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	<title>TTV Atlanta</title>
	<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com</link>
	<description>TTV Capital invests in technology-enabled financial services businesses</description>
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		<title>Banks Can Learn from Retailers in Prioritizing Mobile Services</title>
		<description><![CDATA[With so much attention on turning mobile phones into payment devices through hardware upgrades, banks may be missing a growing opportunity in the mobile Web browser. Smartphone payments from systems like Google Wallet, which relies on a phone with an embedded contactless payment chip, are all well and good, but few retailers are equipped to accept them. Retailers are much more interested in banking products that facilitate online sales, especially those conducted on a mobile phone or even through social media. &#8220;Better to pick the low-hanging fruit,&#8221; said Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, speaking Monday at the National Retail Federation&#8217;s 101st Annual Convention and Expo in New York. Online retail sales were about $60 billion in 2011, roughly 15% of total retail sales, according to Forrester. That is up 2 percentage points from 2010 and 9 percentage points from 2005. Mobile is currently only 2% of online retail sales, or about $6 billion. But while it has featherweight status in terms of sales volume, mobile is driving cross-channel engagement. About 16% of consumers use mobile devices to look up product information, 30% use them to look up store hours and 23% use them to locate a store. Tablets such as Apple Inc.&#8217;s iPad are also driving engagement. Twenty-one percent of mobile retail traffic came from tablets in 2011, according to Forrester. The data resembles findings Deloitte LLP published in September. Despite a sluggish economy, the average growth rate of online retail sales is 20% annually, the report said. &#8220;Mobile devices are much broader than accessing the Web or content or even inventory availability,&#8221; Mulpuru said. But when it comes to social commerce, &#8220;the silence is deafening,&#8221; she said. Social media prompted less than 1% of retail sales in 2011, though slightly more customers (3% or less) say they learn about deals from social media. However, nearly 90% of retailers surveyed by Forrester last year said they&#8217;ve made investments in custom-built stores on Facebook and other online social media sites. &#8220;We are in the post social-hype era: Facebook isn&#8217;t irrelevant, but it&#8217;s smaller and different than what retailers envisioned,&#8221; Mulpuru said. Banks should think about doing more work with data analytics companies and merchant reward companies like Cardlytics Inc. and Cartera Commerce Inc., which both drive deals around customer acquisition, Mulpuru said. Through Cardlytics&#8217; merchant-funded rewards program, &#8220;most banks gain a share of revenue&#8221; from merchant sales, Rod Witmond, a Cardlytics spokesman, wrote in an email. &#8220;It&#8217;s a rewards program that the bank itself can leverage, taking advantage of all the transaction-targeting capability to cross-sell customers with that bank&#8217;s own products,&#8221; Witmond wrote. The big drivers around e-commerce, mobile commerce and the electronic wallet are likely to be Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google Inc., Mulpuru said. &#8220;These are companies that are gatekeepers of traffic and curators of content,&#8221; Mulpuru said, adding that about one-third of shoppers begin their research on Amazon. Banks, which have a large and complex line of products to sell to consumers, also would do well to follow the lead of these companies in the simplicity of their Web and mobile site design, Mulpuru said.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2012/01/banks-learn-retailers-prioritizing-mobile-services/</link>
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		<title>ShopKeep Raises $2.2 Million for Web-based iPad Cash Register</title>
		<description><![CDATA[By Spencer Ante ShopKeep is trying to use Apple’s iPad tablet computer and the Web to break into the mundane but lucrative market for cash register software. The New York-based startup has raised $2.2 million in financing led by Tribeca Venture Partners and TTV Capital, as two-year-old ShopKeep hopes to expand amid competition from giants like Microsoft and promising startups like Square, which have much bigger sales and engineering forces. The funding values the small company at slightly more than $10 million, said a person familiar with the matter. ShopKeep ShopKeep was co-founded in January 2010 by Jason Richelson, co-owner of the Greene Grape, a wine and gourmet food retailer in the New York area. The software runs on a PC and connects with a cash drawer, credit card swiper and printer, allowing a merchant take and record transactions, keep inventory, and print receipts. It even works when an Internet connection is down, said Mr. Richelson, storing transactions on the local computer. In August of 2010, ShopKeep released a version of its software that runs on the iPad. The company has 15 employees and about 1,000 customers. It aims to reach 5,000 customers by yearend and plans to hire a few more employees in sales and customer support. The software isn’t sophisticated enough to run a bar or restaurant, so ShopKeep plans to focus on small retailers and quick-serve food establishments. Mr. Richelson got the idea for the business when he became frustrated with the Greene Grape’s point of sale software, supplied by Microsoft. “The servers kept breaking down,” he recalled. A Microsoft representative didn’t respond to a request for comment. In 2008, he looked for an alternative but he said he couldn’t find one. So using about $800,000 from the Greene Grape, the tech-savvy co-owner decided to build his own system from scratch that merchants could use over the Web. In January of 2010, he founded ShopKeep with Greene Grape co-owner Amy Bennett. In May of that year, they launched a version of ShopKeep that worked with PCs. “We squeezed the Greene Grape,” said Mr. Richelson. He aims to undercut existing leaders in the market. ShopKeep costs $50 a month, including customer support. Existing point of sale systems can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $12,000, said Mr. Richelson. The U.S. cash register and point-of-sale software market will reach about $8.4 billion in sales in 2011, estimates research firm IBISWorld. “I think this is a billion dollar opportunity,” said Brian Hirsch, managing partner of Tribeca Venture Partners, who is also joining the ShopKeep board. “We think the whole point of sale market will turn over due to the lower cost and greater flexibility.” Janet Johnson, cofounder of the Savory Spice Shop, a chain of 17 spice stores, said her company replaced its existing point-of-sale system from Radiant Systems Inc. with ShopKeep software in 10 of the company’s 17 franchises. In the next three months, she said she plans to convert the rest of the franchises to the new system. “It means less down time and fewer crashes,” she said. “We’ve been able to save the franchises money.” A spokeswoman from Radiant didn’t respond to a request for comment. Ms. Johnson said ShopKeep’s software is saving “at least $5,000 to $7,000 per store.” Ike Escava, co-owner of The Bean, which has two coffee stores in New York City, said he replaced his PC-based touchscreen register using PixelPoint software with ShopKeep software and an iPad, primarily because it lets him easily access his sales data remotely over the Web. “It wasn’t easy to get the info with the old one,” he said. PixelPoint owner Par Technology Corp. A spokesman from Par Technology said “utilizing a consumer grade solution does not offer the same reliability” as its offerings and that while the acquisition cost may be lower, a tablet will carry a higher total cost “based on more frequent replacements and down time by the restaurant.” Mr. Escava said the ShopKeep system is more stable, cheaper and easier to teach his counter clerks. Mr. Escava’s previous setup cost $5,000 while the two ShopKeep registers cost him $100 a month. “We always get answers from support,” he added. “I called one after midnight and I heard right back.”]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2012/01/shopkeep-raises-2-2-million-web-based-ipad-cash-register/</link>
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		<title>BSG’s OrderBridge™ To Use IP Commerce to Fast Track PCI-Compliant Payments for eCommerce Merchants</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Denver, CO &#8211; Dec 20, 2011:  IP Commerce, Inc. (IPC) today announced an alliance with Billing Services Group, BSG®, to provide a secure hosted payment solution for Internet merchants. The new Secure Hosted Payments for Web Checkout™ , powered by OrderBridge™, facilitates real-time, PCI-compliant payment acceptance through a branded interface that can be customized for each merchant. This valuable solution for quick, branded and secure online payments provides instant access to multiple payment services, payment providers, value-added capabilities, and customizable payment options. Secure Hosted Payments (SHP) for Web Checkout, protects customer credit card information, drastically reducing PCI Compliance scope and expediting future development requirements. Another unique and valuable part of this solution is the OrderBridge Merchant Administration Console – a dashboard which enables Merchants to customize the branding of their payments page, perform transaction management (e.g. refunds or credits) and generate reports. “IP Commerce was selected as an exclusive partner for card acceptance because of their open platform approach to commerce enablement,” said Scott Chapman, Vice President of Business Development for OrderBridge™. “Theirs is a solid, tested solution that we can quickly scale and adapt.  The IP Commerce Platform provides the payment services, value-added services, and identity services required for our go-to-market initiatives.” “Our processing and acquiring partners rely on our Platform to deliver innovative solutions to market,” said Peter Osberg, SVP of Business Development for IP Commerce. “Because the large majority [over 70%] of the retail developers we support require multi-channel services [retail and eCommerce], having a hosted payment solution is critical. OrderBridge has that complete package – a secure, hosted payment solution that is fast, affordable and easy to deploy, with all of the end-to-end merchant capabilities our channel partners demand.” For OrderBridge customers, this new solution means a much quicker route to a branded and secure online payment process than a “build from scratch” approach. This SHP solution works with custom shopping carts as well as with the most popular open-source shopping cart environments (e.g. Magento®, Zen Cart®, osCommerce, etc.). For more information about Secure Hosted Payments (SHP) for Web Checkout, powered by OrderBridge, visit  http://developer.ipcommerce.com/developer_tools/commerce_apis/secure_hosted_payments.aspx. About BSG® Billing Services Group is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, USA and traded on the London Stock Exchange (AIM: BILL). For over 20 years, BSG has been a leading provider of clearing, settlement, payment and financial risk management solutions for the telecommunications industry, merchants and online stores. OrderBridge™ is a complete eCommerce solution designed for merchants who do not have an existing or fully featured payments system (including order tracking, fulfillment, and reporting). Unlike traditional e-commerce payment gateways that require complex, low-level API integration, the OrderBridge payment process can be uniquely integrated by means of a simple HTML form submission from a merchant’s website, or via modules of leading shopping cart solutions, such as Magento®, osCommerce and osCommerce. For more information on BSG’s OrderBridge, visit www.theorderbridge.com. About IP Commerce, Inc. Based in Denver Colorado, IP Commerce provides a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) which functions as an OS for Commerce™.  The IP Commerce Platform enables developers to create customized, multi-channel commerce applications and payment workflows that allow retailers to support their customers across all touch points.  IP Commerce enables customer-driven software companies to develop customized, scalable solutions for their most innovative retail partners that need new ways to create and enhance consumer relationships. IP Commerce maintains partnerships with some of the world’s most respected financial institutions and software companies. Leading investors, including Meritage Funds, Venrock, Intel Capital, Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC, TTV Capital, and Iron Gate back the company. For more information visit www.ipcommerce.com]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2012/01/bsg%e2%80%99s-orderbridge%e2%84%a2-ip-commerce-fast-track-pci-compliant-payments-ecommerce-merchants/</link>
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		<title>Boston Technologies, Inc. Announces FX Options</title>
		<description><![CDATA[BOSTON, Nov 08, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) &#8212; Boston Technologies Inc., an innovative provider of trading technology, software, support and transaction processing services for institutional and retail foreign exchange brokerage firms, announces the addition of options trading to its established spot trading solutions with FX Options Trader. By adding FX Options Trader to its already robust portfolio of forex trading solutions, Boston Technologies now provides a comprehensive and customizable platform for retail and institutional FX options trading. With strong industry growth in FX options volume, brokers can diversify their product offering by providing retail clients an FX options platform with extensive benefits including no margin calls. Boston Technologies is building on its proven model of offering complete spot FX outsourcing infrastructure solutions to forex brokers by now giving them access to a powerful suite of FX options trading tools. From a feature-rich system and extensive risk management strategies to comprehensive reporting, this dynamic options trading platform, developed in partnership with FX Bridge Technologies Corp., allows Boston Technologies to offer everything a broker would need to differentiate itself from spot-only trading. Boston Technologies is currently offering FX Options Trader to all foreign exchange brokers for free as a trial for the first three months of trading. &#8220;At Boston Technologies, we strive to be the full service provider for all things FX.&#8221; said George Popescu, CEO of Boston Technologies Inc. &#8220;With the addition of FX Options Trader to our suite of services, we continue to be the one-stop-shop for institutional and retail forex brokers and allowing them to spend their time maximizing profit while we worry about providing them ways to minimize their challenges and risk&#8221;. Interested forex brokers can receive a free download of the FX Options Trader platform and obtain demo credentials by emailing a Boston Technologies Business Intelligence Analyst at sales@bostontechnologies.com About Boston Technologies Boston Technologies, based in Boston, MA, is an innovator and single-source provider of trading technology, software and services for institutional and retail brokerage firms trading in foreign exchange and other over-the-counter instruments. Boston Technologies is headquartered in downtown Boston with additional offices in New York City, London and Japan. You can learn more about Boston Technologies at www.bostontechnologies.com]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/12/boston-technologies-announces-fx-options/</link>
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		<title>IP Commerce rolls out Online2Onsite Commerce Playlist</title>
		<description><![CDATA[US provider of cloud-computing platforms for commerce IP Commerce has rolled out a plug and play service, dubbed Online2Onsite (O2O) Commerce Playlist. Via the newly introduced platform, retailers will gain access to mobile marketing initiatives with multiple redemption methods including in-store Link2Card(TM) redemption and personalised services, which will allow them to connect online. US-based IP Commerce a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) which functions as an operating system (OS) for commerce. In recent news, IP Commerce has secured USD 20.7 million in funding round from the investment company Intel Capital.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/12/ip-commerce-rolls-online2onsite-commerce-playlist/</link>
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		<title>Bluepoint Solutions Launches ImagePoint Mailroom Check 21 Solution</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Vista, Calif.–Nov. 17, 2011 — Bluepoint Solutions, a 2010 CUNA Tech Council “Best of Show” winner, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and provider of remote deposit capture, item processing and enterprise content management solutions for financial institutions, announced the launch of its ImagePoint Mailroom solution. The latest addition to the ImagePoint suite, ImagePoint Mailroom enables financial institutions to capture and electronically process both deposits and remittances, including credit card, mortgage, auto and other loan payments, received in the mailroom. Bluepoint’s ImagePoint Mailroom application is a SaaS-based, automated processing tool designed to scan, sort, apply and split remittances and deposits, validate the data, then export it for clearing, posting and archiving. The system eliminates costly outsourcing fees and replaces manual, labor intensive first-generation applications. The web-based application operates in a secure cloud environment with no local software to install or maintain, allowing insitutions to quickly deploy the solution with minimal up-front investment. “Financial institutions of all sizes need to constantly evaluate new technologies that help them improve productivity, particularly in payments processing,” said Hal Tilbury, CEO and founder of Bluepoint Solutions. “Back-office remittance and deposits are areas where financial institutions of all sizes can leverage the benefits of electronic processing to lower costs and boost efficiencies.” Bluepoint’s ImagePoint Mailroom application interfaces with the intstitution’s existing host system, loading all current, expected receipts plus all current account information. Operators do a quick pre-sort and then scan remittances, which the system matches to the expected receipts and account information, presenting unmatched items to the operator in an automated queue for review. Upon completion, the system generates an X9 cashletter file that feeds directly into to ImagePoint to be included with all other items for clearing and archival, and a posting file that goes back to the host system and/or to separate accounting systems.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/11/bluepoint-solutions-launches-imagepoint-mailroom-check-21-solution/</link>
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		<title>Paradigm Merchant Services Selects PCI Compliance, Security Provider ControlScan to Support Level 4 Merchant Portfolio</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Merchant services company cites customization, reporting in selection, lower fees ATLANTA, GA – November 15, 2011 – Paradigm Merchant Services, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based credit card processor for regional and mid-market merchants, has joined forces with ControlScan, the leading provider of PCI compliance and security solutions designed for small merchants and the acquirers that serve them, to help its merchants meet mandatory card data protection requirements set forth by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). Paradigm Merchant Services selected ControlScan in August because of the company&#8217;s highly customized merchant communication offering and extensive reporting tools. Working with ControlScan also meant the processor could charge merchants less for the service, making it a selling point for Paradigm Merchant Services. &#8220;Having worked with a PCI compliance provider before, we knew exactly what we wanted – and didn&#8217;t – from our next relationship,&#8221; said Kevin Flynn, CEOof Paradigm Merchant Services, which predominantly targets Level 4 merchants. &#8220;ControlScan worked hand-in-hand with us and our merchants to make our merchant communications and overall relationship as educational, supportive and effective as possible. We now consider ControlScan simply an extension of our team.&#8221; Paradigm Merchant Services&#8217; businesses now have access to ControlScan&#8217;s PCI 1-2-3 compliance solutions, which provides the tools and support necessary to analyze, remediate and validate PCI compliance as well as meet their business goals. The solutions are delivered as an on-demand subscription service via the Web, so merchants can start their compliance efforts immediately. In addition, merchants also have access to ControlScan&#8217;s live support team and can receive personalized assistance at any point throughout the compliance process in the format they prefer: phone, email or live chat. Paradigm Merchant Services benefits from the PCI Dashboard, which enables them to easily view the compliance status of their entire merchant portfolio in real-time, as well as Merchant Milestone Reporting, which segments non-compliant merchants into one of seven different compliance categories, helping them identify where merchants are in the compliance process and what tools, information or coaching are needed to reach full compliance. Paradigm Merchant Services has also opted to participate in ControlScan&#8217;s SmartReach program, a proven merchant outreach strategy that is designed to drive merchant engagement and increase PCI compliance rates from merchant portfolios. SmartReach leverages people, process and technology to execute highly-effective campaigns that include multi-touch processes, such as statement inserts, direct mail, website content, outbound calling and emails (automatically triggered by merchant behavior) as well as a co-branded microsite that introduces merchants to the program. &#8220;ControlScan simplifies PCI compliance and security for Paradigm Merchant Services by meeting the specific needs of their merchants to protect their business,&#8221; said Jethro Felton, executive vice president, sales and business development, ControlScan. &#8220;We are able to do this by presenting our customers and their merchants with the right choices, the right tools and the right support to meet their business goals.&#8221; About Paradigm Merchant Services Paradigm Merchant Services is a Merchant Service Provider that has a National presence in the Retail, Restaurant, Hospitality, Ecommerce, Direct Marketing and B2B industries. Since 2000, Paradigm has worked hand in hand with merchants nationwide, educating and fulfilling their payment processing needs. Their consultative approach and integrity has earned the business of over 7,000 merchants nationwide and almost 2 billion a year in Visa MasterCard sales. Paradigm processes and settles Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Voyager, EBT and all national and regional Debit Networks. In addition, they offer Gift and Loyalty Program, ACH Processing, Check Guarantee, POS Equipment and Merchant Cash Advance Capital. The founders and executives have over 40 years of experience in the Payment Processing Industry and serve on a variety of advisory boards within the industry. To find out more information about Paradigm, visit www.pddirect.com or contact them at 877-272-3446. About PCI Compliance Provider, ControlScan (www.controlscan.com) Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, ControlScan is the leading provider of Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance and Security services designed to meet the unique needs of small to mid-sized merchants and the acquirers that serve them. The company&#8217;s flexible solutions, easy-to-use online tools and personalized support significantly simplify PCI and security for its clients. In addition, as an Approved Scanning Vendor and a Qualified Security Assessor, ControlScan is positioned to help merchants meet compliance requirements and maintain secure business environments for their customers. For more information about ControlScan and its cloud-based solutions visit www.controlscan.com or call 1-800-771-8603.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/11/paradigm-merchant-services-selects-pci-compliance-security-provider-controlscan-support-level-4-merchant-portfolio/</link>
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		<title>Bill.com Wins Silver in Best in Biz Awards 2011</title>
		<description><![CDATA[PALO ALTO, CALIF. &#8211; Nov. 9, 2011 &#8211; Bill.com, the leader in integrated bill payment, online invoicing and cash management solutions for businesses, announced today that it has been named the silver winner in the Small or Medium Business Product of the Year category in the Best in Biz Awards, the only national business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. Bill.com&#8217;s paperless bill management platform was selected as the silver recipient in the Small or Medium Business Product of the Year category, which recognized the top small and medium-sized business (SMB) products from companies of all industries including hardware, software, financial products and appliances. Simple to use, but extremely powerful, Bill.com&#8217;s product offering was selected as a Best in Biz frontrunner due to its keen ability to help SMBs streamline their tedious bill pay and receivables processes. By leveraging Bill.com as their daily financial hub, SMBs can easily gain dramatic time and costs savings up to 50 percent greater than those still using traditional paper-based billing systems. Best in Biz Awards 2011 were presented in more than 30 categories, including Best Overall Company of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Executive of the Year and Best New Product of the Year. More than 150 entries were received in this year&#8217;s awards program, from an impressive array of public and private companies from a variety of industries, sectors and regions. The companies that won gold, silver and bronze awards in this year&#8217;s program represent the best in American business. &#8220;Bill.com is thrilled to be recognized by the Best in Biz Awards as one of the best in American business,&#8221; said René Lacerte, CEO of Bill.com. &#8220;To receive this award from such an esteemed panel of judges is not only an honor but also confirmation to the true innovation behind our platform&#8217;s solutions. While Bill.com is suitable for businesses of all sizes, we especially value our win in the Small or Medium Business Product of the Year category since SMBs continue to be a driving force behind the growth of the economy. We&#8217;re honored that these business leaders turn to Bill.com for help in making smarter decisions and to manage their cash flow in a more efficient way.&#8221; Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2011 were determined by scores from a panel of high-caliber judges from top-tier business and technology publications, as well as analyst firms, including: Accounting Today, AllBusiness.com, ECT News Network, eWeek Channel Insider, Financial Times, Fox News, Hartford Business Journal, Insight Media, Kelsey Group, King Features Syndicate, Lab Reviews, Network World, PC Magazine, Portfolio, Puget Sound Business Journal, Tech.Blorge, Tech-Gaming, Techtalk and Wired. The 20 judges on this year&#8217;s panel boast more than 470 years of combined experience and have written for a combined total of more than 180 consumer, business, financial, trade and technology publications nationwide. For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2011, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2011-winners. About Bill.com Bill.com is an on-demand accounts payable and accounts receivable application for businesses of all sizes and has a tailored product for accountants and bookkeepers. With Receivables, Bill.com users can send custom invoices, collaborate with customers and receive electronic payments that automatically sync to their existing accounting software programs. They can also receive, route and pay invoices electronically resulting in time and cost savings of over 50 percent versus manual accounts payable and check writing processes. Bill.com uses enterprise-class fraud protections and integrates with popular desktop and on-demand accounting packages, ensuring consistency of financial data and streamlined financial planning, reporting and audit activities. Bill.com has received numerous awards including Bill.com&#8217;s Zen (Zero Entry) service winning Accounting Today&#8217;s Best New AP/AR Product for 2011, a 2011 Innovation Award from CPA Technology Advisor, a 2011 Intuit App Showcase award, and a 4-star rating from PC Magazine. About Best in Biz Awards Best in Biz Awards recognizes top companies, teams, executives and products for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are conferred in two programs covering the U.S. and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), respectively. Any organization from any industry in the awards program&#8217;s region boasting demonstrated success can enter any of the more than 40 company, department or team, executive and product categories. Entries for Best in Biz Awards 2012 EMEA are currently being accepted from all companies based in or operating in Europe, Middle East or Africa, with an early entry deadline of Nov 30, 2011. For more information about the submission process and categories in both the U.S. and EMEA programs, please visit: www.bestinbizawards.com.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/11/bill-com-wins-silver-biz-awards-2011/</link>
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		<title>eWise appoints Alexandre Gonthier as CEO, names Phillip Riese chairman of the board of directors, and appoints Eric Archambeau as director of the company</title>
		<description><![CDATA[eWise, an online and mobile payments solution provider, today announced that Alexandre Gonthier has been named Chief Executive Officer of the company. The company also named Phillip Riese chairman of the board and appointed Eric Archambeau as director of the company. Together, these executives bring a wealth of expertise and proven success in the payments industry. The eWise platform provides consumers an alternative way to pay their bills or buy online through PCs or mobile devices, offering simplicity, security and low cost to consumers and merchants alike. Offered through financial institutions, the eWise solution is simple for banks to deploy, for their consumers to use, and for their billers and merchants to accept. Consumers make payments on a biller or merchant website directly from their bank account, using their existing online banking credentials to authorize the payment. The consumer confirms payment and returns to the biller or merchant site for their receipt. Merchant, and subsequently consumer costs are dramatically reduced as the consumer’s secure bank authorization virtually eliminates identity theft, fraud-related costs and charge-backs, payment cancellation risks, and payment-related customer service requests. Billers and merchants get a real-time guarantee of good funds from the consumer’s bank. The eWise platform powers the Secure Vault Payments® network in the U.S. in an exclusive partnership with NACHA. Secure Vault Payments has grown dramatically since its commercial introduction in late 2010, with participating banks representing over 20 million consumers in the U.S. The eWise platform is also gaining traction in the U.K., with the recently introduced Payo® payments solution offered in partnership with Vocalink. Alex Gonthier comes to eWise with a strong track record as founder and executive of several successful companies in the online and mobile payment sector. Gonthier was CEO of iPIN, which he co-founded in 1997 and has since become the payments division of Aepona, and was CTO of Paymo/BOKU, which he co-founded in 2007. He subsequently joined venture capital firm Wellington Partners to focus on the payments sector. “I led the Wellington investment in eWise because I recognized that eWise offered a break-through alternative payment method: cheaper, faster, more secure and simpler than anything else I had seen; and bank friendly,” said Gonthier. “eWise provides our partner banks a unique solution that offers real and necessary cost savings to merchants and billers, peace of mind to their consumers, and gives banks a rightful role in the alternative payments industry. After years in the payments industry, the opportunity to lead this innovative company and its great team was simply too much to pass over.” Phillip Riese, eWise’s new chairman, brings over 30 years of financial services industry expertise to the board and corporate leadership. He spent 18 years at American Express in a variety of leadership positions, and retired in 1998 as President of the Consumer Card Services Group. Since leaving American Express, Riese has invested in a number of successful, disruptive companies in the financial services arena globally. Eric Archambeau, newly appointed director, has extensive high-tech management experience in Silicon Valley and Europe and is widely known for his deep insights and experience in social networking, data mining and electronic marketplaces. He has served as a General Partner with Wellington Partners since early 2005, with a focus on Digital Media, Software, Cleantech and Electronics. Prior to joining Wellington, Archambeau led and co-led a number of successful investments at both Benchmark Capital and Atlas Ventures. Alex Grinberg, eWise founder, will remain a director of the company and as EVP and General Manager, Global Account Aggregation and Personal Financial Management, will be responsible for driving the company’s growth in that business which operates in Europe and Australasia today. About eWise eWise offers an innovative online banking-based payments solution that makes transacting online easier and more secure for consumers. As the exclusive partner of NACHA, eWise powers the Secure Vault Payments® network in the U.S. With additional offices in the UK, China and Australia, eWise supports a number of the world’s top 50 financial institutions with payment and account aggregation products delivering outstanding, proven ROI for its customers and a better online experience for millions of end-users worldwide. For more information, visit www.ewisepayments.com. Powered by Businesswire]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/11/ewise-appoints-alexandre-gonthier-ceo-names-phillip-riese-chairman-board-directors-appoints-eric-archambeau-director-company/</link>
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		<title>EquityLock Solutions Announces Industry Relationships, $5.7M Raised in Latest Capital Campaign</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Financial backing and industry support give EquityLock an advantage in real estate protection DENVER&#8211;(BUSINESS WIRE)&#8211;Sep. 28, 2011&#8211; Real estate professionals and financial firms are coming forward to support EquityLock Solutions’ Home Price Protection offering, which provides home owners with certain protections against future declines in their home market. Since launching Home Price Protection in May, EquityLock Solutions has cemented relationships with RE/MAX International, Keller Williams Realty and Real Living; homebuilders Stonecrest Homes and Pardee Homes; and a syndicate of investors. 200,000 real estate agents are being certified to introduce Home Price Protection to homebuyers, sellers and builders. After adding Home Price Protection to its new homes, Stonecrest Homes realized an increase in sales within two weeks. Pardee Homes is adding Home Price Protection to selected homes in selected communities. Earlier this month, EquityLock Solutions raised $5.7 million in an initial round of fundraising led by TTV Capital and Gleacher &#038; Company. The capital, combined with EquityLock Solutions’ expanding network of relationships, will permit the company to accelerate the expansion of its business and deliver its unique services to a broader range of clients. “Not only do we have a solid base of real estate professionals and builders in place to distribute Home Price Protection, but we have the capital to help us deploy our business model on a larger scale,” said EquityLock Solutions CEO and Founder TJ Agresti. “Our goal is to help turn around the housing market by providing current and future homeowners with the comfort of knowing their investment will be protected from future housing-market declines of up to 20 percent.” The White House and federal housing agencies have been looking for private sector ideas to address the depression afflicting the housing industry. With a housing market that may be too large for a federal program to fix, privately funded solutions like those offered by EquityLock Solutions may be the boon the industry needs. “It does not matter how low interest rates go – people do not buy homes when they are afraid of losing value in their biggest investment. Any solution to the housing problem must address Americans’ lack of confidence in home values, which is exactly what Home Price Protection does,” Agresti said. “We believe this is what the federal government needs: a privately-funded solution to a key component of the housing market slump.” About EquityLock Solutions EquityLock Solutions gives home owners confidence that their largest asset will be protected from future housing market declines of up to 20 percent. Faith and confidence in housing allows for the stabilization of the market and a better night&#8217;s sleep for all Americans who share the dream of home ownership. The company’s vision is to help turn around the current U.S. housing industry by restoring faith and confidence in real estate values. EquityLock Solutions is led by an executive team with many decades of collective experience in real estate, mortgage lending, insurance, tax and law. For more information, please visit http://www.equitylocksolutions.com. About TTV Capital TTV Capital was founded in 2000 as one of the few venture firms focused exclusively on investing in technology-enabled financial services companies. Its partners have over 100 years of collective experience working with and building technology-enabled financial services business. For more information about TTV Capital, please visit ttvcapital.com. About Gleacher &#038; Company Gleacher &#038; Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: GLCH) is an independent investment bank that provides corporate and institutional clients with strategic and financial advisory services, including merger and acquisition, restructuring, recapitalization, and strategic alternative analysis, as well as capital raising, research based investment analysis, and securities brokerage services, and through a new subsidiary, engages in residential mortgage lending. For more information, please visit http://www.gleacher.com.]]></description>
		<link>http://www.ttvcapital.com/2011/10/equitylock-solutions-announces-industry-relationships-5-7m-raised-latest-capital-campaign/</link>
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