Finovate: Bill.com Archives

Finovate Alumni News-- January 19, 2012

By Julie Schicktanz on January 19, 2012 11:44 AM

WorkLight launches special program for enterprise mobile and ISV developers.

TRUSTe certifies miiCard's website to display the TRUSTe Web Privacy Seal.

Clifford Change law firm deploys Check Point software for a network security solution.

Financial Post highlights planwise.

Bill.com helps banks offer business customers a more powerful payment, invoicing, and cash management platform.

SC Magazine considers ValidSoft's view of voice biometrics. Come see ValidSoft at FinovateEurope Feb. 7.

Huffington Post recommends Mint.com, HelloWallet, Credit Karma, TradeKing, ReadyForZero, & Betterment for college students.

Q2ebanking selects Matt Flake as new CEO.

Doxo looks back at 2011 achievements.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News-- January 2, 2012

By Julie Schicktanz on January 2, 2012 11:41 AM

Maine Public Broadcasting Network profiles CashStar.

Sky News features BOKU.

Ryan Alfred, BrightScope CEO, & Alexa VonTobel, LearnVest CEO, also make Forbes list of "30 under 30".

Bank Technology News describes how Bill.com uses capital infusion to build a cash flow dashboard for businesses.

SecondMarket's homepage gets a makeover.

The CBS Early Show features Weemba, Lighter Capital, and Rebirth Financial.

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.

2011 Funding for Finovate Alumni-- Over $423 Million Raised

By Julie Schicktanz on December 22, 2011 2:06 PM

To wrap up 2011, we've compiled a list of all of the funding Finovate alumni received over the course of the year.

The results were impressive:

A total of 34 companies received funding, some more than once
The companies collectively raised over $423 million dollars
The months with the highest number of companies receiving funding were June August, both with 8 companies
The highest amount of funding came in the month of June, when the alumni brought in over $124.4 million

Here is a month-by-month breakdown of funding received:

January -- $40.8 million raised by 3 companies

Kabbage: $6.7 million -- Blog post

Kony Solutions: $19.1 million -- Blog post

On Deck Capital: $15 million -- Press release

February -- $10.3+ million raised by 3 companies

eToro: $8.3 million -- Press release

Plastyc: $2 million -- Blog post

SecureKey: Undisclosed -- Blog post

March -- $20.4 million raised by 4 companies

Bobber Interactive: $1.4 million -- Press release

Credit Sesame: $6.2 million -- Press release

Finsphere: $1.8 million -- Blog post

Guardian Analytics: $11 million -- Blog post

June -- $124.4 million raised by 8 companies

Balance Financial: $1.5 million -- Blog post

Braintree: $34 million -- Blog post

Dynamics: $35 million -- Press release

eWise: $14 million -- Blog post

Prosper: $17.2 million -- Press release

Silver Tail Systems: $20 million -- Blog post

Ftrans: $650,000 -- Blog post

Lendio: $2 million -- Blog post

July -- $1.1 million raised by 1 company

Continuity Control: $1.1 million -- Blog post

August -- $103.4 million raised by 8 companies

edo Interactive: $20 million -- Press release

Kabbage: $17 million -- Blog post

Lending Club: $25 million -- Blog post

miiCard: $900k -- Press release

On Deck Capital: $19 million -- Blog post

peerTransfer: $7.5 million -- Press release

Simple (Formerly BankSimple): $10 million -- Blog post

Xero: $4 million -- Press release

September -- $33 million raised by 1 company

Cardlytics: $33 million -- Blog post

October-- $22 million raised by 2 companies

BillGuard: $10 million -- Blog post

CashStar: $12 million -- Press release

November -- $16.3+ million raised by 3 companies

Braintree: Undisclosed -- Blog post

Ftrans: $1.3 million -- Blog post

SecondMarket: $15 million -- Press release

December -- $52.2 million raised by 5 companies

Bill.com: $15.5 million -- Press release

Kabbage: $12 million -- Press release

mFoundry: $18 million -- Press release

MOOTWIN: $5.5 million -- Blog post

Plastyc: $1.2 million -- Blog post

Note: Funding that companies received before they demonstrated at Finovate was not counted. If you see any funding that is not on this list, please send the name of the company along with a link to the funding information to julie@netbanker.com and I will add it.

Bill.com Secures $15.5 Million in Series D Funding

By Julie Schicktanz on December 8, 2011 9:21 AM

Online invoicing startup Bill.com announced a new round of $15.5 million in Series D funding today, boosting the total raised to $40 million:

"The financing round included new investor Financial Partners Fund (FPF), a unit of Citi Capital Advisors, and existing Bill.com investors including DCM, Emergence Capital Partners, August Capital, Jafco Ventures and Total Technology Ventures. Bill.com will use the additional capital to scale operations in support of continued customer growth and for product development and marketing purposes."

The company also shared some growth figures for 2011:

Grew over 300%
Added tens of thousands of vendors and customers to its network
Currently holds over $3 billion under management

To learn more about Bill.com, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Bill.com's Paperless Bill Management Wins Silver Award

By Julie Schicktanz on November 10, 2011 10:46 AM

Yesterday, bill payment startup Bill.com announced that its paperless bill management innovation was named by the Best in Biz Awards as a silver award winner in the Small or Medium Business Product of the Year category:

"Simple to use, but extremely powerful, Bill.com's product offering was selected as a Best in Biz frontrunner due to its keen ability to help SMBs

streamline their tedious bill pay and receivables processes"

The award winners are selected by industry analysts and members of the press to recognize leading products from small and medium-sized businesses from companies of all industries. To learn more about the awards, click here.

To learn more about Bill.com, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Finovate Alumni News-- November 10, 2011

By Julie Schicktanz on November 10, 2011 10:34 AM

FeeFighters shares its web traffic spikes from being in TechCrunch articles.

Monitise launches mobile checkout service.

Fox Business News mentions how Tyfone is helping to retrofit cellphones with NFC capability.

Reuters reports how Lending Club uses consumer sentiment towards banks as an opportunity.

Striata selected by Securitas, a growing security company in South Africa, to provide eBilling & ePayment to customers.

ThreatMetrix deploys multi-layered data encryption architecture in new release of Cloud-Based Fraud Prevention Platform.

Iowa-based UNI CU and W.Va-based WV United FCU sign on for Dwolla's FiSync.

MyBankTracker compares Offermatic to Groupon and Womply.

Linkable Networks (formerly Clovr Media) partners with 24/7 Real Media to tap into card linked offers.

Wade Arnold, T8 Webware CEO, is selected for The Courier's Class of 2011 20 Under 40 award.

ReadyForZero launches new blog.

Bill.com's paperless bill management wins silver award.

Simple explains its new "Simple" name.

DoughMain launches financial education game Sand Dollar City.

CNNMoney highlights Lendio and On Deck Capital.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News-- November 7, 2011

By Julie Schicktanz on November 7, 2011 11:03 AM

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

By Julie Schicktanz on November 2, 2011 1:00 PM

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 Website Traffic in August

By Julie Schicktanz on October 20, 2011 6:30 PM

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

By Julie Schicktanz on August 29, 2011 9:48 AM

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.

Bill.com Launches Invoice Mailing Service

By Julie Schicktanz on August 23, 2011 2:16 PM

California-based Bill.com launched a billing feature that allows small businesses and accountants to invoice their customers via snail mail.

"Bill.com's Accounts Receivable (AR) update enables users to send printed bills to their customers via U.S. mail at below the cost of what a typical company would spend printing, stuffing and mailing invoices."

This new service will benefit those who prefer paperless billing methods by allowing them to send invoices to customers who still use paper invoices.

It also includes new features such as:

The addition of a Quick Response (QR) code on the invoice that allows the recipient to scan the code and link directly to their Bill.com Payment Portal.
The ability to integrate with QuickBooks and Peachtree accounting software

To learn more about Bill.com, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo here.

PayPal and Cortera Take Charge in May's Web Traffic

By Julie Schicktanz on July 7, 2011 2:07 PM

Each month we survey the Web-traffic performance of our alums, using data from Web-analytics company Compete to review the sites they operate.

Out of 255 alumni, 62 (24%) had more than 10,000 unique U.S. visitors in May 2011 (see tables below). Of the 62 reviewed, 25 (40%) had fewer visitors than in the previous month and 28 (45%) saw a decline year-over-year.

Private Companies
The 44 private companies are as follows:

Notable successes:

Cortera saw the highest number of unique U.S. visitors in May, with almost 2 million hits.
HelloWallet experienced the greatest month-over-month growth, with more than four times as many visitors.
Betterment saw its traffic increase an impressive 38 times from May of last year.

Private Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011

Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011

Public Companies
The 18 public companies are as follows:

Notable successes:

PayPal experienced the highest number of U.S. visitors in May, with over 32 million visitors.
TransUnion Interactive saw the highest month-over-month growth with more than two times the number of visitors in May than in April.
Sybase 365 experienced the highest year-over-year growth, with its traffic up almost 80% from last year.

Public Finovate Alumni With More Than 10,000 Unique Visitors in May 2011

Source: Compete.com retrieved June 29, 2011

_____________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

1. We reviewed 255 unique sites. Data was unavailable or irrelevant for 201 sites because:

They had been acquired.
They were no longer available online.
They were not covered by Compete for various reasons (including some that were not U.S. domestic companies).
The number of unique visits was too small to be considered accurate.
They were subdomains of larger websites.

2. Numbers have been rounded to three significant digits.

3. The charts include companies that did not have measurable traffic in May 2011, indicated by "N/A."

4. 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.

Alumni News -- Week of May 23, 2011

By Julie Schicktanz on May 31, 2011 12:18 PM

Aptys Solutions
Aptys Solutions signed with Banker's Bank, a top check depositor with the Federal Reserve Link

Backbase
Backbase to host webinar on how to use social media in financial services Link

Betterment

Betterment announced a growth of over $10M under management and over 4000 customers in first year Link
Betterment celebrated its first birthday Link

Bill.com
Bill.com is working to improve its mobile offering for small and midsized businesses Link

Boku
Mobile Entertainment explained how Boku will revolutionize pay-by-mobile for digital goods Link

Capital Access Network
CNBC explained how Capital Access Network solves the need to use financial creativity Link

Credit Karma
WiseBread Blog interviewed Credit Karma CEO Link

doxo

doxo's first fan video was posted online Link
Oregon employees were the first to give its members doxo's online file cabinet Link
TechFlash highlighted the benefits of using doxo to achieve paperless business Link
2Minute Finance interviewed doxo at FinovateSpring Link

Dwolla

Dwolla was listed by inc Tech as one of three startups you must know from Big Omaha Link
Credit Union Times listed Dwolla as a new P2P service rivaling 'bank giants' Link

edo Interactive
MyBankTracker interviewed edo Interactive COO about its Prewards service Link

Expensify
Slate explained how Expensify will help the 'frequent flier' Link

Kabbage
Technorati described how Kabbage works with eBay Link

Lending Club

Mint.com's blog covered what you need to know about Lending Club Link
San Francisco Business Times commented on Lending Club's strong backing from both investors and lenders Link
San Francisco Times reported that Lending Club stated it is not planning to go public for several years Link

LendingKarma
Entrepreneur featured LendingKarma as a good tool to use when borrowing money from family or friends Link

Lendio
San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lendio offers funding opportunities for new grads Link

Lodo Software
Lodo Software was described as a startup providing jobs in the "Silicon Prairie" region, a.k.a. Omaha Link

Monitise
Monitise released a report predicting that the majority of consumers will use mobile money services within the next three years Link

Mortgagebot
Mortgagebot reached 1000 clients, one of its goals from the beginning Link

PayDivvy
2MinuteFinanced interviewed PayDivvy about its services Link

PayNearMe
BillShrink examined PayNearMe's cash payment service Link

peerTransfer
Mass High Tech interviewed Iker Marcaide from peerTransfer about becoming an entrepreneur Link

ProfitStars
ProfitStars announced a new version of Margin Maximizer that's now available as a hosted solution Link

Robot Dough
2MiniuteFinance toured RobotDough's demo during interview at Finovate Spring Link

SecondMarket

Wall Street Journal stated that SecondMarket helped fuel the tech boom Link
CNBC interviewed SecondMarket for an explanation of the change in trading numbers Link and Link

Smarty Pig
Smarty Pig launched new sharing features, including activity sharing and goal sharing Link

Striata
Striata will host a June 2 webinar for implementing successful ebilling strategies Link

ThreatMetrix
San Francisco Chronicle covered ThreatMetrix's research around mobile transaction activity Link

TILE Financial
TILE Financial released a Financial Identity Profile to strengthen the connection between advisors and under-30 consumers Link

TradeKing
TradeKing divulged the lineup of its free webinars in June Link

Tyfone
Tyfone won 2010 Asia Pacific Smart Card Association Award for its NFC innovation and implementation Link

Wikinvest
Dow Jones Advisor highlighted Wikinvest as a way to analyze portfolios Link

Wonga

Wonga won 2011 Red Herring Top 100 Europe Award for exceptional accomplishments Link
Wonga won the Media Momentum Awards, a coveted award for digital media companies in Europe Link
Wonga's Errol Damelin discussed consumer-centric credit Link

Xero

Diversity Limited commented on Xero's move to the US markets Link
Xero and Keebo teamed up to help you manage and process receipts Link
New Zealand Herald commented on Xero's surging revenue Link

Zecco

The Wall Street Journal reviewed Zecco's new Facebook app Link
Zecco launched an app for stock trades & viewing realtime market data on Facebook Link

Zopa
Zopa shows how it helps consumers protect against inflation Link

Alumni News -- Week of May 16, 2011

By Julie Schicktanz on May 20, 2011 1:06 PM

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 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

iPay Technologies reached 1 Million users of its P2P electronic payment service, with almost 8 million payments processed to date Link

IronKey

IronKey continued hyper growth in Q1 2011, as bookings increased by 90% compared to last year 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

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

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

Alumni News: Week of May 2 and May 9

By Julie Schicktanz on May 16, 2011 11:38 AM

Backbase
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

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 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 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

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

PayNearMe

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

Alumni News -- Week of April 25, 2011

By Jessica Ward on May 2, 2011 11:21 AM

On April 27, Prosper gave 200 new lenders $104 to get started. The company is celebrating the news that prosper lenders are averaging 10.4% returns. http://bit.ly/finovate426111

American Banker on Yodlee and Geezeo growth in the PFM market. Yodlee grows French market, and Geezeo signs more credit unions. http://bit.ly/finovate429111

Author Jean Chatzky opens her Debt Diet Challenge to 5 Credit.com readers who are in debt. http://bit.ly/lDmZ54

Bank Innovations highlights six companies as noteworthy to see at Finovate Spring on May 10th & 11th in San Francisco. http://bit.ly/kqBr39

Bill.com releases site upgrade. The upgrade, made over the Easter weekend, includes improved calendar, a revised mobile application, receivables managements and online payments and more. http://bit.ly/finovate427113

BrightScope featured on TechCrunch. The post highlights BrightScope's launch of advisor pages. http://tcrn.ch/finovate426113

Capital Access Network awarded prestigious award. The company won the 2011 Monarch Innovation Award from Barlow Research Associates. http://bit.ly/finovate425113

CashEdge's Small Business Survey finds that small businesses want electronic payment solutions. http://bit.ly/kmC1lM

Consumer Reports integrates BillShrink's recommendations into reviews. BillShrink has similar affiliate relationships with Walmart.com and T-Mobile. http://tcrn.ch/finovate426112

Credit Karma releases Credit Score Climate Report stating credit scores fell two points in the Q1 2011. http://mwne.ws/lnXZn7

Currensee makes Lead411's Hottest Boston Tech Companies list second year in a row. See them at Finovate Spring. http://bit.ly/lmrLNK

H&R Block names former eBay exec as new CEO. http://buswk.co/ipszZa

Mengia signs with Icelandic banks, Arion and Landsbanki. Mengia will provide PFM services to both banks, which will provide 90% of Icelandic banking customers with access to an integrated PFM platform. http://bit.ly/finovate427112

Monitise launches Hong Kong mobile service with JETCO, which will help it break into the Asia Pacific market. http://bit.ly/kEEcCP

Stock Twits names Francisc Costello chief operating officer. http://bit.ly/finovate429114

Tile Financial releases the "Spend Grow Give" app. Now available free in the App Store. http://bit.ly/finovate425111

USA Today covers BrightScope's new tool for choosing the right financial adviser & informs what attributes to look for. http://usat.ly/msrb7l

Wescom Resources Group offers Geezeo PFM to clients. Wescom will be rolling out Geezeo as a complement to the Credit Union's existing online banking platform. http://bit.ly/finovate425112

Xero releases Xero Touch, its new app built on HTML5 that will run on iPhone, Android, Windows7 and Blackberry. http://bit.ly/eLPrdA

Yodlee holds a mobile banking webinar on May 3. Attendance is free. Details online at http://bit.ly/finovate427111

Alumni News -- Week of March 28, 2011

By Jessica Ward on April 4, 2011 1:32 PM

To follow Finovate alumni news in real time, follow us on Twitter here.

Bill.com and Doxo recognized as "AlwaysOn OnDemand 100 Top Private Company." http://bit.ly/finovate329114 http://bit.ly/finovate329115

Bling Nation launches Social Connect platform. The platform allows Bling users to connect online with social rewards features from their favorite merchants. http://bit.ly/finovate328113

Bobber Interactive garners $1.1 million Series A funding round. This funding round was led by PEAK6 Investments. http://bit.ly/finovate41113

Capital Access expands remittance program to include Puerto Rico and 21 more countries. The Capital Access platform is designed for "daily" remittances and revenue-sharing programs. http://bit.ly/finovate329111

COCC selects mFoundry as mobile banking partners. The company has selected mFoundry's mobile INSIGHT product for multi-mode mobile banking services. http://bit.ly/finovate328114

Mint.com launches "Quest for Money" online game. The game is intended for middle school students and is available to play online. http://bit.ly/finovate411111

Morningstar to provide mutual fund Platform to eRollover. eRollover users will have access to Morningstar's historical information and comparison tools for mutual funds. http://bit.ly/finovate329113

See Betterment.com on NBC New York. http://bit.ly/finovate328111

Silver Tail Systems wins Emergent Technology Award. The award, given by the Merchant Risk Council, is rewarding the company's innovative security systems. http://mwne.ws/finovate328112

Sybase argues NFC is "way overhyped." In VentureBeat Sybase President Marty Beard argues that it isn't proven that NFC really is better than the other technologies available. http://bit.ly/finovate41112

Xero launches integrated payroll solution. http://bit.ly/finovate329112

Alumni News -- Weeks of March 7, 13 and 21, 2011

By Jessica Ward on March 29, 2011 11:52 AM

To view our alumni news updates in real time, follow us on Twitter.

Andera adds its 500th customer. http://bit.ly/finovate322116

Bill Harris and Mark Goines join the Pageonce Advisory Board. Harris was formerly CEO of Intuit and of PayPal, and Goines was formerly a senior executive at Intuit and Charles Schwab. http://prn.to/finovate322111

Bill.com named to the JMP Securities "Hot 100." The list includes the 100 best privately held software companies for 2011 according to the investment bank. http://bit.ly/finovate38113

BillShrink adds Anil Arora, Yodlee president and CEO, to its board of directors. The announcement comes just after the launch of "Statement Rewards" from BillShrink. http://bit.ly/finovate322112

Boku moves from virtual-goods billing to real-goods billing in Germany. Now real goods can be added to wireless bills thanks to Boku's technology. http://bit.ly/finovate324112

Cardlytics wins Judge's Choice Award in the 2011 Paybefore Awards. The Paybefore awards are hosted annually by Prepaid Media. http://bit.ly/finovate38111

CashEdge signs Huntington for P2P PopMoney. http://bit.ly/finovate322117

Check out the Filene webinar with Thwakk on how to leverage financial education to increase youth membership. http://bit.ly/finovate322113

Columbus Water Works customers can now pay their utility bill via eWise's secure payment platform. http://yhoo.it/finovate37113

Cedit Sesame closes on $6.15 million Series B funding round led by Melo Ventures. http://bit.ly/finovate322118

eToro launches "Trade Story." This social platform helps traders learn the strategies behind other users' trades. http://bit.ly/hQNDGc

Expensif y is featured in Money magazine. http://bit.ly/finovate322114

Guardian Analytics raises $11 million. This is Guardian's fourth round of funding, this time led by Split Rock Partners. http://bit.ly/finovate323113

H&R Block and Yodlee partner to make it easier to file taxes. http://yhoo.it/finovate3236

ICICI and Intuit partner on a Mint-like platform for India. http://bit.ly/finovate324113

Alumni News, Weeks of February 21st and February 28th, 2011

By Jessica Ward on March 8, 2011 9:51 AM

To see our alumni news feed in real time, visit us on Twitter.

Bank of Internet will use Intuit's FinanceWorks. http://mwne.ws/finovate2241

Betterment reduces fees on retirement accounts. http://bit.ly/finovate224114

Service enhancements at Bill.com. Clone invoices ease automated payments. http://bit.ly/finovate224112

eToro completes $8.3 million funding round led by Spark Capital. eToro has 1.5 million users in 130 countries worldwide. http://bit.ly/f1G99d

eToro launches new user tools, and deposit bonuses. New eToro users can get a bonus of up to $500 to try Forex trading. http://bit.ly/finovate34112

eWise is moving to Denver. The company processes electronic payments and is moving to attract employees. http://bit.ly/finovate22311

Fiserv acquires M-Com to enhance mobile banking and payments capabilities. http://bit.ly/finovate34117

Kiboo got a makeover. The new interface focuses on usability and design. http://bit.ly/finovate34111

Lending Club exceeds $200 million in cumulative peer-to-peer loans. The combined Lending Club and Prosper volume is now approaching the half-billion dollar mark. http://bit.ly/finovate34118

Lodo Software signs thirty more banks for its OurCashFlow PFM platform. http://bit.ly/finovate34113

MiiCard featured as Microsoft's Startup of the Day. http://bit.ly/finovate224113

Outright.com has a new blog. http://bit.ly/finovate34115

Striata adds Iconix Truemark sender recognition technology to electronic communications. The system adds branded visual identity to help identify genuine emails from financial institutions. http://bit.ly/finovate34116

Alumni News -- Week of January 17, 2011

By Jessica Ward on January 23, 2011 11:04 AM

To see Finovate alumni company news in real-time, follow our feed on Twitter here.

Acculynk brings PaySecure PIN security to mobile devices. - The mobile PIN payment system should be available to consumers in first quarter 2011. http://bit.ly/finovate119113

AlphaClone is mentioned on Wall Street Journal front page article, "Pack Mentality Grips Hedge Funds." - The story ran Jan 15, 2011 and details the similar strategies in hedge fund management. http://bit.ly/finovate118113

Backbase opens a New York City office to house field operations staff and help to serve East Coast financial institutions. http://bit.ly/finovate117112

Bill.com partners with Track1099 for easy, paperless IRS-1099 filing. - Users can report independent contractor payments in two easy steps direct from their bill.com page. http://bit.ly/finovate118112

iPay Technologies launches Biz 2.0 Crossover to help small businesses convert to business online bill payment. - The system identifies businesses using consumer online bill pay and targest them for upgrade to the business version. http://bit.ly/finovate119111

Kasasa adds Neighborhood Credit Union to the fold. - NCU is the largest credit union in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. http://bit.ly/finovate117114

Kony solutions raises $19.1 million for mobile application platform. - Kony creates mobile applications for numerous industries including banking and investments. http://tcrn.ch/finovate119115

Frost and Sullivan names mFoundry "Entrepreneurial Company of the Year" in the mobile banking category. http://bit.ly/finovate121114

Mint and TurboTax team up to make taxes easier. - Mint allows for tagging of deductible transactions and free e-filing via Turbo Tax. http://bit.ly/finovate121111

SilverTail Systems is hosting a Webinar on Jan 27 covering the differences between ecommerce and online financial Fraud. -- http://bit.ly/finovate117111

SmartyPig's cash rewards card wins Paybefore award twice. - Congratulations to Smartypig for winning in two categories, "best general purpose reloadable program" and "best consumer value in prepaid." http://bit.ly/finovate12112

Joseph Leone, former vice chairman and CFO of CIT Group, joins the board of advisors at The Receivables Exchange. - Leone is a nationally recognized expert in commercial lending. http://bit.ly/finovate118111

Alumni News -- Week of December 29, 2010

By Jessica Ward on January 3, 2011 5:25 PM

To see updates on Finovate alumni companies follow our live feed on Twitter.

Bill.com now offers receivable tracking. -- The new module, still in Beta, allows users to invoice, and track receivables and even receive payments electronically. http://bit.ly/finovate12282

Check out the new branding at Bancvue's Kasasa. -- The company has implemented a new, edgier corporate identity, to better blend with the slam-poetry marketing campaign. http://bit.ly/finovate12283

Expensify unveiled a new reporting system. http://tcrn.ch/finovate12292

Kapitall launches new tools for 2011. -- New features include dynamic lists of what's hot, the most popular trades, and watch lists in every sector. http://bit.ly/finovate12302

Mint.com goes to school with a new, free financial curriculum for middle schools. -- The program, a partnership with Scholastic, will be expanded to 30,000 schools in early 2011. http://tcrn.ch/finovate12281

See Lending Club's list of top 100 financial micro-bloggers. http://bit.ly/finovate12284

Congratulations Lending Club on reaching $200 million in funded loans. http://bit.ly/finovate12301

TechCrunch explains why the SEC need not tighten regulation of SecondMarket and other secondary market trading sites. http://tcrn.ch/finovate12303

Weekly Updates -- Weeks of Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 2010

By Jessica Ward on November 9, 2010 1:01 PM

From PayPal X Conference: Bill.com uses PayPal business payments to transform how businesses get paid. http://bit.ly/finovate10273 and gets a makeover. http://bit.ly/finovate10255

From PayPal X Conference: Bling Nation launches "FanConnect" platform. FanConnect helps consumers and businesses to connect at checkout via social media platforms like Facebook. http://bit.ly/finovate10272

Blippy and Sephora work together to spread the word about cosmetic products via Twitter. See TechCrunch's story. http://tcrn.ch/finovate10271

Continuity Control and uMonitor partner for compliance automation. http://bit.ly/finovate11334

TechCrunch recognizes Credit Karma. http://tcrn.ch/finovate10262

Dynamics Inc. is profiled in "the future of credit cards" in the New York Times. http://j.mp/finovate102510

From PayPal X Conference: Expensify announces support for expense reimbursement via PayPal. See a demonstration: http://bit.ly/finovate1142.

How Finsphere is helping to prevent identity theft with geo-location and mobile check-ins. http://rww.to/finovate10281

Ixaris partners with Apigee to create payment application development API platform. -- The new platform will be named Ixaris Opn (pronounced "open"). http://bit.ly/finovate1121

From PayPal X Conference: More on Kabbage's service to provide working capital for eBay Sellers. http://bit.ly/finovate10276

Lending Club welcomes North Carolina and Kansas. Peer-to-peer personal loans are now available in 42 states. http://bit.ly/finovate1141

Mint.com launches MintData to delve into the spending habits of Mint's 4 million users. The data is anonymous and provides insight into the pocketbooks of customers in 300 U.S. cities. http://tcrn.ch/finovate1122

From PayPal X Conference: Outright.com launches free accounting app in PayPal apps marketplace. http://bit.ly/finovate10274

Citi takes CashEdge's Popmoney Service live. FinVentures breaks it down. http://bit.ly/finovate1123

The Receivables Exchange Co-Founder and CEO Justin Brownhill was named one of Silicon Alley Insider's "Silicon Alley 100." The list covers New York's "Coolest Tech People in 2010." http://bit.ly/finovate11335

SafetyPay pioneers new ways to provide micropayments in the gaming industry. http://bit.ly/finovate10277

Alumni News -- Week of September 6, 2010

By Jessica Ward on September 13, 2010 10:35 PM

Here are the news updates for the week of September 6, 2010. To view in real-time, follow us here.

Congratulations to Andera on 400 customers! Andera is a provider of account opening and funding technology. http://bit.ly/finovate991

Bill.com's new ZEN feature means "zero data entry" for users! http://bit.ly/finovate984

Expensify has raised $5.7 million and surpassed 100,000 users! The Expensify application simplifies expense-reporting processes. http://bit.ly/finovate992

Kapitall has a new look. Kapitall has unveiled a new user interface including one-click trades, improved searches, drop-down menus and overview screens. http://bit.ly/finovate982

See the technology behind Plastyc's banking for the unbanked. The story appeared on CNBC on September 8. http://bit.ly/finovate981

SafeCentral Inc (formerly Authentium) garners first of five patents for Trusted Security Extensions technology. http://bit.ly/finovate973

SafeCentral Inc. completes sale of antivirus business to Commtouch. The sale was completed for $4.6 million plus an additional earnout. http://bit.ly/finovate974

SecondMarket featured in Huffington Post as one of 31 innovative startups. The report is a result of the World Economic Forum's list where Second Market was featured. http://huff.to/finovate972

TSYS and BancVue form strategic partnership to serve community financial institutions. The partnership will allow BancVue customers to use TSYS payment services. http://bit.ly/finovate971

Tyfone closes Series B investment from HDFC Holdings. - The company closed on a $5 million funding round. http://bit.ly/finovate961

Alumni News - Week of June 13, 2010

By Jessica Ward on June 18, 2010 10:51 PM

Here are the news headlines we posted this week on Twitter (follow our feed here)

Bill.com raises $8.5 million in series C financing. Bill.com has now raised $25 million to date. http://bit.ly/finovate6182

Billeo releases update. Version 2.5.0.2 is now available. Several performance improvements included in this Billeo release. Current users will get an auto-update. http://bit.ly/finovate6133

Check Point acquires Liquid Machines. Check Point has aquired the privately held data security firm Liquid Machines for an undisclosed amount. http://bit.ly/finovate6131

Fiserv's ZashPay service garners commitment from 100+ financial institution. More than 100 financial institutions have committed to the peer-to-peer payment service platform from ZashPay. http://bit.ly/finovate6163

iBearSoft planning new app. The simplified "Bills for iPad" is in beta as a simpler version of the iBearMoney app. http://bit.ly/finovate6132

USA Today highlights Kapitall in the classroom. Fifth-graders helped to beta-test the Kapitall stock trading simulator. http://bit.ly/finovate6161

Kasasa enters the Pacific Nortwest. Kasasa is now working with Woodstone Credit Union. http://bit.ly/finovate6141

Lending Club hosting an investor strategy Webcast June 24, for investors. The Lending Club webcast will be held at 3 PM PST, and will cover strategy, as well as the FolioFn tool, for secondary market trading. http://bit.ly/finovate6194

Bloomberg TV recognizes Receivables Exchange. See how real-time receivable trading works. http://bit.ly/finovate6162

The Receivables Exchange has been nominated for the American Business Award in two categories. The Receivables Exchange was nominated for "Executive of the Year" and "Business Innovation of the Year" for the award, also called the "Stevie Award." http://bit.ly/finovate6192

ThreatMetrix signs reseller agreement with Reiki Corporation, tackles fraud in Japan. Japan is the second-largest Internet population in Asia, behind China. http://bit.ly/finovate6191

WorkLight hosting webinar on multi-channel application development. The WorkLight webinar will be held on June 29. http://bit.ly/finovate6183

Zopa creates "share on Facebook" images. Zopa users can earn commissions for friends referred via Facebook. http://bit.ly/finovate6184

Alumni News – Week of April 5

By Andrew Dolbeck on April 8, 2010 3:50 PM

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

Last Chance for FinovateSpring Early-Bird Tickets -- Only 2 Days Left to Save!

By Eric Mattson on March 30, 2010 3:49 PM

Just a quick reminder that the early-bird ticket prices for FinovateSpring 2010 (May 11, San Francisco) will expire at the end of March (less than 2 days from now). If you register by March 31, you'll save $100 on your ticket and lock in your spot to see debuts and demos of dozens of new financial and banking technological innovations.

We've handpicked an amazing list of companies to demo their latest including:

Tickets are selling well with hundreds of registered attendees from great organizations like:

AARP
BNP Paribas
CBS
Experian
Google
Intuit
Kaiser Permanente
Mechanics Bank
Tower Group
USAA
Visa

Aite
Capital One
Celent
Filene
H&R Block
Jack Henry
Motley Fool
Target
PayPal
US Bank
Wells Fargo

Alliant Credit Union
Canaan Partners
Discover
Forrester Research
ING DIRECT
Highland Capital
Javelin Research
NY Times
TransUnion
Venrock
Wired Magazine

FinovateSpring is one of our twice-yearly showcases of the best new ideas in banking and financial technology. The show is built around a unique blend of fast-paced demos of actual technology (no slides!) and high-quality networking with an audience of senior FI executives, fintech entrepreneurs, VCs, press, industry analysts and bloggers. It's an awesome environment to find your next competitive edge.

Don't miss out on the early-bird price on your ticket to this great show. Register now!

P.S. Online Banking Report subscribers are entitled to an extra discount to our Finovate conferences. Email me to get it.

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.

FinovateSpring 2010 Demo Companies Revealed

By Eric Mattson on March 17, 2010 7:19 PM

We're very pleased to announce the lineup for the upcoming FinovateSpring 2010 conference. Taking place on Tuesday May 11 in San Francisco, the conference will showcase dozens of handpicked companies debuting and demoing their latest and greatest fintech innovations. The quality of the new ideas that will be demoed on stage is very high this year and we're incredibly excited to showcase them to you.

The demoing companies selected (that we can reveal so far) are:

These companies will be showcased to an audience of senior financial/banking/credit union executives, influential press, industry analysts, venture capitalists, bloggers, tech companies and entrepreneurs.

A sampling of the great organizations already registered to attend includes: AARP, Aite, Alliant Credit Union, BNP Paribas, Capital One, Celent, Discover, Experian, Fidelity, Filene, Forrester Research, Google, Highland Capital, Intuit, Javelin Strategy, Jack Henry, Mechanics Bank, Motley Fool, NY Times, PayPal, Tower Group, USAA, US Bank, Venrock, Wells Fargo, and Wired Magazine.

We'd love to have you join us at the spring event and watch the future of finance/banking unfold onstage. If you register today you'll save $100 via the early-bird ticket discount. Please note that the early-bird prices expire at the end of this month and space is limited so lock in your spot now!

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.

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