Banking


The rise of Islamic fintech, global opportunities for Bahrain

In its recent survey of the Islamic finance industry, S&P estimated that the sector’s total assets have now reached just over $2 trillion. Given that the modern version of Islamic finance is only decades old, this represents exceptional growth over a comparatively short period of time.

Analysis: MiFID II – the new transparency regime

Having been a fixture on the regulatory agenda for years, the go-live date for MiFID II is now rapidly approaching. On 3 January 2018, the second iteration of Europe’s Market in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation will bring in sweeping changes to the financial markets on topics such as product governance and suitability, transaction reporting, commodities position limits and transparency.

Money20/20 Europe: let AI negotiate

Are trends eclectic for artificial intelligence (AI)? Perhaps not as the fintech world is getting more imaginative and calling for the machines to negotiate on behalf of less-than-objective humans. At this morning’s (26 June) sessions at Money20/20 in Copenhagen, the themes of AI use cases in financial services and fraud were discussed.

mBank moves into fintech vendor space with new digital banking system

Poland-based mBank has started to license its mobile and online banking system to other financial institutions outside Poland. The first taker is La Banque Postale (LBP) in France. The implementation will be carried out with the help of Accenture, mBank’s “strategic partner”. Alice Holzman, director of digital at LBP and lead of the bank’s New […]

The Monday mindset: 26 June 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, Banking Technology’s editor Tanya Andreasyan looks at one bank that has managed to successfully converge its digital and “brick and mortar” journeys […]

More jobs to go from RBS in UK to India

Job-cutting spree continues at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) – 443 jobs are to go from its business loans department. Many of these will be moved to India.

Starling Bank preps for future with new features

UK challenger bank Starling has launched a “Spending Insights” tool and an online community for its users – and it is setting out its future plans. Spending Insights is probably self-explanatory. It works in the app and the bank says it gives users ideas about where they can save money. It shows customers how much […]

ZineOne is the one for HDFC digital banking hub

India-based HDFC Bank has selected Silicon Valley start-up ZineOne to improve its digital banking offerings. The bank will deploy ZineOne’s Customer Interactions Hub (CIH), which will establish a single customer identity and “bring real-time, contextual, and omni-channel functionality” to interactions across businesses, applications and digital properties including web applications, mobile apps, digital wallets, website, kiosks […]

Sberbank implements risk management system with Numerix

Russia’s largest banking group Sberbank has completed the implementation of its bank-wide technology programme focusing on automating its financial market risk management system. As part of the multi-year project, Sberbank built a technology platform which included IT systems and modules allowing the management of various types of risks, namely credit and market risks. The platform […]

EBank deploys Fiorano enterprise service bus

EBank, a new bank in Namibia, has implemented Fiorano ESB, an enterprise service bus to “seamlessly integrate” the bank’s core processing software – Temenos T24 – with other third-party systems and channels, with a major focus on digital banking.

Case study: Valley National Bank – cloud atlas

Valley National Bank, a $23 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in northern New Jersey, is undertaking a widespread technology refresh to improve customer experience and profitability.

Moronic UK hacker exploits CYBG loophole to steal £100,000

A British hacker/moron has been jailed for the theft of nearly £100,000 from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG) by exploiting a bug in its online banking system. According to the BBC, 24-year-old James Ejankowski defrauded the bank of more than £99,000 in December 2016. He spent the money on a BMW, a Range Rover […]

Fintech funding round-up: 21 June 2017

Some people have got deep pockets, because the funding fun never ends. Our latest round-up features Soldo, Atom Bank, British Business Bank, BlackRock and Scalable Capital. Multi-user spending account, Soldo, has reported a Series A funding round of $11 million, led by Accel and includes participation from Connect Ventures, InReach Ventures, U-Start and R204 Partners. […]

Bank to the future: five ways financial apps are changing banking

Less than half a year from now, PSD2 will revolutionise consumers’ access to their own financial information. In fintech hubs across Europe, bright young people are planning a consumer revolution. Their financial apps and tools are helping customers manage their money far more easily than they have before. Here are five important ways in which they are changing the face of banking.

Avoka wins ATB Financial’s innovation challenge

Australia-based digital banking software vendor Avoka has won ATB Financial’s Customer Onboarding Global Innovation Challenge. As reported in March, ATB joined forces with KPMG in Canada and fintech matchmaking firm Matchi to run the event. In fact, in May, KPMG acquired Matchi. The pair had worked together since 2015, so the deal “cements” their relationship. […]

Eight Fledgling Fintech Providers Win Capital with CFSI Awards

Eight fledgling fintech companies have won $250,000 each from the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Each FinLab winner in this third annual competition from the CFSI receives $250,000 in capital, along with resources to test, enhance and scale their products, in part via the expertise of JPMorgan Chase, a founding lab partner.

Barclays hit with fraud charge over Qatar capital raising

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged Barclays and four of its former workers with conspiracy to commit fraud over capital raising arrangements with Qatar Holding and Challenger Universal. The charge also includes the provision of unlawful financial assistance contrary to the Companies Act 1985. The charges relate to events in June and October […]

Who is the greatest fintech leader of 2017?

This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and once again we will be recognising individuals for leading and playing an instrumental role in devising and/or delivering the technology strategy to support the key business objectives of an organisation. The Tech Leadership Award category is open to all industry participants worldwide – those […]

Screen scraping: in or out?

Amid last month’s extensive ransomware attack, made possible after cyber criminals stole hacking tools created by the US National Security Agency, the European Banking Federation (EBF) again urged the European Commission (EC) not to dismiss recommendations about screen scraping.

PSD2 meets ISO 20022

How will service providers and banks implement ISO 20022 in the APIs being created for PSD2?

Klarna enters the big time with banking licence

Payments provider Klarna has powered up with a full banking licence from Finansinspektionen, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, says it is “now one of Europe’s largest banks with 60 million customers, 70,000 merchants and working seamlessly across borders”. With the licence, Klarna states it can broaden its product portfolio for […]

HSBC unveils £10bn fund for UK SMEs

HSBC has launched a £10 billion lending fund for SMEs in the UK as it looks to tap into this lively market. The bank says it continues to be open to lending, having approved 91% of small business lending applications in the last year. Ian Stuart, UK CEO, HSBC, says: “We want to put SMEs […]

Citizens Bank takes a crack at digital revamp with Bottomline

Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank is partnering with Bottomline Technologies to unleash a brand spanking new online and mobile banking platform for its commercial and business banking clients. The new digital banking platform offers a suite of cash management and payment services. The application features simplified transactions; integrated payment workflows; user personalisation with self-service capabilities; and […]