More than 60 leading fintech innovators, both startups and established companies, are gearing up to present at the annual FinovateSpring conference in San Francisco May 8 and 9.
Each company provided a sneak peek of what they’ll demo on stage next month. Below is the first installment of these teasers. We’ll have more next week.
Don’t miss your chance to see the live demo from each company and meet the execs responsible. Get your FinovateSpring ticket here.
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Balance Street
The premier direct marketplace between consumers and creditors for the purpose of debt settlement, Balance Street, provides consumers the opportunity to relieve their debt burden without fees. Consumers use its web-based automated system to negotiate with creditors directly, avoiding debt settlement companies who charge exorbitant fees (up to 20% of total debt owed).
Eliminating this 20% market inefficiency makes for a better financial outcome for consumers and creditors. With over $780 billion in credit card debt in the U.S., the Balance Street technology will revolutionize the way debt is settled.
Innovation type: Cards, marketing, PFM
Bazaarvoice
See how leading brands are harnessing the power of online word-of-mouth to boost customer referrals, sales, retention, advocacy, and company innovation while building the world’s most powerful social data asset.
Innovation type: Communications, marketing, sales and customer service
BehavioSec
No one wants a complicated process for logging in to online or mobile banking. European banks have been forced to go down this route with hardware tokens and smart cards.
So now when U.S. banks will be rolling out new multi-layered security on the front-end following FFIEC, will we see the same thing here?
With BehavioSec’s solution there is a better choice. They add multilayered security through the use of behavioral biometrics. So when the user connects via mobile or online, the technology helps verify that they are who they say they are. Learn more at FinovateSpring 2012.
Innovation type: Identity, mobile, security
BillGuard
BillGuard identifies deceptive, erroneous and unauthorized charges on consumer payment cards using advanced crowdsourcing and big-data mining techniques that harness the collective knowledge of millions of consumers reporting billing complaints online and to their banks.
CoverHound is changing the way people shop for insurance online. Launching at FinovateSpring, CoverHound’s new rate comparison shopping service allows consumers for the first time to compare multiple, instant, accurate rates from top carriers. CoverHound will also be demonstrating an exciting array of products specifically designed to help banks and credit unions generate significant non-interest income while providing a valuable service to their members.
Expensify <3’s Finovate — they view it as the premier stage on which to make their biggest announcement of
the year. Three years ago, it launched an open beta on the Finovate stage. Two years ago, it unveiled a major realtime analytics feature. One year ago it launched a revolutionary SmartScan service. But this year will trump all that. A whole new approach to business travel. Prepare yourself!
Innovation type: Back office, mobile, small business
Most investors have assets spread across financial institutions and accounts, including limited-option accounts such as their employer’s 401(k) plan.
Managing this is a chore – including figuring out which funds, in which amounts, and rebalancing.
Well, it was a chore, before FutureAdvisor.
Innovation type: Investing and asset management, online, PFM
Giftly is inventing the future of the gift card. Using its new iPhone app, users can send anyone a Giftly for any place they choose. The recipient redeems it on their smartphone when they go. It’s fast, fun, and secure.
Giftly’s app and web products have been designed to be social, simple, and powerful. Thanks to Facebook, Foursquare, and smart iOS integration, you’ll always know which friends are celebrating birthdays, are checking in to cool new places, or are otherwise in need of a quick gift.
Is it possible to separate the fun of buying from the nuisance of paying? Klarna thinks so. The idea behind Klarna’s e-commerce services is the concept of after-delivery payment, letting buyers receive ordered goods before any payment is due. Instead of giving financial information, buyers shop with Klarna just by giving their name and select information (Klarna calculates the risk).
Innovation type: Payments
Linkable Networks will be debuting a first-to-market capability that significantly broadens the value proposition of card-linked offers to issuing banks, merchants, manufacturers, and cardholding consumers. In addition, Linkable Networks will demonstrate new features recently added to its product platform and user interface.
Innovation type: Cards, mobile, rewards
MShift believes that financial institutions need to enhance existing mobile banking solutions into mobile wallet and payment solutions.
At Finovate, MShift will demonstrate how mobile banking can influence how a consumer spends money in various retail scenarios.
Innovation type: Banking, payments, small business
Your customers go mobile with smartphones and tablets. When they cannot fulfill their needs in mobile self-service, do you jump in at the right time to help them complete their business? Do you want to maximize the opportunity for smart customer experience and increased business via smart mobile devices (while reducing costs)? NICE Mobile Reach can do that for you. Don’t miss its demo at FinovateSpring.
Innovation type: Mobile, sales
Personal Capital is wealth management for the Internet Age. The company’s online platform combines digital technology with highly personalized service to provide a holistic view of your unique financial picture. The free online dashboard presents all of your financial data in one place, including an assessment of your allocation, investment risk and fees.
These days, the financial lives of Americans are becoming more and more complex. At FinovateSpring, Personal Capital will unveil core new features that enable you to access your financial data in real time, on-the-go. You’ll be able to view and do, anywhere, anytime.
Innovation type: Investing, mobile, PFM
Pindrop Security provides enterprise solutions that help prevent phone-based fraud. Pindrop’s acoustical fingerprinting technology detects fraudulent calls and authenticates legitimate callers, helping customers eliminate financial losses and reduce operational costs. Pindrop’s breakthrough technology is the first of its kind to fingerprint individual phone calls, providing verification of caller provenance.
Recently named one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies at the 2012 RSA conference, Pindrop’s solutions help companies feel more confident in the security of phone-based financial transactions.
Innovation type: Identity,
security
Easily administer and coordinate your annual budget with Budget Manager from ProfitStars. ProfitStars takes the headaches, and the spreadsheets, out of the budgeting process and optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of budgeting and planning.
The company will show you how this newly redesigned browser-based version enables users to construct and manage a more efficient budgeting process, including how to tackle more difficult items like salaries and fixed assets.
Innovation type: Banking
Discover a new Facebook app for banks that will not only make you relevant and engage Facebook users, but will also get your customers recommending and endorsing your card products. It drives great loyalty from existing customers and also helps to devise new customer acquisition –all through Facebook.
Serverside does this by letting people design their own credit or debit card using a picture from their Facebook gallery, then post it to their Facebook wall. Their friends then click on the card image to design their own card and help your bank to go viral!
Innovation type: cards
Social Money can provide any bank in the world its own branded version of our revolutionary and award-winning SmartyPig technology. A new bank can be up and running on our system within 90 days in any language and currency, for a fraction of the cost of internal development efforts.
Innovation type: Banking products, PFM
The dawn of compliance solutions that work.
Meet Molly. 115 different people use Molly’s SSN.
Financial institutions have no idea who these people really are.
This is possible because FIs and so-called identity protection companies can only verify identity. Verification is not enough. Full identification is needed to fight fraud and provide FIs the means to meet compliance requirements. Only Financial ICONN from TASCET can identify financial customers.
Once Molly activates her ICONN, TASCET proactively secures her identity and FIs know exactly who she is.
Innovation type: Identity, security
Taulia takes the waste out of the supply chains of Fortune 500 Enterprises while simultaneously solving the cash-flow needs of their suppliers. The large enterprise buyers get discounts by paying their invoices early. In return, their suppliers get paid when they want. In Taulia’s young life, it has already enabled small suppliers from 40+ countries around the world to receive hundreds of millions of dollars of early payments.
Innovation type: Lending, payments, small business
The Under-18 audience has an estimated $50 billion in spending power. Learn how to successfully monetize the kids/teen market in this powerful demo by Virtual Piggy, an exciting new company that provides innovative technological solutions to help bridge the gap between children, parents and online retailers.
Innovation type: Payments
Wall Street Survivor is the only place for the beginner to learn about investing. Guided missions, beginner-focused learning content, combined with the web’s best stock simulator help users effectively manage their financial future.
Innovation type: Investing & asset management, marketing, PFM
Mobi
le commerce is estimated to be a $31 billion industry by 2015, but how will the underbanked participate? Wipit has unlocked mobile payments for this massive and largely untapped consumer demographic representing 25% of all U.S. households and over 70 million U.S. prepaid wireless subscribers. Underbanked consumers can now make in-app and online payments with a single click. No need for bank accounts or credit cards; Wipit lets underbanked consumers use their payment method of choice– cash.
Innovation type: Cards, payments
Stay tuned next week for another sneak peek of FinovateSpring 2012 presenting companies.
The WSJ 
