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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Join Finovate VP and host of the Finovate Podcast Greg Palmer as he talks with the entrepreneurs whose innovative companies took home top honors at FinovateFall 2023 in New York this year.
From new tools for credit unions members to embedded micro life insurance solutions to strategies to help FIs better engage mortgage-holders, the Finovate Podcast is a great way to keep up with the trends driving fintech today.
Podcast host Greg Palmer catches up with Rachel Lauren of Debbie (demo video) to talk about consumer debt reduction and the credit union ecosystem. EP 193.
Greg Palmer chats with Alex Matjanec of Wysh(demo video) about micro life insurance, customer retention, and financial inclusion. EP 192.
Greg Palmer sits down with Chase Neinken of Chimney (demo video) to discuss strategies for productively engaging your mortgage-holding customers. EP 190.
They are cheering in Times Square tonight as the winners of Best of Show at FinovateFall 2023 are crowned. After two days of live fintech demos from more than 60+ innovative fintechs, our delegates have decided. Here are the winners of Best of Show for FinovateFall 2023.
Chimney for its Chimney Home solution that gives homeowners actionable advice about their home value, equity, borrowing power, and pre-qualified offers.
Debbie for its rewards app for debt payout and its new credit card refinance marketplace for credit unions.
eSelf.ai for its technology that delivers the next generation of client-financial institution interaction, enabling human-like conversations and efficient personalization.
Mahalo Banking for its intuitive and neurodiverse-inclusive online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions with tight core integrations.
Trust & Will for its technology that simplifies estate planning and settlement with attorney-approved, legally valid documents.
Wysh for its innovative deposit solution called Life Benefit that provides micro-life insurance coverage up to 10% of an accountholders’s balance onto an existing deposit account.
We want to thank our demoing companies, our partners, our sponsors, and – last but not least – our valued attendees whose engagement continues to make Finovate a must-attend event on the fintech conference calendar. We look forward to seeing you again next year in The City That Never Sleeps for FinovateFall 2024!
Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their six favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2023 conferences are below:
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Purpose built for homeowners, Chimney Home provides data, tools, and portfolio insights needed to build lifelong relationships and generate more deposits and loans.
Features
Data to identify opportunities, monitor portfolios and speed up approvals
Proven digital engagement for mobile apps
Automated campaigns to cross-sell homeowners
Why it’s great
Homeowners can track home value, see available equity, and receive personalized offers within online and mobile banking, regardless of who holds their mortgage.
Presenter
Chase Neinken, Co-Founder Neinken is a new dad. He’s also an award winning tech founder and passionate about saving the planet. LinkedIn
Chimney announced partnerships with two banks, Farmers & Merchants Bank and Northwest Bank, that will deploy Chimney’s embeddable financial tools to boost customer engagement.
Formerly known as Signal Intent, Chimney won Best of Show at FinovateSpring in 2021.
Courtesy of this week’s agreements, Chimney now boasts a total of 15 bank partnerships.
In a bid to boost customer engagement, Farmers & Merchants Bank and Northwest Bank have teamed up with Chimney and will deploy the New York-based company’s financial calculators to help their customers make better decisions about their financial futures.
“In the last two years, we’ve seen greater investments into digital experiences that put customers first,” Chimney co-founder and CEO Matthew Covi said. “Consumers no longer want to be pushed products and services; they want experiences that add value to their everyday life and improve their financial health.”
Previously known as Signal Intent – and winning a Best of Show award in its Finovate debut a year ago at the all-digital edition of FinovateSpring 2021 – Chimney offers embeddable modern financial calculators that can be launched quickly and require no coding to set up and deploy. Chimney has developed more than 35 financial calculator templates, covering a variety of financial categories. Whether a business is looking for tools to better engage homebuyers, automobile shoppers, or simply consumers looking to improve their investment portfolios or savings and budgeting habits, Chimney provides organization with the kind of embedded turnkey digital experiences that help turn website visitors into customers.
“F&M Bank has grown slowly and safely since 1907, earning its reputation as ‘California’s Strongest,'” F&M Bank CEO and board chairman Daniel K. Walker said. “We have supported the communities we call home for more than 100 years, and we aim to continue that. By working with Chimney, we will build deeper relationships with customers by transforming and personalizing their banking experience with the help of meaningful data. We believe this will be incredibly valuable to our customers.”
F&M Bank serves customers in South California and has more than $11 billion in assets. Iowa-based Northwest Bank has 70,000 customers and $2.3 billion in assets.
Chimney began 2022 with a pre-seed investment from the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator and a seed investment from Anil D. Aggarwal, founder and chairman of Fintech Meetup, as well as Fin Venture Capital and Converge. The company rebranded as Chimney in February, in a shift that Covi said reflected a commitment to move beyond “providing outstanding products and services” and toward “delivering not just the products consumers want, but the experiences they expect.”
New York-based Signal Intent has rebranded as Chimney.
The company won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring last year.
The rebrand announcement accompanied news that Chimney had raised seed funding that “exceeded its investment goals.”
Signal Intent, which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2021, has rebranded as Chimney. The company develops financial calculators for banks, credit unions, insurers, and mortgage companies that are “built for the digital age.” The New York-based fintech’s rebrand, announced last month, was accompanied by a seed investing round with participation from individual investor Anil Aggarwal, as well as investment firms Fin VC, and Converge.
“Banking is fundamentally changing as consumer behaviors shift,” Chimney CEO Matthew Covi said. “To compete, banks must change their digital strategy. It is no longer about providing outstanding products and services. It’s about the value they provide through digital experiences. As consumers increasingly make financial decisions online, they expect experiences that are embedded in their everyday life. Chimney is committed to delivering not just the products consumers want, but the experiences they expect.”
More than 60 financial institutions in 30 states use Chimney’s financial tools and technology to better engage their customers and fund more loans. The company said that its financial institution clients have experienced a 15% boost in conversions since deploying Chimney’s technology that helps connect customers to the right solution at the right time. Chimney also helps FIs reduce acquisition costs while growing their loan portfolios.
Selected for the 2022 ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator program, Chimney plans to add to its team, including multiple “key positions” over the next several months. The company’s co-founders include Chief Technology Officer Ryan F. Salerno, former Technical Co-founder of equity management platform Finta (previously Equity Token); and Chief Revenue Officer Chase Neinken, former VP of Global Sales at B2B media company Industry Dive.
“We created Chimney to build the future of financial guidance,” Neinken said. “We believe in a world where people are empowered to make better financial decisions through technology – it’s about confidence and understanding. The demand so far has exceeded expectations and we’re thankful to our clients, partners and investors. Big things are coming ahead.”
