Emirates NBD appoints chief digital officer, seeks fintech partnerships
Emirates NBD’s new chief digital officer is on the lookout for partnerships with fintechs.
Artificial Intelligence/AI
Google shows love for AI with new centre in China
Google has unveiled an AI centre in China as it searches out humans with ML talent.
ING cuts bond trading time with AI-powered Katana
The name’s bond. Tamed bond.
Microsoft releases quantum development kit for AI
Microsoft sets out ambitions to create a quantum computer that can be used to address complex issues such as AI.
Rise of the machines will be monitored
The Financial Stability Board has stated in its first report on AI that the risks they pose need monitoring.
Fintech funding round-up: 11 December 2017
This round-up features WorldRemit, PAIR Finance and an update on Sophia the AI robot and SingularityNET.
Fintech Connect Live 2017: the unleashing of AI and ML
Fintech Connect Live 2017 is a gathering of some of the biggest players in the fintech. With the looming rise of open banking and the cryptocurrency surge, it’s the smaller start-ups and innovators of smart technologies in banking that are making headway with use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML).
Jaywing the Archetype with new AI risk tech launch
Risk and data science firm Jaywing has unveiled Archetype, a new risk technology product that uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep neural nets to help lenders generate statistical models.
IBM’s Power9-based AC922 system designed for AI workloads
IBM is ready to start shipping the first commercial server systems built around its recently released Power9 processor. Dubbed the AC922 Power Systems, these servers will ship by the end of December, and are specifically designed for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
Hartford InsurTech Hub hails hearty start-ups for 2018
Connecticut-based Hartford InsurTech Hub, powered by Startupbootcamp, has unveiled its 2018 cohort of start-ups for its inaugural insurance acceleration programme. The 11 selected firms comprise a mix from sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics and natural language processing (NLP) combined with cybersecurity, smart home and health insurance. According to the hub, over […]
Fintech funding round-up: 1 December 2017
Who doesn’t love a trilogy? Following on from the round-ups on Thursday (30 November) and Tuesday (28 November) here’s another slice of fintech funding action. Features Deposit Solutions, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia, and BNP Paribas Asset Management. Germany’s Deposit Solutions, an open banking platform for deposits, has closed an investment round of $20 million led by […]
Amazon brings machine learning to “everyday developers”
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to bring machine learning (ML) to ordinary developers, launching the SageMaker service to simplify building applications, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). ML is too complicated for ordinary developers, AWS CEO Andy Jassy said at a keynote during the AWS re:Invent event. “If you want to enable most […]
The AI arms race might be a bit more dangerous than you think
In the tech world, an arms race usually a metaphor for two companies battling for supremacy, but McAfee thinks it might be a bit more literal for artificial intelligence (AI) as hackers upskill to make use of the breakthrough, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). As one of its predictions for 2018, security software vendor […]
PostFinance has crack at Swiss jackpot with new chatbot
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Switzerland’s PostFinance has unveiled a German language virtual assistant on its website – generating automatic replies to customers’ most frequently asked questions. PostFinance, keen to tap into the fintech zeitgeist for artificial intelligence (AI), says it’s the “first Swiss financial institution” to launch such a chatbot. It was developed by the IT […]
Intuit selects AWS for machine learning and AI workloads
Business and financial software company Intuit has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its standard for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
DBS creates lifestyle branch for tech generation
In a move to attract the tech generation to branches, Singapore’s DBS has launched a “lifestyle space” providing freshly brewed coffee, interactions with humanoid robots and a virtual reality (VR) area for retirement planning.
BMO Financial Group injects $2m into Montreal AI lab
BMO Financial Group is putting $2 million into Creative Destruction Lab Montreal (CDL-Montreal) to fund artificial intelligence (AI) and data science projects. CDL-Montreal will target seed-stage start-ups by providing business and technology mentoring, equity opportunities and business development partnerships. On 15 December, the first cohort of 28 businesses, made up entirely of AI start-ups, will […]
Robots have got OCBC’s retail banking backend covered
Hey humans! Feeling down? Well let’s get down some more. OCBC Bank has launched two robots to enhance internal backend processing speeds in its retail banking secured lending (CSL) and finance teams. The robot attached to the CSL team assists with housing loan re-pricing. This includes processing time, which “has been almost entirely reduced” (i.e. […]
RBC to open AI lab in Montreal
Borealis AI, a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Institute for Research, will open an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Montreal. Borealis AI has partnered with McGill University Professor, Jackie Cheung, as academic advisor for the lab and will work with the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA). The team anticipates opening the doors of the […]
RBS unleashes robo-advice service via NatWest brand
Wealthtech is coming to the UK high street as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched a robo-advice service for around five million customers under its NatWest brand. The service will be available for clients with a minimum of £500 to invest. The total cost of advice, investment and platform fees will be at 0.95%. […]
ForwardLane unveils new AI APIs
US-based ForwardLane has introduced a pair of new artificial intelligence (AI) APIs that apply natural language processing and deep learning AI for managing research data and communication, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). “The two APIs empower the world’s leading asset managers, wealth mangers, and insurers augment the capabilities of their star performers and […]
Multicloud can lead to management nightmare – survey
As enterprises move to a multicloud universe that combines different public and private clouds, the question now becomes how to manage all these competing platforms as the complexity builds? Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports that’s the question at the heart of a study released this week by research firm opinion.life and sponsored […]
Fintech funding round-up: 17 November 2017
Following on from yesterday’s (16 November) fintech funding fun, here’s another summary. Features Flender, Tipigo Ventures, India Accelerator, Kuants, Sumeru and a handy $2 billion in Singapore. Return to Flender. Address known. As reported in May, peer-to-peer lending start-up Flender was seeking to get €1 million in funding and is targeting a UK launch after […]
Top fintech stories this week – 17 November 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Microsoft doubles down on open source and analytics for developers
Microsoft’s embrace of open source software is about to get a lot bigger as the company is rolling out several new tools and services designed to help developers create applications designed for the cloud, as well as highly specialised apps for artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT), reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking […]
EyeLock docks with ViaTouch for iris-powered payments
Iris-based biometric authentication specialist EyeLock has signed an agreement with ViaTouch Media that will integrate EyeLock’s technology within ViaTouch’s smart-shelf vending solution, Vicki. David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company) reports that EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus says the agreement was the culmination of years of working with firms from a variety of industries to bring embedded […]
Finastra Universe London 2017: open banking and the rise of AI
Finastra has revealed its focus on the open innovation of smart technologies in banking, alongside artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning/deep learning.
TrueAccord lands $22m to humanise debt collection
Online debt collection service TrueAccord has received $22 million in funding – bringing its total amount to almost $34.5 million, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Leading the round was Arbor Ventures. A mix of existing and new investors, including Arbor, Nyca Investment Partnership, Assurant Growth Investing, Caffeinated Capital Fund, Felicis Venture, TenOneTen and Crystal […]
When are we going to look at the human cost of AI?
Another week has passed, and another piece of research has emerged about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), but the human cost is starting to become a very big elephant, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The research itself is from SAS and highlights businesses are becoming normalised to the idea of AI. The concept […]
Standard Chartered unveils chatty banking chatbot
Standard Chartered plans to deploy a chatbot on its online and mobile banking platforms powered by Kasisto’s conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform, KAI Banking. The chatbot will act as a virtual personal assistant to help clients manage money, make payments and analyse their spending, via conversations in English and other unnamed languages. The service will […]
Dell makes machine learning road-ready
While Oracle, IBM and others are pushing machine learning in the cloud, many enterprises see advantages to keeping IT infrastructure in-house. Dell is looking to fill that desire with a line of hardware servers and services for machine learning for the enterprise, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Dell Machine and Deep Learning […]
The UK Robo-Advice Innovation Forum: key takeaways
Distilling some of the debates and discussions and showing how robo-advice is changing wealth management and indeed impacting the banking sector.
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 9 November 2017
Whether it’s AI to bridge cryptocurrencies or someone accidentally losing it, something is always going on, whether right or wrong in the world of blockchain and Bitcoin. Our latest round-up features Parity, AiX, R3 and SIA.
Digital performance firm Dynatrace acquires Qumram
Digital performance management company Dynatrace has acquired Qumram, a digital interaction audit solutions provider, for an undisclosed amount. With the addition of Qumram’s technology and intellectual property, Dynatrace says it will provide the ability to visually replay a user session within its existing platform. Qumram’s product will be re-engineered and will form part of an […]
OCBC Bank takes AI-m at financial crime
When crime comes calling OCBC Bank won’t be bawling as it has turned to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for the big fight. The Singapore-based bank says: “On any one typical work day, an OCBC Bank anti-money laundering (AML) compliance analyst would log into the bank’s transaction monitoring system and find up to […]
Fintech funding round-up: 7 November 2017
Not cash-strapped just backed. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Douugh, Choice Financial, Monzo and Smartkarma. All rise please. Banking (not baking) challenger Douugh has partnered with community bank Choice Financial to launch an integrated checking account and debit card. Choice has also made an investment to “support Douugh’s roadmap”, bringing the company’s total seed funding […]
Salesforce doubling down on AI
A little over a year ago, Salesforce introduced Einstein, making a huge bet that artificial intelligence (AI) would play a major role in the future of information technology. Now, the CRM giant is doubling down on that bet, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). At the start of its annual Dreamforce conference in […]
Bank of Scotland pilots AI tech for customer iPhone chat
Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, has launched a pilot artificial intelligence (AI) project – a virtual assistant for customers using the iPhone app.
Wells Fargo unveils Greenhouse effect with money management app
Wells Fargo has unleashed Greenhouse, a new standalone mobile banking app to help consumers manage their money and know where they stand financially. The app combines personal finance management (PFM) tools with Wells Fargo banking, offering “personalised” insights through artificial intelligence (AI). The bank says Greenhouse will be available in a limited, national pilot in […]
IBM’s Watson Data Platform focuses on AI
The IBM Watson Data Platform already provides data scientists with the ability to crunch numbers and share large data sets across different public and private clouds. Now the company has its sights set on artificial intelligence (AI), reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Big Blue has announcing expanded capabilities and tools for the […]
