This is a continuation of my Finovate Sprint 2011 Part 1, Finovate Sprint 2011 Part 2, and Finovate Spring 2011 Live Blog (Part 3)
Finovate Spring 2011 Live Blog (Part 3)
This is a continuation of my Finovate Sprint 2011 Part 1 and Finovate Sprint 2011 Part 2.
Finovate Spring 2011 Live Blog (Part 2)
This is a continuation of my Finovate Sprint 2011 Part 1
- Doxo – “Digital file cabinet online.” The aim is to allow consumers to go paperless. Makes it easy for consumers to pay their bills online. This could be interesting, but I think they’ve got a chicken and the egg problem. They need businesses and customers to use it.
- Arroweye Solutions – Allows consumers to personalize their credit cards. You can upload your own photos. They show a picture of a dog for example. What makes them different from other “upload your photo” systems is that they have the factory that prints these cards. I don’t know why anyone would want a personalize credit card. The only purpose I can see is to put some kind of offensive image so that you can shock the cashier at the Gap. That could be fun.
- Billeo – Hey, they’ve got an iPad app. I should sleep for the next 6 minutes and wake up at the next presentation. Their Shop Smart application brings in offers and rewards from partners such as Groupon and Living Social. They integrate social media like Facebook. From a merchant website (like Walmart), you can post a question to Facebook such as “what do you think of this barbeque?” That’s somewhat interesting, I suppose.
- ProfitStars – They create a tool called Margin Maximizer that allows financial institutions understand financial information to maximize margins. If you just said, “huh?” I’m with you on that one. If you are a CFO this may mean something to you.
- BillFloat – Pays bills for people. Sounds great right? Well it’s like a short-term loan. And you pay a fee for the service around $10 a bill. It’s better than a payday loan, but not as good as simply being financially responsible for your bills.
- WikiInvest – They are here to demo SigFig – which will be their new name in a few months. It can examine your portofolio and make some suggestions. It may see a mutual fund that has high fees and poor performance and suggest something similar that is better. They show an example of a person who is paying a $250 commission for stock trades. I didn’t think that people still paid that. This is one of the more interesting companies I’ve seen to present today.
- peerTransfer – Allows international students to pay their tuition. Also allows them to easily transfer money. This saves international students money. If this profile fits you, look up peerTransfer.
- Bill.com – Not to be confused with Bills.com which will present later in the conference. Allows companies to pay their bills online as well as streamline their paperwork. A good example is them setting up a system for Acme who sells products to Wile E. Coyote. They can do all the invoicing and handle the details for both Acme and Wile E. Coyote.
- Mint – They are showing off apps for iPhone and Android. I’m going to rant a bit here. Why not just create a mobile website? There is nothing in the app that couldn’t be in a website.
Finovate Spring 2011 Live Blog (Part 1)
I am here at the annual Finovate conference in San Francisco. It has really grown from 4-5 years when I started going to Finovate. It is so large that the presenters are a football field away. I don’t remember a structure this large since the Ann & Hope in Watertown. I’m watching on some big screens which is a change of pace from the past. I’m also here with SVB from The Digerati Life and Cap from Stop Buying Crap. Things move extremely fast here (each presentation is 7 minutes), so give me a break with spelling and grammar.
- Clovr Media – Card Link Offer… – Shopping. Has some management of an account that seems tedious. I’ll be honest I was a little asleep during this presentation.
- Bundle – Aggregated anonymous data on 20 million households. Everybody’s Money is the key website. You can look for restaurants that fit your profile. You can then see what people (in general) do
- Intellaegis – MasterQueue – Web based monetary risk management data collection system… I’m copying that from SVB’s laptop. The website can search for information about anyone. They gave examples on how they’ll pull in information about “ex-wives”, “blogs”, etc. One thing they showed as gathering GPS coordinates that are in a photo’s metadata. Findex score tells you how certain they are. Their audience seems to be debt collectioners… or bring Orwell’s 1984 to reality. When these presentations are over, I’m going to head to their booth and punch them in the pancreas. This may be a quick Finovate conference for me.
- Xero – Global online accounting system based in New Zealand. As a consumer, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that you don’t care. If you are a business, perhaps it is an interesting alternative to Quickbooks.
- Gold Bullion International – Allows you to buy gold. You buy the amount you want. Sounds simple, but you can pick where it is stored (to some degree) as well as having it accounted for. They create a gold exchange where you can buy from multiple dealers. They work with bigger clients such as hedge funds and such.
- Kabbage – Provides working capital for online merchants. Has support for Amazon merchants. They can see that a merchant does $20,000 in sales a month and approve them for money in minutes. Interesting quote: “This is not your mom’s profile building” Mom, you are building profiles?
- RateCash – Provides widgets for websites. Website owners, such as myself, can add an auto loan calculator and it will give you a rates from various sources. You can manage the information from their website and your website will update immediately. Looking to work advertisers to integrate their technology – not for consumers
- BancBox – Provides an API for “fintech” startups. Seems like they are here to help the other companies here.
Seems very similar to Yodlee in that they power a lot of companies. Allows people to open a FDIC insured bank account and move money through an API. While it might not be practical for you or me, I think it is kind of cool. Then again, I’m a dork.
- Hoyos – Software that allows you to log in to your online accounts with your eyes. Presenter holds a CueCat-like device to their eyes. The device is only $99. Why not fingerprints? They probably addressed this and I missed it.
Live from Finovate Startup – Fourth Demo Session
Okay this isn’t so live… it’s a day after recap of the fourth session… nonetheless, here it is:
- HomeATM – Hardware prevents keystroke spying and other hacks – useful for processing transactions even more securely. I like Paypal so I don’t see the value in extra hardware. Maybe if the system was broken I’d want a fix.
- Green Sherpa – Management like Mint, Wesabe, etc. However, it focuses on cashflow, which is nice. I like that I can set a plan a future mattress purchase. You can also share your financials with your family and financial planners. Good twists, I think.
- Silver Tail Systems – Monitors websites for security risks. It’s not only financial, but could be used for anything. Intersting if you are running an eCommerce or banking site.
- SimpliFi – Opened with (paraphrased), “Less than 5% of people have a written financial plan… Those who do are 250% more likely to succeed in their goal.” Free Personal Finance advice (legally authorized by SEC), I can’t wait to try this out…
- SmartHippo – Gives more transparency for complex financial products (like mortgages). Uses power of the community like Wesabe? I’m not sure if I’d use it or not…
- DebtGoal – Helps people plan to get out of debt. Reminds me a bit of NCN Network. It helps shape people’s behavior in a positive way.
- Rudder – YAPFM (Yet Another Personal Finance Management) tool… Looks forward at your financial obligations (rather than at your past like other PFM tools). This helps you budget for those future expenses to keep you in the clear going forward.
- Prosper – Prosper: Back from the quiet period; CA lenders only; borrowers from everywhere; new ratings; other financial institutions can list loans on Prosper, secondary trading market “shown today” – “available soon”
- Credit Karma – Free access to credit scores, track your history over time; educate people on credit; new debt manangement tools
Simplifi really stood out here… They could put me out of business as a personal finance writer. DebtGoal’s tool seems pretty unique, even if I don’t deal with debt that much