Worldwide


Sterling Bank and Trust signs for iFinancial BankWare core system

Sterling Bank and Trust, a new bank in the Bahamas, has selected the BankWare core system from UK-based International Financial Systems’ (iFinancial). The bank will be using the multi-currency accounting, exposure management, current accounts, deposits, loans, payments, and Swift modules from the BankWare portfolio of retail and wholesale banking solutions. The bank is part of […]

HSBC to debut robo-advice investment service

HSBC is entering the robo-advice market with the launch of a new online service for wealth management advice The service will use data and algorithms and will make personal recommendations based on an individual’s circumstances. It is expected to be available by the end of the year. The bank says this will “open up wealth […]

Deloitte buys consulting firm Market Gravity

Deloitte has acquired design consultancy firm Market Gravity as it looks for a lift and the chance to moisten its creative juices. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in London with teams in New York, Edinburgh and Toronto, Market Gravity works across multiple sectors including financial services, retail, energy, telecoms and automotive. It recently helped UK-based […]

Is Loyalty the New Currency?

Earning top-of-wallet privileges from consumers requires deeper thinking about the what, when, where, why and how of loyalty rewards. But the most important ingredient is simplicity.

Want to Fight Fraud? Join the Team—Literally

All payment providers and merchants grasp the dynamic nature of fraud. But fraud prevention requires more than the latest software and security protections—it requires active collaboration. Here’s why.

Letter from the Editor: Prepping for the Year’s Biggest Industry Event

I can scarcely believe we’re approaching the halfway point of 2017. But I can’t think of a better time for the year’s biggest prepaid industry event. On June 21-23, the NBPCA will host its sixth annual Power of Prepaid conference in Washington, D.C. The business of compliance—not to mention keeping up with technology trends—is keeping everyone on their toes, but it’s vital to stop and reflect with colleagues about the state of the industry and its future. It’s also critical to actually talk to those shaping the legislation and regulations that determine the rules of the road.

People on the Move: A.J. Koehn, Urban FT

A.J. Koehn has joined Urban FT Inc., a digital payments platform provider and 2017 Pay Awards winner for Startup of the Year, as its new senior vice president of compliance and program management.

BofA Simplifies Money Management for Customers Using Third-Party Apps

Bank of America is testing a service enabling its customers who use third-party data aggregators to view their financial information in one place. BofA is testing the capability with two financial data aggregators to enable customers to securely connect data from their bank accounts to third-party money management apps.

Cisco and IBM team up to tackle cybercrime

Cisco and IBM Security have joined forces for products, services and threat intelligence as they seek to improve their market share and combat cybercrime. Cisco will integrate its security solutions with IBM’s QRadar for network, endpoint and cloud protection. IBM says this also establishes a new relationship between its IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos security […]

Visa Bolsters Transaction Security

Visa is beefing up its Verified by Visa authentication service. The payments network said it’s upgrading its back-end to support 3-D Secure 2.0. The 3-D Secure messaging protocol was invented by the network more than 15 years ago and has become an industry standard for online authentication.

Square Launches Virtual Terminal Service in U.K.

About two months after launching in the U.K., Square has introduced its Virtual Terminal service there. The technology enables merchants to accept payments through the Square dashboard, an appealing prospect for online service providers, contractors and other smaller firms that do relatively few face-to-face transactions.

Analysis: commercial cards, clear lines and communication

There is no question that the commercial card sector is growing strongly. According to Research and Markets, the US commercial card market in particular is outstripping other B2B payment types. For banks and banking services providers, this presents a huge opportunity to grow revenues while improving customer experience – a vital component in customer retention and increased lifetime value.

Podcast: the holy grail of insurance? Making a success of social media

The fintech industry is flying through the social media stratospheres at astonishing rates – we know. But how are particular sectors within it keeping up? Insurance – and its insurtech counterpart – is certainly moving ahead in leaps and bounds in some areas, but when it comes to social media, it looks like it is only just embarking on its journey now, a good five years behind banking.

People on the Move: Jeff Hibbard, Fidor

Fidor, a digital banking solutions provider, has appointed Jeff Hibbard chief product officer. Hibbard’s focus is on driving product innovation for Fidor’s operating system.

People on the Move: Shafi Shaikh, Mastercard

Mastercard has appointed Shafi Shaikh executive vice president, customer delivery, Asia-Pacific. Shaikh oversees customer support, product delivery and customer relationships.

Legacy IT is the least of a bank’s problems

A recent Reuters article explored how companies like Cobol Cowboys make a fortune helping banks who struggle to keep their legacy systems running. But in fact, the real problem is not legacy IT, that’s just a symptom of the root problem in banks… the decision makers.

Fintech funding round-up: 30 May 2017

It’s all go for money flow. Our latest fintech funding round-up, featuring NetGuardians, Banco BNI Europa, Raize and Wave. Swiss fraud prevention vendor NetGuardians has reported a Series C investment of CHF 8.5 million ($8.7 million). The investors in this round are Swisscom Ventures and Freemont Management. The financing will be used to fund NetGuardians’ […]

House Balks at Repealing Interchange Reform amid Dodd-Frank Overhaul

Retailers are claiming victory in the battle, if not the war, regarding proposed legislation that would have repealed interchange reform included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Full House set to vote on amended Financial CHOICE Act June 9.

Till left with no part in Barclaycard pocket checkout

Barclaycard has begun trialling a new payment concept that lets consumers scan and pay for their shopping using their smartphone, without the need to visit a physical checkout. Called Grab+Go, it’s the firm’s plan to turn a smartphone into a “pocket checkout”, allowing users to scan the items they want to buy as they pick […]

Lombard Risk still feeling the loss

UK-based regtech and risk management vendor Lombard Risk is still reporting losses in its latest full year results. For the period ended 31 March 2017, pre-tax loss came in at £1.6 million, an improvement on the £2.2 million from the year before. As reported in May 2016, as a result of its loss for 2015/16 […]

HSBC plots to stop rise of the technophobe

A lack of understanding and trust in technology is stalling mainstream adoption of innovative new fintech services, according to HSBC’s research. The bank’s report, “Trust in Technology”, shows that technologies such as fingerprint recognition, voice recognition and robo-advice “hold enormous potential” for uses from bank security to mobile payments and investment advice. John Flint, global […]

BitPay’s Visa-Branded Prepaid Card for Bitcoin Reaches Global Scale

BitPay, a 2017 Pay Award winner, said this week that it has released its BitPay Visa Prepaid Debit Card in 131 countries. The card “makes it possible for users to convert bitcoin into a spendable dollar, euro or pound balance” on the card in a matter of minutes, the company said.

Security Roundup: Fiserv, Intellicheck, InAuth

Retailer Target recently agreed to pay $18.5 million as part of a settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia that stems from 2013 data breach. The news is a stark reminder of how costly and prolonged the process of recovering from a breach can be, which is why security continues to be at the forefront of payments news with three companies making significant announcements this week.