Top fintech stories this week – 13 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Financial Services/Finserv
Deloitte opens blockchain lab in New York
Deloitte has launched a blockchain lab in New York’s Wall Street. 2017 could be its “make-or-break year” for blockchain, says Eric Piscini, principal with Deloitte Consulting. Joe Guastella, another principal with Deloitte Consulting, says its “ecosystem for education, ideation [we missed you jargon], strategy, application prototyping and development is there to support Deloitte’s clients and […]
HSBC targets Hong Kong millennials with new social payment app
HSBC will unveil a new payment app in Hong Kong in early 2017 aimed at millennials and offering a social aspect in addition to just payments. Called PayMe, it is “available to everyone in Hong Kong”, regardless which local bank the customer uses. However, the small print says it is only eligible to users with […]
New name in the UK challenger bank space – ClearBank
The bustling UK challenger bank scene has grown by another addition, ClearBank. It is a brainchild of Nick Ogden, founder and former CEO of WorldPay.
BMW Financial Services in major tech overhaul with Sword Apak
BMW Group Financial Services (BMW FS) has selected UK-based fintech vendor Sword Apak to support the planned harmonisation of its European core operating systems. Called the Ideal Programme (integrated delivery of a European application landscape), it was launched in November 2016. It is designed to integrate three key modules: commercial finance, dealer front-end and the […]
Dubai gets first fintech accelerator
FinTech Hive, to be housed at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in Dubai’s Central Business District (CBD), is set to launch this quarter. Accenture runs fintech innovation labs in New York, London, and Hong Kong; and has been tasked with setting up and operating the accelerator. Aimed at providing better financial services technology to […]
US Democratic senators oppose OCC fintech proposal
A skirmish over the future of US fintech is underway in the new US Senate, with two Democratic senators this week saying a new federal charter governing the industry “could weaken consumer protections, limit competition and threaten financial stability”, reports Paybefore. Late last year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a […]
Commerzbank unveils first digital platform for German SMEs
Commerzbank has developed the first digitalisation platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Called “#openspace”, and located in Berlin-Schöneberg, it offers long-term co-operation between SMEs, “innovation partners”, and start-ups with the objective of “tackling the challenges posed by the digital future together”. Holger Werner, CEO and founder of #openspace, says “digitalisation dominates the media, sciences, […]
InvestCloud acquires Babel Systems for $20m
California-based InvestCloud has acquired Babel Systems in London for $20 million. Babel provides a modular and API-based trade and accounting platform, while InvestCloud has over 660 clients with “accounting needs served by legacy accounting systems that were designed in the last century”. This acquisition links InvestCloud’s digital platform with Babel’s capabilities. InvestCloud will also continue […]
Centenary Bank live with new core banking system, Profits
Centenary Bank in Uganda has gone live with a new core banking platform, Profits, supplied by Intrasoft International.
OCC flags risks facing US banks and financial institutions
Strategic, credit, operational and compliance risks remain “top concerns” for the financial services industry in the US, according to the latest report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Top five jargon winners in 2016
For some people in the world of fintech, they find comfort in the language of jargon. Pity these poor souls! Lost, confused and unable to communicate clearly and normally. Here are our top five jargon winners of 2016. You can avoid being on this list next year – just use English! CIBC ends phase one […]
Top ten fintech features in 2016
Look back at some of the top-read feature articles on all matters fintech published by Banking Technology in 2016.
Digital bank for migrants and expats, Monese, raises $10m
Monese, a mobile-only bank founded by Norris Koppel, an Estonian expat in London, has raised $10 million in Series A funding round as it looks to go pan-European.
Top ten payments projects in 2016
Look back at some of the major payments projects in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten.
UK retailer House of Fraser to invest up to £35m in challenger bank Tandem
A UK-based challenger bank, Tandem, will start offering financial solutions to customers of retailer House of Fraser in 2017. As part of the collaboration agreement between the two companies, House of Fraser will invest up to £35 million in Tandem.
Top ten blockchain stories in 2016
It felt like there was a blockchain story every day in 2016, but we look back at some of the bigger stories with Banking Technology’s top ten! Microsoft and AMIS launch Asia’s first blockchain consortium Microsoft says it is also in “collaboration” with banks such as Ubon Financial, Cathay Financial Holdings and MegaBank to further […]
Top ten fintech events in 2016
Look back at some of the major fintech events in 2016, with Banking Technology’s top ten! Sibos 2016: markets still in “Dante’s circles of hell” It’s the big one. And this is just one snippet from our extensive coverage of Sibos in Geneva. We also produced videos, published Daily News at Sibos, had fun with […]
Top fintech stories this week – 23 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The last weekly news round-up of 2016. Happy holidays from everyone at Banking Technology!
BNP Paribas trials blockchain payments for two corporate clients
BNP Paribas has processed “several live payments” using blockchain technology for two of its corporate clients, Amcor and Panini Group.
Fintech funding round-up: 20 December 2016
Because you’ve all been so good this year, here’s a fintech funding round-up to save you time… so you can eat and drink more over Christmas. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and a group of other financial institutions including ICAP’s venture arm are finalising an investment in blockchain start-up Axoni, according to Reuters. New York-based […]
Credit card firm MBNA sold to Lloyds for £1.9bn
Credit card firm MBNA is to be taken over by Lloyds. The firm’s current owner, Bank of America, has agreed to sell it for £1.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in H1 2017.
Challenger bank: Starling – purple reigns
UK challenger bank Starling talks about finding its niche and how it intends to prosper in an increasingly competitive space – all in preparation for its 2017 launch.
Top fintech stories this week – 16 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Citi and FIS get pally with PayPal
Citi and FIS have formed separate agreements with PayPal for Citi cardmembers and FIS linking payment cards. For Citi, its customers will be able to use their Citi Cards with PayPal – online, in-app and in store – in 2017. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. With this agreement, Citi says it is […]
Australia offers world-first licensing exemption for fintech
Innovation Down Under gets jazzed up. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released class waivers to allow eligible fintech firms to test certain specified services without holding an Australian financial services (AFS) or credit licence. ASIC commissioner John Price says its fintech licensing exemption is “unique” and “no other major jurisdiction has implemented […]
AWS data centre launch implies all is not well following Brexit
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a new availability zone in London which indicates all is not well in the UK following Brexit, reports Jamie Davies at Telecoms.com. The new data centre creates the 16th availability zone worldwide for the public cloud leader, and is the first available in the UK. To date, customers in the […]
RegTech Futures: hipsters, hackers and hustlers – making innovative compliance a reality
At last week’s RegTech Futures summit in Amsterdam, organised by FinTech Futures and supported by Banking Technology, the potential of regtech innovators to re-imagine compliance – reducing the cost, creating more robust systems and creating new opportunities for deeper digitisation – was discussed in depth.
UniCredit to cut 14,000 jobs
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit plans to raise €13 billion and axe 14,000 jobs over the next two years as it looks to get its finances in order. Along with the job cuts, which amount to about 11% of its workforce, UniCredit will shut down about 25% of its 3,800 branches. It also aims to use […]
Innovate Finance launches new fintech start-up competition, Pitch360
Innovate Finance, a UK-based fintech membership association, has unveiled its first ever start-up competition, Pitch360. Open to applicants from around the world, Pitch360 offers a 360-second (six minute) pitch of a new business and product in front of a live audience of influencers, investors and media professionals as well as access to Innovate Finance’s member […]
Metro Bank moves IT infrastructure to Rackspace cloud
UK-based challenger bank Metro Bank has moved its IT infrastructure to a Rackspace managed cloud solution. Rackspace says this has reduced the bank’s close-of-business processing time by 50% and report production time by two-thirds.
Cater Allen Private Bank “continues to work constructively” with Temenos
Cater Allen, a London-based private bank and a subsidiary of Santander, has completed “the discovery phase” of the project with Temenos to overhaul its core banking software.
AnaCap to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking & wealth management ops, complete IT overhaul planned
AnaCap Financial Partners, a UK-based private equity firm, is set to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking business, life insurance business, wealth and investment management and brokerage operations.
BNY Mellon suffers payments glitch
BNY Mellon experienced problems with processing clients’ payments instructions – it blamed the issue on its connection to Swift. The problems were subsequently resolved.
Metro Bank joins Faster Payments Scheme
UK-based Metro Bank says it has become the first high street bank to join the Faster Payments Scheme (FPS) since its launch.
Alipay partners with major European banks and payment provider
Alipay, one of the world’s largest online and mobile payment platforms, has inked deals with BNP Paribas, Barclays, UniCredit, and SIX Payment Services to drive the European expansion.
Top fintech stories this week – 2 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
BNY Mellon sets up global innovation group
BNY Mellon’s treasury services business has created a global innovation group and appointed Christopher Mager to lead it.
Good Smartkarma for Société Générale’s investment research
Société Générale is partnering with Smartkarma, a curated online platform, for investment insight focused on the Asian markets. Under this global agreement, Société Générale will provide its institutional clients access to a “new form” of equity research based on “demand driven and customised content”. Société Générale says it is the first global investment bank to […]
Infosys Finacle underpins Goldman Sachs’ new lending business, Marcus
Marcus, a newly launched online lending platform of Goldman Sachs, is running on Infosys’ Finacle core software. As Banking Technology exclusively reported earlier this year, Goldman Sachs has been working with Infosys on a new digital venture. The solution, which supports “the complete consumer loan-servicing lifecycle” at Marcus, is deployed in the cloud and hosted […]
