Ruby Hill Microfinance opts for Abacus core banking system
A new microfinance entity in Myanmar, Ruby Hill Microfinance, has signed for the Abacus core banking system, provided by Fern Software.
Worldwide
CRS: the end of tax evasion?
Tax evasion and tax fraud have been affecting governments finances all over the world over the decades. It occurs within a country and across countries. Thus, a single country cannot solve the problem on its own. Countries need to work more together and internationally to combat the problem home and abroad.
Financial Stability Board muses implications from fintech
Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, has issued a report analysing the potential financial stability implications from fintech.
PFS deal to provide Moneymailme users with prepaid cards
Users of Moneymailme will have the option of using physical and virtual prepaid cards to make purchases with the funds in their e-wallets. The new feature, announced June 28 at the Money 20/20 Europe conference, is the result of a partnership between the London-based social money transfer provider Moneymailme and Prepaid Financial Services, a U.K.-based payments technology provider.
P2P Is Gaining Steam, but Security Concerns Remain
Consumers prefer to use P2P payments for retail purchases, paying back relatives and friends, and settling bills—but not so much for contributing to group gifts or paying housing costs, according to a new report from NerdWallet. It also found that that while only 35 percent of U.S. consumers use such P2P products as Venmo, PayPal and Square Cash, 63 percent are interested in the payment technology.
Investment Roundup: Visa Buys Stake in Klarna; Revolut, Tango Land Financing
Investors continue to show strong interest in fintech-based payments services providers, as Visa acquires an equity share in fast-growing Swedish e-commerce specialist Klarna, and startups Revolut and Tango Card land significant financing rounds.
Six Key Themes from Money20/20 Europe
After a frantic few days in Copenhagen for Money20/20 Europe, Paul Butterworth, strategic marketing director at Trustonic, used the time during his flight home to digest the discussions and presentations and come up with the key takeaways from the fintech event.
Money20/20 Europe: a finale for financial inclusion
For the finale of the final day of Money20/20 Europe, financial inclusion was discussed with resolute optimism for a bright future.
People on the move: Jean Douchey, i2c Inc
Payments processor i2c Inc. has appointed Jean Douchey as senior vice president of operations.
Company on the Move: Cardtek, OSPT Alliance
Payment solutions provider Cardtek has joined the OSPT Alliance, a global association chartered to help the transit, mobile and loyalty markets move toward an open infrastructure for fare collections.
People on the Move: Carlos Solari, Comodo
Comodo, a global developer of cybersecurity solutions and digital certificates, has hired Carlos Solari as vice president of cyber security services.
Company on the Move: Digiliti Money, Russell Microcap Index
Mobile fintech provider Digiliti Money Inc. has joined the Russell Microcap Index.
People on the Move: Mallory Duncan, National Retail Federation
The National Retail Federation (NRF) has announced the retirement of senior vice president and general counsel Mallory Duncan.
Company on the Move: Payworks, German Enterprise Award
Global POS services provider Payworks has received a 2017 German Enterprise Award from Worldwide Business Review.
Company on the Move: TSYS, Civic 50 List
TSYS has been recognized by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, as one of the most community-minded companies in the U.S.
TMX Group to overhaul clearing and settlement tech with TCS Bancs
Canada’s TMX Group has recruited TCS to help it renovate its clearing and settlement business technology. The Indian vendor will provide “a single, integrated technology platform” to TMX – TCS Bancs for Market Infrastructure – to replace disparate legacy systems deployed by the Canadian Depository for Securities Limited (CDS) and Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC).
ARM says we are A-OK with AI
New research commissioned by ARM has highlighted that the tide might be turning in the acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI), not only in the industry but in the wider world.
Money20/20 Europe: regtech – from here to agility
The shift from analogues to digital – according to Michael Meyer, Middlegame Ventures, during a regtech discussion at Money20/20 Europe – a major European bank he spoke with files over 50,000 pages as part of its quarterley regulatory reporting.
Money20/20 Europe: advancing APIs to a happy place
The interest from the fintech community in APIs burns brighter than a thousand suns, but where will this technology and the spirit of open banking take us?
CFPB Snapshot: California Leads Nation in Complaints to Agency
The CFPB receives more than 20,000 complaints every month, according to Director Richard Cordray, and the bureau’s latest installment of its Monthly Complaint Report highlights consumer complaints at the state level. As of June 1, the CFPB has received more than 1.2 million complaints across the country since it began accepting them in 2011. The top three states with the most complaints are California, Florida and Texas with 159,158, 111,559 and 93,472 complaints, respectively.
Nominate your projects for Banking Technology Award!
Banking Technology is on the lookout for all the best FinTech projects of the year! Recognising excellence, innovation and the use of IT in banking and financial services, the Banking Technology Awards will be taking place on 13 December in London. Think your achievements deserve a special recognition? Or know projects that do? Nominate today […]
Bank of America signs for Oracle ERP
Bank of America is rolling out Oracle’s cloud-based ERP system and financial applications for its international general ledger and broker-dealer systems.
CFPB Clamps down on Credit Repair Companies, Leadership
The CFPB on June 27 filed two complaints and proposed final judgments in federal court against four California-based credit repair companies and three individuals for “misleading consumers and charging illegal fees.”
Verizon jumps on the AI-security bandwagon
Verizon’s venture capitalist arm has started throwing its weight around the security arena, pumping cash into artificial intelligence (AI) start-up SparkCognition.
Money20/20 Europe: is banking a dead cat?
What is the future of banking? Is it a giant menu from which customers (individuals and businesses) choose who is to provide what contingent upon well-informed choice and best value. Or is it a model where banks still rule from the centre, providing customers the simplicity of a range of products through a single provider. Putting aside whether or not this highly competitive state is possible, which is the future direction of banking?
Money20/20 Europe: PSD2 Creates More Questions than Answers
On June 26, artificial intelligence captured the imagination of some at Money20/20 in Copenhagen. But during the June 27 sessions on the second day, it was like I had stepped back in time to November 2016, reported Deputy Editor Antony Peyton. Last year, at the Payments International conference in London, PSD2 left some in the payments industry confused as to where the risks and opportunities lie.
Visa invests in paytech firm and bank Klarna
Visa is investing in Klarna, a Swedish payments and banking firm, and the two firms intend “to develop a future strategic partnership”.
Payscout Launches Virtual Reality Commerce with Visa’s Help
Retail payments have taken another step into the future. Payment processor Payscout has launched a virtual reality system that employs Visa Checkout and enables consumers to examine products before ordering them for delivery to shoppers’ homes.
Flywire Snags PayPal for Cross-Border Payments
Cross-border payments and receivables specialist Flywire has added PayPal to its platform as a funding option, enabling businesses, students and patients to fund cross-border payments via PayPal accounts. PayPal now is available as a payment method for Flywire users in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and European Union, Flywire said.
Study: Americans Uneasy about Finances Provide Opportunity for Financial Service Providers
One-fourth of Americans say they have too much debt, with 96 percent of them reporting they are financially stressed, according to a survey by the Center for Financial Services Innovation to gauge Americans’ financial well-being. While those statistics are bleak, they should signal an opportunity for banks, credit unions, fintechs and other companies to provide products, services and guidance to improve consumers’ financial stability, according to Jennifer Tescher, founder and CEO of CFSI.
R3’s Corda DLT platform tested for euro commercial paper issuance
Blockchain consortium R3 (which now describes itself as an “enterprise software firm”) and four of its member banks have created a prototype solution for issuance of euro commercial paper (ECP) on R3’s Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform.
Mobile-only bank Pepper now live
Israel’s Bank Leumi has launched its new digital banking subsidiary, Pepper.
Wirecard’s New POS Suite Offers Merchants Power of Data
Wirecard AG has launched a new POS service that integrates self-learning technology to help retailers increase customer conversion, reduce attrition rates, predict future consumer behavior and link points of sale with e-commerce.
U.K. Regulator Calls for More Competition in Payments
The U.K. needs more competition in its retail payments infrastructure. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the country’s Payment Systems Regulator.
Money20/20 Europe: let AI negotiate
Are trends eclectic for artificial intelligence (AI)? Perhaps not as the fintech world is getting more imaginative and calling for the machines to negotiate on behalf of less-than-objective humans. At this morning’s (26 June) sessions at Money20/20 in Copenhagen, the themes of AI use cases in financial services and fraud were discussed.
Fintech funding round-up: 23 June 2017
For the third day in a row we present a fintech funding round-up. The previous two were here and here. Our latest report features Blockchain, Julia Computing and Mswipe Technologies. We’ll begin with a confusing company name. Blockchain (yes, really), a UK-based software platform, has raised a Series B of $40 million with Lakestar and […]
Top fintech stories this week – 23 June 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Treasury’s Walt Henderson Wins Terrence P. Maher Award
The NBPCA’s Power of Prepaid Conference kicked off in Washington, D.C., on June 22, with discussion of the prepaid industry’s most pressing challenge, regulatory uncertainty. One of the highlights of the morning sessions, however, was the presentation of the third annual Terrence P. Maher Prepaid Influencer Award to Walt Henderson, director of EFT strategy division at the U.S. Department of Treasury. Henderson has managed the Treasury’s benefits disbursement prepaid program from its inception, overseeing substantial growth and consistently high customer satisfaction.
Study: Apple Wallet Users Love Sharing Digital Coupons, Loyalty Cards
A new report indicates that retailers and brands have a powerful channel to distribute digital coupons and loyalty cards via mobile wallets: wallet users themselves. An analysis of Apple Wallet users by mobile engagement specialist Urban Airship found that every digital coupon or loyalty card a user installed on the wallet was shared to an average of 3.3 other mobile devices.
Curve Hits 50-50 Milestones; Consumer Card to Come
Curve and its all-cards-in-one Curve Mastercard and accompanying banking app apparently has struck a chord with small businesses and freelancers. More than 50,000 SMEs have signed up for the London-based startup’s program, which recorded £50 million (US$63.3 million) in user spending since the beta period began last year.
