Financial Services/Finserv


10% of FTSE 350 firms lack cybersecurity plans, but are you surprised?

A recent report from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport claims 10% of the UK’s 350 largest firms do not have a response plan in place for a cybersecurity incident, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). These clearly aren’t all fintech companies, but considering the rhetoric which is constantly flowing around, bigging up […]

Barclays enables voice payments with Siri

Barclays says it’s the first UK high street bank that lets mobile banking customers make a payment by asking Siri. The payment, which relies on TouchID for authentication, can be completed without opening the Barclays mobile banking app, reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. The Siri integration enables payments to existing payees or mobile contacts. […]

Commerzbank and BNP Paribas part ways over lending JV

Commerzbank and BNP Paribas have ended their Munich-based lending joint venture (JV), Commerz Finanz. The German bank says it has reached an agreement with BNP Paribas Personal Finance on the split-off of the business division holding the instalment loans brokered by Commerzbank from Commerz Finanz. Michael Mandel, member of the board of managing directors of […]

Mind the reality gap fintech

A new survey has highlighted the differences between customer expectation and experience in the fintech industry, with many companies failing to deliver the value that consumers crave. It has also flagged up the low standing that CEOs have as credible sources of information. According to public relations (PR) firm FleishmanHillard Fishburn’s (FHF) “Authenticity Gap” survey, […]

Trustees Australia merges with deposit marketplace Cashwerkz

Financial services group Trustees Australia and deposit marketplace Cashwerkz have merged as they seek to tap into the cash, term deposit and fixed income investments markets. According to the duo, the new entity has access to over 30 Australian banks, and it will be able to compete well in the $2.1 trillion cash deposit market. […]

Rabobank builds 3D model of its own IT landscape

Mapping the IT landscape of a large organisation is probably not an easy task and Rabobank is attempting to resolve this via the construction of a 3D model of its own structure and supporting IT systems. In a LinkedIn post by Hans Tesselaar, executive director of the Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), a not-for-profit fintech […]

US Consumers Union calls for more prepaid regs; NAFCU wants them rescinded

Plagued by delays, threatened by US Congressional repeal and finally opened to further comment and changes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on prepaid accounts now has some consumer groups calling for the bureau to “strengthen” consumer protections with additional changes, while one credit union association wants the rule rescinded. To refresh your […]

App economy dodges bullet as Uber wins in court

It’s a rare ray of sunshine for the under-fire Uber, as it won a key battle as the US Second Court of Appeals ruled its Terms and Conditions (T&C) were legally binding, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Uber has proved to be a difficult ally to have in recent months with the firm facing […]

Taiwan goes in big on AI craze

The Taiwanese Ministry of Science and Technology has put its money where its mouth is to make a mark on the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with a TND $16 billion ($527 million) investment, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The AI craze is very quickly gathering pace in every aspect of our lives, and […]

Fintech funding round-up: 18 August 2017

We’ve got your back if you want to keep track of financial backing. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Options, Instamojo, AnyPay, Aegon and Funding Circle. Options, a provider of cloud-enabled managed services to capital markets, has received nearly $100 million in investment from New York-based private equity firm Bregal Sagemount. The money will be […]

Fintech layoffs round-up: 18 August 2017

A distinctly cheerless round-up as we highlight some key moments regarding fintech layoffs. Features Simple and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). US-based digital banking service Simple has fired 33 staff members (about 10% of its workforce), including several executives, according to The Oregonian. Simple’s CMO, chief people officer, VP of operations, and VP of engineering […]

Physical containers – reused in novel ways. Does that include nextgen branch offices?

With standards as simple as what we see with shipping containers, creative folks will begin considering options for almost anything that can benefit from these containers being mobile. The user experience that today we enjoy with mobile devices has changed the very heart of today’s data centre even as we see on-premise IT moving to clouds. Couldn’t a case be made that such flexibility be embraced even more aggressively in the future and couldn’t that change the very way we view banking as it continues to transform?

HSBC teams with Capita for new broker platform

HSBC is introducing a new improved software platform for brokers and also confirms Personal Touch Financial Services as its next intermediary partner. The new software, provided by Capita, replaces the current system and provides a single platform which “drives greater automation, making it easier for brokers to transact, upload documents, and track details of mortgage […]

Hong Kong regulator grins thanks to financial inclusion wins

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is in a happy mood as the region’s financial inclusion initiatives are progressing well. Norman Chan, HKMA chief executive, visited three retail bank branches in northern Tin Shui Wai area of Hong Kong today (17 August) to understand the situation of branch services from bank representatives and staff, and […]

Infographic: 58 insane facts about Bitcoin

Did you know that the FBI owns 1.5% of the world’s Bitcoin!? Get ready for some super scrolling with “ten years of the world with Bitcoin” – and 58 insane facts. Infographic and research courtesy of Bitcoin Casino. Source: Bitcoin Casino

Jemstep the right roboadvisor step for KeyBank

When roboadvisor firm Jemstep was acquired by investment management company Invesco a year and a half ago, Invesco CEO Martin Flanagan highlighted the importance of combining technology and human insight to produce better investment outcomes for customers. Now Jemstep has partnered with KeyBank’s Key Investment Services (KIS), to provide another opportunity for Invesco’s roboadvisor to […]

Nordea and Danske Bank being investigated for money laundering

Nordea is now keeping people informed about an ongoing investigation by the Danish Prosecution Service into its alleged anti-money laundering (AML) violations. By way of recap, it follows criticism by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) in June 2016 regarding AML transgressions by Nordea Bank Danmark. According to Danish newspaper Berlingske, the money laundering involves […]

US Senator questions big banks on CFPB arbitration

As expected, US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is not going to let the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on arbitration agreements go down without a fight. The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protections wants big banks – not just their lobbyists – to address the […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 16 August 2017

Blockchain and Bitcoin are flying high – literally in one case – as we now have satellites in space. Our latest round-up features Bitcoin Cash, Blockstream, Falcon Private Bank and Bitcoin Suisse. Bitcoin’s value doesn’t need to be discussed every day, but today (16 August) on the US-based Bitfinex exchange, it has been holding at […]

Samsung to power biometric authentication pilot for Bank of America

Samsung will launch a pilot programme that enables Bank of America (BofA) customers to log into their mobile banking app by taking a picture of their eye, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). According to a report from American Banker’s Penny Crosman, half of BofA’s customers are using fingerprint authentication to log into their app, […]

AWS beefs up security with new bouncer named Macie

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new machine learning-based security service, which it claims will help customers identify anomalies inside their network, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The launch comes only a month after its S3 storage hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as Verizon customer data was left on an […]

Industry bullish on promise of fintech – Opimas research

Market players are bullish on the near- and longer-term promise of fintech, according to new research by Opimas, “Fintech Spending and Innovation in Capital Markets”. In 2017, it estimates fintech spending across all capital markets participants to exceed $127 billion.

“Jihadi capital” Belgium most lenient country on money laundering

Belgium – the “Jihadi capital of Europe” – is the European Union’s (EU) most lenient country on money laundering despite its role in terrorist financing, according to anti-money laundering (AML) firm Fortytwo Data. With refreshing frankness in the usually jargon-soaked and platitude-drenched world of fintech, Fortytwo Data says the EU’s disjointed approach to the fight […]

Is this the end of fintech as we know it?

In the age of the internet, fintech dominates finance. In the UK, the sector is currently worth £7 billion, employing around 60,000 people with figures set to increase. The industry is definitely awe-inspiring, but as the lines between traditional banking services and fintech blur, fintech could disappear entirely.

Where top US banks are investing in fintech – CB Insights

Since 2012, the top ten US banks (by assets under management) have participated in 72 rounds totaling $3.6 billion to 56 fintech companies, according to CB Insights. While investment activity dropped on a quarterly basis in Q1 2017, four of the last five quarters have seen over $1 billion invested into fintech start-ups in the US backed by venture capital firms.

The Monday mindset: 14 August 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! This week, Banking Technology’s editor Tanya Andreasyan muses about the growing trend of celebrity endorsement in the fintech world.

HSBC digitises global trade with IBM

HSBC and IBM are working on a project “to develop a cognitive intelligence solution combining optical character recognition with advanced robotics to make global trade safer and more efficient”.

Time to act: EU Funds Transfer Regulation 2015

The EU Funds Transfer Regulation 2015 (FTR 2015), which has been in effect since 26 June 2017, aims to deliver full traceability of payments. A lack of regulatory clarity is, however, leading to significant implementation hurdles that require urgent action from all stakeholders.

The Monday mindset: 7 August 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, Devie Mohan, founder of fintech research and data company, Burnmark, examines the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI). I was asked to speak […]

Banking Technology Awards: how to write a winning entry?

With less than one month left to nominate for the Banking Technology Awards, now is the time to polish up on your entry. The question we get asked often is how to write a winning entry. Well wonder no more, we have a few tips for you on what to include. The more detail the better! Dates […]

Getting to experience thinking

“We’ve got a great idea we think you’re going to love.” Despite its manifest flaws, this is the approach that has long dominated the development of new products and services. While introducing products that people love is an exemplary goal, real omniscience has proven to be distressingly rare.

Commerzbank processes first BPO live transactions in Austria

Commerzbank has processed the first bank payment obligation (BPO) transactions in Austria, covering the import of bus components from Germany and Italy. The buyer, a customer of Commerzbank Austria, is TAM-Europe, located in Slovenia. The suppliers are MAN Truck & Bus, headquartered in Munich, and ISAF Bus Components, an Italy-based supplier and customer of UniCredit. […]

Barclays Africa looks for innovation heads-up with nine start-ups

Barclays Africa will collaborate with nine firms to explore new technology-based solutions to improve its banking services. The nifty nine are not just fintech but include Abe.ai and Kapitalwise from the US; FOMO Group and Byte Money from South Africa; and FlexPay, Spatialedge, Sun Exchange and Avenews-GT. Details below if you want the full show. […]

Banking Technology Awards: celebrating people that make things happen

This year’s Banking Technology Awards will be taking place on 13 December in London and once again we will be celebrating people that make things happen! The Leadership Awards will recognise individuals and teams that made a considerable contribution to our industry. What are the categories you can nominate in? Woman in Technology (W.I.T.) Award, in partnership with FemTechGlobal, will […]

UK Government has another run up at encryption

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd has taken another dim-witted swipe at end-to-end encryption claiming that terrorists are the only ones who care about it, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). It’s the latest chapter in one of the most short-sighted and ill-informed books available today, as Rudd has continued her moronic quest to make the […]