Finovate Fall 2012: Demo Performance Scores and Reviews

By the end of a Finovate, our brains go numb, one demo melds into the next, and we can’t quite remember what happened on Day 1. And we include the night of Day 1 in that.

But despite all that, we continue our tradition of shadow grading the Finovate demos. We don’t grade every demo, making accommodations for trips to the restroom, emergency phone calls from the head office, and, in some case, repeat demo-ers. With that caveat firmly declared, Bank Innovation’s grades for the Finovate Fall 2012 demos appear below. Should you wish to cut to the chase, our top picks were Moneydesktop, PayTap, CommunityLend and Deluxe SwitchAgent:

Choice Direct

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C+

LearnVest

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B+

IBSS

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C

Playmoolah

Cool Factor: A-

I Want It: A-

Profitability Potential: B-

Billhighway

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B

Ignite Sales

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B+

Finovera 

Cool Factor: C

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C

Carta Worldwide

Cool Factor: C

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C+

Comments: Private-label payments. The only feature that stood out was a block/unblock feature.

Handpoint

Cool Factor: C

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C

Comments: This European vendor made its way to these shores with the US transitioning to EMV by 2015. But Handpoint is an established presence in Europe, so not much new here.

MasterCard 

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: B-

Product: MyLinkables

Currency Cloud

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: A

Comments: Solves a thorny problem by providing seamless retail foreign exchange.

Compass Plus

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C

Dashlane

Cool Factor: A

I Want It: A

Profitability Potential: C+

Personal Capital

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: Offers a 401K with 0.5% fee

MoneyDesktop

Cool Factor: A

I Want It: A

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: White-labeled PFM, great UI and super-slick. The iPhone app is practically artwork, and the service is fully cross-channeled. The company says “two simple lines of code” to integrate into an online banking system.

Blackhawk Network

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C+

Comments: GiftCards platform for digital wallet

Experian

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: A useful service to help find qualified customers, but the UI was kind of clunky.

Yodlee

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C+

Comments: Highlighted its new small business PFM offering

Virtual Piggy

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: Allows kids to securely buy stuff online.

Dynamics

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B+

Comments: Triple-interface cards. We thought the functionality was nice.

Deluxe SwitchAgent

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: A

Profitability Potential: B-

Comments: SwitchAgent allows consumers to switch banks. Consumer demand is great but bank appetite is doubtdul.

IDology

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: Validate identity using previous bank transactions.

IND Group (Story of My Finances)

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B-

Comments: Story-based PFM

ImpulseSave

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: A-

Profitability Potential: C+

Comments: PFM to record savings rather than purchases.

Locaid Instant Locate

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: B+

Comments: Locate your phone or card, and track by IP address. And as an added bonus, could be used to find your buddies at conferences like Finovate!

Cachet Financial Solutions

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: B

Comments: High-quality Remote Deposit Capture

Luminous Bankfiling

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: B-

Comments: Tool that helps keep track of business customers

Digital Mailer, My Virtual Strongbox

Cool Factor: C

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C

Comments:

Secure online storage for your important files. But how is different from other storage products?

Credit Sesame

PFM. Check the health of your credit score and compare yourself to peers.

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: A

Profitability Potential: B+

Banno Grip

Mobile Wallet tool. Get a “grip” on your money before it grips you. Not so gripping.

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: C+

Mortgage Harmony

Apparently it can be very simple to refinance—just click a button. Will this keep customers from jumping ship to another lender?

Cool Factor: A-

I Want It: A-

Profitability Potential: A-

Backbase

Beautiful customizable interface and messaging.

Cool Factor: A-

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: A-

Pindrop Security

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: B

Bolstr

Crowdfunding investors. Kickstarter for businesses.

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: B+

Fiserv

Voice-activated bill payment

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C+

CommunityLend

POS financing.

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: B-

Emida CAT Mobile Wallet

A payment solution for unbanked or underbanked customers

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B

Tuiton.io

Student-loan management software. Nice interface but no business model expressed.

Cool Factor: B+

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: C+

TouMetis

Small business PFM that looks a lot like what’s already out there. Not enough to make us overwhelmed.

Cool Factor: B-

I Want It: B-

Profitability Potential: C+

PaySimple

Small business invoicing and collection.

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B

ValidSoft

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: B

LeadFusion

Cross-channel selling, Get a code online and bring it to the branch? Umm, maybe.

Cool Factor: C+

I Want It: C+

Profitability Potential: C+

Prepaid Resources Direct Deposit Management

Cool Factor: C

I Want It: C

Profitability Potential: C+

Payfone

Cool Factor: B

I Want It: B

Profitability Potential: B

PayTap

Intriguing. Addresses an obvious use-case.

Cool Factor: A-

I Want It: B+

Profitability Potential: B+