Blog Archives
Connect Financial Software Solutions: FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week
What is your company name?
Connect Financial Software Solutions
Please give a short bio of your company
Connect Financial Software Solutions, LLC was formed to engage in developing, operating and managing software solutions for our clients. Connect’s primary product is a leading edge Online Banking solution. Connect’s solutions tend to be niche applications that address specific needs for our client organizations. Connect’s philosophy is to operate with a cooperative spirit and grow through partnering with progressive organizations in the financial industry.
When was your company started?
Connect was founded in 2007
What is your targeted market?
Connect FSS is focused solely on the credit union space, serving institutions ranging from $100 million in assets to well over 1 billion in assets.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
Connects primary competitors include Intuit Financial Services, Q2, ORCC, and JWAALA. Connects ability to build custom solutions, offer member configuration capability, and our exceptional level of integration to credit union core systems differentiates us from the competition.
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
Connect currently has 13 clients, and we have been roughly doubling our client count each year since 2010.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
Connect FSS provides in-house and hosted Online Banking, Mobile Banking, Mobile Remote Deposit Capture, Account Opening, Online Account Opening, and customized software solutions to credit unions, with an eye toward core system integration. Our sister company, PSI, develops highly custom software applications to facilitate improved workflows and increased communication and integration to client core system and other third-party applications.
How do you see your company in the next 2-5 years?
Connect maintains a boutique-like model, delivering exceptional configurability, customization, and service. Our goal is to retain these capabilities, and to grow at a modest rate to assure we do not deviate from the approach that has helped us be successful.
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
Connect currently employs 14 individuals.
How much does your company embrace risk?
We tend to be in the moderate risk category.
What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome as a company?
The largest challenge for Connect was establishing a foothold in the market. We provide a high visibility solution, and earning trust and confidence early on was very challenging.
What else is interesting about your story?
Unlike many organizations, we are not focused primarily on growth. We do wish to grow the number of clients we serve, but in a modest, measured fashion so we can maintain an exceptional level of service, flexibility, and support for our clients .
Do you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.?
We do have a Facebook page, and an individual presence on Twitter.
How Mobile Alerts Saved Me $800
I am a huge fan of mobile banking, especially mobile alerts. After an experience I just had, I love them even more.
Most would agree that mobile banking is an important channel in banking today. I happen to believe that mobile alerts are even more vital. While apps are cool, text messaging is more prevalent. They are especially important when it comes to fraud.
Yesterday, I made a deposit into a bank account that I primarily use for my mortgage payments, newspaper subscription and Github account. This morning I received mobile alerts that listed three withdrawals from the account that pushed it into the negative. I immediately logged into online banking and discovered that I’d supposedly made two ATM withdrawals from banks in the Laurel Plaza in Maryland and a gas purchase in the same area. In case you didn’t know, I live in Charleston, SC and haven’t been to Maryland in over a year.
Needless to say, I was immediately alarmed. I went to a local branch to report the fraudulent charges (disclaimer – I was a former employee of this bank and headed the mobile banking project during the mobile banking vendor selection). After arriving at the branch, I sat in the manager’s office and explained what was going on. He pulled up my card information and I pointed out the transactions that I hadn’t made. He then proceeded to call the ATM department and after answering a few questions, they started their investigation.
After a few minutes, the supervisor from the ATM department called the branch and asked to speak with me. It seems that my PIN had been changed at 8:20 PM last night. Now, to change my PIN, the crook had to call from my home phone and know the last four of my SSN to change the PIN. I’ll let that sink in for a moment. Did I mention that I was at home talking to my sister on my cell phone at 8:20 PM?
Needless to say, identity thieves have gotten a lot more sophisticated. A little over a year ago my bank’s card processor a merchant processor my bank deals with was hacked. They sent out letters about the breach and issued new cards for those that requested them. Because I hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary with my account, I didn’t take any further action.
If this was from the hacking incident, which I suspect, then the thieves were very shrewd with waiting. Fortunately my daily balance alerts kept me informed. If you’ve wondered whether SMS alerts are worth it for your customers, you can count me in the HELL YES column. Especially when mobile alerts saved me $800.
Bank of America Launches Mobile Remote Deposit Capture
After years of anticipation, Bank of America has launched mobile remote deposit capture. Although they’re late to the game, they will be able to leverage their large installed user base. BofA also released a new mobile person-to-person feature.
Mobile remote deposit capture is free, which really puts a crimp in banks and credit unions that are charging a monthly or per item fee. Person-to-person transfers will range from $3-$12, depending on the delivery time. You can find more information here.
Screen shots are below:
Banno: FS Vendors’ Vendor of the Week
What is your company name?
Please give a short bio of your company
Banno (formerly T8 Webware) discovers insights for financial institutions by harvesting behavior-driven banking data from Banno.com-powered websites, mobile banking, account aggregation, and enriched transactions which provide institutions with segmented customer analysis based on anonymized data that can be used for actionable product offerings.
Banno.com architecture is built with Open APIs to allow financial institutions to leverage our technology with their existing digital channels.
When was your company started?
In 2008, Wade Arnold founded Banno.
What is your targeted market?
Banno works with over 320 banks and credit unions throughout the country. We also work hard at building partnerships and creating channel partners.
Who is your competition, and what do you do better?
Our main competitors are established companies like Intuit and Fidelity Information Services. To compete from Cedar Falls, Iowa we simply have to provide a better product.
How many current customers do you have and what is your estimated yearly growth?
At the time of writing this, we currently serve over 320 clients.
What types of products and/or services do you offer?
At Banno, we’ve recognized that the digital channels that have been created offer an exciting opportunity to engage both consumers and financial institutions into new areas of benefits for both. We believe that great technology can leverage this collaborative relationship to aid in better decision-making and reward each side as it becomes even more robust over time. With our Banno.com tools that are under development, we know that behavior-driven banking will empower and change the ways products and services are offered and the benefits that are realized and we plan to be at the forefront of leading this change.
Banno.com-powered websites, mobile banking, account aggregation, and enriched transactions provide institutions with segmented customer analysis based on anonymized data that can be used for actionable product offerings.
How do you see your company in the next 2-5 years?
Lots of growth. All of our 61 staff members are in Iowa, and our expansion into Des Moines, isn’t slowing down. We plan to add at least 25 staff members in that new office, with assistance from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
How many employees and/or freelance contractors do you currently have?
61
What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome as a company?
Maintaining our culture while going through rapid growth.
What else is interesting about your story?
We’ve headquartered in Cedar Falls, IA and everyone here is on a mission to change the world!
Do you have a blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.?
https://www.facebook.com/BannoHQ
