The Banktastics

Thanks for following Brad & Mark’s reviews of Finovate Startup! We’ve still got our special guest Jeff Stehpens from Creative Brand Communications on board! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading the reviews live all day long. Let’s wrap up with the final set of companies!

BlingNation
Brad’s Review:
Promixity based payment. Cell to Cell Payments in realtime. My thought - So I see this as like exchanging business cards, people thought it would go digital (it didn’t) so why would I exchange cash between my family/friends? Although, if I could send cash from my phone to the taxi driver, would LOVE that. When will North America adopt?

Mark’s Review:
Software based mobile payments. Allows phone to phone transfers and then links those transfers to pre paid credit cards. Seems like a lot of steps.

Jeff’s Review:
The BlingNation presenter brought along a little bling of his own in the form of a pretty assistant with nice hands (which is important when your whole demo is two giant hands on a big screen playing with two cell phones). It provides real time mobile bank transfers. The interface is nothing flashy…but maybe I’m just spoiled by my iPhone.

Zopa
Brad’s Review:
Giving users the ability to have a negative effect rate. Essentially you can charitably provide funds for a borrower to make their goals. I love the concept…that is different than the rest of the field.

Mark’s Review:
I’ll call this social borrowing and investing. Investors buy FDIC insured CDs at a good rate. Borrowers are helped out by those CDs. Everybody is happy.

Jeff’s Review:
“The world’s first social finance community” started out of the UK. The presenter said “we are NOT a peer to peer lender under the traditional definition”–he made a big point of this and was very focused on the technical differences between Zopa and peer to peer lending. Zopa has the cool ability to divert some of your earned interest on a Zopa CD to a borrower….accept lower interest to offset some of the borrower’s interest.

TrustedID
Brad’s Review:
Theft Identity Protection. Has a family plan rate (good thinking!). Can protect standard stuff like bank accounts but also health insurance accounts. Promo code for $25 bucks off use coupon code: finovate.

Mark’s Review:
A proactive ID theft protection. I’m signing up for the new family package when I get home. I’ll keep you posted!

Jeff’s Review:
Proactive identity protection, which is all about stopping identity theft before it happens. The product is able to be co-branded and private labeled…just ask Suze Orman who apparently made some bucks from it. Use the promo code “finovate” on their site for a $25 discount.

MoneyPools
Brad’s Review:
Help investors organize their investments. Another busy space to be in…this is a tough area to have an app that is not built for experts. Could work on getting a little ‘love’ in the app.

Mark’s Review:
Asset management tool that is super chart intensive. (The charts are rockin, so that helps.) Great depth of data, but seems like it would have a high learning curve.

Jeff’s Review:
Portfolio analysis tool that, much like MInt, shows very visual graphs to present the information. Impressive ability to drill way down into the data. You’d need to be quite a data head to take full advantage of all that info, though.

Aradiom
Brad’s Review: Based out of Austin, TX. This is a framework for building mobile banking platform. Really easy to build a mobile app BUT will community bankers have the expertise and knowledge to have it work with their online banking/core system apps? I’m doubtful.

Mark’s Review:
Mobile banking platform that showed you can create (in perfect conditions) a JAVA based mobile banking solution in under 5 minutes. Worth looking into if you are in the mobile space.

Jeff’s Review:
Missed the demo.

First ROI - CheckingFinder
Brad’s Review:
A patent pending free checking account w/ no minimum balance. Dave Ramsey support these guys. Find best rate based off of proximity and highest interest rate. Easy straightforward, good interface. They are partnered w/ Andera for account openings. Releasing on June 2nd.

Mark’s Review:
CheckingFinder.com is the consuming facing portion of this rewards checking program geared at community banks and credit unions opening June 2. These guys are gunning for the big banks.

Jeff’s Review:
This is not the first time the presenter has done this before…wow that was well delivered and polished. He pitched the soon-to-be-live CheckingFinder.com that will help consumers find BancVue’s Rewards Checking programs around the country. Not that earth shatteringly interesting, but valuable nonetheless.

sparkroom
Brad’s Review:
Business to Business product. Allows marketers full transparency to track what the gross margin would be. Tracking ROI on the leads. Don’t know if I followed it all. Left confused.

Mark’s Review:
Lead performance optimization for marketing in the business to business space. I know nothing about this space, but marketing people around me say it’s good stuff.

Jeff’s Review:
Is this the first BtoB technology we’ve really seen today? It seems that everything else, as I recall, has been primarily BtoC, at least indirectly if not directly (PFM’s, mobile apps for customers, etc). This is an app developed directly for marketers, “lead performance optimization for the mortgage industry.”

TradeKing
Brad’s Review:
Options/Stockbroker trading community. Another place to have a ‘blog’ (ugh). If you are a hard core investing player, this community is for you but again, if you’re like the majority of us and are a ‘few trades here or there type’, this is a bit too much for you.

Mark’s Review:
Another stock and trading community site.

Jeff’s Review:
I’m liking the cool presentation graphics, but not the “read my presentation to you” style. Nicely graphically designed trading community site. Call me naiive, but I have to wonder about “learning” from the insights of other novice investors…do I really want to know why some middle manager in corporate america thought buying Google at $700 was a good idea?

ClairMail
Brad’s Review:
Mobile Banking App. Transfer, Payments, Account Balances oh my! Nothing new here, still an unusable mobile browser experience. Banking this way is a %2 usage case for the consumer today. They say their an open platform but didn’t expand, could be good depending on the API ability.

Mark’s Review:
Mobile banking platform that provides one bank-side implementation to handle all banking aspects. Even though the back end is a single implementation, a bank may still have to deploy multiple mobile clients. Does tout an “open platform” that may be worth looking into.

Jeff’s Review:
SMS-based mobile banking. He just said “two way triple play.” What?! These guys are moving super fast. Sure they only have five minutes, but to Ron’s point in his recent tweet, you can’t just “talk fast and try to cram 10 minutes of content into 5 minutes.” I don’t know, maybe I’m just slow.

Vestopia
Brad’s Review:
Last demo, we made it! Look over the shoulders of investment pro’s to see how they invest, their performance and if you want to track them. I like it. Myspace lurker concept that can pay. I think I’d be most comfortable with this site versus the other competitors in the space

Mark’s Review:
Kind of a gawker site, but instead of following celebs, it follows big shot investors and their portfolios. Could be interesting if you’re big in that space.

Jeff’s Review:
Platform that connects self-directed investors with Wall Street pros…allowing the average guy to see what the pros do with their own money. Nice idea, I think. The presenter (CEO) was careful to make sure everyone knows he’s grown membership by 10x since he came aboard in January. At least this is a different idea than we’ve seen in the other companies today.

We hope you’ve enjoyed watching our live coverage today of Finovate Startup 2008. Feel free to share your comments on our reviews by commenting on these blog posts! We’d also like to give a huge thanks to Jeff Stephens with Creative Brand Communications for partnering up and sharing his demo reviews with us.

Keep an eye on the Banktastic Blog in the next few days to watch some awesome video interviews from Finovate. Thanks to Finovate and all of the presenters!

To check out the rest of the reviews from Finovate:
click here for the first set of 10 demo reviews,
click here for the second set of 10 demo reviews,
and click here for the third set of 10 demo reviews.

Thanks for following Brad & Mark’s reviews of Finovate Startup! We’ve got a special guest getting in on the reviews this time! Jeff Stehpens from Creative Brand Communications gave us his two cents on the presenters! Read all of the reviews of the 40 demoing companies live all day long here at the Banktastic Blog! Let’s continue on with the third set of companies!

Expensr
Brad’s Review:
Was out conducting interviews and missed the demo.

Mark’s Review:
Late back from lunch and missed the demo. Wished I could have seen it, though!

Jeff’s Review:
The two young and now probably rich guys announced that they have just been acquired by Strands, and are in the process of developing MoneyStrands a new PFM. Very casual guys, and with a sense of humor. I like it…though I’m not sure Ron agrees.

SmartyPig
Brad’s Review:
Was out conducting interviews and missed the demo.

Mark’s Review:
A great app to get yourself in gear to actively save. Accounts require a recurring contribution from your personal accounts, so the commitment to save is really there. Also allows to cash out in gift card currency, giving you a boost!

Jeff’s Review:
It’s all about reversing the trend of the “buy now, pay later” mentality…which I like. It helps people save for very specific goals, and makes those goals public. The site pays interest and is FDIC insured. For me it comes own to what the interest rate is. I would sacrifice the cool goal-oriented functions in trade for the highest interest rate possible through an online savings account like ING etc.

Invesra
Brad’s Review:
Was out conducting interviews and missed the demo.

Mark’s Review:
A mound of retirement goals and data geared towards the boomer generation. To me the look and feel is super old school, but maybe that’s what boomers want.

Jeff’s Review:
This is an aggregator that can be co branded by bank or credit union. It makes personalized recommendations based on info entered, risk profile the user submits, etc. The app then recommends a portfolio based on goals set in the system. The main purpose? To bring highly sophisticated capabilities to the average person, not just high-end market To Ron’s point, not a social network….amazing!

Tyfone, Inc.
Brad’s Review:
Missed the demo.

Mark’s Review:
You stick a special memory card in your smart phone and presto, you’ve got contactless payment through your phone. That means your phone can pay for stuff and transfer money to others. Kind of cool.

Jeff’s Review:
Giving a big shout out to Portland, Tyfone offers mobile applications for financial services. This guy said he had a slightly different presentation approach, with no demos…but then he did a demo. I’m a marketing and brand experience guy–this is a little techy and over my head, but is probably good for those who understand what he’s talking about.

Wesabe
Brad’s Review:
Basic overview of Wesabe. Another personal finance tool but with a community attached. It beats Mint in that regard. As much as I believe about community I think you only use community for a small amount when it comes to your financial decisions.

Mark’s Review:
Personal Finance Manager built with community and sharing at the forefront. Much more community feel than other PFMs.

Jeff’s Review:
Ahhh, the main competitor for Mint. The Wesabe community brings together collective data, including lots about the merchants themselves. It connects users to help make better financial decisions using “the Wesabe value engine.”

Wonga
Brad’s Review:
UK based startup. Payday lending for short term loans. Simple, looks like Euro only for now. Simple interface, what to learn more afterwards.

Mark’s Review:
UK based online payday lender. Great layout and easy process, but payday lending is payday lending, even if it’s online.

Jeff’s Review:
From the UK, this guy came a long ways and brought his cool accent with him. Wonga provides small short term same day loans….solves immediate cash flow shortages. I like the very simple “sliding scale” interface on web; they also have a mobile service. good presenter, good story teller. i like it…even though it’s basically a pay day loan. at least i don’t feel dirty when i do it! honestly i can’t imagine doing it, but interesting idea.

Loanio
Brad’s Review:
Another Prosper competitor. This space is getting crowded fast. Didn’t see any sort of major differentiation between them.

Mark’s Review:
Another peer to peer lending application. It does allow co-borrowers, but other than that, it’s very similar to the others in the space

Jeff’s Review:
Lending site, auction style….will launch in a couple weeks. i think my blogging buddies here have different tastes than I…I’m bored by this. It’s an overly scripted presentation–he read to us, ad I don’t get how this is any different than Prosper.

Confident Technologies
Brad’s Review:
Multi-factor login but more secure. Passes FFIEC multi-factor requirement (my auditor hat is happy) How can a community bank use it when dealing with a vendor? Nothing outside the other vendors doing the same thing.

Mark’s Review:
Looks like a super user friendly multifactor authentication method. It uses dynamically displayed images and letters, allowing the user to identify the familiar ones.

Jeff’s Review:
Another dude from Portland, woohoo! His question is, “what happens after passwords when you log into a site?” His system uses visual images/photos so that a real human (and the intended human, specifically) have to answer or it won’t work. Very simple but makes good sense.

IP Commerce
Brad’s Review:
Tyler brings the thunder, great presentation skills. Looked like a really simple remote deposit capture implementation for the SMB. Left wanting to hear more.

Mark’s Review:
Allows businesses to quickly and securely ad payment capabilities to any application. Activation looks really easy. If you’re a small business or developer, might want to check it out.

Jeff’s Review:
Compared to the other speakers, Tyler was practically yelling, but was really showing his enthusiasm. I like his crazy hair, not very bankerly approach. “dynamic service provisioning”. Reviewed Rapid Receipts. was pretty clear and well presented…although a little techy for me (again…I know).

SimpleTuition
Brad’s Review:
They run through college/universities to make the process easy for students. Looks pretty straightforward, not really focused on selling to the consumer but a nice, simple interface.

Mark’s Review:
Comparison tools helping students find loan from traditional lending institutions. Simple and straight forward.

Jeff’s Review:
Not sure why are these guys dressed EXACTLY the same. Aside from that, it’s pretty simple and, I think, adds value. It seems kind of like a Bankrate type concept for choosing student loans. Only took 3 minutes to describe…always a sign of a good idea!

Also, we’d like to encourage you to check out another blog that’s covering Finovate! Go visit the Creative Brand Communication Blog for another perspective of Finovate’s presenters!

To check out the rest of the reviews from Finovate:
click here for the first set of 10 demo reviews,
click here for the second set of 10 demo reviews,
and click here for the last set of 10 demo reviews.