to QED Investors.

A look at the investors¹

Sources: CrunchBase; Caanan.com; Morgenthaler.com; nvp.com; volitioncapital.com

1. CompuCredit Holdings, which invested in Prosper, is not a VC company.

According to Compete, Lending Club had about 90,000 unique U.S. visitors per month over the last two months. Prosper averaged around 150,000 per month for the same period.

As you've probably noticed, there are a TON of financial/banking technology innovations percolating up into the market right now. We are proud to be bringing 36 of the best to the Finovate stage May 11 in South San Francisco (presenting company list here).

It's going to be a packed house, with at least 20% more attendees than last year. But there are still a few tickets left if you'd like to register (see OBR subscriber discount below).

Here are some of the themes that will be explored by our demoing companies at FinovateSpring 2010:

• Alt-payments: Where will the next PayPal come from? We're not sure who it will be, but there is a pretty good chance they will be on the Finovate stage. While you may not believe that existing payment services are vulnerable, the startups taking on the card-based world are always thought-provoking.
• Bill payment 2.0: As automated billing and payments enters its third decade, there is still much to do in turning it from a cost center to a profitable service. We have several novel ideas on stage. You won't want to miss this chance to talk to the founders. 
• Credit/debt management: No surprise here. As consumers take a more conservative approach to spending and credit matters, services are cropping up all over the Web to help. And with literally thousands of dollars per year at stake, consumers are willing to spend money to save money and get control of debt. 
• Customized financial products: Why can't you have a 22-month CD or a 12-year mortgage? It's not like banks have to retool the factory to introduce a new model. In the era of infinitely personalized products, financial services will follow suit. 
• Financial marketing: Mass media is dead. Or is it? 400 million Facebook users seems like a pretty sizable "mass." But no matter what you call it, new tools and techniques are required to build your brand in the uber-networked world.
• Investing for the risk-averse: There are dozens of sites for tracking individual stocks and sizing up opportunities in various market sectors. But what about the other 95% of the country that just wants a decent retirement, college education for their kids, or new kitchen by 2015? Helping consumers achieve their financial goals is a long tradition at financial institutions and an important subject at Finovate.
• Mobile everything: You'll see some of the newest ways to leverage mobile for payments, financial management and banking. And this is one area that will be profitable. And yes, we'll have iPad demos on stage. 
• New lending models: Everyone agrees there are major problems in consumer and small business lending. Peer-to-peer lending is one promising area, but it's had setbacks with regulatory changes and defaults. Is there a better way to deliver credit services while keeping losses in check? You'll hear from several companies that believe they have the answer.
• Real-time Web: Banks have had a nice 40-year run as batch processors. But the world has gone real-time and your customers expect data more than once a day. See how new financial tools leverage the power of this data stream. Will you automatically share  purchases with your network? Yes, you will. Find out why.
• Snazzy management/back-office tools: The increased regulatory scrutiny over everything financial is the inevitable result from the 2008/2009 financial meltdown. Everyone knows you need to be on top of the nitty-gritty details, but who has time to read memos from the compliance department? With new interactive tools and Web-based services, even the most tedious compliance chore can be accomplished on schedule and without headaches or glitches. Come meet the startups who will make your life easier. 
• Social media/gaming: Of course, no 2010 conference would be complete without ideas on how to reach Gen Y and everyone else via social media. Facebook serves 400 million today and they are still growing like a weed. Is there any doubt that will impact every brand on the planet?
• UX: When you get right down to it, mobile/online delivery is all about the user experience. You'll see dozens of the best on stage, and you'll meet the people creating them.

You'll also learn about ways to improve security, serve the underbanked, segment your customers, develop cross-platform services, build widgets, and help your customers save money and control their finances.

Get that ticket now. It will be one memorable day, I promise. 

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Note: Anyone who subscribes to our research service, Online Banking Report, is entitled to a substantial discount (email info@netbanker.com if you need the code). Or subscribe here if you are not already on board.

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow it here).

Bling Nation provides mobile payments to Community State Bank - Community State Bank in Lamar, CO, is offering the Bling Nation mobile payments service. The bank's program includes more than 40 merchants accepting Bling Tag payments. http://bit.ly/bzAIDn

Dow Jones and IAC shut down FiLife - Dow Jones and IAC closed their financial information site FiLife.com. The site allowed visitors to discuss financial issues and concerns. The FiLife iPhone app is no longer available in the iTunes app store. http://bit.ly/cSjsPk

Geezeo partners with Unitus Community Credit Union - Geezeo has entered a partnership with Unitus Community Credit Union. Geezeo will provide financial tools to the credit union's members, including its PFM, community, and integrated marketing platforms. http://bit.ly/9FeyaJ

Mint switches to Intuit for data aggregation - Mint is now using aggregation software from its parent company Intuit. The PFM can now pull data from 16,000 financial institutions. Previously, Mint partnered with Yodlee for back-end account aggregation. http://bit.ly/9BTJwV

Mortgagebot reports increase in loan applications - Mortgagebot's online mortgage shopping service, Mortgage Marvel, reported an increase of consumer visits of 140% from 2008 to 2009, resulting in a 66% increase in overall loan applications taken by participating lenders. http://bit.ly/b4DP7S

Online Resources names interim CEO - Online Resources has named John Dorman as interim chief executive officer, replacing former interim CEO Raymond T. Crosier who resigned from the company. Dorman will also continue to serve as co-chairman of the company's board. Online Resources continues to search for a permanent CEO. http://bit.ly/cpiLJZ

Prosper Raises $14.7 Million - Prosper has raised $14.7 million in a Series D round. The funding came from Prosper's previous investors as well as two new ones, TomorrowVentures and CompuCredit Holdings. Prosper has raised a total of $57.7 million to date. TomorrowVentures is the investment vehicle for Google CEO Eric Schmidt. http://tcrn.ch/bXjOGp

SmartyPig raises its interest rates -SmartyPig announced plans to raise the interest on certain accounts. Beginning May 19, APY will be increased to 2.15% for accounts with balances of less $50,000. http://bit.ly/dpCq5g

ThreatMetrix provides fraud detection to BigCrumbs.com - ThreatMetrix is providing fraud-detection services to BigCrumbs.com, a company that provides consumers loyalty rewards for shopping online. ThreatMetrix will help identify purchases made with stolen or suspect credit cards. http://bit.ly/aaZZBn

Vidoop's assets used to launch Confident Technologies - Security software company Vidoop, whose assets were acquired in January, is being relaunched as Confident Technologies. The company uses image-recognition technology to allow graphics to be used for password authentication. http://bit.ly/9xWOz3

WorkLight's new development platform - Worklight launched the Worklight Solution for E-Commerce, a development system for cross-platform applications. The solution allows companies to design applications for mobile devices, desktops, social networks and personalized homepages as part of a single development project. http://bit.ly/9Qesn3

Fiserv, Jack Henry, FIS and ClairMail Provide 86% of Mobile Banking to Community Banks - Banc Investment Group conducted a survey of 687 community bankers. Of the institutions already offering mobile services, 36% use a technology platform from Fiserv, 24% from Jack Henry, 16% from FIS/Metavante and 10% from Clairmail. http://bit.ly/aZTAut

And news from our newest soon-to-be alumni presenting at FinovateSpring 2010:

Continuity Control launches ComplianceTax.com - Continuity Control launched ComplianceTax.com, a website that helps educate banks and credit unions about the expenses involved in complying with government regulation. http://bit.ly/9CNOFk

TSYS processes payment cards for Japanese bank - TSYS was selected by SBI Sumishin Net Bank to process its payment card portfolio. TSYS will handle the issuance of retail membership cards, private-label credit cards, and association-branded cards. SBU Sumishin is a Japanese Internet-based bank with more than 750,000 accounts. http://bit.ly/8YrjcT

Visa to acquire CyberSource - Visa has agreed to acquire CyberSource for $26 per share, or about $2 billion. CyberSource provides electronic payment and security services. The deal is expected to close in Visa's fourth fiscal quarter. http://bit.ly/ams1Y9

TransFS derives its revenue from generating leads for the card processors. The service is entirely free to the small business applicant. The company differentiates itself from other lead generators by providing comparison-shopping information and automating the application process.

How it works

1. Users complete a three-part online form at TransFS, answering questions about their business and card-processing needs (screenshot #1). Until a processor is chosen, the business does not need to provide any sensitive info. A new feature announced this month speeds up this process by verifying businesses based on their name and ZIP code.

3. The small business owner is presented with the bids in a standardized form for easy comparison (inset). From the bids page, the user can view the bidder's service contract and anonymously contact the bidder for more information.

4. To purchase, applicants simply click Select Bid and TransFS introduces the user to a real person at the chosen processor and then facilitates the application process. Users can upload required documents to the processor through the TransFS site.

TransFS claims that the process requires less than five minutes. Our 4.5-minute test confirmed that estimate.

The company also provides a free rate-comparison report. Users can upload, email or fax a recent statement to get a custom analysis of their potential savings.

TransFS recently released its Credit Card Processor Directory where users can research, rate, and review credit-processing companies (screenshot #2). The directory allows users to search Transparent Financial's database of more than 800 card processors and access BBB ratings and other information.

According to Compete, TransFS saw 6,700 unique U.S. visitors in March, more than double the 3,000 in February (see note #1).

Source: Compete.com April 2010

Note: 1. Keep in mind that Compete's traffic estimates are not always reliable at this small of a sample size.

#1. TransFS collects business and card transaction data

#2. The credit card processor directory

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of our alums, using data from Web-analytics company Compete to review the 132 sites they operate. (Our review for the previous month is available here.)

Out of 105 sites with data available (see note 1), 44 (42%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in March 2010 (see table #1, below), up from 42 last month. Of the 105, only seven (7%) had fewer visitors than in the previous month and 25 (24%) saw a decline year-over-year.

Notable successes:

• Mint saw the most unique U.S. visitors in March, with more than 1.6 million hits.
• Expensify saw impressive month-over-month growth, with more than three times as many visitors.
• BillShrink and Credit Karma (including its Sears site) both saw traffic double year over year.

While the top six positions remained unchanged between January and February, March brought several changes. Previous monthly leader FiLife has dropped to number five, being replaced at the top by Mint. BillShrink joined the top five for the first time this year, rising from seventh to fourth. Motley Fool CAPS and Digital Insight both rose on the list, while Credit.com and Credit Karma fell one place.

#1. Finovate alumni with more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in March 2010

Source: Compete.com, April 15, 2010

#2. Finovate alumni with year-over-year growth of at least 5,000 U.S. visitors

Source: Compete.com, April 15, 2010

Notes:

1. We reviewed 132 unique sites. Data was unavailable for 27 sites because they had been acquired, were no longer available online, or had active sites that were not covered by Compete for various reasons, including some that were not U.S. domestic companies.

2. At larger companies we tried to measure traffic to the sub-domain most closely aligned with the Finovate demo, e.g., www.checkfree.fiserv.com. Also, searscreditscore.com, a private-label site supported by Credit Karma, and Money Island, a new BancVue site, have been added to the list.

3. Numbers have been rounded to three significant digits.

4. The charts include companies that did not have measurable traffic in February 2009, indicated by a N/A.

5. Compete draws its information from the online 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.

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow it here).

DebtGoal raises first round of VC funding - In its first round of institutional funding, DebtGoal raised $2 million. The round was led by Tugboat Ventures, with participation from seed investor New Cycle Capital. To date, DebtGoal has raised a total of $3.1 million. http://bit.ly/bZxzq4

Diversinet awarded two patents - Diversinet was awarded two patents for mobile technology. One patent was awarded for a system that detects and classifies mobile devices, allowing apps to be matched with handsets. The other is for security technology for mobile digital data delivery. http://bit.ly/cDkHOU

Finovate Alums Among Webby Award Honorees - Finovate alumni FiLife, Kapitall, Lending Club, and SimpliFi are among the 12 honorees in the Financial Services category of the 14^th annual Webby Awards. Fifteen percent of Webby nominees received honoree status. The actual Webby awards, presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, will be announced June 14^th. http://bit.ly/cqC9Fa

GreenSherpa holds contest for savings tips - GreenSherpa is hosting a contest for reader-submitted money-saving tips. On April 21, two winning tips will be randomly selected. Winners receive annual subscriptions to GreenSherpa. http://bit.ly/cDakPl

Lending Club raises $24.5 million - Lending Club received $24.5 million in investment funds from Foundation Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, and Canaan Partners. The company says it will use the capital for new loan products, new investment tools, and website improvements. http://bit.ly/9zU4lO

Lending Club also recently announced its fourth Twitter contest, in which daily winners will be rewarded for tweeting about the company's ongoing photography contest. Twitter winners will receive shirts, messenger bags, and other products. http://bit.ly/d19g5g

Mint adds new feature to track cash spending - Mint added a new feature that allows users to manually enter spending data. Previously, all transactions had to be automatically uploaded from financial accounts. http://bit.ly/a3EtRb

Monitise reports more than 2 million registered users - Monitise has passed the 2 million registered user mark. The company stated that the increase in users was driven by increased uptake of its smartphone apps. Monitise serves more than 240 banks and financial institutions in the U.S. and U.K. http://bit.ly/cjMh7R

SecondMarket launches asset-backed securities market - SecondMarket, which provides a marketplace for trading in illiquid assets, announced that it launched a market for asset-backed securities. The move adds a ninth asset class to SecondMarket's platform. http://bit.ly/b2GHFc

The company also announced $70 million in private company stock transactions this March, the highest amount that SecondMarket has ever traded in one month. In contrast, the company traded $44 million in private stocks in February. The company reported that 41% of the transactions were Facebook stock trades. http://tcrn.ch/bpcXpQ

SeerGate announces new COO - Jim Fancher has joined SeerGate as its new chief operating officer. Fancher was previously general manager at FIS subsidiary Endpoint Exchange Network and has also served as senior vice president of marketing at VECTORsgi and CEO of Gilson & Associates. http://bit.ly/9FilPo

SmartyPig recognized at Prometheus Awards - SmartyPig was honored Breakout Company of the Year by the Technology Association of Iowa in its fifth annual Prometheus Awards presentation. http://bit.ly/bUi0Hf

ThreatMetrix provides fraud detection for OnlineLabels.com - ThreatMetrix is providing fraud detection for OnlineLabels.com, which produces laser and inkjet-printable labels. The company's online ordering system is automated, making it an easier target for credit card fraud. ThreatMetrix helps the company analyze transactions to detect suspect orders. http://bit.ly/bGRFMl

Transparent Financial Services adds business verification system - Transparent Financial Services, also known as TransFS, added a business-verification system that speeds up the company's submission process. The new system identifies businesses based on their name and ZIP code. http://bit.ly/amDwqf

Zopa honored for innovation - Zopa was recognized by the U.K.'s Nesta, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, in its Open 100 competition, which honors firms for open innovation. Peer-to-peer lender Zopa was awarded in the open business category. http://bit.ly/bs82cL

It's a week for big news around our Finovate conference series. On Tuesday, we announced the expansion of FinovateFall 2010 to two days. And today, I'm thrilled to share the news that we'll be holding the first international Finovate conference early next year in London.

On February 1, 2011, FinovateEurope will showcase the best new innovations in banking, payments and financial technology at the historic Business Design Centre. The event, like all Finovates, will mix fast-paced demos (no slides allowed) from handpicked fintech companies with high-quality networking. It's a potent blend that has won rave reviews from thousands of bankers, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, analysts, and press over the last several years. 

Since the first Finovate in 2007, we've been fortunate to host a number of innovative presenters with European roots (Zopa, Backbase, MoBank, Wonga, etc.) and attendees (BBVA, HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, ING Direct, etc.) at our U.S. conferences and they've always brought great insights and a global perspective. A whole event focused on fintech innovation in financial capital of Europe is going to be amazing.

We've released a small number of special "founder" tickets with a discount of £400. Register now to get yours before they run out and lock in your spot to see the future of European (and global fintech) debut live on stage next February!

P.S. If you're interested in potentially doing a demo of your newest fintech innovation next February in London, please email us at demo@finovate.com.

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

Zecco

In addition, the new tools allow users to personalize their trading dashboard to help them better track market opportunities (see screenshot #1, below). Users can click-and-drag individual modules to arrange the screen or start with a blank screen and select specific modules from a drop-down menu (screenshot #2).

The dashboard modules available in the Lite version are:

• Trade: Place buy or sell orders directly from the dashboard
• My Portfolio Holdings: View your own holdings
• Create a Watchlist: Monitor the performance of selected stocks
• Twitter Feed: Follow stock discussions on Twitter
• Snap Quote: Enter a stock symbol for a quick look at its performance
• Snapshot: Enter a stock symbol for a more detailed look at the company and its market performance

Additional features of the pay version include:

• Charting: Generate performance charts for your stock
• News: Enter a stock symbol for current news about a company and its stock
• Time and Sales: Follow stock sales by the minute
• Zecco email alerts

Zecco supports trading with online information and its own social network comprised of the firm's more than 300,000 members. The social strategy debuted at FinovateSpring 2008 where the company won a Best of Show award (video here). Other Zecco tools include Gainskeeper tax preparation software, Zecco Forex currencies exchange trading system, and free online data tools covering equity quotes, mutual funds, and exchange traded funds.

The company had just over 100,000 unique U.S. visitors in March, according to Compete. For much of the past year, traffic has ranged from 120,000 to 140,000 monthly visitors.

Source: Compete, April 16, 2010

#1. The Zecco Streamer Lite dashboard

 

#2. Customize Streamer with the Add a Module menu (Lite version)

We're incredibly excited to announce that FinovateFall 2010 is expanding to two days for the first time and that we're now accepting applications to demo on stage at it. The conference will take place on October 4-5, 2010, in New York City. 

The conference is growing simply because there is so much financial technology innovation going on that we can't showcase it all adequately in a single day event. 

Both days of the expanded event will feature the special Finovate format that mixes fast-paced demos (no slides allowed) of cutting-edge fintech innovations with high-quality networking. We're not changing the powerful blend of top-notch content that has won rave reviews year after year from both participating companies and attendees!

The fall show is the original Finovate and attracted 450 attendees last year (up 20% over 2008). Based on the current strong ticket sales of FinovateSpring, we expect the fall show to continue to grow in attendance this year as well. 

If you're interested in locking in your spot for FinovateFall, we've released a limited number of "pre-sale" tickets that will enable you to save $400 off the ticket price (register here) but only through the end of May (or until they sell out). 

If you're interested in doing a demo of your latest fintech innovation on stage at FinovateFall, please email us at demo@finovate.com. The application window for the fall event is now open and will close on July 15 (there are advantages to applying early).

Eric Mattson is CEO of Online Financial Innovations, the parent company of NetBanker, Online Banking Report and the Finovate Conference Series. He can be reached at eric@netbanker.com.

This is a guest post from John Fishback of 154 Consulting -- the firm that helps us coach the innovative fintech companies selected for Finovate on their demos.

The demo from SimpliFi at FinovateStartup09 (video here) is a great example of a company clearly communicating why their product is important. CEO Brian Link and COO Bill Grizack used their seven minutes to the fullest and showed off the best of Simplfi's features. Their demo never felt rushed, and it made a huge impact on the audience (they were one of the best of show award winners).

Brian and Bill generated that impact by focusing on who they are as a company and why the marketplace needs SimpliFi. You can see evidence of that throughout this demo, but focus on Brian's first minute.

He opens simply:

"Good afternoon. My name is Brian Link and this is Bill Grizack; we're the co-founders of SimpliFi, a free online financial planning and advice service for middle class consumers.

SimpliFi is based in the technology hotbed of Winston-Salem, North Carolina."

Here, SimpliFi clears the first hurdle of any demo: can you say what your product does in a sentence? Brian's simple introduction is the best way to start. We don't need to know more about his background, or Bill's, at least not at this point. That SimpliFi is in Winston-Salem is not "need to know" information, but it is a point of differentiation with many of the day's other presenters.

It's in what comes next that the SimpliFi demo really shines. Brian does what too many demos fail to do at all, let alone right up front. He puts SimpliFi in the context of the industry:

"Before we start the demo I just want to say that I think we can all agree that we've seen some really terrific budgeting and PFM tools demoed here today. In fact, we're going to see another one here in a couple of minutes, Rudder.

These guys are doing some really great work, and I think if it's possible they've actually made budgeting cool again in America.

But with all due respect, we don't think budgeting is the biggest issue for the average American.

We think it's planning."

This is clever positioning. While personal financial management (PFM) dominates the casual observer's understanding of the online financial services space because of major players like Mint and Wesabe, there are many PFM services in the marketplace. It is hard for a new PFM to stand out. Were Brian to open with a statement like "SimpliFi is a budgeting and planning tool. . ." (and indeed, at a later Finovate event, SimpliFi unveiled PFM functionality), the audience could be forgiven for thinking "It's just another PFM."

Instead, Brian groups all PFM services together as addressing the same problem, and then positions SimpliFi as addressing an entirely different problem. If your company or product is often compared to an only superficially similar company or product, this approach can pay huge dividends. Rather than explaining all of the differences in functionality or technology, which may not matter to or resonate with your audience, focusing on the different problem or question you address, or the unique way you do so, can help make your value clear.

By this point in the demo, only seconds in and before we've even begun looking to the screen, we know basically what SimpliFi is. We also understand that SimpliFi is focused on planning, not budgeting. Now we're wondering how important the difference between planning and budgeting is.

Brian tells us, with a stunning statistic:

"Consider this stat: Less than 5 percent of Americans have a written financial plan, but those that do are 250 percent more likely to achieve their goals.

The only difference is having a plan."

We're still under a minute in to the SimpliFi demo, and the audience now knows what SimpliFi is, how it's different, and most importantly, that SimpliFi's approach (planning) is spectacularly successful compared to what 95 percent of us do. That doesn't just seem important; it is important, and it catches the audience's attention for the remainder of the demo.

Brian and Bill do a lot of things well during the remainder of their demo. Note particularly how closely the on-screen navigation matches what Brian is saying. But their job is made easy from this point forward, because we already understand what makes SimpliFi important. All they need show is that their tool works, which they easily do in their time remaining.

By putting Simplfi in the context of the industry and by articulating its importance early, Brian and Bill both helped the audience understand SimpliFi's importance and they made their own work for the rest of the demo easier.

Other companies can learn from SimpliFi's introduction. The constraints of Finovate's special format (fast-paced 7-minute demos rather than long slide presentations) make knowing and explaining clearly why your product matters critically important.

This is a guest post from John Fishback. John is the principal of 154 Consulting and directs 154's Financial Services Product Group, which combines message development and presentation advice services with financial services industry experience to help financial services companies, startups, and vendors develop and market products that speak clearly to customers' needs. He can be reached at john@154consulting.com.

Finovate2009 Best of Show winner Yodlee is the secret sauce behind the majority of online personal financial management services (Finovate video here). The Redwood City, CA company licenses data aggregation, personal finance management, online account enrollment, account verification, bill payment, and funds transfer systems to more than 150 clients including 40 of the top 50 financial institutions. Yodlee distributes its platform directly and through partnerships with financial industry companies, including fellow Finovate alums Andera, Metavante, and S1.

Financial institution customers include Bank of America and Chase, as well as investment firms such as E*Trade and Fidelity. Yodlee also does the account aggregation for PFM industry-leader Mint. However, that may change as new owner Intuit owns its own data aggregation technology. Yodlee also powers the recently released In & Out Cash Management Systems (Netbanker post).

In all, Yodlee estimates that it powers 85% of the U.S. PFM industry, drawing data from more than 11,000 sources covering over 100,000 types of accounts. The company projects the PFM industry will have more than 30 million users by the end of 2010 (see inset).

In February, Yodlee opened the Yodlee FinApp Store (see screenshot below), a platform for developers to create and distribute financial applications. Yodlee enforces a certification program for all developers using the Store.

#1. Yodlee's new FinApp Store

#2. Applications in development in the FinApp Store

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow it here).

Acculynk Introduces Program for Independent Sales Organizations - Acculynk, which provides online PIN debit payment services, introduced PaySecure Plus, a new program that expands the company's services to include Independent Sales Organizations. http://bit.ly/bV5xgA

BancVue Launches MoneyIsland.com - BancVue launched MoneyIsland.com, a teaser site for its financial literacy game that becomes available to community financial institutions in September 2010. MoneyIsland 1.0 is an expansion of the beta CentsCity game, which BancVue picked up in its recent acquisition of Skill-Life. http://bit.ly/bY7WFf

Boulevard R Partners with Financial Planning Association - Boulevard R has partnered with Financial Planning Association to offer its finance management software to consumers on FPA's website. http://bit.ly/aSCwKS

CashEdge Appoints Global Head of Product & Marketing - CashEdge appointed Catherine Palmieri to Global Head of Product and Marketing. Prior to joining CashEdge, she served as Executive Vice President, General Manager, for Citibank, overseeing Citibank.com, Citibank Direct, and CitiMobile. http://bit.ly/azYw56

Centrro Launches Mortgage Product Beta - Centrro launched the beta version of its new product, Centrro Leads, which helps connect mortgage brokers to consumers based on credit profiles. http://bit.ly/bGgZBE

iPay Technologies Joins High Impact Portfolio - iPay Technologies joined the High Impact Portfolio, a public/private partnership of between Louisville Metro Government and Greater Louisville Inc.'s ENTERPRISECORP designed to support Louisville, KY businesses. iPay was named as one leading top-growth companies in the Louisville metro area. http://bit.ly/bpW2GC

Kasasa Signs its First Virginia Member - Kasasa signed its first financial institution in Virginia, Northern Star Credit Union. The credit union will offer three new products, Kasasa Cash, Kasasa Saver, and Kasasa Giving. http://bit.ly/dmLGKV

Lending Club Offers Cash Bonus to Members - In an email to its members, Lending Club offered its members cash bonuses on new deposits in an invitation-only rewards program. Lending Club will provide a bonus of 1% to funds over $2,500 and 1.5% to funds of $15,000 or more. www.lendingclub.com

Monitise Enters Joint Venture in Asia - Monitise has signed a 50/50 joint venture agreement with First Eastern Investment Group to develop services in the Asia Pacific region. First Eastern is based in Hong Kong. http://bit.ly/9TcpCF

Monitise Americas Publishes White Paper - Monitise Americas has published a white paper examining the adoption of mobile services as a strategic option for financial institutions. The paper includes a case study following H&R Block. http://bit.ly/9llGRW

Zecco Releases New Web Tools - Zecco launched two new browser-based tools, Zecco Streamer and Zecco Streamer Lite, which provide traders with real-time market data. The Lite version is free, while the standard version, which covers more stock exchanges and offers email alerts, has a monthly fee. http://bit.ly/bt9wb4

And news from our soon-to-be alumni presenting at FinovateSpring 2010:

Bill.com wins Monarch Innovation Award -- Bill.com has been recognized with a 2010 Monarch Innovation Award from Barlow Research Associates. The company received an honorable mention in the Industry Partner category. Bill.com was one of only six companies awarded this year. http://bit.ly/bCCati

Kabbage Loans to eBay Users - Kabbage is offering short-term business loans to eBay sellers. The company will evaluate sellers based on eBay ratings, whether they have an eBay Store, and funds flowing through their PayPal and merchant credit card accounts. http://bit.ly/bcOd9c

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow it here).

Acculynk Provides Debit Service to Sun Country Airlines - Sun Country Airlines has partnered with Acculynk to provide its customers PIN debit service. Acculynk's service allows users to make online purchases using their current debit card and PIN numbers without requiring any additional enrollment with the merchant. http://bit.ly/97u9EE

AlphaClone Adds Funds, History-Viewing Features, and Alerts - AlphaClone, which develops investment portfolios by duplicating the patterns of successful investors, has added 18 new funds to its investment options. The company also added a feature that allows members to view a manager's holdings back to 1999. Finally, AlphaClone is now providing email alerts when fund managers file a Form 13G or 13D with the SEC, indicating that the manager has purchased more than 5% of a public company. http://bit.ly/aKCsIE; http://bit.ly/9Pj1As; http://bit.ly/9q9QB2

DebtGoal Gains Board Member and New COO - Ed Ojdana, the founder of FreeCreditReport.com, has joined DebtGoal's board of directors. Igor Vaks, former CIO of Experian Consumer Direct, has joined as the company's chief operating officer. http://bit.ly/93UWux

Fiserv Launches Bill Payment Widget - Fiserv launched a new bill payment widget that enables consumers to pay bills from within their online banking homepage. The widget is available to financial institutions using Fiserv's online banking solutions. http://bit.ly/aYNFb2

mFoundry Provides Platform to Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union - Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union will offer its 140,000 members mobile banking services supported by mFoundry's mobile platform. Services will include bill payments, fund transfers, and balance checking. http://bit.ly/9k4Q9N

moneyStrands Celebrates First Anniversary of PFM launch - moneyStrands is celebrating the first anniversary of launching its PFM. Highlights of the year include acquiring Expensr and partnering with Savings.com and SouthPointe Digital Technologies. The company also passed 100,000 users in its first seven months. http://bit.ly/aVDXCp

Outright.com Opens Blog for Developers - Online bookkeeping service Outright.com has added a new blog for developers. Outright already hosts a support blog for its users. http://community.outright.com/

Prosper Raising Fourth Round of Funding - Prosper is finalizing its fourth round of funding, seeking to raise $13.3 million to $15.8 million. The company signed a letter of intent with new and existing investors to raise the round, which is expected to close by April 15. http://bit.ly/cqiRr6

ThreatMetrix Provides Fraud Protection to iReel.com - ThreatMetrix is providing fraud detection and prevention services to online movie rental company iReel.com. iReel offers digital movies through an automated process. ThreatMetrix adds a layer of credit card authentication to the system. http://bit.ly/9uFTDI

TradeKing Deploys Recognia's Strategy Builder - TradeKing is making Recognia's Strategy Builder stock-research tools available free to its clients. Strategy Builder allows users to compare the performance of various investment strategies. http://bit.ly/bVzF1z

Recent Milestones

Lending Club recently marked a number of milestones. On March 18, the company funded loan number 10,000. The company also recently surpassed $1 billion in loan applications.

Other highlights from Lending Club's history show it:

• was founded in 2006 and officially launched in 2007
• made its industry debut at the first Finovate conference (video here).
• issued $3 million in loans in its first three months
• registered with the SEC in 2008
• raised $12 million in investment capital in Mar. 2009
• rolled out its new look in Feb. 2010
• has paid out $6.9 million in interest to investors

Many of the company's accomplishments have been covered by our Netbanker blog (Lending Club posts available here).

Website remodel

Lending Club also recently updated its visual style by changing its logo and redesigning its website.

The old site (see screenshot #1, below) presented the reader with a lot of text, including news, information, and endorsements. The new site (screenshot #2) achieves a cleaner, less cluttered look by presenting visitors with two large boxes - one for investors and one for borrowers. It highlights only a few key data points such as average investor returns.

According to Lending Club's director of product strategy, Rob Garcia (statement here), the new look is intended to be "smart and simple," reflecting the concept of Lending Club.

Over the past year, Lending Club saw about 100,000 unique U.S. visitors each month, with a significant spike in December and slight decline last month.

#1 Lending Club's previous look...

#2 ... and the company's new look (as of 31 Mar 2010)