Finovate Fall ’13: Strong Demos from Float Money, BizEquity, Zighra & SpearFysh

Bank Innovation’s Tuesday coverage continues with the afternoon sessions. Companies are ranked on a scale of 1 to 5.

SEPT. 10, AFTERNOON SESSIONS

CR2

Maximizing revenue generation from the ATM channel is CR2’s pitch, Users can pay tuition fees and more at the ATM. Cross-selling and marketing also takes place on screen — don’t worry about the lines while the guy in front of you gets a mortgage.

Cool Factor – 2
I Want It – 2
Profit Potential – 4

Guide Financial

PFM tells you where your money is, but not what to do with it, says Guide Financial, touting its free service. Calling itself a personal money mentor, the company says it can simplify complex financial decisions like refinancing your mortgage. It’s not clear whether its whitelabeled or consumer-facing, but seems to be the latter. It tells users what the right decision is, and may save them $7,000.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It – 4
Profit Potential – 2

BizEquity

BizEquity provides consumers with information formerly available only to professional investors. It allows amateur investors to make business valuations with a simple tool. It looked very easy.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It – 4
Profit Potential – 3

Manilla

Manilla, which has long said it will help organize your life, has seen 250% growth since last year’s Finovate appearance. It expects 1 million users by year’s end. It offers social engagement tools and traffic drivers back to partners. It also helps paperless adoption for billers. Manilla announced a new partnership with AOL, being embedded within AOL FInance, which went over like a lead balloon on Twitter. AOL just screams 1999. Manilla did a particularly good job announcing the partnership case for FIs, however.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It – 4
Profit Potential – 3

Zighra

Fraud solution Zighra uses data from your phone to authenticate your identity. Users create a unique gesture that is difficult for others to duplicate. Convenience trumps security, Zighra said, and that’s true. Half of iPhone users don’t even secure their phones. (Of course, the iPhone’s fingerprint sensor announced Tuesday might take care of that.) Zighra’s Kinetic ID uses 30+ data points to identify a user. Avoid PIN codes, passwords and other biometrics. As phone technology advances, Zighra will need to refine its pitch, but surely device makers are paying attention to companies like this.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It- 4
Profit Potential – 3

Zenmonics

Zenmonics showed off its virtual lobby, a tool for branch bankers. It offers live interaction with the core, though few cores can work in real time. Bankers can look at and service customer accounts. The service offers integration for photo on-boarding, and account origination. Mitek will present this on Day 2 of Finovate. It’s a bank in a tablet.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It- 3
Profit Potential – 2

Yseop

Yseop is a natural language writer that produces personalized reports based on data inputs. It competes with Narrative Science, but there is room for both in the space. Yseop is expected to make half the Finovate attendees unnecessary, particularly the reporters. The software also determines best cross-selling opportunities for customers. So, who do we need when this solution is really working in the wild? Skynet here we come.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It – -6
Profit Potential – 4

Akimbo Financial

Akimbo offers a PFM solution with personalizable transactions for prepaid cards. Users can create up to five subcards and mange the suite through a dashboard. It provides money transfer, or money delivery as the company says. The company described itself as a social debit card that encourages connections between accounts. It can be whitelabelled, and gave a shout out to the Bancorp as a partner.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It – 3
Profit Potential – 3

GMC Software Technology

GMC is a marketing tool for mobile. It promises to deliver all the channels from a single platform and to consolidate communications across all marketing channels, including print, and will help move customers to digital.

Cool Factor – 2
I Want it – 2
Profit Potential – 3

Lumesis

Lumesis offers information on the municipal bond market for financial advisors and investors. It was a very specific product pitch, and the product apparently had input from regulators. It launched in April. The solution can be whitelabeled and integrated with other platforms.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It- 2
Profit Potential – 3

FlexScore (formerly LeapScore)

FlexScore is a personal financial score offered on a consumer-facing site.  It has presented at Finovate before and it wasn’t clear what was different. Gamifying your financial health causes some to recoil, but could get buy-in from digital natives.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It – 3
Profit Potential – 2

Tinkoff Credit Systems

Tinkoff is an online bank in Russia that offers credit cards in a very unique way: its own courier delivery service. Did you know Russia was big? Tinkoff delivers cards the day after users are approved. It claims to be the largest door-to-door courier service in Russia. Interesting mix of mobile and “real world” functionality.

Cool Factor – 3
I Want It – 3
Profit Potential – 3

Ignite Sales

Deluxe sticks up for the check, and Ignite sticks up for the branch, offering a branch profitability dashboard showing cross-sell opportunities. Its focus on the branch is aggressive and its pitch is about not leaving money on the table. Its interface gave a faint nod to MoneyDesktop’s famous bubble budgets. Good direct pitch to banks.

Cool Factor – 2
I Want It- 3
Profit Potential – 4

SpearFysh

SpearFysh showed off an impressive tool for sales managers, applying technology to improves sales teams. It records conversations and syncs notes with audio. It structures the unstructured data from sales calls and converts audio to text. It would be good tool for reporters, too! They got the gong, though.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It – 3
Profit Potential – 4

Revolution Credit

Revolution Credit offers better risk profiling system for FIs. It’s consumer facing as well and offers financial education. The creditor deploys the invitation. It teaches with 15 minute videos divided into one-minute “credit clinics.” The company broke Finovate rules by showing video and using a local file, rather than streaming over the internet. Oh well. Gamification is back. It helps to identify upwardly mobile consumers. “Traffic school for credit” — um, how about a dentist’s chair for your finances? The DMV for your financial health?

Cool Factor -3
I Want It- 4
Profit Potential – 3

CoverHound

Kayak for car insurance. CoverHound is an auto insurance quote machine via Twitter, but it could be embedded anywhere. The company says 35% of its visitors come via mobile. Strong use of the social channel. A requested quote arrived in minutes, as promised.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It- 4
Profit Potential – 3

Float Money

Online lender with no interest and no fees. Huh? Provides interest-free credit but markets to the borrower. Float has a proprietary credit score and partners with merchants — as well as 1,500 customers so far. Its focus is on financial health of customers. The service also reports to credit bureaus to help build credit and integrates with digital wallets. Great stuff.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It- 4
Profit Potential – 3

PayWith

PayWith works on a MasterCard platform and enables mobile payments at MC-accepting merchants. It markets added benefits from merchants to users. No new merchant hardware is needed. Loyalty and rewards work via the service. The company gave everyone a $15 credit at a nearby Mexican restaurant, but it only lasted 20 minutes. Alas, Bank Innovation missed out on a taco.

Cool Factor – 4
I Want It- 3
Profit Potential – 2

Winner: Float