Authentication of users, particularly users of mobile banking, was top of mind at Finovate, as was mobile wallet.

This is fitting, since a recent study showed security fears were the number one reason holding back mobile wallet adoption.

None of the five Best of Show award winners were from these two prominent product categories.

The Best of Show winners were FamZoo, for its family of prepaid card; LendUp, for its lending platform for the underserved; MoneyDesktop, for its new analytics and marketing engine; PayNearMe, for the whitelabeled version of its cash payment system; and TipRanks, for its free browser plug-in that rates investors by the success of their investment calls.

The following 13  presentations (18% of the 72 at the show) demonstrated security or authentication products at Finovate Spring 2013:

1. EyeVerify, for its biometric “eyeprints”
2. Usher, a mobile authentication network from Microstrategy
3. AuthenticID‘s pictureID uses private data sources to verify users
4. NICE System showed a mobile customer service package that included authentication protocols
5. OneID uses idenity verification to create a one-click sign-on for sites
6. Internet Biometric Security Systems (IBSS) offered its own biometric system employing four-factor authentication
7. TrustedKnight showed off software to fight man-in-the-middle browser-based attacks
8. Sygnifyd‘s Guaranteed Payments aim to cut down on card-not-present fraud
9. Encap is a Scandinavian biometric security system
10. Kofax showed an image-based authentication and onboarding system
11. Curaxian helps merchants quickly spot fraudsters
12. Arxan protects mobile apps using highly complex technology that resists explanation
13. ValidSoft, a Finovate veteran, uses its telecom DNA with over-the-phone verification

The following companies showed off mobile wallet technology. Interestingly, many were card-based, a technological half-step back from the long-promised smartphone version:

1. FIS and Paydiant‘s mobile wallet including cardless cash access
2. Wallaby, a card veteran, introduced a cloub-based mobile wallet
3. Corduro featured PayMobile, a wallet and register end-to-end payments solution
4. Escardgot also featured a card/app mobile wallet hybrid
5. GoNow offers a Wallaby-esque card that contains all a consumers’ cards, and features a Dynamics-esque button
6. Placecast and Visa showed off a location-based rewards-driven mobile HTML 5 wallet solution

Several presenters offered point-of-sale and payments processing technology. Other major product categories were P2P lending and a focus on small business.

Bank Innovation covered the presentations — and picked our own winners from each session — in four posts:

Morning Day 1
Afternoon Day 1
Morning Day 2
Afternoon Day 2