Earlier this week, Pageonce ditched its brand for a new identity — Check — and stepped in a different direction toward bill payment from PFM.

This is a move to be proud of.

Pageonce, which is an Israeli company, exhibited a strength that too many US companies lack: the ability to pivot to a new business model mid-startup.

Pageonce was founded in 2007 to give consumers a “one page” look at their finances and accounts. But that data aggregation had only so much utility to consumers. Consumers want to do something with their data, not just look at it. Enter Check, which aims to “replace checks with the mobile phone,” and allow its 8 million users to engage in personal finance, not just look at numbers.

To be fair, other FinTech startups have equally pivoted in recent years:

• T8 Webware, which housed websites, transformed into Banno, a mobile banking platform;
• Bank Simple evolved into Simple, after it realized it could not secure a bank charter; and
• ZestFinance has morphed from a retail payday lender to a provider of deep underwriting analytics to other financial services providers.

The pivot matters. It occurred to me this morning that there is a certain badge of honor for startups with names that differ greatly from their service. Such names indicate an ability to adapt to the realities of market performance and demands, an ability that seems to be particularly prevalent in Israeli startups.  The number of FinTech startups seems to be only accelerating, with more than 30 ventures in the sector launched in this month alone. How many of them will pivot their business models will determine, to some degree at least, how many will find lasting success.