http://www.banktastic.comhttp://archives.banktastic.com/posts Posts made by the people at Banktastic. 60 <div class="textilized"><blockquote> <i> 3. Your aren&#8217;t special. No matter what your grades were or how intelligent you are. Special is a function of what people think of you, especially your manager. To be special, you have to be above average at something the company needs. Doesn&#8217;t matter what, but something. <br /><br /> ... <br /><br /> 17. Break a little rule every so often. But first get a bit of wisdom about what rules you can actually break and get away with it. And when you do, make sure the outcome reflects well on your manager. <br /><br /> <p>&#8212;From <a href="http://bankervision.typepad.com/bankervision/2009/07/advice-for-newbies-starting-their-careers-in-large-companies.html">Advice for newbies starting their careers in large companies</a> on BankerVision by James Gardner </i></p> </blockquote> <p>I thought I&#8217;d try every Friday to add some fun snippets from this week in the Banking world. I think this is a great start. Head over to BankerVision and give the whole list a look.</p></div> Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_110 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/110-quote-of-the-week-on-being-special-and-breaking-rules <div class="textilized"><p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/3114497160_f697bda63e_m_d.jpg" /> <p>To continue in the spirit of openness that we&#8217;ve always shared with our community, I wanted to be the first one to tell you the most recent news from The Garland Group. As of today, Lisa Randolph is no longer working with The Garland Group and for Banktastic.com. In consideration of her privacy, I will just say that we decided to part ways and we wish her the absolute best of luck.</p></p> <p>As far as the questions that will come up over Lisa&#8217;s role, we are still trying to decide the best way to continue moving forward. As of now, we will all be helping out in this process. Once again, we wish Lisa the best of luck and are sure she will be successful in whatever she does. Thanks everybody for your understanding during this transition period. </p> <br /> Brad</div> Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT Brad G. announcement_109 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/109-community-management-news <div class="textilized"><p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/3660195234_0e786a0956_o.jpg"></p> <p>Fantastic news this morning coming from <a href="http://www.smartypig.com">SmartyPig</a>! Red McCombs, the co-founder of <a href="http://www.clearchannel.com/">Clear Channel Communications</a>, has invested in SmartyPig, a community focused on helping its members save for specific purchases, large or small. Specific terms of the deal were not released, but the agreement is announced at a time when the national personal savings rate has reached an almost 15-year high.</p> <p>McCombs was quoted as saying, &#8220;We are very pleased with our investment in SmartyPig. We believe this is a tremendous opportunity to improve people’s lives and provide financial freedom by helping people break out of the vicious cycle of credit card debt. SmartyPig is a revolutionary company that empowers consumers with true cash buying power. Instead of the ‘buy first and pay later’ mentality, SmartyPig helps people buy with cash and avoid being buried in future debt.”</p> <p>This is a tremendous step for SmartyPig as it continues to expand its community to help consumers everywhere change their spending habits. Congratulations to both SmartyPig and Clear Channel Communications on this announcement!</p> <p>If you have an announcement that you&#8217;d like to broadcast to the Banktastic community, email Lisa Randolph at lisa@banktastic.com for more information.</p></div> Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_104 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/104-announcement-red-mccombs-of-clear-channel-invests-in-smartypig <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/b8736c15/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/b8736c15/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad takes a minute to update you all on our decisions regarding <a href="http://banktastic.com/posts/95-the-state-of-banktastic">The State of Banktastic</a>. We appreciate all of the feedback that we received from our community from our last post, so thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments with us. Check out Brad&#8217;s new video and let us know if you have any additional feedback regarding our community or its features. Have a great day, everybody!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/Banktastic%20Update.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_100 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/100-banktastic-update-from-brad <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/613086a4/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/613086a4/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>The Garland Group&#8217;s very own <a href="http://banktastic.com/people/4-courtney-t">Courtney Treadaway</a> sits down for a moment to help you out with our own version of a bailout. He discusses different tips for software that will cost nothing for your IT department, but provide some big help for your FI. Check out some of the software, and let us know what you think about it!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/TGG%20Videos/TGG%20Bailouts.m4v">Download this video</a></p></div> Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_98 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/98-the-garland-group-presents-bailouts-garland-group-style <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/aae0c062/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/aae0c062/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Good morning, Banktastic! Brad brings you a video today in hopes that you will help us make a decision about where to next take Banktastic. We&#8217;ve got a couple of options in front of us, and we really want to hear from the community.</p> <p>We&#8217;re needing to shift the focus of our developers onto other projects from <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net">The Garland Group</a>, thus prompting us to make some big decisions for Banktastic. One option we&#8217;re considering is moving Banktastic to another platform, which may result in changes to which features or sections we&#8217;re able to provide. Here are some of our questions for you:</p> <ul> <li>Which sections of Banktastic do you like, and which could do without?</li> <li>Is there something you&#8217;d like to see Banktastic offer that we currently don&#8217;t?</li> <li>Do you have any suggestions for another platform that you think would work for our community?</li> </ul> <p>Please take the time to respond with your thoughts on this decision by commenting below. We want to make sure the community gets a say in this process, so help us out by telling us what you think. We really appreciate your participation within the Banktastic community. Have a great weekend, everybody!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/The%20State%20of%20Banktastic.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_95 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/95-the-state-of-banktastic <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/6c852b9d/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/6c852b9d/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad grabbed an interview at FinovateStartup 2009 with Kim Muhota, <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CEO</span></span> at <a href="http://www.pertuitydirect.com">Pertuity Direct</a>. Pertuity Direct is an online consumer financial services company that connects borrowers with great rates and lenders with responsible borrowers. It makes the application and approval process much easier, and eliminates bidding on loans and the sharing of borrowers personal credit information. Check out the interview and let us know what you think!</p> <p>We had a blast covering <a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> this year, but we want to know what you think! Let us know what you thought about our coverage of the event by commenting below!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/FinovateStartup%202009%20-%20Pertuity%20Direct.m4v">Download this video</a></p></div> Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_93 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/93-finovatestartup-2009-interview-with-pertuity-direct <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/5dd22868/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/5dd22868/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>A quick update to share a video with one of the potential presenters for <a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a>, <a href="http://www.valuecruncher.com/">ValueCruncher</a>. If you&#8217;re not at FinovateStartup this year, you can watch our live coverage as it happens on <a href="http://www.banktastic.com/live">Banktastic live</a>.</p> <p>Keep your eyes on Banktastic for more coverage today!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Interview%20with%20ValueCruncher.mp4">Download this video</a></p></div> Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_92 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/92-finovatestartup-2009-potential-presenter-valuecruncher <div class="textilized"><p><a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> is finally here, and to help bring you all of our coverage, we&#8217;ve launched <a href="http://www.banktastic.com/live">Banktastic Live</a>! We&#8217;re going to be streaming Finovate discussions on Twitter, adding exclusive videos and pictures on this section of Banktastic all day Tuesday, so be sure to watch.</p> <p>Remember to tag all pictures, videos, or blog posts with &#8220;finovate,&#8221; and use the hashtag #finovate on Twitter to get in on the conversation and have it broadcast live on <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a>. Brad posted <a href="http://www.banktastic.com/live#live-footer">a little instructional video</a> on the Live section of our site, so check that out if you need any help.</p> <p>Tomorrow is going to be great, so be sure to keep your eyes on <a href="http://www.banktastic.com/live">Banktastic Live</a> for all of our great coverage! If you&#8217;re at the event, be sure to come find myself or Brad and say hi!</p></div> Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_91 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/91-banktastic-s-live-finovatestartup-2009-coverage <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/140a7d1a/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/140a7d1a/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup interview series continues on today with Nicolas Perkin of <a href="http://www.receivablesxchange.com/opencms/opencms/index.html">The Receivables Exchange</a>. The Receivables Exchange allows businesses to sell their receivables to a global network of institutional investors and access working capital in as little as three days. Check out this presenter&#8217;s interview, and let us know what you think!</p> <p><a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> is coming up on Tuesday, April 28, so be sure to watch <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a> all day for live coverage. More news on how to follow our coverage and get in on the conversation coming soon. Have a good weekend, everybody!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20TRE.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_90 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/90-finovatestartup-interview-series-the-receivables-exchange <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/19466924/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/19466924/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad’s FinovateStartup 2009 interviews continue on this morning with Gabriel Griego of <a href="http://www.wesabe.com">Wesabe</a>. Wesabe is a personal finance management suite that uses the power of a community to help clear its members of financial debt and helps them make better monetary decisions. They&#8217;ve also recently launched <a href="http://blog.wesabe.com/2009/03/18/introducing-wesabe-springboard-our-new-platform-for-credit-unions-and-banks/">Wesabe Springboard</a>, a web services platform that allows banks, credit unions, and other institutions to integrate Wesabe’s consumer financial management tools directly into their web sites. Check out this presenter, and let us know what you think!</p> <p>We’re getting close to <a href="www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a>, but it’s not too late to use Banktastic’s special discount code for registration! Just use “banktastic150” to receive $150 off the cost of registration for FinovateStartup 2009. Keep your eyes on <a href="www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a> for more great Finovate coverage!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20Wesabe.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_88 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/88-finovatestartup-interview-series-wesabe <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/90da5472/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/90da5472/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>The Burst is back! For episode 40, Brad talks about some great articles discussing <a href="http://www.banktastic.com/articles/627-fdic-takeover-play-by-play"><span class="caps"><span class="caps">FDIC</span></span> Takeovers</a>, important <a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> information, and a brand-new document feature that&#8217;s been added to Banktastic! He also wraps up the show with a great clip from The Daily Show featuring Elizabeth Warren, the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel on <span class="caps"><span class="caps">TARP</span></span>. Check out the episode, and share your comments with us below!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/Burst%20-%20FDIC.mp4">Download this video</a></p></div> Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_84 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/84-the-burst-fdic-ep-40 <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/97aee59b/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/97aee59b/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup 2009 interviews continue on this morning withMike Ferrari of <a href="www.smartypig.com">SmartyPig.com</a>. SmartyPig is a unique savings program that was designed to help you save for specific savings goals. Goals are funded with a required monthly recurring contribution from your existing checking or savings account. You can also make additional one time adds of money to your goals and receive contributions from your friends and family members. This is a great site &#8211; check it out and let us know what you think!</p> <p>We&#8217;re getting close to <a href="www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a>, but it&#8217;s not too late to use Banktastic&#8217;s special discount code for registration! Just use &#8220;banktastic150&#8221; to receive $150 off the cost of registration for FinovateStartup 2009. Keep your eyes on <a href="www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a> for more great Finovate coverage!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20SmartyPig.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_82 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/82-finovatestartup-interview-series-smartypig <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/846220ec/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/846220ec/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad’s FinovateStartup 2009 interview series continues with Sherrick Murdoff of <a href="http://www.silvertailsystems.com">Silver Tail Systems</a>. Silver Tail Systems provides 3rd generation fraud prevention to defend your website against business logic abuse. Silver Tail Forensics and Mitigation products use a new generation of behavior detection, efficient investigation and real-time disruption to track suspicious behavior and divert the bad actors, leaving legitimate users unaffected. Check out this interview from Silver Tail Systems and let us know what you think by commenting!</p> <p>It’s not too late to register for <a href="www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> and receive our special Banktastic discount! Just enter the discount code “banktastic150” when registering, and save $150 off the cost of registration. Keep watching <a href="www.banktastic.com">Banktastic.com</a> for more great FinovateStartup 2009 coverage!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20Silvertail%20Systems.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_80 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/80-finovatestartup-interview-series-silver-tail-systems <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/cafa42d3/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/cafa42d3/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup 2009 interview series continues with Kenneth Lim of <a href="http://www.creditkarma.com">Credit Karma</a>. Credit Karma provides consumers with the ability to see and monitor their credit scores at any time for free. They provide a wealth of credit based tools and information to help educate their members on how credit scores and credit reports work. Check out this interview from Credit Karma and let us know what you think by commenting!</p> <p>It&#8217;s not too late to register for <a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup 2009</a> and receive our special Banktastic discount! Just enter the discount code &#8220;banktastic150&#8221; when registering, and save $150 off the cost of registration. Keep watching <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic.com</a> for more great FinovateStartup 2009 coverage!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20CreditKarma.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_78 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/78-finovatestartup-interview-series-creditkarma-com <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/292d25bb/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/292d25bb/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>As part of Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup interview series, he meets up with Kyle Kirman of <a href="http://www.budgettracker.com">BudgetTracker.com</a>. BudgetTracker started off as a budgeting tool, but has developed into an all-in-one tool that manages your bills, income, transactions, budget and calendar. BudgetTracker sends you reminders of everything through email or straight to your cell phone. We recommend checking them out, and be sure to let us know what you think by watching this video and commenting below!</p> <p>Don&#8217;t forget to save some cash on your <a href="http://www.finovate.com">FinovateStartup</a> registration! Enter the code &#8220;banktastic150&#8221; to take off $150 of the cost. Keep your eyes on <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic.com</a> for more great Finovate coverage!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20BudgetTracker.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_77 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/77-finovatestartup-interview-series-budgettracker <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/6671a773/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/6671a773/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Brad meets up with another great FinovateStartup 2009 presenter, <a href="http://www.looniesdesk.com/beta/">LooniesDesk</a>. Brad talks with Elias Chelidonis, Co-Founder, about their open source financial platform to help people manage their money. Take a look at this video and let us know what you think of this presenter!</p> <p>If you&#8217;re interested in attending <a href="http://www.finovate.com">Finovate</a> and want to save some cash on your registration, <a href="http://banktastic.com/posts/69-finovate-special-announcement-from-lisa">watch this video announcement from Lisa</a> to get Banktastic&#8217;s special discount code! More videos on the way. Stay tuned!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20LooniesDesk.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_76 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/76-finovatestartup-interview-series-looniesdesk <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/822f70f4/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/822f70f4/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>It’s time for another video from Brad’s FinovateStartup 2009 interviews! This interview is with Nick and Alex of <a href="http://www.ncore.com.my/">NCore Systems</a>. NCore Systems provides enterprise class delivery channel solutions to Banks within the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">ASEAN</span></span> region fusing applications, innovative security and middleware technology into a single integrated platform. The company builds complete virtual financial destinations that empower Financial Institutions to ‘reach out and touch’ their customers through the innovative use of web based and mobile technology. Check out NCore Systems and let us know what you think about this FinovateStartup presenter!</p> <p>If you&#8217;re interested in attending <a href="http://www.finovate.com">Finovate</a> and want to save some cash on your registration, <a href="http://banktastic.com/posts/69-finovate-special-announcement-from-lisa">watch this video announcement from Lisa</a> to get Banktastic&#8217;s special discount code! More videos on the way. Stay tuned!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20NCore%20Systems.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_74 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/74-finovatestartup-interview-series-ncore-systems <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/fdf703c6/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/fdf703c6/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>It’s time for another video from Brad’s FinovateStartup 2009 interview series! This interview is with Steven Rabago, <span class="caps"><span class="caps">ZEO</span></span> of <a href="http://www.ZimpleMoney.com">ZimpleMoney</a>. ZimpleMoney is a social finance community that connects people with common financial interests, and provides online tools for managing financial relationships in a socially networked environment. Check out ZimpleMoney and let us know what you think about this FinovateStartup presenter!</p> <p>If you&#8217;re interested in attending <a href="http://www.finovate.com">Finovate</a> and want to save some cash on your registration, <a href="http://banktastic.com/posts/69-finovate-special-announcement-from-lisa">watch this video announcement from Lisa</a> to get Banktastic&#8217;s special discount code! More videos on the way. Stay tuned!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/ZimpleMoney%20Interview.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_73 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/73-finovatestartup-interview-series-zimplemoney-com <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/82de643f/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/82de643f/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Eric, Heath &#38; Juston of <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net">The Garland Group</a>, the parent company of Banktastic, got together to talk about their favorite social engineering stories while working with banks. The stories are light-hearted, but we do provide you some tips at the end of this video to prevent being socially engineered!</p> <p>To learn more about The Garland Group and our services, just <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net">click here</a>!</p></div> Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_71 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/71-the-garland-group-presents-favorite-social-engineering-stories <div class="textilized"><object height="436" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/f6577906/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/f6577906/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="436" width="700"></embed></object> <p>It’s time for another video from Brad’s FinovateStartup 2009 interviews! This interview is with Peter Pham, <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CEO</span></span> of <a href="http://www.billshrink.com">BillShrink</a>. BillShrink is a free, personalized savings service for everyday services like wireless and credit cards. They help analyze your personal usage of both cell phones &#38; credit cards to help save you time and money on choosing the deal that&#8217;s right for you. Check out BillShrink and let us know what you think about this FinovateStartup presenter!</p> <p>If you&#8217;re interested in attending <a href="http://www.finovate.com">Finovate</a> and want to save some cash on your registration, <a href="http://banktastic.com/posts/69-finovate-special-announcement-from-lisa">watch this video announcement from Lisa</a> to get Banktastic&#8217;s special discount code! More videos on the way. Stay tuned!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/BillShrink%20Interview.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_70 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/70-finovatestartup-interview-series-billshrink <div class="textilized"><object height="567" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="700"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/a34eba5e/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/a34eba5e/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="567" width="700"></embed></object> <p>Banktastic has signed up to be a media partner this year with Finovate, and along with that comes a special kickback for you! Watch the video to find out how our partnership will help you get to FinovateStartup &#38; Finovate 2009 a little cheaper this year. :)</p> <p>Once you watch the video, feel free to help us spread the word! We look forward to bringing you guys some great Finovate coverage this year, so keep your eyes on Banktastic for more great videos!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videos/FinovateStartup09/Finovate%20Special%20Announcement.mov">Download this video</a></p></div> Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_69 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/69-finovate-special-announcement-from-lisa <div class="textilized"><object height="422" width="750"><param value="true" /><param value="always" /><param value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3698853&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3698853&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" allowscriptaccess="always" height="422" width="750"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/3698853">President Pledges Help for Small Business, Condemns <span class="caps"><span class="caps">AIG</span></span> Bonuses</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/whitehousevideos">White House</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>. <p>Brad came across this great video online of President Obama discussing how community banks are going to help small businesses grow. This video also features Cynthia Blankenship of <a href="http://icba.org/"><span class="caps"><span class="caps">ICBA</span></span></a> on stage with President Obama. Thoughts on the video? Add your comments below!</p></div> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_67 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/67-president-pledges-help-for-small-business <div class="textilized"><object height="394" width="700"><param value="true" /><param value="always" /><param value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3462358&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3462358&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=0&amp;amp;show_byline=0&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=00ADEF&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" allowscriptaccess="always" height="394" width="700"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/3462358">Banktastic Interview Series &#8211; iThryv.com</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/bradgarland">Brad Garland</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>. <p>It&#8217;s time for another video from Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup 2009 interviews! This interview is with Scott Klososky, <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CEO</span></span> of <a href="http://www.ithryv.com">iThryv</a>. iThryv provides a customizable online banking platform that helps its users set goals, track and categorize spending, and learn how to spend more wisely. They also created <a href="http://www.weprosper.org">weProsper</a>, which is an online community focused on teaching financial literacy to younger generations. Check out iThryv &#38; weProsper and let us know what you think about this FinovateStartup presenter!</p> <p>More videos on the way. Stay tuned!</p></div> Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_64 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/64-finovatestartup-interview-series-ithryv <div class="textilized"><object height="450" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="725"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/310ef5a8/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/310ef5a8/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="450" width="725"></embed></object> <p>We hope you&#8217;re enjoying Brad&#8217;s FinovateStartup 2009 interview series so far! Brad&#8217;s second interview is with <a href="http://www.debtgoal.com">DebtGoal.com</a>, a debt management service that helps its members plan to get out of debt and save thousands of dollars in interest. Check out the interview with Steve Richmond, Founder of DebtGoal, and let us know what you think about this presenter!</p> <p>More FinovateStartup 2009 interviews are on their way, so keep watching <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a>!</p> <p><a href="http://videos.banktastic.com/videosFinovateStartup09/Finovate%20-%20DebtGoal.mp4">Download this video</a></p></div> Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_62 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/62-finovatestartup-interview-series-debtgoal <div class="textilized"><object height="288" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/b096c709/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/b096c709/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="288" width="437"></embed></object> <p>This is the first video in Brad&#8217;s series of interviews with FinovateStartup presenters. First up to bat: <a href="http://calendarbudget.com">CalendarBudget.com</a>, a personal finance management tool that tracks your daily spending as opposed to weekly or monthly, and helps you plan for future spending. Check out the interview with Eric Poulin, Co-Founder of Calendar Budget, and let us know what you think about this presenter!</p> <p>Keep your eyes on Banktastic for more interviews!</p></div> Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_61 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/61-finovatestartup-interview-series-calendarbudget-com <div class="textilized"><object height="288" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/f6aa7590/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/f6aa7590/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="288" width="437"></embed></object> <p>Brad takes a few minutes to update you on some of the cool stuff coming up on Banktastic. We&#8217;ll be bringing you some great pre-FinovateStartup 2009 coverage featuring one-on-one interviews with several of the presenters. We&#8217;re also working really hard to get back to bringing you new episodes of &#8220;The Burst&#8221; and &#8220;The CU Scoop&#8221; on a regular basis. We&#8217;re also open to ideas for things to cover in our shows, so email us with any suggestions &#8211; brad@banktastic.com. See ya around!</p></div> Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_60 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/60-brad-s-banktastic-update <div class="textilized"><object height="288" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/9ed885da/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/9ed885da/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="288" width="437"></embed></object> <p>In the name of transparency, Mark takes a few minutes to discuss what caused the hiccups on Banktastic last week. We worked really hard to get the site back up and running, and even improved on Banktastic. We&#8217;re continuously working to make this place better for everybody, and we thank you for being a part of our community.</p> <p>If you ever have any suggestions or feedback for us, just click the feedback icon to the left and let us know what&#8217;s on your mind. Thanks for your patience!</p></div> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_59 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/59-a-slow-week-at-banktastic <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="transparent" /><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/c3c604f1/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/c3c604f1/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>Courtney Treadaway and Heath Stanley, two of <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net/">The Garland Group&#8217;s</a> security consultants, put together this video discussing remote deposit capture exclusively for our <a href="http://tgg-clients.banktastic.com">Garland Group Clients Network</a>. However, we really wanted to share this one with the Banktastic community since remote deposit capture is something we think many banks should look into using.</p> <p>Look for more educational videos from The Garland Group on <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net/blog">our blog</a>!</p></div> Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_58 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/58-the-garland-group-presents-remote-deposit-capture <div class="textilized"><object height="500" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="695"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/d1116a67/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/d1116a67/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="500" width="695"></embed></object> <p>At Banktastic we are well aware of the economic crisis our nation is in and how it directly affects the banking industry. For 2009 and beyond our goal is to spread our vision that we call <b>the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">TIE</span></span> principles.</b> We want you and your institution to use <b>T</b>ransparency, <b>I</b>nnovation and <b>E</b>ducation to help the banking industry in this trying time. We&#8217;re wanting you to share stories with us of people or companies that are using the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">TIE</span></span> principles, and be inspired by other&#8217;s efforts to be more transparent, innovative and educational. Leave a comment to let us know what you think about the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">TIE</span></span> principles, and help us spread the word throughout the industry.</p> <p><a href="http://garlandgroup.wufoo.com/forms/tell-us-your-tie-story/"><h2>Tell us your <span class="caps"><span class="caps">TIE</span></span> story!</h2></a></p></div> Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_51 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/51-the-tie-principles <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/ab0a496d/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/ab0a496d/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><b>Becoming Customer-Centric</b> This week, Sherman and Jesse from <a href="http://www.creative-brand.com/">Creative Brand Communications</a> gets together to discuss how marketing and banking practices need to change in order for financial institutions to truly put the customer first. They give examples of &#8220;company-first&#8221; behavior that&#8217;s simply accepted in banking due to tradition, but needs to change. They also discuss how banks should analyze their own actions carefully and look to other industries for ideas and examples of customer-centric behavior. Check out the episode above, and be sure to comment below with your thoughts on becoming customer-centric!</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;Blow Up Your Marketing&#8221; to blowitup@creative-brand.com.</p></div> Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_50 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/50-blow-up-your-marketing-becoming-customer-centric-ep-8 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/be4abd8c/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/be4abd8c/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We need your help! As the video above says, we just <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/thegarlandgroup/3152341786/">renovated our</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/thegarlandgroup/3151507467/in/photostream/">work space</a>, and now have lots of white space on the walls to fill. So what we&#8217;re wanting you to do is submit photos that you&#8217;ve taken or that you have rights to that you think would be a great addition to our office! The size that we&#8217;re printing the photos at is 16&#215;20, so no camera phone pictures, please. Just comment below and link us to your favorite shot. If you can&#8217;t link us to a photo, you can email them to brad@banktastic.com. We look forward to featuring your favorite shots in our office!</p></div> Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_47 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/47-banktastic-photo-project-send-us-your-shots <div class="textilized"><p>Hey guys,</p> <p>Sorry for the delayed post. We have busy bees working on features and a new post coming in the next few days. Stay with me, we hope it&#8217;s going to be big and get everybody involved.</p> <p>Brad</p></div> Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 PST Brad G. announcement_46 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/46-stay-tuned <div class="textilized"><p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2557014840_c3c060f4d0_m.jpg"><br><br> <i><a href="http://banktastic.com/people/78-andy-l">Andy LaFlamme</a>, Marketing Specialist for <a href="http://www.mainstatecu.org/">Maine State Credit Union</a> and creator of <a href="http://theculoop.blogspot.com/">The CU Loop</a> has created a guest post for Banktastic entitled &#8220;The Dynamic Discussion,&#8221; which looks into the relationship between your credit union and its members when developing marketing plans.</i></p> <p>Since the advent of advertising (whenever that was), marketers have gone about the task by creating products and accompanying ads that they hope resonate with their target audience and by pushing those ads out hoping people will see them. Sure, if you’re a good marketer and do your research you can create something that gets the attention of some of the people in your target, but in my opinion there is a better way.</p> <p>No longer can you push out marketing. You have to have a dynamic connection to your membership. You have to have a relationship with your current membership and pull the ideas from them. No longer is marketing an internal, hierarchal process, but one that includes all levels of staff and direct input from membership.</p> <p><b>So what am I saying?</b><br> You and your staff need to speak directly with the people in your target. Let them tell you what they want and how they want it. Then you can create something that is truly made for your target market from the bottom up.</p> <p><b>How do you go about doing this?</b><br> Open up dialogue with your current members. If you are going for word of mouth marketing, they are the ones you want to please. Why try and target a group you don’t know/understand when you have a collection of people who you can ask what they want, please them, and have them pass on the good word to their friends and relatives?</p> <p>You have to find out what the people you currently serve want and provide them with it in a way that gets them talking. Do something so uniquely tailored to that group that they tell others.</p> <p>You might ask “well we’re trying to capture the youth demographic and Gen Y. We don’t have many of them, how are we going to attract them if we only do things for our current members?”</p> <p>There is a big difference between “what” and “how”. In talking to your current membership you can find out the “what”. What are they like, what do they want, and what do they need? You can then take those things and deliver them in a way that is tailored to an age, or channel preference. You have to develop a recognizable culture, and then deliver it in a channel that reaches the people that match that culture.</p> <p>This culture, or brand, should guide everything you do. Remember that you can’t possibly be all things to all people without becoming a faceless, commoditized institution. Keep in mind that you are looking to target a type of person. You are trying to attract people with similar interests, personalities, or common philosophical views. Only when you have established what type of people you are looking to attract should you break it down to something like age.</p> <p>If you want real word of mouth growth you need to be the best at serving a specific type of person. It’s nearly impossible to compete on the level of “best rate” or “best service”, especially for smaller institutions. Why not compete on the level of “the best place for <i>__</i> type of person” and fill in that blank by knowing who you are serving right now.</p> <p>Start the dialogue, know your members, know what they want, deliver it in the relevant channels, and get your current members talking.</p> <p><i>We greatly appreciate Andy LaFlamme for creating this post for the Banktastic community. If you have something you want to share with our community in a post, contact me at lisa@banktastic.com for more information. We want to really involve our members in this section of Banktastic, so get in touch to share your thoughts!</i></p></div> Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_43 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/43-guest-post-from-andy-laflamme-quot-the-dynamic-discussion-quot <div class="textilized"><object height="333" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/69235c71/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/69235c71/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="333" width="437"></embed></object> <p>All of The Garland Group (the parent company of Banktastic) came together to create our own take of the &#8220;12 Days of Christmas,&#8221; banking-style! We hope you enjoy the video we put together, and be sure to watch the blooper reel at the end. :) Happy Holidays from all of us at <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net">The Garland Group</a>!</p></div> Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_41 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/41-our-12-days-of-christmas <div class="textilized"><p>Have you noticed the new &#8220;Feedback&#8221; tab on the left part of the dashboard? We added this to make it easy for you to report a problem or let us know what you love/hate about Banktastic. So if you ever need to sound off to us, take a second to send us some feedback!</p> <p>We&#8217;ll be rolling out some more new features for you in the coming days and weeks, so keep an eye on the dashboard for our additions to Banktastic. Have a great weekend, everybody!</p></div> Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_40 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/40-new-feedback-tab <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/e565f49a/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/e565f49a/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://videos2.banktastic.com/explore/thegarlandgroup/videos/219.m4v">Download this video</a></p> <p><b><a href="http://www.obopay.com">Interview with Obopay</a></b><br> This week features an interview that Brad conducted with Michael Diamond, the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SVP</span></span> of Business Development with <a href="http://www.obopay.com">Obopay</a>, a comprehensive mobile payment service. Brad chatted with Michael about what Obopay is, it&#8217;s recent partnerships, and how this service can be beneficial for community banks. The conversation is great, so check out the whole interview. And a huge thanks to Michael Diamond for taking the time to meet with us &#8211; we greatly appreciate it!</p> <p><b><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Subscribe to Banktastic on iTunes</a></b><br> All of BanktatsicTV&#8217;s shows are available on iTunes now! <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Click here</a> to access our podcast page to subscribe, or open iTunes and search &#8220;BanktasticTV.&#8221;</p> <p>See you soon!</p> <p>-The Banktastics</p></div> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_39 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/39-the-burst-interview-with-obopay-ep-39 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/8193a859/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/8193a859/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/The%20Burst/The%20Burst%20-%20Episode%2038.m4v">Download this video</a></p> <p>Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV&#8217;s &#8220;The Burst.&#8221; Here are some important notes about this episode:</p> <p><b>Tips for Going Green</b><br> Have you been wanting to make your bank &#8220;green,&#8221; but don&#8217;t know where to start? Brad takes this episode to detail a couple of small changes your bank can make to help out the environment. From something as small as receipts to as big as your servers, check out this episode for Brad&#8217;s tips for &#8220;Going Green!&#8221;</p> <p>If you have any tips that you&#8217;d like to add to this list to help people make the green change, please post them as comments!</p> <p><b><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Subscribe to Banktastic on iTunes</a></b><br> All of BanktatsicTV&#8217;s shows are available on iTunes now! <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Click here</a> to access our podcast page to subscribe, or open iTunes and search &#8220;BanktasticTV.&#8221;</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b><br> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;The Burst&#8221; to brad@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic Community</a>.</p> <p>See you next week!</p> <p>-The Banktastics</p></div> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_38 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/38-the-burst-tips-for-going-green-ep-38 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/6e9dc3ed/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/6e9dc3ed/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/The%20CU%20Scoop/The%20CU%20Scoop%20-%20Episode%2029.m4v">Download this video</a></p> <p>Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV&#8217;s &#8220;The CU Scoop&#8221; featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:</p> <p><b><a href="http://www.enyfcu.org">Interview with Eastern <span class="caps"><span class="caps">NY FCU</span></span></a></b> Mark got together with Chris Langley, the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CEO</span></span>/President of <a href="http://www.enyfcu.org">Eastern <span class="caps"><span class="caps">NY FCU</span></span></a> to talk about <a href="http://syphronline.com/ratematch_signup.html">RateMatch</a>. We edited down the interview into a shorter segment which you can watch in the above video. If you want to check out the unedited version, watch the video below!</p> <p>Again, huge thanks to Chris Langley for taking the time to let us interview him! We really appreciate it!</p> <object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/ad2c10b1/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/ad2c10b1/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/The%20CU%20Scoop/The%20CU%20Scoop%20-%20Episode%2029%20unedited.mov">Download this video</a></p> <p><b><a href="http://www.massxvelocity.com/">Thanks to our sponsors!</a></b> We’d like to give a huge thank you to our sponsors, <a href="http://www.massxvelocity.com/">Syphr</a>! We greatly appreciate your support!</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;The CU Scoop&#8221; to mark@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic Community</a>. We&#8217;re always looking for your input.</p> <p><b><span class="caps"><span class="caps">THIS BLOG WILL BE MOVING</span></span>!</b> We&#8217;re planning on removing this blog in the near future and moving all of our BanktasticTV content onto <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic.com</a>. Whether or not you are a member, you will still be able to view our posts and shows on the dashboard. If you have any questions, email us!</p> <p>See you next week!</p> <p>-The Banktastics</p></div> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_37 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/37-the-cu-scoop-interview-with-eastern-ny-fcu-ep-29 <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;center&gt;&lt;iframe src=&#8221;http://mashable.polldaddy.com/widget/?f=f&amp;#38;c=26&amp;#38;cn=http://www.Banktastic.com&#8221; height=&#8221;330&#8221; width=&#8221;350&#8221;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt; &lt;noscript&gt;<a href="http://mashable.com/2008/11/05/open-web-awards-2/">Mashable Open Web Awards</a>&lt;/noscript&gt;&lt;/center&gt;</p> <p><a href="http://mashable.com">Mashable</a> is holding it&#8217;s second annual <a href="http://mashable.com/2008/11/05/open-web-awards-2/">Open Web Awards</a>, and we&#8217;re writing this in hopes that you&#8217;ll nominate <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a> in the Niche and Misc. Social Networks category. If you want to vote for us, just use the widget above to submit your nomination! Please spread the word and nominate Banktastic! If you want the html code to input the widget on your own blog, please shoot me an email at <b>lisa@banktastic.com</b>. Nominations end at midnight on Sunday, Nov. 16, so help us get the word out while you can! Thanks for your support!</p></div> Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_36 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/36-open-web-awards-nominate-banktastic <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;center&gt;<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/Photo24copy.jpg">&lt;/center&gt;</p> <p>Hey, everybody! You might have noticed a decrease in activity on the Banktastic Blog lately, so I wanted to touch on that. We&#8217;re aiming to do things a little differently here at <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic</a> and <a href="http://www.thegarlandgroup.net">The Garland Group</a>, which includes us moving to a <a href="http://thegarlandgroup.net/2008/11/3/rockin-the-rowe"><span class="caps"><span class="caps">ROWE</span></span> mindset</a>.</p> <p>But what&#8217;s happening with our BanktasticTV lineup is we&#8217;re trying to focus in a little better on the content we bring you. Instead of getting an episode of our shows to you on a weekly basis, we&#8217;re going to focus on bringing you new episodes with better content. We&#8217;re always open to suggestions on how we can better our shows and what we cover, so please feel free to email us with your suggestions (lisa@banktastic.com).</p> <p>We appreciate your patience as we continually work to better ourselves! Look for more content coming soon!</p> <p>-Lisa R.</p></div> Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 PST Lisa R. announcement_35 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/35-where-are-all-the-shows <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/e3b74a04/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/e3b74a04/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/The%20CU%20Scoop/The%20CU%20Scoop%20-%20Episode%2028.m4v">Download this video</a></p> <p>Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV&#8217;s &#8220;The CU Scoop&#8221; featuring Mark McSpadden. Here are some important notes about this episode:</p> <p><b><a href="http://christianmullins.wordpress.com">CU Potential and <span class="caps"><span class="caps">KVFCU</span></span> Merger</a></b> Mark has covered the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">KVFCU</span></span> merger on past episodes of The CU Scoop, but he wanted to let you in on the coverage on the <a href="http://christianmullins.wordpress.com">CU Potential blog</a>. Christian Mullins is doing a great job writing about the merger process, so check out his blog for more info about <span class="caps"><span class="caps">KVFCU</span></span>.</p> <p><b><a href="http://www.opensourcecu.com/articles/2008/10/23/boom-son">Open Source CU on Credit Unions and the Economy</a></b> Brent Dixon recently posted on the Open Source CU blog about how credit unions are getting a lot of positive attention in the news lately as the economic crisis continues to trouble banks. He shares some news snapshots from news stories that feature a lot of CU love, and asks how credit unions should respond to the positive attention. Check out the blog to get in on the conversation.</p> <p><b><a href="http://jackbraswell.com/">The Ask Jack Blog</a></b> Members Credit Union has launched an &#8220;Ask Jack&#8221; blog, where their <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CEO</span></span>, Jack Braswell, will basically ask questions submitted by members of their credit union. They do a lot of video on the blog, which you know we love. :) Mark thinks this is a great way to communicate with your CU&#8217;s members, so go and check out the Ask Jack blog now!</p> <p><b><a href="http://cuesskybox.typepad.com/nexus_connection/2008/10/fun-first--or-h.html">Making Boring Stuff Fun!</a></b> Lisa Hochgraf posts on the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CUES</span></span> Skybox blog about how to teach members about important (yet, boring) things about credit unions through the use of fun. She points out the unique way that Larissa Walkiw and Common Wealth CU made learning about the difference between banks and credit unions fun. Lisa asks for other examples of teaching members about your products and services that are fun. Get in on the conversation <a href="http://cuesskybox.typepad.com/nexus_connection/2008/10/fun-first--or-h.html">here</a>.</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;The CU Scoop&#8221; to mark@banktastic.com.</p></div> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_33 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/33-the-cu-scoop-bunch-of-blogs-ep-28 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/6ca97bfa/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/6ca97bfa/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/Blow%20Up/Blow%20Up%20-%20Episode%207.mov">Download this video</a></p> <p>Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV&#8217;s &#8220;Blow Up Your Marketing.&#8221; Here are some important notes about this episode:</p> <p><b>2 Kool 4 Skool</b> This week, the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">CBC</span></span> team gets together to discuss some big do&#8217;s and don&#8217;ts of youth marketing. Things like lumping together age groups, stock photography and trying to seem cool won&#8217;t be appealing at all to a younger audience. Check out the episode to see what tips Jeff and the team give to help you better your youth marketing!</p> <p><b><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Subscribe to Banktastic on iTunes</a></b> All of BanktatsicTV&#8217;s shows are available on iTunes now! <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Click here</a> to access our podcast page to subscribe, or open iTunes and search &#8220;BanktasticTV.&#8221;</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;Blow Up Your Marketing&#8221; to blowitup@creative-brand.com.</p></div> Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_34 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/34-blow-up-your-marketing-2-kool-4-skool-ep-7 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/a1eb273b/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/a1eb273b/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/videos/The%20Burst/The%20Burst%20-%20Episode%2037.m4v">Download this video</a></p> <p>Thanks for checking out this episode of BanktasticTV&#8217;s &#8220;The Burst.&#8221; Here are some important notes about this episode:</p> <p><b>Brad at the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">MIT</span></span> Media Lab</b> Brad has been on the road a lot lately, which is why you haven&#8217;t seen him in The Burst in a few weeks! But he&#8217;s back this week with a great episode discussing everything he saw recently at the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">MIT</span></span> Media Lab. From robots to speech study projects, he talks about all the cool things going on within their Media Lab.</p> <p><b><a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Subscribe to Banktastic on iTunes</a></b> All of BanktatsicTV&#8217;s shows are available on iTunes now! <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275356716">Click here</a> to access our podcast page to subscribe, or open iTunes and search &#8220;BanktasticTV.&#8221;</p> <p><b>Email Us!</b> Feel free to email comments or suggestions about &#8220;The Burst&#8221; to brad@banktastic.com, or post your thoughts on the <a href="http://www.banktastic.com">Banktastic Community</a>.</p> <p>See you next week!</p> <p>-The Banktastics</p></div> Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_32 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/32-the-burst-the-mit-media-lab-ep-37 <div class="textilized"><object height="470" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="637"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/355101a8/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/355101a8/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="470" width="637"></embed></object> <p>We&#8217;ve made a lot of really cool changes to Banktastic over the past year, and today we&#8217;re releasing a complete makeover of our site with the coolest feature yet &#8211; the user-centric pane, located at the top of all pages on Banktastic. This new addition will help centralize a lot of the information that you want to see when logging into our site. View profiles, send messages, check out recent activity and easily switch between different networks all within the pane! Check it out and let us know what you think!</p> <p>We&#8217;ve also launched a network posts section onto the Banktastic dashboard. This gives our network administrators the chance to share announcements, videos and more directly to their members as soon as they login. That pertains mostly to our private networks, but our public members will now see all of our Banktastic Blog content featured directly on our homepage. This should make it a bit easier to check out what&#8217;s new on our shows and any major announcements we need to share without having you split to another site!</p> <p>We are so thankful to have our members a part of our ever-growing community. The ideas and conversations that have stemmed from our members&#8217; use of Banktastic has been great, and we truly appreciate you being a part of it.</p> <p>Thanks again for a great first year, everybody! :)</p></div> Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_31 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/31-new-features-demo <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/ef80843b/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/ef80843b/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We have spent the past two days doing all things <a href="http://www.finovate.com/flagship08/index.html">Finovate 2008</a> in New York City! Mark and I had a blast meeting with the presenters and getting some great video interviews. Here&#8217;s a list of all the content we&#8217;ve gotten at Finovate so far:</p> <p> <b>Company Reviews: </b><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">First 6</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Second 6</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Third 6</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Last 6</a> </p><p> <b>Interviews: </b><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-fiserv-mymoney-at-finovate-2008/">Fiserv MyMoney</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-quicken-online-from-finovate-2008/">Quicken Online</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-smarthippo-from-finovate-2008/">SmartHippo</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-digital-insight-from-finovate-2008/">Digital Insight</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-moneyaisle-from-finovate-2008/">MoneyAisle</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-vidoop-from-finovate-2008/">Vidoop</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-weseed-from-finovate-2008/">WeSeed</a> | <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/interview-with-boulevard-r-from-finovate-2008/">Boulevard R</a> </p> <p>Mark and I would like to thank all of the presenters that took some time to do a video interview with us. We live-blogged all day long on Tuesday, and we hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed the content that came from it! We appreciate everybody that has shared our reviews and videos so far, and we look forward to seeing more conversation coming from Finovate 2008.</p> <p>Email us if you have any questions or comments on our coverage at Finovate. See ya later! </p></div> Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_16 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/16-the-banktastics-finovate-is-over <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/3aa47481/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/3aa47481/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We sat down with John &#38; Matt of <a href="http://www.boulevardr.com">Boulevard R</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_17 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/17-interview-with-boulevard-r-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/9299838d/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/9299838d/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We snagged an interview with Jennifer of <a href="http://www.weseed.com">WeSeed</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above! And thanks to the WeSeed team for the great dinner event tonight!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_18 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/18-interview-with-weseed-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/e5530abb/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/e5530abb/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We snagged an interview with Mitchell of <a href="http://www.vidoop.com">Vidoop</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_19 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/19-interview-with-vidoop-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/29e26a88/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/29e26a88/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We took a few minutes to catch a great interview with Mukesh Chatter of <a href="http://www.moneyaisle.com">MoneyAisle</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_20 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/20-interview-with-moneyaisle-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/71cced80/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/71cced80/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We snagged an interview with <a href="http://www.digitalinsight.com/home/?pageLabel=home">Digital Insight</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_21 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/21-interview-with-digital-insight-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/ceb62fc3/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/ceb62fc3/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We snagged an interview with George Favvas of <a href="http://www.smarthippo.com">Smart Hippo</a> at Finovate 2008 today. Check out the video above!</p> <p>We hope you&#8217;ve enjoyed our day-long coverage of Finovate 2008 live from New York City today. Here are some quick links to connect you with other Finovate content from today:</p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_22 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/22-interview-with-smarthippo-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/303-mshift">mShift</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> A mobile solution that has the most deployments worldwide. Their latest offering targeted at business banking, &#8216;CFO on the Go&#8217; moves business financial reports, transfers, <span class="caps"><span class="caps">ACH</span></span>, and other operations through an application on a mobile phone. Also has a &#8216;push&#8217; component for alerts via email, sms, voice, and fax. I think this addresses a space (business banking) that has been under served by mobile banking and the MShift offering looks to be a good first step to bridge that gap. UI still is very mobile looking, but the functionality is really strong. I missed this presentation as I was working on getting stuff on the blog. Sorry, everybody.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <b>No Rating</b> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/157-mint">Mint</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> An online <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> with over 500k that is now out of beta. It&#8217;s adding custom budgeting categories and now allows you to track your investments. Pretty graphs and cool charts are still there for Mint and it remains one of the leaders in the online <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> space. Mint is a personal finance management site that helps users budget and track their money. Just launched this morning their investment tracking feature on Mint. Shows you market value and other stats of your investments that mirrors the slick budgeting and money breakdown side of Mint. The site is the fastest-growing money management tool online today.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/302-mfoundry">mFoundry</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> Today MFoundry demoed their iphone mobile banking application. It&#8217;s one of 2 native iphone banking apps out there and looks and feels like a great iphone app. (Man iphone apps are so much prettier than other mobile apps. I&#8217;m sure my iphone makes me biased.) Basic account lookup with date and other filtering all flows as you would expect an iphone app to flow. Also included are transfers and bill pay which, have I mentioned, look and act beautifully. The big bonus: <span class="caps"><span class="caps">ATM</span></span> and Branch finder <span class="caps"><span class="caps">BY CURRENT LOCATION</span></span>! (Zip code is also an option, but who needs it!) I want this on my iphone. Now Another iPhone app demo. Mobile banking and payments solutions for banks. It looks easy to use, and the search function for your phone is awesome. Great setup with the sort transactions by dates. You can tell they&#8217;ve put a lot of work into this app. Really quick and easy payments made to credit cards and other vendors. You can manage automatic transactions (add, cancel) on your phone. Honestly, doing the whole demo from the phone was fantastic. And what would this app be without the &#8220;find an <span class="caps"><span class="caps">ATM</span></span>&#8221; feature? Awesome. FIs really need to check this out!</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/300-digital-insight">Digital Insight</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> Small Business FinanceWorks is geared at small businesses (duh) and offers bill management, invoice generation and home remote capture that is integrated into your banking site. It can also handle payroll and legal filing. For small businesses, it&#8217;s sits somewhere between using a personal <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> and going full fledged into a quickbooks type product. I needed something like this when I was at McSpadden Technology. Digital Insight helps small businesses of all kinds get everything organized. This looks like a fantastic tool for the new business owner that needs some help getting everything squared away. The Billing Manager feature allows you to send reminders to customers if they owe you money, print invoices, manage your drafts, etc. You can manage payroll and taxes, as well. I can think of a few people that could really benefit from using this.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/395-thrive">Thrive</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> <span class="caps"><span class="caps">A PFM</span></span> that does offer the basic transactional dashboard views but really isn&#8217;t focused there. It&#8217;s focused more a &#8216;financial health score&#8217; and offering ways for you to make that score better. Some of those tips are where to place your money, some of those are based on the type of spending you are doing. (Discretionary vs. Bills) In addition, it helps you target savings specific goals and tips to reach those. They&#8217;ve also partnered with credit.com and will start looking at how credit scores play into financial health Another personal finance management tool. I&#8217;m loving the way Thrive looks. Provides you 11 dimensions of your financial status. Thrive gives you tips on how to better manage your money, get better rates, and transfer money from &#8220;bad accounts&#8221; to &#8220;good accounts.&#8221; Thrive analyzes your information and suggests areas of your finances to focus on and clean up.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/297-billshrink">BillShrink</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif">BillShrink is an online application to help you find the best deals on things like cell phone plans and credit cards. For the credit card comparision, using a super simple survey (only a few questions) the are able to pull numerous offerings. In addition you are able to filter based on the rewards you care about. (Cash v. food v. airfare) Launched today, if you sign up with BillShrink let&#8217;s you monitor new offers that appear after you&#8217;ve made your initial decision. Pretty, pretty site. Love the charisma in the presentation, too. BillShrink gives usage-based recommendations of wireless plans and credit cards. Another site that shows you how to shift things around to save money. They analyze your latest phone bill to help you find a better plan to suit your needs. Just got funding, too. Good job guys!</p> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_24 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/24-finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/161-smarthippo">SmartHippo</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> An online community built to help increase simplicity and transparency in the mortgage lending process. Includes community ratings. Rate search engine that pulls from several sources, including other members. Lenders can feed their rates into SmartHippo for <span class="caps"><span class="caps">FREE</span></span>, which can help smaller FIs (especially credit unions) get more exposure for their great rates. I think your FI needs to be feeding your rates into SmartHippo if you are in their market. A community-driven site geared toward helping its members save money and find the best interest rates. Members can rate different lenders in several different areas. You can give your specific information on what you&#8217;re looking for in a borrower, and the site will show you the best rates with different lenders. It&#8217;s free for lenders to show their rates on SmartHippo. The site looks great and easy to use. Community members share information on rates and FIs, but SmartHippo also goes and searches for rates to aggregate it all on their site. I&#8217;m loving this!</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/305-lendingclub">LendingClub</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> An <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SEC</span></span> registered (that&#8217;s a big deal) peer to peer lending site for borrowers with good credit which has kept their default rate for their lenders under 2% since their launch. In addition to allowing lenders to actually pick up loans from borrowers, Lending Club has also added a trading platform that allows them to trade and sell those loans. I think the loan marketplace is a super interesting one that is worth giving Lending Club a look if you&#8217;d like to move into the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">P2P</span></span> lending space. The design of the site is great. LendingClub is a <span class="caps"><span class="caps">P2P</span></span> lending site. Their differentiation as a <span class="caps"><span class="caps">P2P</span></span> site is that lenders have the opportunity to invest in instruments that are registered with the <span class="caps"><span class="caps">US SEC</span></span>. I&#8217;m not seeing as much of a community aspect in this site as I have in others (Zopa), but I see some unique points in this one. Definitely worth checking out.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a>Credit Karma</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> Credit Karma is a service that provides free (like really free) access to your credit score. This allows you to monitor and assess your credit and you are offered services and discounts based on your credit score. New to Credit Karma is a &#8216;personalized credit simulator&#8217; which will allow you to input various scenarios (new credit, late payment, etc) and see the impact that event would have on your credit score. I really dig this addition to Credit Karma and believe it can really help consumers make educated decisions about what they are doing with their credit. I&#8217;ve used Credit Karma for some months now, and it&#8217;s no secret that I adore this site. From a purely consumer standpoint, I see incredible value in Credit Karma. I&#8217;m extremely interested in knowing what my financial status is at all times, including my ability to get credit if I must. This site has made it extremely easy for me to see an up-to-date number on my credit score, which is great. I think that the advertisers they have in place are great, and the fact that members can vote on offers increases the value of this site. The cool new feature is the Credit Score Simulator &#8211; very awesome.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/298-checkfree">CheckFree</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> This former stand alone bill payment options now has integration into a FiServ <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span>. Basic bill pay and <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> with useful multi function dashboard and nice charts. Ads, though relevant based on activity, look very intrusive and slow to disappear. The cool thing about this product is it&#8217;s integration with consumer remote capture (scan in your check at home) but for me it&#8217;s not enough to overcome the generic nature of the rest of the offering. CheckFree offers a full suite of solutions for FIs of all sizes. The site looks pretty good, and the services look nice. I like how you can see the bills when you&#8217;re looking at payment transactions. The graphics and functionality of this site are smooth. Really looks like they put a lot of effort into this. Talk about a full suite of solutions &#8211; it really is.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/294-moneyaisle">MoneyAisle</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> MoneyAisle is a rate auction site that is fully automated. You put it in your simple criteria and a are given the best rate out there with an option to accept the bid and move on to open the account with the bank. The full transaction is handled by the bank. A fully automated process (including account opening) seems to be the missing piece of this puzzle to make it one that I would actually use. Weird commentary from someone with a mic on during the presentation. Yikes. But back to the review. I&#8217;ve seen MoneyAisle in the news recently, and I think that what they&#8217;re doing is pretty great. Providing the opportunity for smaller banks to compete for your loans is great. Smaller FIs are able to bid for your business with better rates since they don&#8217;t have a massive advertising budget as some of the bigger banks do. And the site is very transparent about the entire process, which is fantastic.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/366-yodlee">Yodlee</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> Along with their <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> and account aggregation, Yodlee has been making big headway in the &#8216;Pay Today&#8217; space. Through a partnership with Western Union, through Yodlee can offer immediate payment processing. This is available through their <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SDK</span></span> and I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll see more built on top of this in the future. Big site, about 3.5 million users on Yodlee&#8217;s <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> site. They offer some cool billpay feature looks smooth. Really great thing is that you can pay a bill at the last minute with Yodlee, something I know many people will find useful! Only downside is that there&#8217;s a fee involved, but to get money rushed over and avoid any huge issue, it&#8217;s really worth it. The site is clean and concise.</p> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_25 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/25-finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/6310e41d/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/6310e41d/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We’re bringing you live coverage of Finovate 2008 from <span class="caps"><span class="caps">NYC</span></span> today! Here’s a quick video interview with Quicken Online and their presentation here at Finovate today. The big news with Quicken was that it&#8217;s going free!</p> <p>Keep watching the <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com">Banktastic Blog</a> to get your Finovate fix all day long!</p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_26 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/26-interview-with-quicken-online-from-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><object height="370" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="437"><param value="http://www.viddler.com/player/60c6ed8d/" /><param value="always" /><param value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.viddler.com/player/60c6ed8d/" allowscriptaccess="always" height="370" width="437"></embed></object> <p>We&#8217;re bringing you live coverage of Finovate 2008 from <span class="caps"><span class="caps">NYC</span></span> today! Here&#8217;s a quick video interview with FiServ about MyMoney and their presentation here at Finovate today. They presented this morning, and it was great to watch them!</p> <p>Keep watching the <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com">Banktastic Blog</a> to get your Finovate fix all day long!</p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_27 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/27-interview-with-fiserv-mymoney-at-finovate-2008 <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/364-vidoop">Vidoop</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> Vidoop is trying to break the mold of high security leading to poor usability. The offer secury login alternatives for banks and credit unions. Several new login verification offering. A &#8216;verify by phone&#8217; offering will call you and ask for a &#8216;pound&#8217; or a pin when you are trying to login. The &#8216;image sheild&#8217; shows you images that guides you to a login code. This one can be provided for free to banks because the images you see will be ad sponsored. Another offering involved <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SMS</span></span>, but I&#8217;m so doped out by the image shield that I&#8217;m missing pieces. Your bank or credit union <span class="caps"><span class="caps">NEEDS</span></span> to look into this. This is pretty cool. Looking around, I see people nodding their heads. They&#8217;re seeing the value in this. Unique password authenitcation techniques. Different companies can pay to be put into the picture authorization &#8211; that was awesome. Ready for mobile &#8211; the demo was on a iPhone. :) Looks great even on the phone. I liked the verifying techniques they implemented. Super userful.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/138-boulevard-r">Boulevard R</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> BoulevardR is medium to long term financial planning that tries to understand a members goals and current position and develops financial roadmaps based on those. Their latest offering is geared at small businesses and could be an interesting tool in that space. &#8220;Unbiased Financial Advice.&#8221; Provides financial advice to consumers to help them protect their savings. A couple of fumbles at the beginning of this presentation (perhaps get a Mac?). The &#8220;helping you reach your goals&#8221; page is slick. Not super interesting to me as I&#8217;m not considering retirement anytime soon, but something I could recommend to some family members.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/304-inner8">Inner8</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> <span class="caps"><span class="caps">A 3</span></span> week old beta investing (stock) community that works to match people with stocks. They match, people to stocks, stocks to stocks, and more. It looks like a pretty robust offering for those in the space. That said 45 criteria, fuzzy logic, multiple matching, all seems very intimidating/overbearing. The sliders are a big hit at Finovate this year. Inner8 matches you with other investors that like the same things that you do. Full profiles, communication among members &#8211; I like what they&#8217;re doing on the community-side of things. A little picky mention, but the site could use a little bit more color. Very clear to navigate, though. They say that &#8220;social investing&#8221; is what&#8217;s unique about them.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/362-rate-surfer">Rate Surfer</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/1-stars.gif"> A desktop application built to help you manage credit card accounts. and help save you money. It allows centralized management, shows you alternative offerings that could save you money, and will alert you on changes to things like your <span class="caps"><span class="caps">APR</span></span>. Interface is nothing to write home about and this a pretty crowded space. &#8220;Total Credit Card Management.&#8221; Manages all info right on your desktop. They claim by using their software, you can save a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars a year. The software looks a little squished. It&#8217;s not a very beautiful program, but I guess not everything has to have all the bells and whistles. I think the downside here is that it&#8217;s not an online tool.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/394-fiserv-mymoney">Fiserv &#8211; MyMoney</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> Geared toward the Gen Y user who spends over 25 minutes on Facebook everytime the login. MyMoney is a facebook app built to help connect members to banks and credit unions. The MyMoney application handles the online application process and includes hooks into online banking and provides a one click access from Facebook to his FI account summaries. Gotta love when a company starts off on Facebook&#8217;s homepage! Starting off with Gen Y talk, my kind of company. MyMoney&#8217;s app is available on Facebook. You can enroll to different financial institutions online &#8211; very cool. Helps you shop around for better offers. The MyMoney app pulls information about your accounts (balances, transfers, transactions) without having you leave Facebook. Helpful for FIs to find new customers online. I like it. My only concern would be security.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://banktastic.com/vendors/156-loanio">Loanio</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> Loanio is a peer lending platform that brings borrows and lenders in an auction style format. Uses co-borrowing (co-signer) to allow people with low or no credit to get involved in the peer to peer lending space. Also includes a (paid) platinum listing option that allows the borrower to have their information (income, etc) listed. While the process does seem very thorough and will allow people that can&#8217;t currently enter the space to participate, it adds back many of the hoops that <span class="caps"><span class="caps">P2P</span></span> lending have been great at eliminating. A peer lending platform. They bring up a good point &#8211; is this a bad time to launch a site like this? They can verify applicants&#8217; taxes, check stubs, etc to help provide lenders the best information. Applicants can invite co-borrowers to help them get approved for a loan. Very cool.</p> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters/">Check out the first 6 presenter reviews!</a></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_28 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/28-finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-6-presenters <div class="textilized"><p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/companies/392-intuit">Intuit &#8211; Quicken Online</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> Rearview mirror + Binnoculars for your financial life. They are really looking to target and help the 70% of American that are current living paycheck to paycheck. Quicken Online is now a <span class="caps"><span class="caps">FREE</span></span> offering. In addition to tracking, also includes a &#8216;spending money outlook&#8217; shows where you are, what you&#8217;ll probably be spending in the future, and when your next paycheck is coming. Also now includes a mobile component. The sleeping giant of PFMs is awake and l think their latest offering is right on! Quicken went free! Helping people manage their finances for the future &#8211; great ideas for a <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span>. Available Oct. 30 on their website. I wonder how it compares to the other free online PFMs here today (Wesabe, Mint, etc). Mobile-ready with daily stats that texts you to tell you if you have enough money to pay upcoming bills. I&#8217;ll definitely be trying this out later.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/365-weseed">WeSeed</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> The stock market is intimidating. Uses fake money and fake stocks to ease and educated people into the market. Focuses on starting with what you know using what looks to be a clean robust search and moving towards fake trading that company. Great fake purchasing process including alert settings and then moves into your portfolio with social aspects. A very clean and straightforward barrier buster to learning about and getting your feet wet in the market. Currently looking for beta testers Not sure what WeSeed is &#8211; tried to understand from their website. People are intimidated by the stock market &#8211; WeSeed creates a way for everyday people to trade. Fake stock &#38; fake money? Sounds a little like training wheels for the stock market &#8211; not a bad idea. The site looks really nice. Provides company descriptions and comments from users. Buying stocks is extremely easy. I like the &#8220;confirm your fake order.&#8221; They definitely made it playful. Connects you with others that are into buying the same stocks you bought. Breaks down the stock market into types of people (pet-lovers, parents, fashionistas&#8230;). Seriously, the site looks great.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/5-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/47-wesabe">Wesabe</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> If you can be an &#8216;oldie but a goodie&#8217; in the online <span class="caps"><span class="caps">PFM</span></span> space, that&#8217;s what Wesabe is. They very really the first to put money and community together with customization and personalization. They expand on that with a customized homepage with customized graphs. The current interface for adding and changing graphs looks pretty rough and cryptic (using urls) but they are moving to a &#8216;graph gallery&#8217; making it easier to implement these in the future. Ah, Wesabe. I signed up for wesabe a while back, but didn&#8217;t get very deep into it. I have preferred Mint to Wesabe, but let&#8217;s see what they&#8217;re doing. Customized community and personal data. Tags for your purchases &#8211; very nice. See what Wesabe members are spending and compare &#8211; all anonymous. Graph gallery to come in the next month, built by users. They&#8217;re wanting to provide data to help their members make better decisions. I like the site, but I still lean towards Min.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/4-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/299-checkpoint">Check Point</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> Cyber crime is a $1Billion a year problem. Checkpoint sits on top of the browser to help alert users of phishing attacks and compromised sites. Does use some enhanced algorithms over just phishing lists. Runs your browser in a sandbox environment. It&#8217;s an interesting offering, but I believe browsers are moving towards building this stuff right in. Of all the little things to be bothered by, I don&#8217;t like the little chat bubbles at the bottom of <a href="http://www.zonealarm.com/forcefield">this page</a>. Check Point is a network security software. Their software pops up a big notification of a phishing site (example was a fake eBay). Pretty scary info about what&#8217;s downloaded in the background while you&#8217;re surfing the internet. I like the software, but not sure I&#8217;d choose this over some other anti-virus program.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/393-syabse-365">Sybase 365</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> A turnkey mobile banking platform for banks and credit unions. Handles carrier compliance issues so you don&#8217;t have to. Includes full front end integration to allow your customers to setup their accounts on the platform and get going with alerts. Uses natural language (instead of special keywords) allowing users to request information and perform activities in an easier way. In addition to <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SMS</span></span> also has <span class="caps"><span class="caps">WAP</span></span> support. (I don&#8217;t know what <span class="caps"><span class="caps">WAP</span></span> is&#8230;but I&#8217;ll update when I find out.) Love the accent. A mobile banking platform. The site looks really dull, though. No big wow factor at all. Intelligent <span class="caps"><span class="caps">SMS</span></span>. Consumers are texting more than they&#8217;re calling these days &#8211; I can vouch for that. I really don&#8217;t see the differentiating factor with Sybase. Maybe I missed it. The presentation was a little lackluster. I may need to see how the value in networking time later.</p></p> <p><b>Lisa&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/2-stars.gif"> <p>&lt;font&gt;<b><a href="http://www.banktastic.com/vendors/301-filife">FiLife</a></b>&lt;/font&gt; <b>Mark&#8217;s Review:</b> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/deftoneskittin/3-stars.gif"> Personal Finance website built to help people find the right financial products. Includes community reviews and ratings in addition to experts that write and give guidance. The latest development is a &#8216;credit card picker&#8217; (with more &#8216;pickers&#8217; to come). Includes a &#8216;value to you&#8217; computation along with some cool visualizations that help you choose the right card. There&#8217;s a ton on this site beyond credit cards, so it&#8217;s worth checking out. I think the pickers to come could be valuable, but given the current credit situation, seems like a tough one to start with. The site is really busy. Product picker that sorts through products based on your expenses. I love the bubbles that show you individual credit card offers. It seems like a great website to help you find the best deals out there to help you manage your money better. Wow, I loved the stacker animation. Very cool things going on within this site. I like how it takes specific details about your personal financial situation and serves you tools to harness your money.</p> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-third-6-presenters/">Check out the third 6 presenter reviews!</a> <a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-last-6-presenters/">Check out the last 6 presenter reviews!</a></p></p> <p><a href="http://blog.banktastic.com/2008/10/14/finovate-2008-coverage-the-second-10-presenters/">Check out the second 6 presenter reviews!</a></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Lisa R. announcement_29 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/29-finovate-2008-coverage-the-first-6-presenters <div class="textilized"><p>A quick note to let everyone know what to expect from our coverage today: (All times eastern.)</p> <ul> <li>We will release our knee jerk reaction reviews in groups of 6 at 10am, 11am, 2:30pm, and 3:30pm.</li> <li>We are planning to release some raw video around 1:30pm. (Not of the presentations, but of attendees and maybe some presenters.)</li> <li>We will also release our raw roundtable recap tonight by 8pm</li> </ul> <p>We&#8217;ll also be doing some longer interviews that we will polish up and deliver sometime in the near future, but this should hold you over til then. Enjoy!</p></div> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_30 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/30-finovate-2008-coverage-what-to-expect <div class="textilized"><p>We are in the process of moving the archives of our blog from our old Wordpress blog over to the super fancy digs of Banktastic.</p> <p>This is a pretty tedious process, so we ask (we&#8217;ll even beg) for your patience as we try to get every link and comment migrated over. Thanks!</p></div> Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT Mark M. announcement_23 http://www.banktastic.com/posts/23-we-re-moving-our-blog