Banking Technology July/August 2017 issue out now

Banking Technology July/August 2017

Set sail for fintech! The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

This month we are bringing you all the best bits from the recent Money20/20 Europe in Copenhagen, one of the hottest fintech events on the planet at the moment.

The theme was superheroes – The Gamechanger, Doctor Strangebanks – you get the idea. A clever nod (or KAPOW!) to those Marvel and DC comics in terms of style and imagery.

We’d like to add some of our own. Sulk – a person who throws a strop when we don’t write the fintech story they want. Invisible Woman – the lack of women at the event was very noticeable. Captain Jargon. Leading Thought Leadership Leader. TechTech Boy. And the twins Disruptive Innovation Girl and Innovative Disruption Boy.

Artificial intelligence (AI) surely captured the imagination at the conference, with the fintech world getting more creative and calling for the machines to negotiate on behalf of less-than-objective humans.

Let chatbots negotiate Brexit – was a suggestion from the audience at one of the panels. There was also let AI negotiate salaries on behalf of women, suggested by Patrick Mang, innovation lead, global markets, HSBC. Women start at a disadvantage in salary negotiations, so an AI negotiating on their behalf would ensure fairness, in his view.

The upcoming revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), unsurprisingly, also got a lot of attention. An audience poll revealed that 88% believed the regulation created more questions than answers. The advice from the PSD2 discussion panel was to “embrace uncertainty”. Good luck with that.

APIs were a hot subject too (one of the debates was called “Return to the Planet of the APIs” – what a great title!). Jason Gardner from Marqeta commented that while the technology behind APIs is “straightforward”, it’s the regulations that come later which are more complex. He called them a “big hairy monster” – in case there was any confusion.

Financial inclusion was discussed with resolute optimism for a bright future. People’s behaviour needs to change to push inclusion ever forwards, and Tram Anh Nguyen, co-founder of the newly-launched Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), thinks embedding financial education into the product will help. She also calls for more financial literacy – in her view some women in developing countries simply don’t know how to sign up for bank accounts.

Regtech, core banking, the rise of China and India and many more subjects were discussed at the event – and you can read all about them here.

The July/August 2017 edition of Banking Technology features:

Payments commentary
Swift and instant payments.

Project spotlight: Openbank
Products, services, tech, brand and culture get a complete overhaul.

Vendor spotlight: AEVI
The importance of innovation, simplification and doing more.

Interview: Ben Brabyn, Level39
Soldier, banker, entrepreneur.

Analysis: regtech in the US
The state we are in (and new opportunities).

Interview: Matteo Cassina, Saxo Bank
Is digital banking a new Big Brother?

Point of view
User experience – the key to sustainable future.

And not to forget the Regulars of course:

Appointments – the movers and the shakers.
Industry events – mark your calendars!
Out of office – curiosities, frustrations and mishaps of the fintech world.