FinTech


Challenger Iam Bank to launch in UK

The UK will be getting yet another challenger, with Iam Bank – calling itself the “Apple store” of banking – preparing to launch online and with branches. Iam, which is headquartered in Chicago, has unveiled its website and like many new banks is targeting millennials. It plans to roll out free learning and therapy-based financial […]

Liberty Bank goes Geezeo for digital finance revamp

Connecticut-based Liberty Bank has chosen Geezeo’s retail and business financial management solutions for more data and insights for its customers. Geezeo is a white-label personal financial management (PFM) provider for banks and credit unions in the US. The bank will use “Responsive Tiles” – which offers digital money management features that can be integrated into […]

BIM, Peru’s first mobile money wallet: lessons learnt

Peruvian mobile wallet BIM, described as “the world’s first fully-interoperable national mobile money platform”, will launch new services in H2 2017. It will enable customers to pay electricity, water and telephone bills, as well as have access to micro savings and loans, and micro-insurance.

Payments keep pushing Fiserv revenue growth

The power of payments keeps on driving revenue growth upwards for Fiserv – with some healthy Q1 2017 results. GAAP revenue for the company increased 5% in the first quarter to $1.39 billion, driven by 6% growth in its payments segment and 4% growth in its financial segment, compared to the first quarter of 2016. […]

Cash cloud – AWS, Google and Azure are smashing it

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and Microsoft Azure have all reported healthy growth figures, with artificial intelligence (AI) forming the central role in the future of the platforms, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Current market leader AWS has demonstrated another quarter of exceptional growth, though it is slowing ever so slightly. Let’s be clear, […]

Payments start-ups PayKey and Blue Code win Temenos innovation final

Israeli payments start-up PayKey was voted as Temenos’ Innovation Jam winner by the attendees of the 2017 Temenos Community Forum in Lisbon. Another payments start-up, Austria-based Blue Code, was crowned the winner of the Judges Awards (the judges panel consisted of three Temenos’ senior execs, two representatives from banks and a consultancy). The prize is […]

Lloyds, Halifax and NatWest customers hit by online banking glitch

The customers of Lloyds, Halifax and NatWest have all been affected by an online banking glitch that is preventing access to accounts and making payments disappear. The problems, which are not good at any time, have been exacerbated by the fact that today (28 April) is a payday for many in the UK, and 1 […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 28 April 2017

Quick steps to quick news. Hot on the heels of Wednesday’s (26 April) blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, here’s another one. Featuring Emercoin, IHS Markit, Santiment and Coinsource. “We have crossed the Rubicon, getting rid of the last instruments which affect the health of the Emercoin network. Whether this was the right step or a mistake […]

JP Morgan Chase exits R3 blockchain consortium

JP Morgan Chase has finally bid farewell to the R3 blockchain consortium as it pursues its own interests. As Banking Technology reported in November, JP Morgan was understood to be in the “leave” camp as it opted out of a fundraising effort for R3. R3 had initially planned to raise $200 million from its members […]

Samsung Pay lands in four more nations

Samsung Pay is expanding to four more countries – with official launches in Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it enters early access in Hong Kong and Switzerland. The launches in the UAE and Sweden are Samsung Pay’s first markets in the Middle East and the Nordics. Last month, Nordea launched the beta […]

Top fintech stories this week – 28 April 2017

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Amlak in core banking software overhaul with Temenos and NDC EXCLUSIVE. T24 will replace Silverlake Axis’ SIBS. Temenos MarketPlace gets boost with new services and leadership Targets open banking and PSD2 services. Trio tussle to win Payments Canada’s […]

Schweizerische Mobiliar Asset Management moves to Profidata Xentis

Bern-based Schweizerische Mobiliar Asset Management has implemented Profidata’s Xentis investment management system for its insurance, pensions and fund management businesses. Profidata, which is also based in Switzerland, says it was a “challenging project” to roll out the system within a time frame of 17 months. Xentis replaces various legacy applications, “makes several interfaces redundant and […]

Temenos MarketPlace gets boost with new services and leadership

Temenos has launched open banking and Payment Services Directive (PSD2) targeted services on its MarketPlace. The aim, says the vendor, is “to facilitate the exchange of value between banks and fintech companies”. MarketPlace is “customer driven”, says Ben Robinson, group chief strategy director of Temenos – i.e. the vendor proactively seeks out solutions that customers […]

Symitar edges to new record with six credit union clients

Jack Henry’s subsidiary Symitar has set a new record with the addition of six new US credit unions to its Episys core processing system in one fiscal year. All of these credit unions have more than $1 billion in assets and Symitar says getting six new relationships in one fiscal year breaks its previous record […]

Trio tussle to win Payments Canada’s tech revamp contract

CGI, SIA and VocaLink are fighting it out to win the contract for Payments Canada’s new core clearing and settlement system. Payments Canada has invited the three suppliers to participate in a competitive procurement process for the country’s new system, called Lynx. Jan Pilbauer, executive director of modernisation and CIO at Payments Canada, says this […]

Amlak in core banking software overhaul with Temenos and NDC

Saudi Arabia’s Islamic lender Amlak International has chosen Temenos’ T24 core banking system for a tech revamp. The implementation and delivery will be done by National Data Consultants (NDC), a Pakistan-based system integrator and Temenos partner in the Middle East and Asia. T24 will replace Silverlake Axis’ SIBS core banking system, which has been in […]

How to Grow Prepaid through Financial Well-Being

Prepaid providers are at a crossroads: They can create products that carry relative high fees, or craft consumer-friendly programs that promote financial health. Here’s a case for doing the latter.

One hand clapping for TSB’s new mobile app

TSB has begun to roll out its new mobile banking app – the first service built by its new Proteo IT platform. It says the app has been built from scratch – with a new user interface. Features include access through fingerprint and one-hand navigation for the most-used transactions. It is available for both AndroidTM […]

Allied Irish Banks hit with €2.3m fine for AML fails

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has been fined €2.3 million by Ireland’s central bank for compliance failures over anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing laws. AIB was reprimanded for six breaches of the law – which occurred between July 2010 and July 2014. It has admitted to these breaches. The central bank says AIB failed to […]

Ripple’s blockchain network going places with ten new faces

Ten more financial institutions have jumped onboard Ripple’s blockchain network for cross-border payments. The new faces are MUFG, BBVA, SEB, Akbank, Axis Bank, YES Bank, SBI Remit, Cambridge Global Payments, Star One Credit Union and eZforex.com – representing a mix of banks and payment service providers (PSPs). “The world’s largest banks have been the first […]

The future of insurance is collaboration

To the outside observer the insurance industry may look very conservative with dominant global companies and local players operating in the way they have done for years and with very little interaction with their customers. But this is changing.

Interview: Oliver Hughes, Tinkoff Bank

In an exclusive interview, Oliver Hughes, CEO of Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, talks about its online financial supermarket, maintaining momentum, and how US and UK banks can be occasionally underwhelming.

Prival Bank goes to the cloud with Temenos T24 core banking system

Panama-based Prival Bank is implementing a new core banking system, Temenos’ T24. It will be delivered on the Microsoft Azure cloud. Temenos says Prival Bank is its “first regulated wealth client in the cloud”. Go-live is scheduled for 2018. The contract was signed in late 2015, it is understood. T24 will support lending and deposits […]

UAE’s new largest bank to consolidate ops on Temenos T24

First Abu Dhabi Bank, the new entity created as a result of a merger between First Gulf Bank (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), is to centralise its operations on Temenos’ T24 core banking system. The new platform will support the bank’s conventional and Islamic banking operations across the board (retail, corporate, investment […]

Fintech funding round-up: 26 April 2017

They said it. We read it. We edit. Hot on the heels of Monday’s (24 April) fintech funding round-up, we have more action. Featuring Quovo, Gnosis and Indian Angel Network. New York-based Quovo, a data platform providing insights and connectivity for financial accounts, has raised $10 million in Series B funding. F-Prime Capital and Napier […]

Paybefore Reveals 2017 Pay Awards Winners

Paybefore announced the winners for the 2017 Pay Awards—the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the global prepaid and payments technology industry. Our expert judging panels have made their decisions. Now you can weigh in and help your favorites win the coveted Best-in-Category designation and a spot in the Pay Magazine – Awards Issue.

All go for Mizuho and IBM blockchain-powered trade finance

Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan have teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – with commercialisation edging ever forward. With the platform, Mizuho is aiming to “make it easier” for parties involved in the supply chain, including exporters, importers, shippers, insurance companies, port operators and port authorities, to “share critical […]

Certua to launch robo life insurance service in UK

UK-based start-up Certua plans to launch a robo life insurance service in Q3 of this year – with the aim to create products and services that can auto adjust based on customer need. Using open data, it will provide real-time personalisation of financial solutions, and “ongoing recommendations” for its customers. This means one insurance policy […]

Starling Bank taps Pay by Bank app for mobile boost

Teaming is pleasing to Starling Bank as it reveals another partnership with the use of VocaLink’s Pay by Bank mobile payment app for its customers. This development follows quickly on from the challenger bank cosying up with Moneybox to give its customers access to a suite of saving and investing tools. In fact, it was […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 26 April 2017

Here’s something brief to avoid wasting precious minutes on pernicious waffle. A blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, featuring Populous, Humaniq, BOScoin and the Winklevoss twins. In the UK, blockchain invoice and trade finance platform Populous will launch its initial coin offering (ICO) on 16 July. It is an Ethereum-based platform and uses smart contracts, XBRL data […]

Put a SocGen in it for Euronext’s new fund investment model

Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) is contributing to a new model, Euronext Fund Service, to help investments in funds for domestic and international investors. Launched by Euronext and available from 15 May 2017, this new service will enable institutional and retail investors to place subscription/redemption orders, in a “simplified and automated manner”, through their brokers […]

Myanmar’s First Private Bank in tech revamp with Misys

Myanmar’s First Private Bank (FPB) has chosen the Misys FusionBanking Essence core banking system for a major tech revamp. The bank, which received the first banking licence in Myanmar in 1992, will upgrade its retail, corporate and digital offerings. FusionBanking will replace the bank’s “partially computerised distributed branch system”. Dr Sein Maung, chairman at FPB, […]

Swift Business Forum London 2017: Thrive or survive for UK financial services?

Despite the drama of Brexit the UK finserv industry has the “critical mass” to stay in its pole position – was one view from the Swift Business Forum London 2017. At Tobacco Dock in the East End of London, blockchain didn’t dominate like last year, but the spectre of the UK’s divorce from Europe did. […]

BBVA buys Mexican payments start-up Openpay

BBVA Bancomer, a fully owned subsidiary of BBVA, has acquired Mexico-based payments start-up Openpay to tap into its network of more than 15,000 payment reception points across the country. Openpay offers a platform for physical and electronic payments for businesses via its real-time Paynet network. According to BBVA, the start-up manages more than one million […]

Swift launches blockchain proof of concept

Swift has launched a proof of concept (PoC) to explore whether blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used by banks to improve the reconciliation of their nostro databases in real time. Under the current correspondent banking model, Swift says banks need to monitor the funds in their overseas accounts via debit and credit updates and […]

Accenture adopts German accent for AI research

Accenture and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) have formed an alliance to make the most out of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital, will work with DFKI (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz). Accenture will get access to DFKI research results, AI tools, and its “Living Labs”. Prof. Dr. […]