International Islamic Bank live with new core banking system
International Islamic Bank (IIB), a greenfield bank in Iraq, has gone live with the ICS Banks core banking system from regional developer ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS).
Start-up
WorldFirst’s multi-currency platform puts UK SMEs world in their hands
WorldFirst, an international payments business, has unveiled its new World Account platform for UK corporate customers, providing a range of international banking services to SMEs trading overseas who find it difficult to access through traditional banks.
ITF to become “the world’s first fintech bank”
A new bank, Into the Future (ITF), is gearing up for launch in Hong Kong and Singapore. Among its investors is Jim Rogers, an American businessman based in Singapore and the co-founder of the Quantum Group of Funds (which he started with George Soros).
Stash reveals plans to launch mobile-first banking service
Mobile-first investment platform Stash is about to go mobile-first in the field of online banking. The New York-based start-up plans to offer a variety of banking services for mobile-centric customers.
Fintech funding round-up: 19 October 2017
Three of the latest stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features Paykey, Digital Asset, Santander InnoVentures and ePesos.
Interview: Fabian Vandenreydt, B-Hive
In an exclusive interview with Daily News at Sibos, Fabian Vandenreydt, executive chairman of collaborative innovation platform B-Hive, explains what it’s doing for creativity and how it will form a separate company for scale-ups.
Open Banking brings increased revenue to those who can collaborate
With new banking reform on the horizon, Amit Dua, president of Suntec Business Solutions, assesses why customers will improve their financial and life circumstances if heritage banks and young fintech firms find a way to combine their strengths.
Challenger bank BFC edges towards 2018 launch
BFC Bank, a subsidiary of the Bahrain Financing Company money transfer group, has completed its mobilisation process and is preparing for a launch in early 2018. As reported last year, BFC received authorisation from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). After an initial “soft launch” for selected companies (such as SMEs […]
NEFCU launches Google Home banking app with Conversation.one
Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union (NEFCU), a 200,000-member institution in Long Island, US, has launched its Google Home Action and Google Assistant app. The solution is based on the Conversation.one platform.
Infographic: demystifying the cross-border remittances ecosystem
With a large chunk of the global workforce migrating to foreign countries in search of lucrative career opportunities or better living, the World Bank estimates that migrants will send up to $636 billion home in 2017, with three-quarters of that being remitted to developing countries. In 2015, $440 billion in remittances was sent back to […]
Commerce platform Omnyway raises $12.75m in Series A funding
In a round led by Nyca, CommerzVentures, and CEFIF, augmented digital commerce platform Omnyway has raised $12.75 million in new funding, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). The Series A will give Omnyway (formerly Omnypay) the ability to launch new services, expand operations, and add to its customer base both in the […]
Fintech funding round-up: 13 October 2017
Mongolia gets a mention in this concise fintech funding round-up. Features OakNorth Bank, AND Global and TransFICC. UK challenger OakNorth Bank has secured £154 million investment as it looks to lend a further £1.5 billion to businesses in the country in 2018, and then attempt to move on globally. The funding came from the Clermont […]
Top fintech stories this week – 13 October 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
P2Binvestor launches lending programme for banks
Colorado-based P2Binvestor (P2Bi), a marketplace lending platform, has unveiled its bank partnership programme to let organisations access capital. Krista Morgan, CEO of P2Binvestor, says it’s “enabling banks to lend to businesses they otherwise wouldn’t be able to due to strict lending standards”. P2Bi’s strategy is to “build a lending relationship with banks at an earlier […]
Venture into Accenture’s fintech innovation adventure centre
Fintech start-ups are being invited to apply to Accenture’s sixth FinTech Innovation Lab London, a three-month programme offering mentoring and the chance to accelerate business development. Accenture says this year’s lab has introduced a new stream to help regtech start-ups, because banks are “being compelled to open up their customer data and ensure this data […]
Cloud security start-up ShiftLeft de-stealths
Eyes right. US start-up ShiftLeft has emerged from stealth and wants to shift enterprise cloud security strategy from reactive to preventative. Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that ShiftLeft is an alternative to finding vulnerabilities and attacks as they crop up and defending against them. Instead, ShiftLeft’s service scans application and microservices source […]
Alibaba sets aside $15bn R&D war chest to be a world beater
How do you try and become one of the biggest and most influential technology companies in the world? Just move the $15 billion you have stashed away into the R&D business.
Ayondo pursues IPO after reverse takeover deal lapses
Social trading company Ayondo has announced that, despite an earlier reverse takeover bid falling through, it is determined to become the first fintech company to IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).
Ovamba and Microsoft team for first African language driven chatbot
Fintech firm Ovamba says it is working with Microsoft to create “the first African language driven chatbot designed to serve the millions of African SMEs who face exclusion from financial services due to the challenges of functional and business literacy”.
Microsoft Ventures seeks AI-merican Idol
Microsoft Ventures has partnered with Madrona Venture Group to launch their Innovate.AI global start-up competition as they seek out machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) firms. Madrona says the convergence of cloud computing, specialised chips for machine learning and new advances in algorithms has created a “unique opportunity for start-ups to build high value intelligent […]
La Caisse and Desjardins Group launch fintech and AI in finance fund
Canada’s La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Desjardins Group have set up an investment fund dedicated solely to the fintech sector and to artificial intelligence (AI) applied to finance.
Bill.com discloses September investment round, doubles total funding
Business payments network Bill.com has updated the news regarding the $100 million in funding it landed last month. The round was lead by JP Morgan Chase and Temasek.
Payments round-up: 10 October 2017
Payment services are all the rage this week, here’s a rundown with this week’s round-up. Featuring Paynear, GoSwiff, BBVA, Omnia Pay and Huawei.
Circle centres itself for digitally connected wallets
Payments services provider has introduced Centre, an open source project built on blockchain and designed to connect multiple digital wallets to process money transactions.
Peer Mountain aims high with data trust solution launch
Luxembourg-headquartered start-up Peer Mountain has unveiled a peer-to-peer self-sovereign identity, compliance and commerce delivery solution as it seeks to exploit the Equifax data breach episode. The firm says it gives users control of their data across blockchain. Consumers can choose who can access the data without the need for third party involvement. Peer Mountain says […]
Around Fintech in 8 Hours – new online course launched by CFTE
Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has launched a fintech foundation course – Around Fintech in 8 Hours – “designed to give professionals working in the finance industry a solid understanding of how technology is redefining the provision of financial services”.
Innovate Finance contest calls for fintech start-ups
Innovate Finance, a UK-based fintech membership association, is seeking start-ups for its latest Pitch360 competition. The contest is open to any start-up in the following sectors: Distributed ledger technology (DLT) Financial inclusion Cybersecurity Cross-border payments Peer-to-peer and alternative funding Regtech Personal finance management and robo-advice Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning Sandboxes The winner will […]
Nymbus unveils digital banking platform, SmartDigital
Banking software start-up Nymbus has launched its digital banking platform – SmartDigital – offering open architecture and APIs to enable financial institutions to integrate with third-party applications.
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 6 October 2017
Blockchain funding, Pubcoin blockchain rewards programme, network and technology sharing and platform test launching. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features Anryze, Leanpub, MicroMoney, Karma and Zilliqa.
NAB gets down and under to overhaul SME business loans
National Australia Bank (NAB) has unveiled a complete overhaul of its existing business standard loan form contracts that will “benefit” over 130,000 Australian business owners.
Aviva acquires majority stake in Wealthify
UK based insurer Aviva confirms that it’s acquired a majority stake in robo advisor, Wealthify.
Top fintech stories this week – 6 October 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Fintech funding round-up: 5 October 2017
Four of the latest stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features SalaryFinance, Featurespace, Worldpay, Invoke Capital, ESF Capital and ThinCats.
SaaS-y Mambu powers New10’s Dutch SME lending
New10, ABN Amro’s newly launched fintech firm, has selected Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) engine to power a range of SME lending products in the Netherlands. Like many start-ups, speed is part of the sales pitch, and New10 says it aims to provide credit decisions for SMEs within 15 minutes and offers a fully digital application process. […]
Uber takes SoftBank investment and drives changes
Uber is to accept an investment of up to $1.25 billion from Japan’s SoftBank and usher in new governance rules aimed at reining in former CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick.
Credit Kudos receives FCA authorisation to shake up credit bureau market
Credit Kudos, a challenger credit bureau, has received the green light from the UK’s regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to operate as a credit reference agency.
Truphone raises $339m to fuel global expansion
What would you do with $339 million? London-based mobile operator Truphone gets to answer that question today as it closes its $339 million (£255 million) private equity round.
Crowdfunding platform OurCrowd moves into Spain
Israeli equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has furthered its global expansion by opening an office in Spain, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The company’s founder and CEO Jon Medved has identified Spain and the Iberian region as one of OurCrowd’s “priority markets” since Madrid is in the heart of Europe and a gateway […]
Curve integrates with Xero to automate expense reports
London-based startup Curve, a mobile app that enables users to spend from all their accounts with one card, is dangling a juicy carrot in front of small business owners and freelancers—it will handle their expense reports.
No excuses from Revolut after server issues
The last 24 hours for payments start-up Revolut haven’t been kind after its services went down due to a server failure. Not only was it painful for the engineers working to ensure the services are back up, but also painful to the customers who at the time couldn’t access their accounts. Revolut CEO, Nikolay Storonsky, […]
