Banking Technology May 2017 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Innovation
Philippines’ UnionBank picks IBM Cloud for app overhaul
UnionBank of the Philippines (UnionBank) has selected IBM Cloud to build, deploy, run and manage new apps for its digital customer base. Through the IBM Bluemix cloud platform and IBM API Connect, UnionBank says it can create, manage, secure and run APIs that the bank has made available internally and run them externally for consumption. […]
Humans hanging on in RBS hybrid bot plan
New York-based LivePerson has rolled out the “first financial industry hybrid bots in the world” at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), offering a service where humans and bots can team up in one conversation. With RBS continuing with branch closures and job cuts, and seeking a digital redress to a financial mess; the idea […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 3 May 2017
No need to pace yourself. Here’s a quick blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Infosys Finacle, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Adel and Blockpool. Infosys Finacle and the Commercial Bank of Qatar have completed a pilot on the “first ever” cloud-based blockchain network to process international remittances. The bank, along with its subsidiary Alternatifbank (ABank) in Turkey, […]
Paper put in place by Singapore’s simpler banking plan
Singapore is piloting a new initiative to let people apply for a bank account without needing to submit supporting documentation. The Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, Government Technology Agency and Monetary Authority of Singapore, have begun a pilot with four banks to explore simplifying online banking transactions with the use of the government’s MyInfo […]
Lessons learnt on a start-up journey
I grew up in Darwin, northern Australia and dreamt of playing hockey for my country. Today I live in Glasgow, thousands of miles away from the sunny climes of home and head up the UK operations and marketing for regtech firm Encompass.
Barclays opens Europe’s largest fintech site in London
Barclays has opened its new open innovation site, Rise London, in Shoreditch – hailed as Europe’s “largest co-working space dedicated to fintech”. Rise will be a place for start-ups, corporate clients and others to co-create new products, services and platforms. The bank also has six other innovation sites in New York, Manchester (UK), Mumbai, Cape […]
Innotribe unveils ten start-ups for Africa challenge
Innotribe, Swift’s innovation arm, has named the ten firms who will compete in its Start-up Challenge Africa. The start-ups will pitch their products in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 17 May 2017 during Swift’s African Regional Conference. Innotribe evaluated close to 100 applications received for the third edition of the Startup Challenge in Africa. The applications […]
Australia’s Mosaic to unveil “bank account on steroids”
An Australian start-up is set to launch a “bank account on steroids” by offering investment, transaction and savings accounts in one product. Called Mosaic, the bank will allow a user to invest in any asset class if they’re an active investor or be risk profiled to determine a passive fund “best suited to their situation”. […]
Podcast: five steps to reinventing insurance
In the latest InsurTech Bytes – the podcast for the future of insurance by FinTech Futures – we learn from one of the best disruption duos in insurance: Trov and Anthemis Group.
BIM, Peru’s first mobile money wallet: lessons learnt
Peruvian mobile wallet BIM, described as “the world’s first fully-interoperable national mobile money platform”, will launch new services in H2 2017. It will enable customers to pay electricity, water and telephone bills, as well as have access to micro savings and loans, and micro-insurance.
Cash cloud – AWS, Google and Azure are smashing it
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and Microsoft Azure have all reported healthy growth figures, with artificial intelligence (AI) forming the central role in the future of the platforms, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Current market leader AWS has demonstrated another quarter of exceptional growth, though it is slowing ever so slightly. Let’s be clear, […]
Payments start-ups PayKey and Blue Code win Temenos innovation final
Israeli payments start-up PayKey was voted as Temenos’ Innovation Jam winner by the attendees of the 2017 Temenos Community Forum in Lisbon. Another payments start-up, Austria-based Blue Code, was crowned the winner of the Judges Awards (the judges panel consisted of three Temenos’ senior execs, two representatives from banks and a consultancy). The prize is […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 28 April 2017
Quick steps to quick news. Hot on the heels of Wednesday’s (26 April) blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, here’s another one. Featuring Emercoin, IHS Markit, Santiment and Coinsource. “We have crossed the Rubicon, getting rid of the last instruments which affect the health of the Emercoin network. Whether this was the right step or a mistake […]
JP Morgan Chase exits R3 blockchain consortium
JP Morgan Chase has finally bid farewell to the R3 blockchain consortium as it pursues its own interests. As Banking Technology reported in November, JP Morgan was understood to be in the “leave” camp as it opted out of a fundraising effort for R3. R3 had initially planned to raise $200 million from its members […]
Temenos MarketPlace gets boost with new services and leadership
Temenos has launched open banking and Payment Services Directive (PSD2) targeted services on its MarketPlace. The aim, says the vendor, is “to facilitate the exchange of value between banks and fintech companies”. MarketPlace is “customer driven”, says Ben Robinson, group chief strategy director of Temenos – i.e. the vendor proactively seeks out solutions that customers […]
Trio tussle to win Payments Canada’s tech revamp contract
CGI, SIA and VocaLink are fighting it out to win the contract for Payments Canada’s new core clearing and settlement system. Payments Canada has invited the three suppliers to participate in a competitive procurement process for the country’s new system, called Lynx. Jan Pilbauer, executive director of modernisation and CIO at Payments Canada, says this […]
One hand clapping for TSB’s new mobile app
TSB has begun to roll out its new mobile banking app – the first service built by its new Proteo IT platform. It says the app has been built from scratch – with a new user interface. Features include access through fingerprint and one-hand navigation for the most-used transactions. It is available for both AndroidTM […]
How Fintech Startups Are Transforming Retail Banking and Finance
Sure, convenience remains vital. But to reach digitally savvy consumers—including millennials—new entrants in the payments arena will need to think socially, and be ready to chat.
Ripple’s blockchain network going places with ten new faces
Ten more financial institutions have jumped onboard Ripple’s blockchain network for cross-border payments. The new faces are MUFG, BBVA, SEB, Akbank, Axis Bank, YES Bank, SBI Remit, Cambridge Global Payments, Star One Credit Union and eZforex.com – representing a mix of banks and payment service providers (PSPs). “The world’s largest banks have been the first […]
The future of insurance is collaboration
To the outside observer the insurance industry may look very conservative with dominant global companies and local players operating in the way they have done for years and with very little interaction with their customers. But this is changing.
Interview: Oliver Hughes, Tinkoff Bank
In an exclusive interview, Oliver Hughes, CEO of Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, talks about its online financial supermarket, maintaining momentum, and how US and UK banks can be occasionally underwhelming.
Paybefore Reveals 2017 Pay Awards Winners
Paybefore announced the winners for the 2017 Pay Awards—the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the global prepaid and payments technology industry. Our expert judging panels have made their decisions. Now you can weigh in and help your favorites win the coveted Best-in-Category designation and a spot in the Pay Magazine – Awards Issue.
All go for Mizuho and IBM blockchain-powered trade finance
Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan have teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – with commercialisation edging ever forward. With the platform, Mizuho is aiming to “make it easier” for parties involved in the supply chain, including exporters, importers, shippers, insurance companies, port operators and port authorities, to “share critical […]
Certua to launch robo life insurance service in UK
UK-based start-up Certua plans to launch a robo life insurance service in Q3 of this year – with the aim to create products and services that can auto adjust based on customer need. Using open data, it will provide real-time personalisation of financial solutions, and “ongoing recommendations” for its customers. This means one insurance policy […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 26 April 2017
Here’s something brief to avoid wasting precious minutes on pernicious waffle. A blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, featuring Populous, Humaniq, BOScoin and the Winklevoss twins. In the UK, blockchain invoice and trade finance platform Populous will launch its initial coin offering (ICO) on 16 July. It is an Ethereum-based platform and uses smart contracts, XBRL data […]
Put a SocGen in it for Euronext’s new fund investment model
Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) is contributing to a new model, Euronext Fund Service, to help investments in funds for domestic and international investors. Launched by Euronext and available from 15 May 2017, this new service will enable institutional and retail investors to place subscription/redemption orders, in a “simplified and automated manner”, through their brokers […]
Swift Business Forum London 2017: Thrive or survive for UK financial services?
Despite the drama of Brexit the UK finserv industry has the “critical mass” to stay in its pole position – was one view from the Swift Business Forum London 2017. At Tobacco Dock in the East End of London, blockchain didn’t dominate like last year, but the spectre of the UK’s divorce from Europe did. […]
Executive profile: one on one with Joan Herman, Sunrise Banks
She witnessed the rise of electronic transactions and worked on the first shared ATM network card. Now this self-proclaimed pioneer woman has her sights set on prepaid and a mobile future.
Pay Magazine – Spring 2017
Paybefore’s Pay Magazine Spring 2017 issue out now.
Accenture adopts German accent for AI research
Accenture and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) have formed an alliance to make the most out of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital, will work with DFKI (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz). Accenture will get access to DFKI research results, AI tools, and its “Living Labs”. Prof. Dr. […]
2017: South Africa – blockchain fizzle or sizzle?
While the maturity of blockchain discussions and advances are at different stages of development around the world, blockchain is said to be at the height of the Gartner hype cycle. This implies that 2017 will be the year where disillusionment with the technology begins. However, 2017 may also see some real breakthroughs with its application and the emergence of pockets of the first concrete results.
Oracle shells out a Moat load of cash for online ad auditor
Oracle has continued its quest to buy its way into the cloud game with the acquisition of ad tracking company Moat for a reported $850 million.
USAmeriBank in “next generation” payment hub move
USAmeriBank (formerly Aliant Bank), a $3.8 billion bank operating in the US states of Alabama and Florida, is building a new payments hub for its domestic and international wire transfers.
Societe Generale calls for Indian fintech start-ups
Societe Generale is calling for Indian start-ups with the launch of Catalyst 2.0 – its accelerator programme to promote innovation. This is its second edition, and Societe Generale Global Solution Centre (SG GSC), an innovation hub of the banking group in India, will run Catalyst 2.0 from May to August 2017. During the ten-week programme, […]
Fintech funding round-up: 24 April 2017
The latest fintech funding round-up featuring Token, Ongo, National Bank of Canada (NBC) and a bunch of venture capitalist firms.
Game’s on for Sovcombank credit scoring
Russia-based Sovcombank hopes to attract more young people looking to get their first credit card by “gamifying” the credit application process. The project has been carried out with Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL), which developed a new survey-based credit scoring model, and FICO, which handles marketing.
Innovation spotlight: North American FIs going social
As banking continues to go digital, online innovators and niche players in North America are getting personal by adding social activities to their customer services.
Banking Technology Awards 2017 – date announced!
Save the date! 18th Annual Banking Technology Awards will take place on 6 December 2017 at the elegant Millennium Hotel London Mayfair. Visit our newly updated awards website for more info.
Payments start-up Plastc goes bust
Plastc, a US fintech start-up that created a card that could digitally hold 20 credit or debit cards, is filing for bankruptcy.
