Top five banking tech case studies in 2016
Our pick of banking tech and fintech case studies – published by Banking Technology in 2016.
FinTech
FCA green lights cloud technologies
We are constantly connected to the cloud (iPhone, DropBox, Google Drive just to name a few) and yet, in financial services, the adoption has been tremendously slow. In part, this is due to a lack of guidance from regulators, especially where cloud-based regulation technology is concerned. But finally there is forward progress.
Hungary’s central bank endorses instant payment infrastructure plans
Hungary’s central bank and regulator, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), is bringing a new instant payments system to the country. It will require “state-of-the-art IT and communication solutions in payments”.
Varo Money to launch bot and money coach, Val
Mobile banking app Varo Money is brining to market a chatbot and “money coach”, Val. Val is powered by Kasisto’s KAI Banking bot and “delivers insights into spending, savings, borrowing and helps people set goals as well as offer updates and encouragement about their progress”.
Italian banks set up cybersecurity response team, Certfin
The Bank of Italy, the Italian Banking Association and the ABI Lab Consortium have signed an agreement to set up Certfin – “a highly specialised Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for Italy’s financial sector”.
Fintech funding round-up: 20 December 2016
Because you’ve all been so good this year, here’s a fintech funding round-up to save you time… so you can eat and drink more over Christmas. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and a group of other financial institutions including ICAP’s venture arm are finalising an investment in blockchain start-up Axoni, according to Reuters. New York-based […]
“Game changer” Jargon Bank launches in UK
Jargon Bank has launched in the UK offering “compelling and innovative” products that have left journalists diving for cover… usually to the nearest pubs. In a press release, that ideally shouldn’t have been sent, the hipster-friendly bank decided that wishy-washy and generic statements would somehow garner the respect of fintech publications across the world. Serial […]
Credit card firm MBNA sold to Lloyds for £1.9bn
Credit card firm MBNA is to be taken over by Lloyds. The firm’s current owner, Bank of America, has agreed to sell it for £1.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in H1 2017.
Euroclear and Paxos pilot blockchain gold settlement
Central securities depositary Euroclear and blockchain firm Paxos have completed the first pilot for Euroclear Bankchain, a new blockchain settlement service for London bullion due to go live in 2017. Over 600 OTC test bullion trades were settled on the Euroclear Bankchain platform over the course of the two-week pilot. Angus Scott, director, product strategy […]
Barclaycard breakthrough boosts UK boozer business
Pay @ Pump is a self-service beer pump that you can pay for contactlessly with your phone, enabling punters to get drunk more quickly than ever before, reports Scott Bicheno at Telecoms.com. The innovation was inspired by Barclaycard’s empathy for UK boozers who often have to wait for minutes for their next fix of lovely, […]
WorldRemit and Xpress Money launch instant money transfers to Pakistan
Money transfer firms WorldRemit and Xpress Money have partnered to unveil a remittance service to Pakistan. Through Xpress Money’s agent partner network, WorldRemit customers will be able to make instant money transfers to be collected at over 9,500 cash pick-up locations all over the country – including major banks, Al Habib Bank, Bank Alfalah, Bank […]
Why the Uberisation of the banking industry can’t come soon enough
Building emotional bonds with customers is a strategic imperative, and why the change programmes currently being undertaken at banks need to recognise the hidden lessons of Uber.
Challenger bank: Starling – purple reigns
UK challenger bank Starling talks about finding its niche and how it intends to prosper in an increasingly competitive space – all in preparation for its 2017 launch.
US core banking systems round-up: 19 December 2016
Get straight to the core of US core banking systems projects with this brief round-up. Oklahoma-based Green Country Federal Credit Union has selected Fiserv’s Portico core account processing platform for digital and mobile banking, and functionality for commercial lending. Green Country is transferring its technology from an array of providers to Fiserv, and the latter […]
Fidor teams with Token for digital payments
Token, a Silicon Valley-based crypto-payment software provider, and digital bank Fidor have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for digital payments. The MoU will see Token’s software made available within Fidor OS, its digital banking and open community middleware solution. Steve Kirsch, founder and CEO of Token, says its software enables banks to “call the […]
ICAP looks to blockchain for FX trades
ICAP, a UK-based financial services firm, is jumping on the bandwagon and getting ready to process foreign exchange (FX) trades on blockchain, according to the Financial Times. As Banking Technology reported earlier this year, ICAP’s post trade risk and information division completed a proof of technology test case for blockchain – so its interest is […]
ABN Amro pilots blockchain in commercial real estate
Amsterdam-based ABN Amro Bank has launched a pilot to explore how its blockchain application Torch can be used in real estate transactions to record and exchange information. The bank says real estate transactions involve numerous parties, such as buyers, sellers, tenants, landlords, appraisers, notaries, banks, the Land Registry Office, the Chamber of Commerce and regulators. […]
Bankia Fintech accelerator opens up for fintech start-ups
Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia, the “first” incubator and accelerator in Spain, is calling for start-ups to submit applications. Spanish bank Bankia and Valencia-based fintech firm Innsomnia have teamed up, and are looking for five ideas, start-ups or spin-offs of consolidated companies to develop their activities in almost every area of the fintech industry. Jose Ignacio […]
A sea of penguins
I am blind as a bat, and there are times when it’s an advantage to be blind, or deaf, or even dumb to certain insults, certain situations, certain obstacles. Clearly it’s a double-edged sword because being deaf, dumb, and blind to impediments, pitfalls, and danger zones is just asking for disaster.
PSR calls for crusade against payment scams
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has started a co-ordinated industry-wide effort to tackle payment scams. The regulator today (16 December) published its response to a super-complaint issued by consumer watchdog Which?, about protection for people making authorised “push” payments. In its response the PSR outlines an approach that “will see regulators and industry commit […]
Drooms acquires Swiss fintech firm DealMarket
Drooms, a provider of virtual data rooms, has agreed a deal to acquire DealMarket with effect from 1 January 2017 to boost its service portfolio for the entire asset lifecycle. Zurich-based DealMarket has developed a cloud-based software package for private equity investors, family offices and corporate finance experts, allowing them to manage the deal flow […]
Top fintech stories this week – 16 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Will an open banking API kill commercial APIs?
The PSD2 directive will let third parties use the information stored in financial institutions and the only path to achieve this leads through an open API. The API is now being discussed and developed, but it’s not clear when it will be finalised, released and deployed.
Citi and FIS get pally with PayPal
Citi and FIS have formed separate agreements with PayPal for Citi cardmembers and FIS linking payment cards. For Citi, its customers will be able to use their Citi Cards with PayPal – online, in-app and in store – in 2017. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed. With this agreement, Citi says it is […]
SNS Bank selects Ohpen for BPO core processing services
Amsterdam-based banking software vendor Ohpen has signed a long-term outsourcing agreement with Dutch state-owned bank SNS to deliver its business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions to support the investment propositions of ASN Bank, BLG Wonen, RegioBank and SNS. The services, underpinned by Ohpen’s Microsoft.Net-based core banking platform, will start by the end of 2017. Ohpen CCO […]
Beige Capital in Temenos T24 core banking revamp
Ghana-based Beige Capital Savings and Loans (BCSL) is in the final stages of rolling out Temenos’ T24 core banking system. The T24 project formally kicked off in February this year, after the November 2015 launch of BCSL’s new technology centre in Accra. During that same period consultants from Temenos and London-based systems integrator Jethro were […]
Australia offers world-first licensing exemption for fintech
Innovation Down Under gets jazzed up. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released class waivers to allow eligible fintech firms to test certain specified services without holding an Australian financial services (AFS) or credit licence. ASIC commissioner John Price says its fintech licensing exemption is “unique” and “no other major jurisdiction has implemented […]
Banking Technology Dec 2016 / Jan 2017 issue out now
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Lending start-up Taplend launches in UK
Fintech start-up Taplend has launched in the UK offering a combination of peer-to-peer (P2P) and payday lending. Viktor Ihnatiuk, CEO and co-founder of Taplend, says: “This was a very long, hard and interesting year. We made three iterations of the product, tried to enter the US market twice and failed. We didn’t give up, switched […]
JN Fund Managers in digital tech revamp with Objectway’s Conectus
JN Fund Managers (JNFM) has chosen Objectway’s Conectus solution for digital communication and reporting on clients’ investments. JNFM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), will use interactive collaboration tools such as chat, video call and screen-sharing. Investors will also be able to make requests digitally and place trade orders. Sharon Whitelocke, […]
AWS data centre launch implies all is not well following Brexit
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a new availability zone in London which indicates all is not well in the UK following Brexit, reports Jamie Davies at Telecoms.com. The new data centre creates the 16th availability zone worldwide for the public cloud leader, and is the first available in the UK. To date, customers in the […]
Microsoft and AMIS launch Asia’s first blockchain consortium
Microsoft has teamed with AMIS and the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan (ITRI) to form Asia’s “first” consortium blockchain network on Azure. They will use AMIS’s blockchain solutions with Azure as the cloud platform – “the only platform with BaaS” (Banking-as-a-Service). Azure will provide public, private and hybrid cloud models; and business and technical […]
Wealthy stay healthy with Charles Schwab’s new hybrid advisor
US-based Charles Schwab has launched its Schwab Intelligent Advisory, a hybrid advisory service that combines people and a robo-advisor. Schwab Intelligent Advisory will provide investors with a financial plan, guidance from “certified financial planner professionals”, and a fully automated portfolio using algorithm driven technology. The service is expected to launch in the first half of […]
Face the ace for NEC and Sumitomo Mitsui cashless payments trials
Tokyo-based IT provider NEC Corporation is conducting trials for cashless payment services using NEC facial recognition technology in co-operation with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Card. The SMBC trials will continue to 30 January 2017, involving around 1,000 employees at the dining facilities of SMBC’s head office. […]
World’s first commercial real estate stock exchange signs for Cinnober’s tech
UK-based International Property Securities Exchange (IPSX) is waiting for approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and has signed for new trading tech from Cinnober. IPSX describes itself as “the world’s first regulated stock exchange dedicated to trading of commercial property securities”. It needs a recognised investment exchange (RIE) licence from FCA to be able […]
ACI Worldwide powers pan-European instant credit transfer scheme
ACI Worldwide has been named by EBA Clearing as one of the “frontrunner service providers” for the pan-European EBA SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Scheme (SCT Inst), due to go live in November 2017. The scheme will enable consumers and businesses to make euro credit transfers in real-time between accounts across an international area that will […]
UniCredit to cut 14,000 jobs
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit plans to raise €13 billion and axe 14,000 jobs over the next two years as it looks to get its finances in order. Along with the job cuts, which amount to about 11% of its workforce, UniCredit will shut down about 25% of its 3,800 branches. It also aims to use […]
Innovate Finance launches new fintech start-up competition, Pitch360
Innovate Finance, a UK-based fintech membership association, has unveiled its first ever start-up competition, Pitch360. Open to applicants from around the world, Pitch360 offers a 360-second (six minute) pitch of a new business and product in front of a live audience of influencers, investors and media professionals as well as access to Innovate Finance’s member […]
Mabrey Bank turns to Jack Henry for IT infrastructure and core processing
Oklahoma-based Mabrey Bank has migrated its IT infrastructure and core processing to an outsourced delivery model with US-based banking software heavyweight Jack Henry. The bank moved its IT infrastructure to the cloud computing environment, Gladiator Hosted Network Solutions, and then migrated its CIF 20/20 core processing system to JHA OutLink Processing Services. Carlisle Mabrey, IV, […]
Fintech funding round-up: 13 December 2016
Who is investing in what? Our latest fintech funding round-up, mercifully brief as usual. Featuring ApplePie Capital and Firepay.
