BankingTech


Japan applies AI to market surveillance operations

Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and Japan Exchange Regulation (JPX-R) revealed that they have been reviewing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies developed by NEC Corporation and Hitachi to improve market intelligence operations.

Nordea releases new automated FX handling tool

Nordea Cash Management and Nordea Markets have launched AutoFX, an automated FX handling tool. Nordea says it is the first bank in the Nordics to offer this type of solution. AutoFX was developed in collaboration with a “large Nordic customer in the media industry”, in an effort to help modern treasury functions automate their daily […]

WIR Bank launches new payment card for SMEs in Switzerland

Switzerland-based WIR Bank has launched a new payment card for domestic SMEs, with tech provided by SIX Payment Services. It combines the existing functions of the proprietary WIRcard and internationally accepted Visa’s V PAY debit card.

Baloise to invest $50m in insurance and risk management tech start-ups

Switzerland-based insurance provider Baloise Group has forged an investment partnership with Anthemis Group, a digital financial services investment and advisory firm. Together, they will curate European and American tech start-ups developing insurance (insurtech) and risk management solutions, with a mandate is to invest CHF 50 million ($50 million).

DTCC steps up DLT trial for repo transactions

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that the proof-of-concept to improve the netting process for repo transactions using distributed ledger technology (DLT) has been successfully completed.

Bank for International Settlements issues analytical framework on DLT

The committee on payments and market infrastructures at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an international financial institution owned by central banks, has issued an analytical framework on distributed ledger technology (DLT) in payment, clearing and settlement.

First new clearing bank in 250 years enters UK market, ClearBank

As first reported by Banking Technology, there is a newcomer on the UK challenger bank scene, ClearBank. The bank has now gone on the record about its focus and strategy. ClearBank will be a bank for banks, FIs and fintechs, i.e. a clearing bank, offering customers access to UK payment systems and core banking technology to support current account capabilities.

Mobile: the banking industry’s biggest ultimatum

An app is no longer a “nice to have”. As consumers expect businesses to engage with them at the right time, in the right manner, and over the right channel, a bank’s mobile app will be a crucial first point of contact for many customers. But it’s important to remember that an app by itself is not some wonder-cure that will instantly give a financial organisation perfectly satisfied customers.

Santander employs IBM for employee digital boost

IBM’s MobileFirst for iOS apps will be used by Santander as the bank looks to revamp its digital banking services and help its employees work better. The custom-built, native apps made for iOS will be rolled out across more than 11,000 iOS devices, and will be used by Santander’s commercial network employees, including those supporting […]

Three US FIs in tech revamps

Credit Union of Southern California, Brazosport Teachers Federal Credit Union and Rosedale Federal Savings & Loan Association are undergoing tech modernisation.

Hiccup for HSBC online banking

HSBC’s online banking went down for several hours today (27 February) – with its business customers particularly affected. The bank tweeted about the issues earlier today. We're experiencing some issues with our online services, we're working to resolve this. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. — HSBC UK (@HSBC_UK) February 27, 2017 Customers trying to access […]

The Monday mindset: 27 February 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, our editor Tanya Andreasyan and deputy editor Antony Peyton look at what’s happened since they joined in February 2016. Like two Hollywood […]

Barclays’ banking takes weekend off

Customers at Barclays Bank suffered a worrying weekend due to problems with cash machines, debit cards and phone banking. At 2pm (UK time) on 25 February, Barclays become aware of the issues and advised customers to use other banks’ cash machines. The customers would probably have worked that out for themselves. Technical issues are affecting […]

Goldfields Money signs for tech overhaul with Rubik

Australia-based banking tech provider Rubik (soon to be acquired by Temenos) has signed a new client, Goldfields Money. Rubik’s CEO Iain Dunstan says one more new customer will be announced “imminently”.

Cybersecurity: computers or humans – where does the threat lie?

Digitalisation plays a key role in the fight against payment fraud. Yet Commerzbank’s cybercrime specialists in cash services show that even in this technologically advanced environment, security threats persist. Companies must take steps to ensure that human beings – as well as computers – are protected against crime.

RBS financial mess seeks digital redress

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) poor financial results have led to its CEO calling for more cost reductions and a faster digital transformation. The bank reported an operating loss before tax of £4.08 billion for 2016 and an attributable loss of £6.95 billion, which included litigation and conduct costs of £5.86 billion, restructuring costs […]

R3 turns its back on blockchain?

Is the R3 consortium going to wave goodbye to $53 million in research and abandon blockchain? In a presentation on its Corda platform, R3 says it doesn’t need “block chain”. (No space is usually used, but I don’t want to be too much of a grammar Nazi.) Credit for this spot must go to Twitter […]

Top fintech stories this week – 24 February 2017

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! IBM and Northern Trust debut blockchain for private equity Uses the Hyperledger Fabric. Visa opens new innovation centre in London It’s the latest and largest one. Digital gets a spurt with Natwest and RBS experts Every branch gets […]

Fintech funding round-up: 23 February 2017

Let’s put the fun in funding by keeping it mercifully brief. A round-up of key events. Featuring Tala, Nymbus and Monzo. US micro-loan start-up Tala (formerly InVenture), led by founder and CEO Shivani Siroya, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. The money will support its expansion plans in South Asia and Latin America. […]

Brightstarr shines for Eurobank digital workplace dream

Eurobank, Greece’s third largest bank, has selected Brightstarr’s Unily hub as its digital workplace solution for that famous fintech trinity of innovation, communication and collaboration. Sotiris Sirmakezis, group chief digital and technology officer, says: “Unily’s combination of experience design and Microsoft expertise will help ensure Eurobank provides a great user experience that will ultimately improve […]

Bank of America zooms in on Zelle for mobile banking

Bank of America has chosen the person-to-person (P2P) Zelle service within its mobile banking app as part of its digital drive. Zelle will let clients send, receive and request money, allowing them to use the existing contacts on their mobile device to transfer money to (or request money from) “almost anyone within minutes, regardless of […]

UK’s Community Savings Bank Association selects TCS Bancs core banking system

New challenger Community Savings Bank Association (CSBA) has chosen TCS Financial Services’ Bancs core banking system on the cloud for its member banks across the UK. Last year, Banking Technology was the first publication to report on CSBA joining the British banking market. The association, which is registered as a co-operative society plans to set […]

Starling Bank launches open banking hackathon

UK challenger bank Starling is to host its first hackathon, opening up its API to outside developers. According to Starling, the hackathon makes it the first UK licenced bank to launch a public API in keeping with the ambitions of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the open banking initiative. Megan Caywood, chief platform […]

APRA’s EFS Form Review consultation: first stage of a long road

On 16 January 2017, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) released for public consultation its Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) Form Review. Notably, this consultation package represents a major overhaul of many of the financial and statistical returns currently prepared by the Australian authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) as well as introducing a new set of returns to be submitted. We examine what’s at stake.

Digital gets a spurt with Natwest and RBS experts

To raise awareness about online and mobile banking and help customers use digital platforms, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) say they aim to deploy a “TechXpert” at every branch in England, Scotland, and Wales. NatWest is part of the RBS group, and at 1,000 NatWest and 2,000 RBS branches, these experts will help […]

ING and Société Générale oil up on blockchain

ING and Société Générale have used blockchain to carry out a live oil trade between parties with Mercuria, the global commodity trading group. The platform, called “Easy Trading Connect”, is designed for paperless trading and aims to digitalise and standardise commodity transactions in order to “increase speed and efficiencies” in the trade process. The prototype […]

RateSetter gets Plum deal for investing

Plum, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered Facebook chatbot, has teamed with peer-to-peer investing platform RateSetter to encourage the UK to save more. Plum says its algorithm understands spending patterns, identifies income and bills and creates a unique profile for each one of its users. It calculates a small amount of money to save or invest […]

Infosys bites back over Panaya purchase allegations

Infosys is fighting back over allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower that its $200 million acquisition of Israeli firm Panaya was a big old mess. The whistleblower says in an email that Infosys’ acquisition price in February 2015 was over the odds, as the company had been valued at $162 million by Israel Growth Partners. […]

Swift’s KYC registers right notes with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

A number of banks in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have signed up to use Swift’s Know Your Customer (KYC) Registry, a centralised repository that maintains a standardised set of information about correspondent banks, funds distributors and custodians required for due diligence processes. In both deals, Swift worked with its business partner in the Central Asia region, […]

Fintech journalist thrilled to receive glossy brochure

A fintech journalist has reached the pinnacle of his career after being given a glossy brochure at the conference “Blockchain and Brexit – tenuously linked over four days”. Jaded hack and scarecrow impersonator Eugene Egmont, reporter at Flabbergasted by Fintech, approached a firm’s stand at the event with good intentions – a quick and lively […]

Valiant Bank chooses Backbase for digital banking overhaul

Switzerland’s Valiant Bank has selected the Backbase Omnichannel Banking Platform for its banking systems upgrade. The platform will help the bank drive “customer engagement” and “increase manageability across its different channels”. Matthias Häfner, head of digital banking at Valiant, says it chose Backbase “due to its expertise in providing a single omnichannel platform, which will […]

Nasdaq revamps Borse Dubai market tech

Nasdaq and Borse Dubai have signed a new infrastructure agreement for Dubai’s stock exchanges, Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and Nasdaq Dubai, to improve post-trade practices. Under the agreement with Borse Dubai, the parent company of DFM, Nasdaq will deliver a new INET-powered, multi-asset trading technology engine (Nasdaq matching engine), a cash equities clearing module (Nasdaq […]

Accenture in German digital and US innovation drives

Accenture will acquire German digital agency SinnerSchrader to boost its Accenture Interactive services in the country. Also, the company plans to launch ten new innovation hubs in the US in the next three years. Accenture has agreed to purchase a 62% majority of SinnerSchrader shares from co-founder and CEO Matthias Schrader, CFO Thomas Dyckhoff, and […]

Europe and Asia fuel Temenos earnings rise

Banking software vendor Temenos has reported total software licensing growth of 21% and earnings growth of 20% in its full year 2016 results. The vendor is in a vivacious mood, saying it saw growth across all geographies, with Europe and Asia “particularly strong”. Non-IFRS total software licensing revenues in FY 16 were $256.2 million. Total […]