Digital


Valiant Bank chooses Backbase for digital banking overhaul

Switzerland’s Valiant Bank has selected the Backbase Omnichannel Banking Platform for its banking systems upgrade. The platform will help the bank drive “customer engagement” and “increase manageability across its different channels”. Matthias Häfner, head of digital banking at Valiant, says it chose Backbase “due to its expertise in providing a single omnichannel platform, which will […]

Visa opens new innovation centre in London

Visa has unveiled its latest and largest innovation centre in London, located at its European headquarters in Paddington Basin. The 1,000+ square metre space will let Visa staff work side-by-side with financial institutions, merchants and other partners to develop new payment solutions. Rajesh Agrawal, London’s deputy mayor for business, says “as a successful fintech entrepreneur […]

Accenture in German digital and US innovation drives

Accenture will acquire German digital agency SinnerSchrader to boost its Accenture Interactive services in the country. Also, the company plans to launch ten new innovation hubs in the US in the next three years. Accenture has agreed to purchase a 62% majority of SinnerSchrader shares from co-founder and CEO Matthias Schrader, CFO Thomas Dyckhoff, and […]

The Monday mindset: 20 February 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 we welcome the views of Richard Stevenson, CEO, Red Box Recorders, on the future of banking. Real-time converge, capture and analyse! This […]

How to make a success out of blockchain

There is pressure for CEOs to decide how distributed ledger technology (DLT) fits into their business strategy. Regulators also recognise that blockchain could advance their own processes. So what is all the excitement about? Blockchain is an exciting innovation but the technology has flaws…

Kenya Bankers Association unveils real-time interbank switch

Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has launched its real-time interbank switch, PesaLink, and kicked off a phased rollout of the digital payments platform. The product has been in the making since 2013, when KBA member banks decided to create their own industrywide switch to rival the M-Pesa services. KBA vice-chairman John Gachora says PesaLink is “proof […]

Mobile payments in the age of the customer

The mobile payment market is getting more congested every day. For banks, it’s the most frequent touchpoint – one that can help (re) establish everyday relevance and drive engagement. How can banks develop their strategy and prioritise the capabilities that will help them remain valuable to their customers?

Joy for Bankjoy as three credit unions sign contracts

Fintech start-up Bankjoy has signed three credit unions for its digital banking software: CommunityWide Federal Credit Union in Indiana; Advantage Plus Federal Credit Union in Idaho, and One Detroit Credit Union in Illinois.

IBM in major IoT drive with new partners

IBM has unveiled a large ecosystem initiative as it opens the doors of its new $200 million global headquarters for its Watson Internet of Things (IoT) business in Munich, Germany. BNP Paribas, Capgemini and Tech Mahindra are some of the firms who will place development teams at the IBM centre. Harriet Green, general manager, IBM […]

PayPal Bolsters its Prowess in Cash Transactions with TIO Buy

Seeking to increase its foothold among customers who prefer cash, PayPal will spend approximately $233 million to buy Vancouver-based bill payment firm TIO Networks. The acquisition is not PayPal’s first move to gain the business of consumers using cash.

Amazon looking to buy Capital One?

Amazon is rumoured to be pondering the acquisition of Capital One. Banking Technology contacted both parties for a comment but received no response.

Mobile money: the state of play

With mobile money technology widely available, and so many citizens having access to a mobile phone, how many are actually banking in this way? What are the benefits available to them when using mobile money? And what does the future hold for this fintech innovation?

NatWest debuts digital platform for SME lending

NatWest (part of the RBS group) is set to launch a new digital platform to allow small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to quickly obtain unsecured loans of up to £150,000. Called Esme Loans, it is in trial mode and the bank will offer fast decisions on lending applications “potentially within an hour”. There will […]

Bank of Cyprus chooses Dovetail for payments revamp

Bank of Cyprus has selected Dovetail’s payment solution to support Swift, Target2, SEPA credit transfer and direct debits. The project is part of the bank’s ongoing digital transformation programme. Dr Andreas Stylianou, manager organisation and change, Bank of Cyprus, says: ‘Payments are the life blood of our business. We needed a modern, proven payments solution […]

SolarisBank raises €26m in funding round

Berlin-based SolarisBank has raised €26.3 million in its series A funding round as it targets European expansion, according to a “confidential source that’s close with the company”. The official press release is expected in the next two weeks, where Solaris will announce its new partners, as well as the products available for these partner companies. […]

This Virtual Piggy went to market for young mobile consumers

US-based mobile banking firm Virtual Piggy will soon begin testing a mobile wallet for consumers aged 17 and younger, the latest move in the parent-supervised world of mobile payments, reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. The test, set for April, will involve a mobile payments platform that enables parents to supervise spending by their children. […]

FCA: experimenting in the sandbox

2017 looks set to be the year in which a number of different jurisdictions vie to become the natural home of the financial technology sector. To help ensure that London remains fintech-friendly, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has created the “regulatory sandbox”.

Santander first bank in UK for voice-powered payments

Santander has become the first bank in the UK to allow customers to make payments using their voice. As Banking Technology reported in March 2016, Santander said it was the “first” bank in the UK to launch voice banking technology. Phase one enabled customers to talk to their Santander SmartBank app and ask about their […]

Australian banks in one last grapple with Apple

Four big Australian banks haven’t given up the fight to convince the country’s antitrust regulator that they get some concessions from Apple over Apple Pay. With a decision due in a few weeks, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National Australia Bank (NAB), Westpac, and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank may have made their final submission […]

UK’s Co-op Bank goes up for sale

The UK’s Co-operative Bank has been put up for sale – with the minority investor Co-op Group saying it is “supportive of the plan to find the bank a new home”. The recent history of Co-op Bank (which markets itself as an ethical bank) has been interesting. It had a disastrous merger with Britannia Building […]

“Game changer” Jargon Bank updates an app

UK-based challenger Jargon Bank has updated its “revolutionary” mobile payments app from version 1.1 to version 1.2. As Banking Technology reported in December, the “game changer” bank launched offering “compelling and innovative” products that left journalists diving for cover… usually to the nearest pubs. Now it’s back with a 2,000-word press release that contains so […]

The Monday mindset: 13 February 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to our new series of brief reports. 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 we welcome the views of our editor Tanya Andreasyan. Dear PR, we know you […]

Misys mulls another IPO

Misys is planning another initial public offering (IPO), following last year’s cancellation, according to the Daily Telegraph. As Banking Technology reported in October, Misys had planned a £5.5 billion float but this didn’t go smoothly as planned with its value cut by 20%. At the time it said it “decided not to proceed… at the […]

FinovateEurope 2017: designing good finance

Last week’s FinovateEurope was full of the broad range of exciting and innovative companies that we have come to expect at the show. Although the 72 companies showcasing their solutions operated right across the fintech landscape, they all sing from a common hymn sheet of improving the customer experience.

Start-up DiPocket looks to rock it in mobile banking app launch

Start-up DiPocket has unveiled its new mobile banking app, which is not dependent on third party IT systems but built on its own platform. As well as “challenging” the traditional high street banks with its technology, DiPocket thinks it “has a thing or two to teach other ‘neo-banking’ start-ups”. Fedele Di Maggio, CEO and co-founder […]

Isbank unveils P2P payments via iMessage

Turkey’s largest bank Isbank and its tech partner Monitise have launched a money transfer service via Apple’s iMessage – a first in the republic. Using Isbank’s new mobile banking app, IsCep, users are now able to request and send money through iMessage. As Banking Technology reported in January, IsCep also allows “for the first time” […]

Top fintech stories this week – 10 February 2017

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Temenos cuts jobs in US; eyes D+H payments business EXCLUSIVE. US layoffs cited as around 60 by some sources. Ziraat Bank London to replace legacy core banking tech EXCLUSIVE. Misys Fusionbanking moves in. Banks and UN launch sustainable […]

PSD2 and the future of payments

Banks need to do more than just comply with the upcoming revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). To survive, banks will need to embrace these changes.

Metro Bank speeds up data virtualisation with Delphix

UK challenger Metro Bank has accelerated a data project delivery, cutting provisioning time by 80%, following the deployment of the Delphix Data Virtualisation platform. The bank began working with California-based Delphix to enable it to deliver data to teams better. The idea was to integrate enterprise software into an existing IT stack. Delphix says its […]

PayPal’s New Pal Is its First Payments Bot

PayPal has a new pal—namely its first bot that enables Slack users to move and manage their money in a conversational and casual style. The PayPal bot is available to 5 million Slack users in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.

IBM unveils Dubai blockchain deal

IBM has launched a blockchain initiative for trade finance with telecom operator du, Dubai Customs, Dubai Trade, Emirates NBD and Banco Santander. The plan is to explore the use of logistics solutions for the import and re-export process of goods in and out of Dubai. Using Hyperledger Fabric and IBM Cloud, their blockchain solution transmits […]