Due to the plethora of exciting international partnerships and tremendous growth in financial services, our team at Yodlee Interactive is happy to announce a new blog series. In this series, you will learn about the latest FinDat innovations happening around the globe, including emerging markets, and how we support developers through accelerator programs, hackathons and expert mentorship, etc. Below are some insights from Jason O’Shaughnessy, VP of International at Yodlee Interactive. Jason established Yodlee Inc.’s International operations in 2003 and has since grown Yodlee’s footprint in more than eight countries across Asia and EMEA. Working with start-ups and major financial institutions, Jason has been instrumental in establishing - and launching - the first Personal Financial Management (PFM), Aggregation and mobile PFM solutions in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, France and South Africa.
1. Can you share how international operations started and how it has grown?
Our international expansion started in the United Kingdom, with Citibank as the first customer to provide users with a single view of their online accounts. The market received this introduction with caution - other financial institutions felt the technology was too disruptive while consumers tentatively embraced the new concept. Moving forward 11 years later, the market has significantly changed. We now operate in over eight countries supporting a range of customers from early start-ups to large financial institutions. Furthermore, in the early years Yodlee powered mainly PFM solutions. However, we now power a multitude of solutions where automatic access to consumer transactional data is imperative to run an effective consumer friendly solution. These range from PFM to online accounting and fraud/identity management.
2. What type of global initiatives is Yodlee Interactive supporting?
Many. With growth in multiple countries and a variety of solutions – Yodlee Interactive has to constantly evolve to (a) stay ahead of the curve through continuous enhancements to the API, addressing the increasing variety of solutions launching around the world and (b) create dedicated programs available to support companies through the early stages to local market understanding. We achieve this by partnering with leading incubators like Startupbootcamp and Level39, providing access to APIs and supporting entrepreneurs just starting out. Through partnerships with global accelerator programs, we have been a key component to the success of many startups. From a technology perspective, we continue to localize support, expand platform coverage and improve the speed of supporting new territories.
3. How does Yodlee Interactive support FinTech developers?
Besides partnering with incubator and accelerator programs, we provide support at FinTech conferences and hackathons around the world. On July 5-6th, Rabobank hosted The Dutch FinTech Hackathon in Utrecht, Holland where developers had access to APIs from Rabobank and Yodlee Interactive. As shown in this infographic, a total of 65 people in 15 teams competed to develop the most disruptive FinTech solution and win €5,000. For example, team “Mr. Goal” leveraged Yodlee Interactive Aggregation API to help people set, plan and achieve financial goals. Based on target savings and data from account transactions, Mr. Goal provides customized advice that helps to motivate and guide people towards their financial dreams. It was exciting to participate in the first ever Dutch FinTech Hackathon (@DFTH14 on Twitter) and to see the innovative solutions presented by competing teams. Congratulations to Paygel team for winning the grand prize for their mobile payment solution! Here’s a video recap and photos from the 48-hour hackathon. If you have any questions about how Yodlee Interactive can help grow your startup in Asia or EMEA, feel free to contact Jason@Yodlee.com. Also, please connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for the latest FinDat news, innovations and events!
Jason O’Shaughnessy has more than 25 years of experience in business development, working with high-tech businesses that range from large corporations to innovative start-up ventures. Jason currently heads up Yodlee Inc’s Business Development team for its International markets. Jason established Yodlee’s International operations in 2003 and has since grown Yodlee¹s footprint in more than eight countries across Asia and EMEA. Working with start-ups and major financial institutions, Jason has been instrumental in establishing - and launching - the first Personal Finance Management (PFM), Aggregation and mobile PFM solutions in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, France and South Africa.
