FinTech


Research energises the modernisation journey in Canada

Canada is one of many countries around the world striving to make payments fast, frictionless and data rich. The country’s approach to payments system modernisation is rooted in collaboration and research, with an eye to the international experience and a deep dive into the needs and capabilities of the Canadian market, including an investigation into blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

ACI Worldwide and Vocalink team up for real-time payments push

ACI Worldwide and Vocalink have joined forces “to offer a complete end-to-end immediate payments solution to launch a domestic or regional immediate payments network”. The partnership will combine Vocalink’s Immediate Payments System (IPS) offering for central payment infrastructures and ACI’s UP Immediate Payments solution for banks and financial institutions.

Cyber challenge can be met, says Swift

Swift has committed to help its members combat the cyber threat “in challenging times”, delegates heard during yesterday’s opening plenary session. Security will be a feature every day of the conference because “the cyber threat is here to stay”, said Swift chief executive, Gottfried Leibbrandt.

The path to perfect harmony

The nitty-gritty work has been done with IS0 20022, but new technology and regulations mean that institutions will have to standardise their workflows as well.

Blockchain: mind the gap

Blockchain technology is far from mature and there is a danger that regulation could crush innovation and competition. Professor Michael Mainelli and Simon Mills argue that a more measured approach to the technology would be to develop voluntary standards.

When worlds collide: fintechs vs financial institutions

The opportunity for traditional banking processes to be transformed that is presented by innovative financial technology (fintech) developers is at risk of being squandered in many cases because of cultural differences between large inflexible enterprise culture and the enthusiastic approach of the start-up developer world.

Banif Bank opts for Pelican Transaction Banking platform

Banif Bank in Malta has selected the Pelican Transaction Banking platform. The solution will provide end to end automation of both Swift and single euro payments area payments, including integration with over the counter instructions, Banif’s internet banking system and back office.

Energising correspondent banking

Reports of the death of correspondent banking are highly exaggerated. But the business model is changing and Swift hopes its Global Payments Innovation Initiative will improve cross-border payments. Swift is often accused of moving slowly, yet the Global Payments Innovation Initiative (GPII) gives lie to that. First discussed at Sibos 2015 in Singapore, Swift will […]

Standards bodies embrace blockchain

A FinTech Technical Advisory Group has been established by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) TC68 Financial Services Committee. ISO has also just recently approved a new blockchain committee.

TAS and targit team up

Italy’s TAS Group and targit GmbH Austria have signed a deal to collaborate on bringing a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for liquidity risk management and reporting within reach of tier two and three banks throughout Central and Eastern Europe, including Austria and Germany.

CSD consortium focuses on fintech for emerging markets

A central securities depositories (CSDs) consortium has been founded to help emerging market CSDs investigate and take advantage of new technologies such as blockchain. Led by Russia’s CSD, National Settlement Depository (NSD) and South Africa’s Strate, the consortium will initially focus on working with CSDs in Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia.

Banks and fintechs: the time is now to join forces

Digital innovation has the potential to radically transform the payments arena, through solutions that enhance end-to-end speed, efficiency, transparency, security and cost effectiveness. Anthony Brady, global head of business strategy and market solutions, treasury services at BNY Mellon, discusses how banks are being spurred to drive forward new technology initiatives – with collaboration at their core – to deliver an enriched global real-time payments experience to clients.

Daily News at Sibos 2016 – Day 1

Read our first Daily News at Sibos edition of the Sibos 2016 conference in Geneva – all the latest news and analysis from Swift’s premier event of the year.

Finexus and Volante to build new RTGS system for Asia Pacific

Malaysia-based payments solutions provider Finexus is building a new real-time gross settlement (RTGS) platform for banks in Asia Pacific. It has partnered with Volante Technologies, which will provide the MT to MX message transition, via its flagship Volante Designer product.

Interview: Martin Coen, CEO of Dovetail

Payments software vendor Dovetail is one of the very few independent fintech beacons in the industry, having not fallen into the hands of a large tech conglomerate. The company pioneered the concept of a “payment services hub” – before analysts coined the term – and has maintained double digit growth over the last decade. So what’s next? Banking Technology talks to Martin Coen, Dovetail’s CEO.

When the ground is moving, banks need to shift to a smarter platform

The tectonic plates of the banking sector are shifting faster than ever. High street banks are under stress from the massive competitive threats generated by their leaner, technology-driven fintech rivals and challenger banks. These fintech companies are finding success simply by being more efficient or by taking advantage of emerging and highly effective technologies such […]

Big banks swell Ripple’s new blockchain payments group

Ripple has created the “first” interbank group for global payments based on distributed financial technology – aka blockchain. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), Santander, UniCredit, Standard Chartered, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Royal Bank of Canada are the founding members of the network, known as the Global Payments Steering Group (GPSG). CIBC will also join […]

Webinar: Building Your Bank’s Mobile Payment Strategy

Apple Pay, Google Wallet, voice payment, payment in messaging apps, Bitcoin, merchant-led solutions, bank-owned solutions. Payment options — driven by a whirlwind of new technology and shifting consumer preferences — are changing. And banking executives are faced with sorting out if and how to respond with a mobile payment strategy that aligns to their banks […]

Faster Payments faces history with RBS blockchain test

The UK’s existing Faster Payments scheme could be consigned to the slow lane as researchers at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) claim to have demonstrated blockchain supporting a new banking industry clearing system. In a ten-page technical paper, “Proving Ethereum for the clearing use case”, RBS’s innovation engineering team says it has created a clearing […]

Turkey’s TEB calls for fintech start-ups

TEB (Türk Ekonomi Bankası) in Turkey has launched a fintech programme and wants the nation’s entrepreneurs and start-ups to get in touch. Why? TEB says: “Because the day will arrive when a technology giant will come from Turkey too.” TEB will provide start-ups with its infrastructure, experience, financial support for their first project, and “even […]

SIX Securities Services and Clearstream team up for European post-trade boost

Post-trade firms SIX Securities Services and Clearstream are partnering to potentially provide services to the Swiss and European markets. Both firms recently signed a letter of intent and are now focused on fleshing out the details that will lead to a memorandum of understanding targeted for mid-December. This signing will clear the way for a […]

Nordic payments firm Nets to IPO

Nordic payments firm Nets has successfully IPO-ed on Nasdaq Copenhagen Exchange the tune of DKK 30 billion ($4.5 billion).

HSBC goes hipster in London fintech hub hunt

Overly manicured beard. Check. Clothes that betray blatant narcissism. Check. Holier than thou attitude. Check. Welcome to the world of hipsters as HSBC is looking for office space in trendy tech-focused London neighbourhoods. According to Bloomberg, the bank is seeking to “bolster its fintech capabilities” and has hired real estate broker CBRE Group to find […]

AIB looks to modernise digital banking tech

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) is believed to be in the market for new digital banking software. Banking Technology understands a number of vendors have done their demos for the bank, Infosys with its Finacle digital banking platform among them.

Top fintech stories this week – 23 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Harrods Bank in search of new core banking system EXCLUSIVE. The FIS Profile project is dead. Long live a new project! Deutsche Bank GTB builds new payments platform EXCLUSIVE. Dovetail to deliver? Misys unveils Platform-as-a-Service strategy Opens up […]

Attic Lab unveils open source blockchain platform

Ukrainian start-up Attic Lab has revealed its lofty ambitions with the launch of an open source blockchain platform. The banking platform will offer the issuance of e-money and Attic Lab claims it will be a “full-fledged alternative” to systems like Visa and MasterCard. The company was founded in early 2016 with Sergey Vasilchiuk taking the […]

End is nigh for NAB core banking revamp

National Australia Bank (NAB) appears to be entering the final stages of its seven-year Oracle-based “NextGen” core banking overhaul. The bank originally planned to build an in-house mortgage origination platform, beginning with its digital banking subsidiary UBank. But that was scrapped – with the loss of AU$106 million ($81 million) – and Oracle FSS was […]

Deutsche Bank GTB builds new payments platform

Deutsche Bank says it is building a new “state of the art” payments platform for its global transaction banking (GTB) business. It will be rolled out across the bank’s operations worldwide, supporting trade finance, securities and cash management businesses. The software is supplied by a specialist payments provider – Banking Technology understands this is Dovetail. […]

Harrods Bank in search of new core banking system

The FIS Profile core banking project is dead. Long live a new core banking project! UK-based Harrods Bank is back to market to find a new core banking solution, Banking Technology understands. It is understood to be in talks with a broad number of tech suppliers, including Temenos and Misys (the incumbent provider). The bank […]

Finn.ai and ATB Financial first for Facebook Messenger banking chatbot

Canadian start-up Finn.ai (formerly Payso) has teamed with ATB Financial for the “first ever banking chatbot” on Facebook Messenger. In an interview with Betakit, Finn.ai co-founder and COO Natalie Cartwright says it has been in talks with ATB since Q1 2016, and “after initial work had already begun on design and integration, the organisations are […]

Technology is galloping ahead. Time for IT to play catch up.

The technology era has come with its new aesthetic, economic models and philosophy about the meaning of value. It is not going away. And the people who thought economics was theirs to define and aesthetic and values were “hobbies” have a lot of catching up to do. That catching up is your hottest technology trend of 2017.

Budapest Bank chooses SIA for new payment cards system

Budapest Bank, a payment cards issuer in the Hungarian market, has selected Italian firm SIA to create and implement a new payment cards management system. The agreement covers the migration of the full debit and credit cards portfolio of Budapest Bank to SIA’s card processing technology platform and the integration of the SIA solution to […]

Fintech funding round-up: 21 September 2016

Too many words can be absurd. A round-up of some key events in fintech funding. UK payments start-up Curve has announced a further tranche of fundraising taking its total investment to $5 million. The firm says this puts it on a “trajectory for a sizeable” Series A round by the end of December ahead of […]

South Africa’s big four banks spend IT big

The big four retail and commercial banks in South Africa – Standard Bank, Absa/Barclays Africa, FirstRand and Nedbank – have been upping their games in information technology (IT) expenditure.