FinTech


Banking Technology September 2017 issue out now

Welcome to fintech central! Good service operating on all lines. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

NextLabs and NIST team for access rights management framework in financial services

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Department of Commerce promoting innovation and industrial competitiveness, and cybersecurity tech specialist NextLabs have partnered to develop a framework for implementing and administering access rights management (ARM) in the financial services sector.

Bambu wins strategic investment from Franklin Templeton

Singapore-based B2B robo-advisor Bambu has completed a funding round, featuring a strategic investment from Franklin Templeton Investments and venture capital funding from Wavemaker Partners, part of the Draper Venture Network.

E-book: Top 5 challenges of digital transformation and how to tackle them

Get practical advice for overcoming the top 5 challenges of digital transformation, revealed by research in over 1000 enterprises around the globe. Are you struggling with inflexible legacy technologies? Or a lack of collaboration between business and IT teams? You’ll find the answers here. Download your copy of the Bizagi e-book to see: The 5 most […]

Banks, are you a passive data donor or a proactive data seeker?

With the arrival of new regulations, there are two main options for banks: they can choose to become either “data donors” or “data seekers”. These two positions imply opposite approaches to the new banking market that is in prospect, and sharply contrasting mentalities.

Wells Fargo fake bank account scam gets bigger

The scandal of employees at Wells Fargo creating 2.1 million fake bank accounts and credit card numbers to boost sales figures has just got bigger. After an expanded third-party review of retail banking accounts dating back to the beginning of 2009, Wells Fargo reveals that the number is in fact 3.5 million accounts. As reported […]

Artificial intelligence round-up: 31 August 2017

Where’s the humanity? Well, not here as this is an artificial intelligence (AI) round-up. Features Royal Bank of Canada, Emirates NBD, and the ten greatest threats to mankind. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has announced a pilot launch of two digital services based on AI that offer insights about client’s financials and an automated savings […]

Six new banks join UBS-led utility settlement coin plan

The UBS-led effort to create a digital cash model for payments and settlement on blockchain has got six new banks onboard, according to the Financial Times. As Banking Technology reported in August last year, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, ICAP and Santander joined UBS and Clearmatics to advance their utility settlement coin (USC) concept, and plan […]

Fintech: beware the fake news

In every aspect of life, sentiment overshoots. We overbuy and oversell securities. The political pendulum swings from left to right. Shops run out of ultra-fashionable goods only to heavily discount excess stock a couple months later. Ben Robinson, chief strategy officer at Temenos, explains how this is not a new phenomenon, but has got worse […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 31 August 2017

Audio ambitions, accelerators and an association. It’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Anryze, Starta Accelerator and the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Anryze, which provides a blockchain platform designed for speech recognition and analysis, has announced it will hold a token sale to develop its product and expand into new markets. The […]

Top 5 Best Challenger Banks: Fidor Bank

Our final spotlight article for our Top 5 Best Challenger Banks list is the only actual bank in the bunch. See how Germany-based Fidor Bank stacks up against the high street banks and its nonbank competitors.

Japanese start-ups fire up in force

The land of the rising sun is seeing a rising number of start-ups power up as they hunt for fintech glory. According to Nikkei Asian Review, 46 tech companies have gone public in Japan so far in 2017, with the full-year total seen reaching 80 to 90. The highest tally in the last decade was […]

Fintech firms unrelated to acquisition offer running commentary

For reasons that probably lie in the lack of a marketing and sales budget, the acquisition of payments provider Bantam Banana (don’t ask) by fintech behemoth Moby Trick (founded by Merman Helville) has prompted a flurry of comments from companies that have sweet F.A. to do with the event. Financial terms of the acquisition were […]

Avoka reports record growth for second consecutive year

Australia-based digital banking software vendor Avoka is celebrating its second year in a row of topping expectations. The company has experienced big gains in order numbers (79% overall, 67% new business), opened a new office in Frankfurt, Germany, and launched a new solution to help FIs build and implement their visions for an omnichannel experience, reports […]

Baxter Credit Union takes Temenos’ Lifecycle Management Suite to the cloud

Baxter Credit Union (BCU) has become the first taker of Temenos’ Lifecycle Management Suite in the cloud. The Illinois-based credit union is now live with the system delivered in the Microsoft Azure cloud. The functionality includes collection, service and loan origination. The project, which was completed in four months, also incorporated an upgrade spanning four […]

ERI and Swisscom team for hosted core banking tech and ops

Switzerland-based core banking software provider ERI has joined forces with another domestic IT firm Swisscom to offer private-banking and wealth management outsourcing services to banks and financial institutions operating in the Swiss financial centres.

Alexa gets into bed with Cortana

Amazon and Microsoft have announced their previously competing voice-driven artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are now an item, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The world can be a lonely place for virtual assistants. All the company they have are demanding millennials constantly asking what their latest email is or a retiree wondering what the weather […]

Eftpos Australia launches new settlement service

Eftpos Australia, the nation’s most widely used debit card payments system, has unveiled its new eftpos Settlement Service (eSS). According to Eftpos, eSS enables the centralised settlement of CHQ (cheque) and SAV (savings) transactions processed via the Eftpos Hub. Paul Jennings, Eftpos acting CEO, says the implementation took 18 months and with all members now […]

Google chases down Apple with ARCore launch

Google has responded strongly to Apple’s front-running approach to augmented reality (AR) with the launch of a new AR platform, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). ARCore is the Android equivalent to the Apple ARKit; in short, an AR reality platform for developers. It’s not the first time Google has had a crack at the […]

Ping is king for Open Banking’s UK framework

Open Banking, the implementation entity set up by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has chosen Ping Identity to provide the identity and access management (IAM) technology to underpin its UK framework. Ping’s IAM solution suite, the Ping Identity Platform, will provide the hub for Open Banking, where all UK banks and financial services […]

Get your Bacs up with Direct Debit feedback

UK payments system Bacs is asking for public feedback on how to improve the nation’s Direct Debit product. Bacs says usage is at an “all-time high” and lavishes praise on it. What a surprise. However, its 2016 consultation identified where it might be able to make improvements and “any changes will need to be carefully […]

Apple and Accenture announce alluring alliance

Apple and Accenture have jumped into bed with each other to create a new digital agency which will help customers design business solutions for iOS, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). It’s a relatively simple idea; the digital economy is growing and people want to make money off it, but they don’t know how. In […]

Webinar: Lessons learned from the first year of CRS reporting obligations

Financial institutions face unprecedented data management and compliance challenges as they continue to grapple with multiplying CRS and FATCA (AEOI) related global tax transparency regulations. A year on from our first FATCA and CRS survey, Thomson Reuters and Banking Technology joined forces to survey the industry – to assess the challenges faced by financial institutions […]

Digiliti Money rejects Urban FT offer

Prospective buyer Urban FT, which first announced its desire to acquire mobile app technology company Digiliti Money (DGLT) on 16 August, reports that its revised offer for the company has been rebuffed. DGLT has been silent since 14 August when it announced the delay of its second-quarter earnings report, pending an internal investigation and floating […]

Bahrain’s fintech sandbox fires up with dynamic duo

Anything UAE can do, we can do better. No you can’t, yes we can. The UAE has got some competition as the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has welcomed the first members to its new regulatory sandbox – mobile banking firm Now Money and finserv provider Tramonex. As reported in June, CBB announced new regulations […]

Europe’s pan-industry e-identity platform preps for launch

A joint European pan-industry platform for online registration, e-identity and data services is readying for launch at the turn of the year with new partners on board. As reported in May, Deutsche Bank and a variety of German and European companies teamed up for the plan to “make online registration simpler and more secure for […]

Singapore’s Payments Council seeks road to common QR code

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) new Payments Council plans to set up interoperable electronic payments and has unveiled a taskforce to develop a common QR code for the city-state. As reported earlier this month, the Council launched and comprises 20 people from banks, payment service providers, businesses, and trade associations. MAS says the setting […]

Five solutions for the challenges women face in tech today

In the most recent InsurTech Bytes podcast, Sarah Greasley, CTO, Direct Line Group, opened up about her experience as a woman in fintech, the challenges and the solutions. FinTech Futures (Banking Technology’s sister company) uncovered the solutions for five of the key hurdles in her career. 1: Entrepreneurship and empowering risk taking Challenge: From a […]

Dubai and Hong Kong hug for fintech innovation

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong have entered an agreement to establish a framework of co-operation for fintech innovation. Both authorities will share information on developments and the agreement “also intends to encourage both regulators to refer innovative firms to one another’s markets and to […]

Klarna celebrates year-over-year sales, profit gains

Klarna is having quite a summer. It reported sales and profit results for the first half of 2017 that represented gains of 21% and 138%, respectively, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). The strong financials come amid a series of headlines that show the Swedish payments company making strides on a number of fronts. This includes […]

UK challenger Redwood Bank launches

Redwood Bank, a new UK-based SME challenger, has launched four months after securing its banking licence. The bank is now offering secured SME mortgages for business owners, as well as for “experienced” commercial and residential property investors. It has also launched a business deposit account. As reported in April, Redwood entered its mobilisation phase and […]