Cedar Falls Banno founder and CEO Wade Arnold has lured in a 25-year financial technology industry veteran to join his team as president. The Cedar Falls, Iowa company today announced the addition of Charles Potts, who comes to Banno after serving as a managing director at ProfitStars, a division of Jack Henry & Associates recently in the news for entering into a partnership with Arnold's company. "Having Charles join our team is a privilege, and we have high expectations for his ability to substantially contribute to Banno's growth and further our role as a major innovator … read more

Cedar Falls As he wrapped up a phone interview Monday afternoon, Banno CEO Wade Arnold expressed a bit of self-effacing gratitude for the coverage of his company, which, as he put it, hails from "the cornfields" of Cedar Falls, Iowa. The comment was at once completely sincere and utterly misleading. There's no question Arnold appreciated the coverage. But, anymore, there's also no mistaking Banno for a company that's wide-eyed about the attention it's getting. Not with some of the world's biggest banks lining up to learn more about Banno's latest offering. … read more

Cedar Falls Banno on Wednesday unveiled an upgraded version of Grip, its application designed to help users make financial decisions on the go. Banno CEO Wade Arnold and engineer Ben Metz showed off the overhauled app at FinovateFall 2012 in New York. Banno, a Cedar Falls-based company that makes mobile applications, websites and personalized payment card services, first introduced Grip last year at the same event. The original version of Grip enabled consumers to aggregate all … read more

Cedar Falls Nadira Shadeed and Joe Rouw are a husband-wife team of optometrists who run a vision therapy-exclusive practice in Georgia. When the two discovered no software on the market suited their unique needs, they decided to build their own. They teamed up with Far Reach, a Cedar Falls-based web design company where Joe's brother Chris Rouw is a partner, to build NU Squared. "We're really trying to make it an all-in-one software for an office that provides these services," Joe Rouw said. Vision therapy typically … read more

Cedar Falls T8 Webware unveiled today its new name, Banno, and its broader focus on building personal finance apps. "The Banno story is really our kind of change the world story," Wade Arnold, CEO of the 4 year old Cedar Falls-based company, said in a phone interview Monday. "It's somewhat of a coming out … read more

Cedar Falls Aaron Schurman fell in love with casino gaming at a young age and decided to bring the concept home. His company, Phantom EFX, became known for creating casino games for home entertainment, especially for developing mobile and social platforms. In June, Cedar Falls-based Phantom EFX was acquired by WMS Gaming. Schurman answered some questions via email about how his company started from scratch and grew to be acquired by a longstanding leader in the casino industry. | Silicon Prairie News: How did you decide to start the business … read more

Cedar Falls Phantom EFX, a Cedar Falls, Iowa company that publishes and develops casino games for social, casual and mobile gaming entertainment, was acquired Friday by WMS Gaming of Waukegan, Ill. The two companies will come together in a tuck-in aquisition, meaning Phantom EFX will be merged in to a division of WMS. "For more than a year, WMS has collaborated with Phantom EFX to successfully create, develop and launch entertainment slot games for digital, mobile and retail platforms," Orrin J. Edidin, president of WMS, said in a press release. "We are excited to welcome … read more