So far, we’ve looked at trends in Lending, Payments and Security leading up to Money 20/20. This week, we present the last in our series – cool companies and technology to see at the show.

What makes a company cool? Nothing more than we like what they are doing and how they are doing it. This completely subjective category is made up of companies and technology that has impressed us, or new ways of doing things that made us say, “hmmm.”

So without further ado and in no particular order, here are CSTMR’s “8 Cool Companies to Watch” at Money 20/20:

1. NYMBUS – While other companies have nibbled around the comfortable edges of banking, NYMBUS is taking it right to the heart of the bank – the core. Their cloud-based core banking platform is not only lightyears ahead of the multiple-decades-old tech running most banks, but it offers banks new capabilities and ways to expand. It says something about how far computing has come that, given security and compliance requirements, a cloud-based core banking system is even possible.

2. Prontoly – Utilizing your mobile device as a “master key”, Prontoly actually gets your mobile phone to emit ultrasonic waves to a nearby device (be it your computer, a POS system, or even a door) to verify proximity, and uses mobile device ID and device registration. If it is as secure as the company states and now that we’re getting far enough away from the Clinkle debacle (remember them?), the financial world might be ready to give ultrasonic tech another go.

3. Narrative Science – Financial services companies are some of the biggest producers of data there are, but problems arise when it comes time to analyze all that data. Narrative Science, as the name suggests, not only crunches that data, but is able to analyze the results and produce plain English “stories” based on that analysis. Rather than having teams pouring over data to reach inconsistent conclusions that then need to be translated through someone with writing skills, Narrative Science promises to do the heavy lifting with the elegant touches for you.

4. Nav – If you’ve read our blog, you know that at CSTMR we love small businesses and companies that help small business. One thing that many small business owners are unaware of is that their business has its own credit score, separate from the owner’s personal credit score. These business credit scores can have a huge impact on a SMB’s ability to get financing, secure better rates, and receive trade credit. Dedicated to helping millions of small business owners navigate the complex world of business credit and finance, Nav gives small business owners the ability to understand their business credit score, the factors that go into it, and the best ways to build that score. [ed. note – Nav is a CSTMR client]

5. GoodLabs – Just like SPARE, which we profiled in our “Payments Trends” post, we love GoodLabs’ mission. They “enable retailers of all sizes to offer their customers a round-up or add $1 donation, just like what you’ve seen at big box stores.” While at its heart GoodLabs is a payments infrastructure provider, their focus on charitable donations and expanding a charity’s ability to more easily collect from a larger group of donors helps a lot of really great causes. And we really like that.

6. NAMU – Ask your favorite millennial what they think of their bank, and the answer is that they don’t. Banks just don’t speak their language. Among the players looking to drag banks into the modern age, NAMU is a mobile banking solution that combines a gorgeous interface and social tools with cloud services and a secure, bank-friendly architecture. If my bank is listening, this is what I want my mobile banking to look like.
   
   
7. PaySwag – Collections is anything but sexy. In fact, you could go as far as to call it anti-sexy. However, PaySwag is looking to breathe some life into the collections game with its unique take on the process. Rather than the stick, PaySwag leads with the carrot in the form of mobile games and rewards used to get the underbanked to pay outstanding debts. And according to some of their business and government clients, it actually works to increase collection rates while also improving client satisfaction.

8. NuData Security – Also mentioned in our “Security Trends” post, we thought we would bring them up again because their solution just sounds so darn “science fiction-y.” Just like before, we can’t resist mentioning the similarities to “Minority Report” as NuData attempts to highlight the intent of a fraudulent user “before they have a chance to penetrate your website and do damage” based on the user’s behavior. Its great to stop a criminal in the act – even better to do it before they get in.

So that’s our “8 Cool Companies to Watch” at Money 20/20. How’d we do? Disagree with any of our selections? Think your company should be on the list? Write to us at hello @cstmr.com and let us know!

Also, we’ll be there at Money 20/20 talking all things related to fintech marketing. Want to meet up? Get in touch to set up a meeting at rory @cstmr.com.

See you in Vegas!