Innovation


Banco Santander makes Mioti move for IoT education

Banco Santander, through Santander Universities and Fundación Universia, will work with internet of things (IoT) institute Mioti to provide training grants and courses in the growing IoT sector. Madrid-based Mioti, “the first 100% IoT institute in Spain”, is a place for companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop their ideas. Banco Santander becomes one of four […]

Hong Kong’s SFC unveils regtech sandbox

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has launched its SFC Regulatory Sandbox to provide a place for firms to test out their ideas. Like other regulators, the SFC says: “For the sake of market integrity and better investor protection, the reliability of the delivery of such financial services as well as the firms’ internal […]

Banking Technology October 2017 issue out now

Oh brave new world! Where transparency reigns. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Wealthtech is coming to the High Street

For those in employed in financial services, technology has always been important – integrated systems for operations and execution have been with us for decades. But to the banking customer at a High Street branch the advances in technology may not be obvious. However, slowly and surely innovations from the fintech sector are filtering down to the mass-market.

Hong Kong regulator’s no phoney for banking plans

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled a number of initiatives as it looks to improve the region’s use of payments, APIs and innovation. In a speech delivered during the Annual Banking Conference of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers, Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA, outlined its grand ambitions. Chan says: “The […]

Timex and Barclaycard collaborate to create contactless payment watch

Timex and Barclaycard have partnered in true style to produce a new range of contactless payment watches. The Fairfield Contactless promises to be a perfect fusion of style and smart functionality. Coming in at a retail price of £159, it’s all about the leather bPay embedded strap, which brings wearable technology to the wrist. bPay […]

Funding Societies interns introduce chatbot Miyu

Funding Societies, a Singapore-based crowdfunding platform, has launched its chatbot Miyu. A first for such a chatbot created by a crowdfunding company in Southeast Asia. Developed by two interns at Funding Societies using bot platforms meya.ai and api.ai, combined with machine learning and natural language processing, Miyu works round the clock to answer queries about […]

Bring on the money drones

Following testing by Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, to deliver cash to clients using a custom-made drone, the arrival of more frequent cash deliveries by drones look to be just around the corner, with reports suggesting as early as the end of 2017.

Alexa’s footprints are starting to appear all over the place

While Google is doing its impression of a petulant child, storming home from the park with its football tucked under its arm by barring Amazon Echo Show access to YouTube, Amazon has drafted a host of reinforcements for its Alexa offensive, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). For the most part, the majority of the news […]

Italy’s first fintech hub comes to Milan

The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the City of Milan have opened the “Milan Fintech District”, the country’s first hub dedicated to businesses in the financial industry. The hub is for start-ups, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, investors and universities to foster development and growth. Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, says the […]

HSBC UK takes first step into open banking

HSBC UK is taking steps in a new direction with its first foray into open banking. Starting with the introduction of a new testing platform, HSBC Beta, this allows HSBC to get its feet wet before diving in with a fully fleshed out app for customers in 2018. Still, the testing platform won’t be no […]

Fintechs – friends or foes?

Visa employees have a saying that “cash is our biggest competitor.” Mightier threats, however, are looming.

TCS makes Intel-ligent move for new AI centre

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will set up an artificial intelligence (AI) “Centre of Excellence” (CoE) with Intel as they join the horde hoping to prosper in this highly competitive market. The new AI CoE will be equipped with the usual technologies and experts to assist “Intel Nervana AI Academy” members – including developers, data scientists, […]

SCU launches AI service for customer queries

SCU (formerly Sydney Credit Union) has partnered with Australian fintech firm Epictenet to implement an artificial intelligence (AI) powered platform for customer queries. The new platform, called “Let’s Chat” (in its initial phase), is programmed to respond to general queries related to home loans, personal loans, credit cards and insurance products. At a later phase, […]

CFTE Supercharger-s fintech learning in Asia

The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has teamed up with SuperCharger, a fintech accelerator in Asia with offices in Hong Kong and Malaysia, to help its students learning with CFTE. UK-based CFTE cites SuperCharger’s accelerator programmes – which offer a B2B sales focus, closing 14 commercial proofs of concept (PoCs) in 12 weeks […]

SEB and Nasdaq working on blockchain prototype for Swedish mutual fund market

Swedish financial services group SEB and Nasdaq are working on a joint project to test a developed prototype for a mutual fund trading platform based on Chain’s blockchain ledger. The aim is to increase efficiency in the processing of purchases and sales of fund units and to create a unit ledger – an area which […]

R3 and TradeIX plan open account trade finance DLT network

Enterprise software firm R3 and trade finance specialist TradeIX are developing an end-to-end open account trade finance business network which will be powered by TradeIX and R3’s Corda distributed ledger platform. The initiative is a joint undertaking between the duo, and 12 financial institutions including Bangkok Bank, Barclays, BBVA, Bladex, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, CTBC Bank, […]

Intel unveils self-learning “neuromorphic” AI chip

It might not have totally nailed artificial intelligence (AI) yet, but with its new research project, Loihi, Intel claims to have crossed a bridge which many are still trying to build; on-chip learning, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). In its search for a new growth area, Intel has focused on the burgeoning world of […]

SunTec Xelerates its open banking ambitions

SunTec has unveiled its out-of-the-box open banking solution, offering preset configurations and definitions, through its Xelerate billing system. With the rise of open banking, SunTec wants to join the throng looking to prosper in a very competitive and crowded market. The firm says banks can use the layer to get business value from their APIs […]

BBVA analyses urbanites for big data dynamite

BBVA has launched Urban Discovery, an interactive tool open to everyone that analyses the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Mexico City through the prism of their commercial activity. The bank says the analysis led to the creation of new maps that redraw urban borders and identify the most touristic and residential areas or those where […]

Japanese banks to launch new national digital currency

A consortium of Japanese banks has confirmed they are to launch a new national digital currency in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. As Banking Technology reported last week, there was talk about plans to establish this currency by 2020. At that time, the name was mooted to be J-Coin. Now, and according to the […]

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 […]

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 […]

Japanese regulator and banks plan shared ID system on blockchain

The Financial Services Agency of Japan and some of the nation’s banks are planning to develop a shared identification system on blockchain. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, consumers will be able to open accounts at multiple banks and financial houses without having to re-enter personal information. The first step will see an administrative body […]

Big banks back Canada’s $150m digital ID system

Canada’s big banks have joined the charge for a CA$185 million ($150 million) digital identity supercluster bid that plans to solve the identification challenges of the digital economy. According to IT World Canada, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, CIBC, TD Bank and National Bank of Canada – are on board, along […]

Banks going Kodak

When was the last time you visited a bank branch? While the rise of the internet, banking shifted the customer interaction from the branch to the web, the business was still owned and run end-to-end by the bank and at lower cost. For a few years now, the landscape has altered significantly bringing Kodak to […]

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.

Kasasa rolls out Kasasa Loans

Fintech and marketing services company Kasasa unveiled its newest offering, Kasasa Loans, which lets consumers pay ahead to reduce debt and take that extra money back if they need it.

AutoGravity teams up with Hyundai Capital America

Thanks to a new partnership between AutoGravity and Hyundai Capital America, California car buyers using AutoGravity have new financing options when looking to buy a Hyundai, Kia or Genesis vehicle.

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 […]

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. […]