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July - 2013 issue

Mobile Devices driving Convergence of Specialized Systems and Peripherals

By Charlie Kroll, CEO, Andera

Providence based Andera's oFlows platform simplifies account opening and lending in branches, online, out in the field, and over the phone. Founded in 2000, Andera has received funding of $9.35 million from Slater Technology Fund and Edison Ventures.

In the financial technology market, there is a disruptive trend of mobile devices driving convergence of previously specialized systems and peripherals. Until today, purpose-built devices have been used to accomplish critical business processes, with the burden of integration falling on the enterprise and their vendors. For example, when opening an account, a financial institution typically involves up to 11 separate systems and devices (signature pad, document scanner, ID scanner, clipboard!), all of which can now converge down to mobile device, given its built-in touchscreen and camera capabilities.

Think how far online shopping has come in the last 10-15 years. Today you can buy most products with one click, receive personalized offers that predict your behaviors, and switch seamlessly between channels by completing an online purchase in a store. Walmart, Nordstrom, Amazon, Apple, and others invest billions in their retail experience, while consumers in financial services are still stuck with clipboards, paper forms, and "we have received your application and will contact you within 48 hours," serving to prevent more sales than they drive. The industry is due for a retail revolution, and disruptive technologies like mobile and multichannel account opening are poised to drive this change.

Entrepreneurship: Always an Uphill Battle
Entrepreneurs have always faced an uphill battle – creating something from nothing is hard. Today, startups seeking capital face an especially challenging funding environment for several reasons – a growing number of startup "accelerators" around the country like YCombinator, Techstars, and Betaspring are churning out an unprecedented number of early stage companies by the thousands, all seeking their first rounds of venture capital, at the same time as the VC industry is contracting after years of disappointing returns, while commercial lenders have yet to loosen credit standards after the '08-09' financial crisis. It is a perfect storm that many entrepreneurs today are struggling with.