Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
As mentioned previously today, Portland’s Simple is being shuttered by acquirer BBVA ahead of PNC completing the acquisition of BBVA USA properties. Not only did the move adversely impact many of our fellow Portlanders and the Portland fintech community — as did the similar shuttering of Azlo today — but it also marked the end of a banking story of David and Goliath proportions. Where Goliath won.
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They grow up so fast. It seems like just a few months ago that we were all patiently waiting to be allowed behind the velvet rope that was a new kind of banking experience. Now Simple has been providing that service for two years—and now they’re letting everyone in. Read More
Portland-based Simple has a very lofty goal: to build a better banking experience. Or to be more blunt: to build a bank that doesn’t suck. And after a year with customers using the platform, Simple appears well on their way to satisfying that goal. Read More
As if we all weren’t anxious enough. Awaiting the big unveil from the folks at Simple. It seems they’ve got to tease us a bit more with the pending iPhone awesomeness.
So if you’re among the teeming hordes waiting patiently for Simple to launch to the public, maybe you can bide your time with this new video. Read More
Many know Portland-based Vidoop—yes, they DO have a new look—as purveyor of OpenID provider myVidoop and home to the DiSo Project, “an umbrella project for a group of open source implementations of distributed social networking concepts.”
But Vidoop also has a number of revenue generating tricks in its bag, from the advertising that comprises its ImageShield to the enhanced security products that it sells.
Today at Finovate, Vidoop launched a new suite of those security products targeted at financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and corporations. And for banks in particular, Vidoop highlights that they offer “three options for providing strong authentication for accessing Web sites.”
The announcement appears to be striking a chord. According to Banktastic, “Your bank or credit union NEEDS to look into this.”
Of course, the real magic of Vidoop’s easy to implement, tough to defeat, advertising-supported security is that it not only reduces implementation and maintenance costs, it actually provides another way for businesses to generate revenue.
The ImageShield provides advertisers the opportunity to sponsor images within certain categories. Customers who choose to enable advertising-supported logins can obtain Vidoop’s increased security at little or no cost, and in some cases, generate revenue through the sponsored images.
“Not only can financial institutions potentially make money using Vidoop, but they can also realize substantial savings through customer service,” said Mitch Savage, Vidoop’s Executive Vice President, Business Development. “The number one call to most customer support centers is login issues. Vidoop provides an easier way for users to remember passwords with images, and now we have two additional ways they can authenticate without requiring expensive call center support.”
For more from Mitch on Vidoop’s new offering, here’s an interview from Finovate:
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For more information, visit Vidoop.