Financial Services/Finserv


What’s hot and what’s not in US fintech

Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company) teamed up with the Fintech Cocktail Club earlier this month to play another game of Fintech Tinder (otherwise known as hot or not), writes Julie Muhn. Here are the rules – we shouted out a list of 20 fintech trends and our cocktail-fuelled audience shouted their opinion on whether the […]

White paper: From traditional bank to marketplace bank

Many industries have already been technologically disrupted. Financial services and banking won’t be any different. New digital banking platforms will emerge with an automated, compliant core and a connection layer for all kinds of third party services to tap into. This is API banking, or marketplace banking.

Fintech alliance round-up: 25 September 2017

Move closer, move your fintech body real close, until we feel like we’re really making innovation. Our latest super-friendly fintech alliance round-up features Switzerland and Hong Kong; Japan and Abu Dhabi Global Market; and the UAE loving itself. The State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) under the Swiss Federal Department of Finance and the […]

Tech dominates Interbrand global rankings

Interbrand has released its rankings of the most valuable brands in the world, and the technology sector has a lot to boast about, occupying six of the top ten spots, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Every now and then we just need a reminder of how important technology is for today’s society. In previous […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 25 September 2017

Exchange traded funds, certification, a rewards network and a new cryptocurrency. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features Evolve Funds Group, DNV GL, Deloitte and Codemojo. Evolve Funds Group has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Canadian securities regulators for Canada’s first cryptocurrency exchange traded funds (ETFs), Evolve Bitcoin ETF (aka BITS). “Accessing Bitcoin is […]

Blue chips are down as Deloitte hit by cyberattack

Yet again, another fintech firm has been hit by a cyberattack. This time it’s Deloitte’s turn – with confidential emails and plans of some of its blue-chip clients compromised, according to the Guardian. The cybersecurity attack went unnoticed for months and the Guardian says it understands that Deloitte clients across all of its sectors – […]

Europe’s top venture capital investors by country – CB Insights

CB Insights has mapped the top venture capital (VC) investors in Europe by country, based on number of portfolio companies the investor had backed. The research company analysed the most active investors in the last five years (2012-2017), including VCs, corporate VCs, growth equity firms and super angels.

Japan embraces fintech’s hard-boiled wonderland

Banks and politicians in Japan are getting ever more energetic for fintech with grand plans for APIs, artificial intelligence (AI), digital currencies, blockchain, funding for start-ups and an easing of regulations. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) will launch a website on Monday (25 September) for makers of smartphone […]

FinovateFall 2017: a look back at the four-day flow

Adding a pair of discussion days to Finovate’s traditional demo days format, has made it that much easier for FinovateFall attendees to answer the question perennial post-conference question: “So. What did you think?”

State Street unveils Quantextual Idea Lab for investment research

State Street has launched its Quantextual Idea Lab, a hybrid of machine learning and human knowledge, for improved investment research. According to the firm, investment professionals are inundated with research reports from the sell side, the buy side and academia. It reckons financial research teams can produce enough content to consume 24 reams or 12,000 […]

Bankart and Nets to deliver new payments infrastructure to Slovenian banking sector

Bankart and Nordic payments processor Nets will provide the Slovenian banking sector with a new payments central infrastructure to handle both SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT) non-urgent and SCT instant credit transfers. The duo has signed an agreement where Nets will deploy and operate an instant payments solution for Bankart via Nets’ RealTime24/7 solution. The latter […]

Game, FactSet and match for Banco Santander Totta’s new online broker

FactSet, a US-based provider of financial information and analytics software to the investment management industry, has developed a new online broker offering for Banco Santander Totta in Portugal. The broker portal comes with an embedded trading functionality and a portfolio application. According to FactSet, the bank’s new web presence offers a “clear design with intuitive […]

Are you data breach fatigued?

Data breaches are nothing new – quite the contrary – in fact their very frequency makes it likely that we’re fatigued to the point of indifference by the number of leaks which are surfacing, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Knowing the value of money is a lesson parents have been teaching children for years, […]

European Commission plans reform to get fintech to perform

The European Commission (EC) is proposing reforms to pave the way for further financial integration and a full capital markets union – with a handy boost to fintech included. President Jean-Claude Juncker, in his State of the Union Address, underlined the importance of the capital markets union and the EC’s plan to “promote jobs, growth […]

Ex-Barclays CEO’s start-up gets backing from China’s Ping An

10X Future Technologies, the start-up founded by ex-Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins last year, will announce this week that it has raised more than £30 million in funding from ‎Ping An Insurance and management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, according to Sky News. The deal will speed up 10X’s expansion, and is good news for Jenkins’ ambitions. […]

Sun Life looks for life with fintech start-ups

With the unveiling of its new corporate headquarters at One York Street in Toronto, Sun Life Financial has made it loud and clear it’s on the prowl for fintech start-ups. The super-shiny, 35-storey, 800,000 square foot office tower, is a mighty site/sight and will offer connection to Toronto’s Union (railway) Station and PATH network (i.e. […]

Hitachi creates IoT focused big data company Vantara

When we hear Hitachi two things come to mind; 80s style radio and construction vehicles. This might be a perception the team will want to address as Hitachi enters the internet of things (IoT) world, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Combining the capabilities of three separate brands, Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group, and […]

It looks like no-one cares about data protection regulations

It doesn’t matter if they were given more than two years to get ready, with six months to go until the EU GDPR deadline, it’s going to be a sprint finish for a worryingly large number of companies, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). That’s the view of law firm Blake Morgan. After conducting a […]

SEI and Coinfirm concur for blockchain-powered asset transfers

Wealth management firm SEI is partnering with London-based blockchain company Coinfirm as they plan to tap into the UK’s asset transfer market. Coinfirm and the SEI Wealth Platform will use digital ledger technology (DLT) – and as with 99.9% of comments on any blockchain project, SEI says its solution will reduce costs and risks. Brett […]

Raisin chasing UK deposit marketplace with first acquisition

Berlin-based deposit marketplace Raisin has acquired UK-based fintech specialist PBF Solutions to offer end-to-end deposit raising for UK banks and other providers. The acquisition is the first in Raisin’s history. If you’re not sick of Brexit yet, then Raisin states that “despite current market volatility and Brexit discussions, Raisin remains committed to the UK and […]

Kenya leads Africa in financial inclusion innovation

Kenya is leading the way when it comes to digital innovation for financial inclusion in Africa, according to research by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). Earlier this year, CGAP says it invited firms and organisations to submit proposals for digital innovations they believe have the most potential to advance financial inclusion in […]

Can money buy friends? Intel is hoping so

Intel has shown its defensive side with a humble-brag that it has invested $1 billion in artificial intelligence (AI). We didn’t realise Intel had to use money to make friends, but each to their own, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). In an editorial piece by CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel has decided to shout at […]

NatWest launches UK’s first paperless mortgage

NatWest says it is to become the first UK bank to offer a paperless mortgage – as customers can now apply for a completely digital mortgage and share and verify documents online. The new proposition means customers don’t need to send signed paperwork or personal and private information through the post. Lloyd Cochrane, director of […]

Doreming brings it for Lien Viet Post Bank retail banking ambitions

Doreming, a Japanese financial inclusion firm, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Lien Viet Post Bank to build a solution for managing and paying wages to workers in Vietnam through the bank’s Vien Viet non-physical card. Doreming provides businesses with an HR platform that enables workers to receive pro-rata payments, “easing cash flow […]

EU-US Privacy Shield faces its moment of truth

While you were tucking into your ham sarnie European Commission Věra Jourová touched down in the US to start the first annual review of the EU-US Privacy Shield, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). It’s the reason why the internet giants of Silicon Valley can do business in the European bloc, or at least the reason […]

ING goes manic for Scalable wealth management dynamic

ING will start a partnership with online wealth manager Scalable Capital as the bank plans a digital investment solution for its retail customers in Germany. Customers of ING in Germany will be able to register in less than 15 minutes through a paperless process. With a minimum investment of €10,000 they can monitor their portfolios […]

Big Xyt going trading places with new data analytics hub

Big Xyt, a smart data and analytics provider, has unveiled its new hub for trading firms to integrate tick data and analytics via a single API. According to the firm, the Xyt hub allows companies to consume, analyse and visualise data through cloud-based technologies, featuring Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) and nice Analytics-as-a-Service (AaaS) functionalities. Bats has signed […]

UK to get New Payment Systems Operator by year’s end

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and Bank of England (BoE) have revealed that the UK will be getting the New Payment Systems Operator (NPSO) by the end of 2017. The duo says that the Payment System Operator Delivery Group (PSODG) has completed the necessary steps to deliver what was asked and so with the NPSO […]

UK banks simplify accounting for SMEs

We have a double delight as Sage and Lloyds, and Xero and Santander are making accounting simpler for UK SMEs. Sage, a cloud accounting, payroll and payments solutions software provider, says Lloyds Bank is the latest in a line of banks to go live with its Bank Feeds service. The service helps businesses by enabling […]

AI is starting to get seriously smart, perhaps worryingly so

We’ve seen a couple of artificial intelligence (AI) shout-outs this week with Microsoft targeting telcos’ worryingly poor customer service record and European scientists potentially creating the building blocks for Skynet, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Starting in the Microsoft offices, the team has paired up with Amdocs to provide an intelligent solution to one […]

FinovateFall 2017: Best of Show winners revealed

The seven companies that earned not just the admiration of FinovateFall 2017 attendees, but their votes for Best of Show, as well, have been revealed, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). With more than 70 companies demonstrating their technologies live on stage over the course of two days, some diversity in theme […]