Innovation


New mobile bank Pepper goes interactive with Playbuzz

Bank Leumi’s new mobile banking subsidiary, Pepper, is working with digital authoring platform Playbuzz “to enhance user experience and engagement through personalised content”. Content created with Playbuzz’s suite of interactive formats, such as polls, quizzes and flip cards, will be embedded into Pepper’s banking app (to be launched in Q1 2017).

Japan Exchange Group unveils blockchain consortium

Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Osaka Exchange OSE) and Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) will form a blockchain consortium of Japanese financial institutions. All three are part of Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and will continue to conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) testing based on past findings and discuss the possibility of applying blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) […]

UK Royal Mint goes for blockchain gold

The UK’s Royal Mint will issue Royal Mint Gold (RMG) in mid-2017, a blockchain based digital record of ownership for gold stored at its bullion vault storage facility. CME Group, a derivatives marketplace, will develop, implement and operate the product’s digital trading platform which will see gold traded on an exchange using blockchain. The Royal […]

Sweden to launch fintech hub

Stockholm Fintech Hub – an independent not-for-profit innovation hub – will open its doors in Q1 2017. Its aim is to promote and accelerate the development of fintech, insurtech and regtech start-ups.

Case study: KeyBank – treasure the moment

Treasury professionals are finally adopting mobile cash management, says Melissa Zajac, vice-president and senior product manager, Key Total Treasury, KeyBank’s corporate online channel. Slowly but steadily. So what are the best practices?

New strategy to make UK payments fit for 21st century

Payments Strategy Forum, the first industry-wide initiative of its kind in the UK, has unveiled a new strategy for the country’s payments industry. The Forum was created by the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in March 2015 and is tasked with planning the future of the payments sector. Last year, the current UK payment systems […]

EY Switzerland first advisory firm to accept Bitcoin

EY Switzerland says it will become the first consulting firm to accept Bitcoin for its services. The company says from January 2017 it will be possible to pay invoices from EY Switzerland in Bitcoin. Employees will receive a digital wallet; and a Bitcoin ATM will be put into operation in its main building in Zurich […]

It’s time to talk ATM 2.0

The ATM is one of the most recognised and trusted pieces of technology on the high-street, but as it too has come under pressure from the wave of digitalisation sweeping almost every aspect of our everyday lives. The humble ATM is no longer a single physical touch point…

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority calls for regulatory sandbox applicants

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is calling for the second group of applicants to its regulatory sandbox. As Banking Technology reported last year, 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 competition […]

APIs: open for business

No longer are the mid-tier banks doomed to be extinct! The arrival of open application programming interfaces (APIs) will enable them not just to survive but to prosper, states Chris Truce, director of platform development at Saxo Bank.

Infographics: the fintech landscape

It’s infographics time! A great compilation of fintech companies, showing how we’ve gone from graph paper to personal data algorithms – and everything in between.

Start-ups assemble for Startupbootcamp FinTech London demo day

Startupbootcamp FinTech London will host its Demo Day on 1 December for the third year with ten firms lined up for action. The ten companies taking the stage will showcase their fintech, ranging from SME banking, regtech, chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain. Francisco Lorca, MD of Startupbootcamp FinTech London, says the variety of the […]

Streamlining payments industry in Africa

The economy of the future will need a vastly different platform for making payments. Consumers and corporations will need access to easier, faster and flexible platforms. I have entered the market with the bold objective of bringing to South Africa and Africa, the revolutions underway in global payments infrastructure – and the necessity of re-design to keep up with the “payments Joneses”.

Apple gets Siri-ous with patent payment plans

Apple could be adding Siri’s functionality into its iMessage service for P2P payment transactions, according to a recent patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent says that “one or more of the participant users can select to utilise a virtual assistant to assist the participant users with tasks during the communication […]

Barclays UK launches first contactless cash service

Barclays is launching the UK’s “first” contactless mobile cash service. Customers can withdraw up to £100 in-branch, with a tap of their Android smartphone or contactless debit card. Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK, says its customers “now expect to be able to use their smartphone to make their everyday purchases” and “we want taking […]

Leumi Card behaves with biometric mobile app

Israel-based Bank Leumi’s credit card subsidiary, Leumi Card, will launch a “first-of-its-kind” integration of a mobile security product based on behavioural biometrics. Using Israeli start-up SecuredTouch’s solution embedded in the Leumi Card app, it will eliminate the need for passwords. SecuredTouch’s technology allows user identification based on a “unique” personal usage profile within the mobile […]

HSBC gives the finger to UK account access

HSBC business customers in the UK can now use Touch ID fingerprint technology to access their account and balance information through the HSBCnet mobile app. The feature uses a recognised fingerprint instead of passwords. It is now available for UK businesses using the app, before the service is expanded to include business internet banking mobile […]

Goldman Sachs leaves R3 blockchain consortium

Goldman Sachs has dropped out of the R3 blockchain consortium, according to the Wall Street Journal. The bank was one of nine original members of R3, but let its membership lapse. A spokeswoman for Goldman Sachs told the Wall Street Journal that it will continue to work with blockchain. No other details were forthcoming. As […]

Creating a hyperconnected corporate bank of the future

Banks are not competing with banks anymore, but against the ubiquitous, all pervading unified digital experience, which is driving the adoption of digital across the corporate banking value chain. Fintechs are a great example of how innovations in digital can deliver speed to market, a superior customer experience and better pricing.

Bunq and Veridium join hands for mobile banking biometrics

Dutch mobile-only challenger bank Bunq is using Veridium’s hand recognition software for its new app. The app will now use VeridiumID and its software, 4 Fingers TouchlessID. With their collaboration, Veridium and Bunq say this is a “world first” for “safe” mobile banking. Todd Shollenbarger, COO of Veridium, calls Bunq’s banking platform a “market disruptor”. […]

Top fintech stories this week – 18 November 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! FNZ to build new BPO centre EXCLUSIVE. For Société Générale’s private banking business Mizuho Bank gears up for new core banking system go-live Keen to modernise after large-scale system failures in 2011. Big three explore blockchain for consumer […]

Société Générale and Oberthur reveal new card trick

Société Générale and Oberthur Technologies (OT) have teamed up to launch a new form of three-digital codes for improved card security. Following “successful” testing among more than 500 people, the solution – called OT Motion Code – replaces the three-digit security code usually printed on the back of the card with a mini-screen displaying a […]

European Commission launches fintech task force

The European Commission (EC) has set up a fintech task force as it looks to boost innovation in the region. Called the Financial Technology Task Force (FTTF), it brings together services responsible for financial regulation and for the “digital single market”, along with others dealing with competition and consumer protection policy. FTTF will be co-chaired […]

Wells Fargo turns to SigFig for robo-advisory tech

SigFig, a San Francisco-based fintech start-up, is partnering with Wells Fargo to provide the bank’s clients with its robo-advisory tech and wealth management tools. A pilot version will be rolled out in H1 2017.