The leaders in financial technology, fintech, have converged in San Jose for the annual Finovate Spring conference. Today, we’ll hear 7-minute lightening demos from some of the most innovative companies. And Beyond the Arc and the William Mills Agency will be blogging it all live. The fun starts in about 10 minutes. ^SR

Welcome to FinovateSpring Day 2! William, Steven and I are here at the conference ready to go. Stay tuned! ^KT

We’ll also be providing updates on Twitter, you can follow Beyond the Arc on Twitter at @beyondthearc and the hashtag is #finovate.

Envestnet | Yodlee – @Yodlee – http://envestnet.com/
Bill Parsons (SVP, Yodlee Analytics & Global Prod. Solutions)
Molly Pandya (SVP, Product Management)
Blake Wood (SVP & Director, Program Innovation)

Yodlee is now a part of Envestnet, and this is their first demo under that new umbrella. They are bringing financial data aggregation to the personal wealth management market. Consumers can see financial plan, in the context of their regular spending. This looks to be an offering targeting the retail investment segment. The tool is called Advisor Now.  Today’s budgeting and tomorrow’s retirement goals are aligned with the Advisor Now app. Consumers can build a plan, get a financial checkup, or just make investments.  ^SR

Well, this is the first time I’ve seen Yodlee here after their IPO and acquisition. I’m not sure why they went private so fast after they went public; they had been provide for more than a decade; perhaps 15 years.

Showing and advisor solution for their consumer for longer-term financial plans. “Financial independence”: Yodlee is known for the access to FI data; I’m wondering if they are pushing for a more PFM play. ^WM

Ephesoft – @Ephesoft – http://ephesoft.com/
Tim Dubes (VP, Marketing)
Ike Kavas (Chief Technical Officer)

This company provides unstructured content analysis for fintech.  They use this tech for onboarding in the financial industry, particularly mortgage. The backend technology is hosted on the cloud. They have technology to scan documents, perform OCR, and upload—all from a mobile device. The desktop application has some visualization features. ^SR

Millennials want their mortgages fast, rocket fast.” Man, that’s true. Mortgage tech, especially related to mobile is behind the FI in general. Showing Ephesoft SnampDoc SDK. Showing IOS iPhone doc capture. “One or two of three new mortgages are going to be Millennials (I think he said two but I’m not sure)”  This is REALLY important. I know a young person with a great job for a year, a 750 FICO score and 20% downpayment and her bank turned her down for her mortgage. Delta CU approved her mortgage. Millennials want the right mortgage, right now, online or on their phone. ^WM

Silver6
Brock Traetow (COO) and Sudheer Pamuru (CTO)

I don’t think I’ve seen these guys. Personalized video content on a mass scale. Now showing custom, personalized customer video which I assume is using data analysis combined with automated video production tools. It looks pretty slick. Software as a service. Uses your data to create truly personalized video. ^WM

They offer the opportunity to personalize video, at scale. Customize video, like you would a direct mail piece. This is great. Silver 6 operates as Software as a Service (SaaS), so that means no IT and no infrastructure required. ^SR

ThreatMetrix – @ThreatMetrix – https://www.threatmetrix.com/ Andreas Baumhof (Chief Technology Officer) and Dean Weinert (Director, Mobile Products)

Showing how a hacker could use a TOR browser for a computer attack. Showing really good dashboard on threats. I think I’ve seen these folks or read about them.

This is a very sophisticated fraud detection technology! ^SR

BaseVenture – @BaseVenture – https://www.baseventure.com/
John Pizzi (CEO & Co-Founder) and Steve Lemmer (Director of Product)

BaseVenture provides a platform for fund management. There is a workflow for managing the investment process. FundManger.io is the product name. For investors, they pre-populate legal investment subscription documents. For the fund manager, there is a dashboard to manage the portfolio as a whole, and see the activity of individual investors. ^SR

Very good demo. Showing digital dashboards. Talking about how dashboards are so much better at CU’s (and banks) than with financial planners. ANOTHER great UI. Good job! ^WM

DigiByte – @DigiByteCoin – http://dgbholdings.com/
Jared Tate (CEO & President)

Use the blockchain to manage identity, that’s one of the aims of DigiByte. For example, with a Letter of Credit, you can now add a cryptograhic signature that can’t be forged. DigiByte is looking at video games, and have created a “gaming wallet” based on blockchain tech. ^SR

We are now talking Blockchain – the hottest tech platform in years. As I understand it, BitCoin would not exist without Blockchain. Based in Hong Kong; showing integration with free to play video games. ^WM

LendingRobot – @LendingRobot – https://www.lendingrobot.com/#/
Emmanuel Marot (CEO)
Gilad Golan (CTO)

Peer lending meets machine learning, with LendingRobot. The algorithm automates the process of identifying, and investing in, the best peer-to-peer lending opportunities. LendingRobot connects to Lending Club and other existing peer lending platforms. They estimate the probability of default. The pricing model for LendingRobot seems to be based on number of investments you execute, no charge to just use the robot to monitor your investments. ^SR

Peer lending solution that’s growing fast. He just brought up LendingClub and LendingClub’s problems this week – stock down, CEO fired, etc. Now, let’s see how LendingRobot does it better. LENDING ROBOT – sort of like Robo-advising for peer-to-peer lending. I guess if LendingClub had this they wouldn’t be in so much trouble now. Show platform on a Chrome browser. ^WM

The CardLinx Association – @CardLinxAssoc  – Silvio Tavares (CEO & President)

I do not know they folks so I’m interested what Silvio has to say. Going to speak about technology can be better used in the card world.  Speaking the the problem of food waste at restaurant and retailers so I’m assuming there is a new tech that would enable merchants to better know their unsold food (which could be used for food banks). Card-linking – link to Facebook, BofA, other so you can get a targeted real-time discount offer. ^WM

NuData Security – @NuDataSecurity
Ryan Wilk (VP, Customer Success)
Robert Capps (VP, Bus. Dev.)

Is that web visitor a human, or a bot? NuDetect helps you to identify people through a unique digital profile. It includes biometrics and  behavioral analytics, with processing in real-time. ^SR

Formed in 2008; is the connection to a web site a human or a bot? Interacting with site in a valid way or risky way? Showing using a brand new device on a brand new connection. Email and password but got an approval on biometric match. How does this work? ID human instead of just device. The why is what will be interesting. The other presenter used the SAME username and password and it failed? Why?  Is it the speed which people type the username and password? Passive biometric profile, ok, it’s got to be like how someone enters their credentials. ^WM

ForwardLane – @Forward_Lane
Nathan Stevenson (CEO)

Why don’t people save more and invest properly for retirement? Lack of education about investing may be part of the problem. ForwardLane uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning to enable people to make better investment decisions. The tool helps people to do research and generate investment options. ^SR

I’ve been in conversations with folks from ForwardLane over the past two weeks and I’m really interested in their offering and their demo today. I hear Nathan has been doing a lot work in the U.K. “42 million affluent investors do not have the right plan for retirement.” Great entrance Nathan; lots of energy. Scale private banking model to a much broader market. We are using world-leading AI with risk analytics. From their web site I think they are using IBM Watson as a part of their solution but not 100% sure. Showing ANOTHER great UI (I’m not sure I’ve seen a bad one yet).

From my understanding of their offering they let mid to large financial planners/consultants utilize state-of-the-art data tools in real time coupled with NLQ AI for a better customer experience, allowing a financial planner to do a better job for more clients in less time. ^WM

PayActiv – @PayActiv – https://www.payactiv.com/
Safwan Shah (CEO & Founder)
Sabina Bhatia (Director, Marketing)

2 out of 3 families live with financial stress, 50 million households in the US. PayActiv helps consumers with short-term cash, available to be picked up from any ATM. The service has an integrated savings account. It is offered via employers, as a benefit program. Very compelling offering. ^SR

Full disclosure: WMA is PayActiv’s agency of record.

That being said I’ve learned so much from Safwan when we represented his last venture which was acquired by TSYS. PayActiv is born from Safwan’s vision to empower people in the workforce with the income they have earned and help them from getting deeper in debt from payday loans and other high interest sources of funds.

Showing IOS App “End Financial Stress” and telling the story of a typical American household and their short-term financial challenges. Story of a need for a family to transfer $150 to the bank before they get hit with late charges. Do no go online and get another online loan. Employer has new benefit; PayActiv”  Two of three families are living under extreme financial distress.  “Access to basic house necessities with no additional debt”.  Showing mobile application, very easy to view, PayPal and other interfaces. Under the scenario the consumer can transfer much-needed cash as well get cash (that was earned, not paid yet) so no payday or online lending debt is added. Now showing a new product featuring a savings module.  Can work with FI’s and all kinds of employers. ^WM

Advisor Software – @AdvisorSoftware

Tom Flint (VP, Sales)

Kevin Kraus (VP, Product)

With Compass, they allow advisors to create their own digital advisor solution. This is a great way for advisor to use a robo-advisor as part of their practice. Robo services does not have to be the competition! Advisors need to include it into their client toolbag. ^SR

“Online financial advice is over a $50 trillion marketplace.” Help financial advisors with their tech. “Easy to launch Robo-advising service” Compass, admin portal going live this summer. Integrates with their CRM’s. Talking about a mid-sized firm that doesn’t have an online account opening system with consumer facing ROBO and customize to that financial planner.

I think the company has been around for a while, I saw Andrew Rudd, CEO speak last year. I believe they have some pretty good technology but the demo is being read from a tablet and would have been stronger speaking from the heart and memorizing the speech that goes with the demo. They got “gonged” for overtime. ^WM

NIIT Technologies – @NIITTech

Ashley Luke (Director, Data Science)

James De Cicco (Head of Sales, Banking & FS)

Gaurav Mistry (Manager, Bus. Dev.)

Digital analytics database and analytics engine for financial services. This is deep data mining about individuals across the country. Even though I’m a huge advocate of data and analytics, I do find this a bit creepy. If I’m in this database, I want to know how I opt out.  This is not unlike what Experian or Transunion is already doing. ^SR

Data Analytics, life events and more. 3,000 attributes for each person in the database to create high value targets. Showcasing High Value Target (HVT) Engine. Macro analyst to apply various layers to ID HVT’s. Showing a data segmentation manager on a map of the Boston area. Interesting demo. I can’t figure out if their product is built with ERSI or some other mapping software but it is changing a lot now. Now a more “Google”-like dashboard. ^WM

Blend – @BlendApp

Pranay Kapadia (Head of Product)

Alec Roth (Sales)

Propelling mortgage industry. BLEND stands for better lending. I like that. I think this is the third mortgage tech demo in the past two days so I’m happy about that. Usually, almost all of these companies get asked by a lender to develop a solution and then they go on to sell their tech to other lenders.  They are mobile-first, 30% of usage on mobile, showing Chrome browser platform/portal. Walk through the purchase experience. “Moving the industry to forms to data is what we do very well.” Like MINT, we pull in data automatically. “We spent a lot of time making a great user experience.”  This is a very cool demonstration and offering. I’m going to have learn more about what they are doing. He’s right, “so much of mortgage tech is still “”Green Screen”” programs.” ^WM

VIX Verify – @VIXVerify

Jennifer Hughes (Bus. Dev., Americas)

Marco Piovesan (General Manager)

VIX Verify isn’t (yet) big in the US, but does have traction globally. They help FIs use the mobile phone for identity verification. This is obviously a hot new area of security tech. They have a “blink test” , to ensure it is a live human and not just a pic on the other end of the camera. They do a facial match of the selfie, and photos in official databases. Helps with mobile onboarding and anti-money laundering compliance. ^SR

“VIX Verify is not a house-hold name in the U.S. We are the global leaders in identity solutions while protecting FI’s and providers from compliance and fraud.” That’s a big statement, we will need to check this out. Showing mobile on boarding prototype. In parts of Asia online enrollment requires someway to show the person’s face to onboard. Showing mobile on boarding prototype. 1) picture of driver’s license 2) Selfie and 3) verify information extracted from document. Well, it looks pretty cool. Take a document that has your photo with data, then a new “blink” live photo and now I think they will extract the data. Nice demo, good job. ^WM

SwipeStox – @SwipeStox – http://www.swipestox.com/ Benjamin Bilski (CEO & Founder) and Wladimir Huber (Managing Director & Co-Founder)

“Trading stocks is WAY too complicated.” You can’t argue with that. “In Europe we are called the Facebook and Tinder for trading.” Log in, see news feed (like Facebook) and can follow people on Instagram. Trade Feed is like Tinder, you swipe a trade that you like (or dislike). This is the integration of mobile social media with trading. I suspect it could be very popular with Millennials as they get serious about savings and investing. ^WM

While this is a good approach to retail investing, I’m not sure there is enough here to really differentiate this company. As a co-branding solution, it would work very well. I see this tech being absorbed by one of the larger players in the space. ^SR

Malauzai Software – @MalauzaiMonkeys
Robb Gaynor (CPO)
Danny Piangerelli (CTO)
Craig Agulnek (VP, Product Management)

This is an extension of business services, powered by a local community bank. A mobile wallet powered by a local bank, built on the Malauzai platform. This certainly adds a lot of technological capacity to the community bank. Malauzai enables the community bank to build their own app, “local mobile wallets.” I’m very impressed by this latest offering, enabling community banks to increase their profile in payments. ^SR

Full disclosure: WMA is Malauzai Software’s agency of record.

“Provider of mobile banking to the community banking space; here to launch MOXPay.” Enabling local banks to offer local mobile wallets so the local businesses can have their own app. This could be really big because smaller FI’s really need to step up their mobile offerings not just for retail customers but their business customers. As a business owner I’d be WAY more likely to utilize a private-label app from my bank (who I trust) than anybody. (WMA does utilize a large community bank for our banking needs since of our bank of 30+ years closed (First Atlanta/Wachovia)) “All is built on the Malauzai visual app platform and have submitted 1,000 apps to the app stores.”” Local businesses with local mobile wallets from their local banks.Now showing the local mobile wallets using a credit card image scan. “Exciting day for local businesses.” Now every business can have an app as good (or better) than Starbucks. Great job! ^WM

Switch – @Switch – http://www.switchme.com/

Chris Hopen (CEO & Founder)

Richard Ting (Sales and Bus. Dev.)

This is a simple tool to update all of your credit cards, usually in the aftermath of a card security breach. The app also is helpful to drive activation, when new cards are issued. For issuers, there are nice dashboards and reports. ^SR

Started talking about the challenge of having to change credit cards all the time (due to fraud). Boy, this is a problem for ME. I have to change my BoF business card twice a year at least and sometimes AMEX as well.  Showing the SWITCH platform for helping when a card gets comprised. Now comparing VIN(?) data between cards to see where a card was linked (like with TicketMaster). I’ve always wondered why some retailers can use my new card numbers without asking and others just stop. Sounds like a good solution. ^WM

Fiserv – @Fiserv – https://www.fiserv.com/index.aspx
Andrew Barnett (Sr. Technical Consultant)
David Carr (Innovation Manager)

In 2015,  70% of customers preferred to open bank accounts through mobile channels. Fiserv is meeting that need for FIs and millennials.  Digital customers are more profitable customers.

Demo: In Instagram – Example dude sees an ad for sunglasses from a bank called Genius. He can just download an app and fill out code. Uses facebook to fill out personal information. Adds in Social security. Then Picture of ID. Then confirm identity with knowledge based authentication. Next step of funding account comes through RDC.

Can access funds immediately (At a small charge). To get the sunglasses, they have 3 options, mail, pick up at branch or have Uber deliver? What? Uber delivering the sunglasses that you got for free for opening a bank account? That’s new. Account is finished and can post on facebook to enter into win more free stuff. ^KT

Industry leader Fiserv is tackling the issue account opening for Millennials. They have an integration with Uber, to enable fulfillment of the account, directly to the consumer. (For example, if they get a gift with account open). The account has a tie into social media and sharing. This is a very impressive offering. ^SR

Auvenir – @Auvenir – https://www.auvenir.com/
Pete Myers (CEO)
Jon Felske (CTO)
Eziah Syed (Advisor)

Auvenir is a platform for auditors, “man and machine working together.” Web scraping, document sets from multiple sources, machine learning, and other functions under the hood. ^SR

Demo: “Audit Smarter” – ask clients to download mobile app for security authentication. Can see all the tasks the auditor has set-up. Can set-up link to bank accounts or drag and drop in statements from bank accounts. ^KT

Chip Shield
David Marsyla (CEO)
JC Ramey (VP, Bus. Dev.)

Chip card reader for when customers are shopping online to improve security. Retail for $20 a piece. Integrate with any online merchant site. Can connect to mobile device as well as desktop. Verifies the card and pushes that information onto the merchant. Customers can store all of their online profiles in one secure location to improve user experience. Who is the target audience? Consumers? What’s the market strategy? Looking for banks or credit unions. Branded version is available.  ^KT

One of the few hardware offerings presented at Finovate this time around. They’ve created a chip reader that can be plugged into your computer, so consumer can use EMV for online purchases. The software/platform pieces is the ability to use virtual card numbers. This does not require the merchant to change anything on their end. ChipShield also has an integrated password management vault. They can create an encrypted password, when the EMV chip card inserted into the reader. ^SR

Sberbank – @sberbank

Svyatoslav Ostrovsky (Head of Retail Digital Business)

Katerina Frolovicheva (MD, Technologies Innovations)

Vladimir Stasevich (Exec. Dir., Bank XXI Department)

Announcing Sberbank Messenger. App with all your conversations with friends. Integrated to your banking account. Money transfer tech like Venmo t your friends. Users may feel more comfortable with this app because it is from a Bank. “Smart Search” way to search for  products. Searching seems easy, they give you recommendations and then you can purchase straight from the app with fingerprint authentication. ^KT

This is a leading bank in Russia, with a track record of fintech innovation. The Messenger product is their latest offering. With Smart Search, you can analyze transaction history and receive shopping recommendations. They are creating an ecosystem of business/merchant partners. ^SR

Finaeos -@Finaeos – https://finaeos.com/

Tim Vasko (CEO & Founder)

Robert Gerrard (Chief Business Officer)

Presenting  a programmable cloud – a fintech platform. ^KT

They help IT teams build out functionality, rapidly. They see themselves as a platform, and an an enabler of a wide ecosystem. ^SR

ShortSave – @ShortSave – https://www.short-save.com/
Karl Falk (CEO)
Paulo Peres (Lead Developer)

Mortgage is getting a lot of attention at Finovate this year. Here’s another solution for document management and origination. ^SR

From their website: ShortSave helps servicers help borrowers — without red tape, phone calls, or additional documentation. It’s all done through the smartphone, with bank-level security. Can add loan documents with image capture via phone. Lots of useable data. ^KT

Ormsby Street – @OrmsbyStreet – https://www.ormsbystreet.com/
Martin Campbell (CEO)

CreditHQ helps businesses manage cashflow. They analyze credit interactions to determine which customers will pay, and when. They help you focus and prioritize Accounts Receivable, based on payment histories and risk. Within the application, they have an automated debt collection process. ^SR

Managing cash flow – targeted at small business in partnership with banks. Demo: as a small business – trading with someone new. Can look that person up and see credit data with credit score. Credit HQ helps demonstrate to a small business how to start trading. Small business customers can monitor. ^KT

Comarch – @Comarch – http://www.comarch.com/finance/
Jerry Filipiak (CEO & Chairman of the Board)
Diana Chin (HR & Operations)

Virtual reality? Not just for video games… okay, you have my attention. Demoing first with apple watch. Is this the first time we have seen an apple watch as apart of a demo today? Then demo goes to mobile app where you can see investment ideas, recommendations, etc. Visualizing banking data and using wealth of data to put customer in control for better decisions. Virtual reality – Where your can see your investment plan and strategy visually and interactive. I have never seen something like this before. ^KT

I think this may be a first, Virtual Reality comes to financial services! It may take a few years for this to find the right application, but no doubt this will change the way people interact digitally. Comarch gets extra points for trying to be a pioneer in this area. ^SR

brandCrowder – @BrandCrowder
Ijeoma (EJ) Onuosa (Founder)
Robert Armiak (CEO)

From Website: brandCrowder is a mobile, web-based “equity” crowdfunding platform. The portal provides crowdfunding investments, and syndication services, bringing together franchisee/investors (funders) with franchisor/franchise investments (deals). Franchising – Investment platform for companies such as  fitness, health and beauty, restaurants, etc. ^KT

Franchising can help people create wealth. But, the process of learning about opportunities isn’t very smooth. And what if you could invest in a fund of franchises? brandCrowder is addressing some of these issues. Accredited investors see some deals, others don’t have access. Can also set geographic limits on who can invest. ^SR

Race Data – @RaceDataSystems
Jeff Helm (Director, Account Services)
Jeff Deppen (CIO, Orrstown Bank)

Turn data into energized relationships. Race dashboard: Large data set to work with. Helping banks with customer retention by transforming data into knowledge about their customer’s engagement and key events on their journey. Race Data brought bank client on stage who is thrilled with the product, he also states that the technology gives context to bank call center employees as well. ^KT

Sezzle – @sezzleinc – https://sezzle.com/

Charlie Youakim (CEO)

“We believe merchant processing is broken.” So many costs associated. At sezzle trying to reinvent process. Their rate is cheaper which gets them in the check-out (1.5 +15). To get the customer, they offer a rewards program which is 1% rewards. Credit cards offer rewards but over 60% of payments are made on debit cards. Demo: Sezzle app with knowledge based authentication to link bank accounts. As well as texting OTP to mobile phone when purchasing items. Plus the 1% rewards. ^KT

AND THAT’S A WRAP!  2 days, 70+ companies. Check back on our blog for deeper analysis in the coming days.

We’ll also be providing updates on Twitter, you can follow Beyond the Arc on Twitter at @beyondthearc and the hashtag is #finovate.