Innovation: there is a better way
Innovation in financial services may not generate products quite so world-changing as the inventions of Edison, but the principle of finding better ways to do something does inform most developments.
Digital
Flurry of initiatives show confidence in ‘on time’ T2s
Momentum is building behind the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) Target2-Securities (T2S) settlement platform. With the ECB confirming the platform will be delivered on time, further proof of the industry’s confidence in the initiative has come via a series of announcements regarding connectivity to T2S.
Retail banking: underwriting the revolution
New technologies are transforming the consumer experience in retailing and in banking. For banks to remain relevant, they need to work with innovators, writes Paul Skeldon
Barclays builds on Pingit head start
Barclays is making a determined effort to capitalise on the two-year lead it has built up with its Pingit mobile payments application with two new applications intended to allow retailers to integrate mobile payments into their services.
Standard Chartered backs mobile wallets
Standard Chartered has launched a mobile wallet service targeted at corporate clients in Kenya. The service has been developed in partnership with Safaricom, which operates the mobile money transfer service M-Pesa. The bank hopes the deal will herald the start of a major drive to open up financial inclusion in emerging markets.
Zapp zeroes in on UK banks as mobile banking competition builds
Mobile payments specialist Zapp is expecting to sign up five of the six major UK banks within the next few weeks, following a deal with acquirer WorldPay, announced this week. However, the platform still has a long way to go to catch-up with rival Barclay’s Pingit, which has a significant head-start, having launched in February 2012.
Bricks or clicks? The choice isn’t yours
The challenging ongoing economic climate and the resulting shrinking markets have created an environment of greatly increased competition. In order to deal with the pressures of recession, retail banks are increasingly being forced into a strategic transformation of business structure, culture and practice. How they interact with customers is a prime focus during these transformations, writes Mike Davies, Regional Vice President Sales EMEA North at GMC Software Technology.
UK mobile payments held back by security and complexity
With only one in five UK consumers using their mobile to make payments, new research suggests that the technology is being held back by consumer fears over security, lengthy sign-up processes and problems making payments outside of individual schemes.
Visa Europe, IBM and Monitise plan European mobile revolution
Visa Europe and its majority-owned mobile money specialist Monitise have signed a deal with IBM in a major mobile banking and mobile payment collaboration targeting Europe’s banks.
Turkish Garanti Bank launches ‘Facebook’ mobile banking app
Turkey’s Garanti Bank has launched a new ‘socially integrated’ mobile banking service called iGaranti, which connects with Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare to help users send money to friends and family.
YellowPepper spices up Latin American mobile payments
A new mobile payments network called YellowPepper has launched in Colombia, marking the beginning of a massive project to bank the unbanked and sweep away the dominance of cash across the Spanish-speaking Americas.
Demystifying m-commerce
Payments made via mobile devices are fast becoming de rigueur as tablet sales are expected to overtake personal computers by 2017. Shane Fitzpatrick addresses five common myths about m-commerce and how to capture online revenues. Smartphones are already more popular globally than desktop PCs and of the 1.875 billion phones to be sold in 2013, […]
Interactive Data launches mobile data app
A new trading app has been launched by Interactive Data subsidiary eSignal, which promises to help traders use the iPad to obtain information and market data on the move. A subsidiary of Interactive Data, eSignal is based in California. The firm’s technology is targeted at making it easier for traders to get access to real-time […]
Canada’s Desjardins financial cooperative pushes NFC offering
Canada is seeing a fresh push to promote near field communication (NFC) services after Canadian cooperative financial group Desjardin signed a deal with mobile money solutions provider Monitise and a joint venture with the nation’s three largest mobile operators.
One American in three uses mobile banking
One in three US adults now uses mobile banking in their day to day lives– a rise of almost double since 2011, according to new research from the US Pew Research Centre.
Kearny Federal Savings Bank installs Fiserv mobile banking tools
US-based Kearny Federal Savings Bank has chosen to install bank processing and mobile payments technology from specialist firm Fiserv, which it says will help the bank increase efficiency and attract new customers.
PayPal partners with MoneyGram for cash withdrawal
PayPal users can withdraw money from their accounts and pick up the funds via money transfer company MoneyGram, following a deal between the two US firms that also will see PayPal customers loading funds into their accounts via MoneyGram by the end of the year.
France’s railway network adopts mobile payments
French railway operator SNCF has adopted a mobile payments system from Californian tech firm VeriFone Systems, which allows customers to pay for railway tickets using a mobile device.
Orange sets out Botswana mobile payments deal with Visa
Telecoms firm Orange is planning to launch a set of mobile payment services in Botswana and other countries in Africa and the Middle East, which it says will easy access to funds around the clock and bring new point of sale, online and ATM transaction options to customers.
Western Union debuts Nigerian mobile money transfer
Western Union has launched a mobile money service in Nigeria, which it says will help boost financial inclusion and provide new methods of money transfer for people sending and receiving money to Africa.
Carrier billing gains traction among UK mobile phone operators
All of the UK’s mobile network operators have extended their carrier billing offerings by connecting to Gemalto’s direct billing platform, the mobile security solutions provider announced.
Digital money, mobile wallets & Latin America
In our world of 100%+ mobile penetration, companies in Latin America will soon need to think like their next wave of prospective customers, most of whom are unbanked. This means understanding their lifestyles, habits and needs in order to decide how to best generate value.
SIA ramps up European expansion
Financial technology company SIA has acquired Italian telecoms firm Emmecom, as part of a plan to create a new technology infrastructure across Europe for merchants and banks.
Orange uses Total network to extend money service
Orange and oil and gas group Total have forged a partnership in Africa and the Middle East, providing access to Orange Money services at all Total service stations in the regions, spanning a total of 13 countries to date.
Kalixa NFC mobile wallet targets Europe
A mobile wallet offering built by Kalixa Group claims to be able to turn just about any phone – including the iPhone – into an NFC payment device. The toolkit has launched in the UK, marking the first step in the firm’s plans for Europe-wide NFC mobile payments.
India’s ICICI takes aim at Indian mobile payments
India’s ICICI Bank is to launch a mobile payments service built by Movida, the Indian joint venture between Visa and mobile money specialist firm Monitise, that will draw on the potential to reach unbanked customers in the country.
Mobile payments deadlock begins to unravel as EE debuts Cash on Tap
Mobile operator EE is launching a UK mobile payments service called Cash on Tap, in a move that highlights recent efforts across Europe to make mobile payments a reality.
Slovakia shapes up as centre of excellence for mobile payments
The on-going turf wars that have held back the adoption of using mobile phones as a payment device at the point-of-sale will soon be a thing of the past if the progress made in Bratislava over the past year is any indication. The success of a project involving Visa Europe, Tatra Bank, Telefónica Slovakia’s O2 operation and a substantial number of retailers makes the Slovakian capital a showcase market for contactless technology.
Polish banks unveil mobile payments standard
Mobile payments looks set to receive a boost in Poland after six banks announced they will collaborate to create a new standard in the country.
Reducing threats to availability in the banking sector
The financial services sector’s growing interdependence between internet-accessible clearing and transaction processing infrastructure means that a successful DDoS attack can have far reaching consequences, such as customer dissatisfaction and loss of trust, brand damage, increased operating costs and lost revenue to name just a few.
Embrace the internet to determine the future of banking
The impact of the internet on the banking industry may yet turn out to be far more important than the financial crisis and the subsequent regulatory overhaul. Viewing statements on-line and making payments electronically is just the very beginning of the revolution.
Spain’s Banco Sabadell offers mobile cash withdrawal
Spanish bank Sabadell has released a mobile app that lets consumers withdraw cash without a debit card.
Next Bank Madrid reveals Spain’s strongest startups
Next Bank Madrid has chosen the finalists for a competition that seeks to find the best financial services startup companies from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world.
Unlocking the mobile wallet
Speakers at the Digital Services Conference hosted by Informa in London on Tuesday expressed frustration at the lack of progress made by mobile wallets in the UK and called for more innovative solutions to bypass the impasse.
Innotribe names New York contenders for Sibos showdown
Innotribe, the Swift-backed initiative to enable collaborative innovation in financial services, has announced the names of the five contenders from the US leg of its annual Startup Challenge to compete at Sibos 2013 in Dubai in September.
Temenos: moving beyond the core
The extent to which a targeted series of acquisitions over the past few years have moved Temenos from being simply a core banking system vendor to a fully-fledged financial technology specialist became clear at its recent annual user event, this year held in Abu Dhabi.
Pressure on financial innovation shown by drop in patent applications
Innovation in financial services is currently at a seven-year low, reflecting a period of cost-cutting and scaling back in the face of new financial regulation – but innovative new technologies such as mobile may provide a solution, according to law firm RPC.
UK mobile banking “at tipping point” says VocaLink
One in four customers in the UK is now using mobile banking services– and bank-driven systems are leading the way, according to new research by mobile payments specialist VocaLink.
Taking the pain out of paying in Spain
Spanish banks La Caixa and Santander have partnered with telecoms firm Telefónica to create a joint venture offering mobile payment services and a digital wallet designed to relegate conventional payment methods to the history books.
Money via email: will Google bring the breakthrough?
The idea of sending money via email is not entirely new. This month, however, a new financial player entered this arena: Google announced that it will integrate Google Wallet into Gmail.
