I blogged last year about BBVA being the first bank to
achieve a true Bank 2.0 solution for their customers and then yesterday about Wonga, a real webby disruption for loans.
Strangely enough, these two themes came
together as an email dropped into my intray this morning announcing that Money
Strands, the firm behind BBVA’s tu cuentas service, has been asked to present at Finovate Startup
in the USA in April.
Similar to Wonga, who were one of the few firms to appear at Finovate Startup last year, this gets interesting because both of these firms are in the maelstrom of the new internet age of banking.
In particular, I had not realised that Money Strands is
aiming to launch as an independent service in markets overseas, as demonstrated
by their new standalone website.
Here's what they say about themselves:
"After applying its technology to social media and
specifically music, Strands has expanded its efforts to reinvent the way people
manage their money and the way they shop for financial products. We believe the
future belongs to young minds and investors with a remarkable independent
streak, and a healthy do-it-yourself attitude thanks to unprecedented access to
constantly fresh financial information regardless of time or location. At Strands,
we are proud to have set off on a journey of our own in making this a reality."
Doesn't sound like your average financial website description or bank now, does it?
Meantime, I know a few of the other firms appearing at Finovate Startup this year quite well, such as SmartyPig, and can recommend these firms to you as being on the cutting edge of next generation financial services.
Here's the current list of firms set to star at Finovate in April:
Acculynk
Aradiom
BillShrink
BudgetTracker
CalendarBudget
Centrro
Cooler Inc.
CreditArray
Credit Karma
GoalSpring
Expensify
Green Sherpa
Home-Account
iBearSoft
iThryv
Jwaala
kaChing
Kapitall
Lending Club
Looniesdesk.com
Mint
Moneta
NCore
Pertuity Direct
Portfolio Monkey
Prosper
Rudder
Silver Tail Systems
SimpliFi
SmartHippo
SmartyPig
Strands
Syphr
The Receivables Exchange
Transparent
Financial Services
Victrio
Wesabe
ZimpleMoney
It would be
worth checking out the rest of these guys to see what makes them tick too!
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
