IVRs need input, part of mobile banking needs input (SMS) so I tend to think the iPhone hardware may allow you to PC your banking habits to a greater degree than a cell phone. I would agree that it isn’t a big deal. But mobile banking (alerts) are an automatic notification process, which from our view, have been extremely well received. It’s not about paying bills, its about getting information that you want without any keystrokes that makes that element of mobile banking needful to a growing segment of one’s market. Those needs should be defined by the individual and offered by the FI. That product development and refinement is still in a vacuum. For example, there still are a number of people that phone the FI or go on-line to find out when and how much a payroll deposit is. If that can be delivered through an SMS message (alert) then that need has been done in an efficient manner.

As always, your presentation and view is well written and greatly appreciated.

I can pay my utility bills on my iPhone already. And I just did. What does that make me? (besides an NPS believer - still).
D.

Yes, let’s see- time will certainly tell.

The struggle with financial advice is that it isn’t instant gratification and can often times bring unwanted news. That said, what Boulevard R does really well is lay out an actionable, clear path to financial security, so that even if your Roadmap isn’t all roses, we can help get you there.

We’re fortunate to have Dan Ariely as an advisor. His background as a leading behavioral economist (i.e. understanding how consumers actually make financial decisions and what they’re willing to buy) has been very helpful so far.

Don’t worry, we’re not trying to take down the FIs. They have the customers. We do think that there are services that we can offer as an independent 3rd party, which could be complimentary.

Also, we’re not venture backed like Mint, Prosper, Zopa, etc. so we don’t have the pressure to grab marketshare (now, that’s very ‘99-’00). We’re more focused on growing organically and making sure that we can provide excellent advice and service.

Its nice to read a review based on what a consumer might actually use and why as opposed to a giddy review of “new tech”. From what I’ve heard and seen of most of these startups, there are tons of great ideas floating around, but I don’t know that any of them have quite gotten it “right”.

It’s amazing what consumers will — and won’t — pay for. To date, a lot of people are whole lot more likely to plop down $49 for a video game than for a financial plan.

And while I couldn’t agree more that consumers are turned off by blatant sales pitches, please don’t count the big firms out. Last time I checked, a lot more of them were left standing than the dot coms that told me in 1999-2000 that they were going to put the big firms out of business.

@Morriss: 1) Your logic befuddles me. Because there is supply, therefore there is demand? HUH? And whether or not Gen Y will be “freed from the shackles of cubicle nation” remains to be seen. But even our good friend @itsjustbrent, who often works from Starbucks, still uses a good ole’ PC (or Mac) and check his balance with that device.

2) I may do another post w/ my “best of show” list.

4) Mint isn’t icky gross. It’s actually quite slick, w/ a great interface. I’m just not convinced that: a) the demand for this is as great as the entrepreneurs in the space think it is, and b) the business model is the right one.

I wish I could have been at Finovate StartUp so that I could speak in a more informed way about what was presented, but from the cheap seats, here’s my take:

1.) Who needs mobile banking? Srsly? I agree that there are many ways to screw up mobile (SMS) banking. One is to require special software be downloaded. That’s a non-starter. But if you can successfully check your balance by texting “balance” to your financial institution, then there is a demand for that, as well as being able to transfer dollars between accounts. We are a mobile nation, and crackberries and iPhones are freeing Gen Y from cubicle nation. IVRs are a truly horrid and annoying interface. Being able to access directly what I want without byzantine, time-wasting numerical commands? Priceless.

2.) Social lending is not the one big lump that you’re putting them in here. Zopa is social lending, Prosper is not. These are very different animals, and need to be in completely separate pens. I’d love to hear more about why/how Zopa came out to be the Finovate winner. Is it because we finally understand exactly what it is because they explained it well? Did you personally think it was best-of-show Ron? It seems like perhaps BoulevardR was your personal top? How about Credit Karma?

3.) I also don’t get GreenNote. It reminds me though, of FreshmanFund.com, which I saw at BarCampMoneyNYC. The concept of FreshmanFund is to make it easy for parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc to make deposits into a child’s college fund, whether it’s recurring or special occasion payments, and to see what you are on track for saving.

4.) As we’ve been previously tweeting, Mint is just icky gross. I hope it goes away soon.

5.) Aren’t the Expensr dudes a trip? And I really like Loren from Zecco. He rocks. Zecco seems to be going great, would love to hear more about their prez.

That’s all for now. Thanks again for being our eyes and ears and giving us these reviews. Great job with that.

We’re flattered that you think Boulevard R is a startup to watch.

Regarding your 3 questions…

> 1) Is the plan that’s produced of sufficient quality and detail?

We think it is. Each user received a unique, personalized high-level plan, which we call a Roadmap. Instead of trying to fit consumers into a ready-made plan, the plan is prepared by an independent Certified Financial Planner™ based on answers from a questionnaire, which takes users about 30-45 minutes to fill out.

Our focus is on being actionable. We identify consumers’ next steps, provide tips on reaching their financial goals, model scenarios, do a net-worth analysis, provide high-level investment advice for short and long term investing (we don’t recommend specific funds) and suggest actionable strategies for improving their situation.

What we’re trying to approximate is the experience a consumer would have with a wealth manager, without the high fees or asset minimums. We’re working with several top CFPs to create this process. To help users on an ongoing basis, we’re building a companion dashboard to serve up their next steps, which we’re breaking down into achievable tasks.

We’re also working with CFPs to create interactive advice videos with integrated decisions trees, like the one I briefly demo’d on what to do with an old 401(k).

> 2) Will consumers pony up the money for the plan?

Let’s see… a nice dinner out or a comprehensive financial plan? I was talking with one of the presenters in the second session and he told me how he’d just paid Ameriprise $700 for a report that essentially told him to re-balance his portfolio. Our Roadmaps are way more valuable than that and only cost $49.

> 3) Will an existing bank/brokerage come in and offer a better or comparable product?

Even if they do, I believe that they have a credibility problem with their customers when trying to give this kind of advice. Consumers, in general, are increasingly turned off by the sales pitches that they’re getting from their financial providers and many will find their recommendations suspect.

Interestingly, when I spoke with banks and brokerages in the session after we demo’d, they agreed (at least in principle) that a company like Boulevard R could have a legitimate role to play as an independent 3rd party. This could help to bolster customer confidence in the provider.

Unfortunately, financial providers’ short-term focus on profits means that we get things like the sub-prime crisis. When the climate permits, most providers are going to push things like adjustable rate mortgages, even though these are clearly not a good deal for consumers.

Somebody needs to hold the long-view and communicate the repercussions of taking that home loan that resets to 9% after 2 years. It’s doubtful that this “someone” is going to be the bank or brokerage, and even if it is, I think it’s going to be a long time until consumers are willing to trust their advice.

This post is an amazing lesson for anyone in finance services on how to present their product benefits in a coherent manner. This will be required reading for future Finovate presenters. You are definitely invited to NYC this fall, but we may have to put you on the analyst list under a pseudonym so as not to scare any presenters off!

I love your comparison of PFM startups to Christmas presents that lose their pizzazz quickly. I have to admit that I signed up on Wesabe and Mint very soon after their launching. I spent a total of about 10 hours getting my accounts set up and then lost interest. I went back to Wesabe recently and decided to try it with one account alone. The information uploading went smoother but I felt overwhelmed when I saw that I had to tag all those individual transactions.

Regarding the student loan startups - was their any discucssion of the recent student loan credit crisis and how this might affect these startups?

(I just googled disintermediate and it has its own Wiki article. I stand corrected - It’s not a Shevlinism as I had thought.)