UX on my mind: Finovate’s best of show winners point to industry trends

One of the fintech industry's main launchpads, FinovateFall, ended last week. 72 companies, from early stage startups coming out of stealth to established companies launching a new offering, presented on stage in New York City. The companies were rated by audience members on the basis of demo quality and innovation impact. The six companies that appeared on the most ballots were named Best of Show. It’s clear the financial industry has UX on its mind. Three out of six companies, MX, Clinc and Backbase, offer different types of digital experiences to customers. The range of offerings is indicative of the varying levels of digital prowess within the industry. While some banks are ready to consider advanced, AI-based solutions like Clinc offers, others are still shopping around for an all-around digital interface to serve their customers. The chosen companies also clearly show the move from competition to cooperation. None of the companies receiving awards are direct competitors to established financial institutions. Only two companies might be considered B2C companies, Swych and Autogravity, but they actually help drive business to established financial institutions. Here are FinovateFall 2016's best of show companies: Trusona: Trusona is an enterprise authentication platform that enables web and mobile transactions. The company’s authentication and identity solution is insured by an A+ rated insurance carrier, up to $1 million coverage per transaction. The company’s advanced solutions can help protect everything from high-value wire transfers, health records, privileged accounts and remote access to critical infrastructure. The company raised an $8 million series A from KPCB. MX:  MX offers banks and credit unions a data-driven personal finance manager. The company drives customer-centric banking relationships by gathering and providing data upon which online and mobile banking partners and financial institutions can create and deliver banking applications and solutions. MX currently partners with more than 650 financial institutions and more than 35 digital, online and mobile banking providers. Clinc: Clinc offers a conversational AI personal financial assistant. With Clinc, bank customers can directly talk to their bank accounts and make smarter financial decisions based on their income, purchase history and financial behavior. It's like adding Siri to your bank’s mobile app. Backbase: Backspace offers multi-platform customer experience for banks. This enables banks to leapfrog competition with its turnkey solution. Swych:  Swych is a mobile gifting platform where users send “Swychable” gifts from their mobile devices. These gifts can be instantly redeemed for electronic gift cards for more than 90 popular brands. Users can instantly buy, send, regift, upload, and redeem gift cards conveniently from their mobile devices. Autogravity: Autogravity is a car financing mobile app. The app allows users to easily find and compare car-financing offerings.