Innovation


Bank to the future: five ways financial apps are changing banking

Less than half a year from now, PSD2 will revolutionise consumers’ access to their own financial information. In fintech hubs across Europe, bright young people are planning a consumer revolution. Their financial apps and tools are helping customers manage their money far more easily than they have before. Here are five important ways in which they are changing the face of banking.

Avoka wins ATB Financial’s innovation challenge

Australia-based digital banking software vendor Avoka has won ATB Financial’s Customer Onboarding Global Innovation Challenge. As reported in March, ATB joined forces with KPMG in Canada and fintech matchmaking firm Matchi to run the event. In fact, in May, KPMG acquired Matchi. The pair had worked together since 2015, so the deal “cements” their relationship. […]

BBVA taps into biometrics with new firm Veridas

BBVA and start-up Das-Nano have formed Veridas, a new firm specialising in biometrics for client identification and authentication systems. Veridas, which will be directed by Eduardo Azanza, who is also co-founder of Das-Nano, will research and develop software for the digital verification and authentication of personal identity, through facial, voice, image or document recognition, or […]

Who is the greatest fintech leader of 2017?

This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and once again we will be recognising individuals for leading and playing an instrumental role in devising and/or delivering the technology strategy to support the key business objectives of an organisation. The Tech Leadership Award category is open to all industry participants worldwide – those […]

PSD2 meets ISO 20022

How will service providers and banks implement ISO 20022 in the APIs being created for PSD2?

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 19 June 2017

Don’t let the blocks cause you too much mental blockage. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up keeps it ultra-brief. Featuring Ayondo, XBT Provider, Xapo and the European Commission. Financial services firm Ayondo has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of Bitcoin trading, offering access to price movement without the need to open an e-wallet […]

The Monday mindset: 19 June 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, Anita Liu Harvey, VP for strategy and innovation at Barclaycard, fires us in the direction of “the magic bullets of future retail”. […]

Natixis Asset Management to test blockchain with FundsDLT

Natixis Asset Management has started testing the FundsDLT blockchain-powered platform for fund managers. The FundsDLT concept, announced last December in Luxembourg, is a collaboration between Fundsquare, IT firm InTech and KPMG Luxembourg. The platform will enable asset managers to sell funds through a new distribution channel, while doing all the other usual blockchain stuff – […]

Blockchain fuels IBM and Standard Chartered insurance policy pilot

American International Group (AIG), IBM and Standard Chartered have piloted the “first” multinational, smart contract based insurance policy using blockchain. The trio converted a controlled master policy written in the UK, and three local policies in the US, Singapore and Kenya, into a smart contract that provides a shared view of policy data and documentation […]

Voice is a natural step in the technology evolution – Amazon

If there is any doubt in which direction the technology world will head next, its being brushed aside by Amazon Web Services (AWS); voice is the natural progression. Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports. Speaking at TechXLR8 in London, David Low, “principal evangelist” at Amazon Alexa EU, highlighted that the voice user interface will be […]

UK regulator reveals second wave of sandbox start-ups

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled the second wave of firms that have made it into its regulatory sandbox. As reported in 2015, the sandbox allows businesses to test out new products and services without “incurring the normal regulatory consequences”. The move is part of the FCA’s Project Innovate, which aims to boost […]

Singapore’s diamond trading takes a shine to blockchain

Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange (SDiX) has teamed with Kynetix and Everledger to trial the “first-ever” blockchain verification and record-keeping service for diamond trading. SDiX, Kynetix, a physical commodity digitisation firm, and Everledger, a supplier of blockchain and distributed ledger (DLT) infrastructure, have completed the first part of their proof of concept. The technology is designed […]

Fintech outside London – part 3

Our tour of the UK fintech scene concludes in this third instalment of the report. We started from the south of the country, then travelled west and are now travelling through the northern England and Scotland.

Why getting ready for real-time is a priority for Rabobank

When it comes to payments, the Netherlands, like its Scandinavian neighbours, is certainly one of the most advanced countries in the world. Banks and retailers have been working together for many years in an effort to decrease the amount of cash in circulation, working instead towards a “cleaner” and “safer” cashless environment.

European Banking Federation wants fintech at overclock speed

Responding to the European Union (EU) consultation on fintech, the European Banking Federation (EBF) wants the creation of an inclusive ecosystem and asks for people to get on with it. Earlier this year, the EC called for feedback and said it wanted to prise open national barriers as only 7% of consumers currently buy financial […]

Bahrain’s central bank creates sandbox for fintech start-ups

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced new regulations to create a regulatory sandbox for fintech start-ups and firms to test and experiment their banking ideas and solutions. The framework provides a “virtual space” and it is open to existing CBB licensees and other local and foreign firms. The testing duration is nine months, […]

Australia and Hong Kong get it on for fintech innovation

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed a co-operation agreement for financial innovation. Both parties play up their “already close ties” and the Australia-Hong Kong trade and investment relationship “more broadly”. ASIC says Hong Kong is Australia’s seventh most important destination for services exports, valued […]

White paper: choosing the right in-memory computing solution

As in-memory computing (IMC) gains momentum across a wide range of applications, from fintech and ecommerce to telecommunications and internet of things (IoT), many companies are looking to IMC solutions to help them process and analyse large amounts of data in real time.

The Monday mindset: 12 June 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, Antony Peyton, Banking Technology’s deputy editor, with the help of many “expert comments” (bless you for those), briefly mulls over the aftermath […]

New Zealand preps for new credit union law

A new law in New Zealand is being readied with plans to bring in more innovation and accountability to credit unions. Called the Friendly Societies and Credit Unions (Regulatory Improvements) Amendment Bill, the new legislation will update the law for credit unions and their associations. It has been read for the first time in Parliament. […]

Softbank continues spending spree, grabbing smart robotics firm from Google

Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank continued its drive to take centre stage in the evolution of the tech industry with the acquisition of Boston Dynamics from Google/Alphabet. Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that Boston Dynamics has been a fairly high profile robotics pioneer in recent years, specialising in humanoid and quadrupedal machines apparently designed to […]

Hands off! BBVA creates patent office

With its increase in innovation BBVA has created a Global Patent Office (GPO) to protect its intellectual property (IP) – particularly in biometrics and artificial intelligence (AI). The GPO will put the bank’s IP work in a single office and offer collaboration between departments, agents and training. Don Relyea, director of the BBVA global patent […]

The age of face-to-face conversation is pretty much over

It wouldn’t quite be June if we didn’t have rain or Cisco’s annual visual networking index (VNI) forecast. We’ve had plenty of rain, now it’s time to tuck into some stats! Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that you probably didn’t need us to tell you, but internet traffic is going to grow. The total […]

Moneythor at heart of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa’s fintech start-up

French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa has chosen Moneythor’s analytical engine to be at the heart of “Max”, a personal finance assistant app for its new start-up Nouvelle Vague. Max is a mobile-only initiative of Nouvelle Vague, which operates in several cities in France (Paris, Bordeaux, Brest, Rennes etc). It will be available on 1 September […]

TradeIX unveils blockchain platform for trade finance

TradeIX has launched its TIX Platform, the “first open platform” for trade finance powered by blockchain. The platform provides banks, alternative funders, business-to-business (B2B) networks, technology providers and corporates with a way to finance trade-related assets. Like everyone else commenting on trade finance, Rob Barnes, CEO of TradeIX, says the market has “high-cost, high-maintenance, time-consuming […]

Build your own app with TCS Bancs kit

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has unveiled its Bancs app development kit (ADK) to let banks design and build their own apps. The firm says the ADK enables financial institutions to build their digital offerings without the need for mobile development skills. The ADK comes with its own array of widgets, controls and components; and the […]

Mizuho goes open banking on IBM cloud

Mizuho Bank has opted for a suite of IBM services to power its open banking ambitions in Japan. The bank will use IBM’s FinTech API solution, API Connect on the IBM Cloud and IBM DataPower Gateway. The shift to API banking is a common theme for many in fintech at present. According to IBM, the […]

How do you stop AI from taking over the world? Make it neurotic of course

For those worried about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over the world, the University of California has got your back with an idea to make robots neurotic to stop them getting too cocky, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). One of the concerns which has been raised through the implementation of AI, and also the advancement […]