FinTech


Fintech 2.0: creating new opportunities through strategic alliance

Banks and fintechs should collaborate rather than compete, leveraging their respective strengths to revolutionise the B2B payments space and create sustainable business models in today’s digital era. As the next stages of digital structural change continue to transform financial services, the focus of technological developments will shift. Most recent developments in business models have been […]

The state of compliance for financial services

Financial institutions need to determine how to comply with the least disruption and cost in the short time frames provided. Image courtesy of Datameer. Click on picture to enlarge or use zoom feature within browser. Or you can read the PDF here.

A whistle-stop tour of the regulatory calendar

As financial institutions across the board gear up for 2016, the year ahead poses some notably regulatory challenges. Not least among these is the impending Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) from the European Commission; there will also be further progress on MiFID II. On 3 July this year, an event will take place which will mark […]

Mizuho and Cognizant join forces for blockchain-backed record-keeping

Mizuho Financial Group and Cognizant have teamed up to develop a blockchain solution for the “secure” record-keeping of documents among Mizuho Financial Group companies around the world. The agreement is the beginning of Mizuho’s programme to use blockchain for building new work processes for transactions and digital interactions. This engagement will initially focus on New […]

Misys gains new live site for FusionCapital in Vietnam, at Techcombank

Vietnam-based Techcombank has gone live with Misys’ FusionCapital software. The new platform – based on Misys’ FusionCapital Kondor product – supports treasury and capital markets (TCM) operations at the bank. The deal was inked in November 2014. Techcombank opted to work with Misys as it has offered “a configurable, fast and cost-effective analytics platform”, explains […]

Crealogix’s Elaxy to roll out consulting platform for Bankhaus August Lenz

Crealogix’s subsidiary Elaxy Financial Software & Solutions will roll out a hybrid consulting platform at Bankhaus August Lenz in Germany. The solution, developed in nine months, is ready for MiFID II (markets in financial instruments directive) and PRIIP (packaged retail and insurance-based investment products) regulations. It is also integrated into the bank’s online banking system […]

Germany: the sparkasse of innovation

As established banks migrate to a digital era, new entrants in the German market are threatening to seize the moment. “We see a change in society; in the way that smart phone adoption feeds back into the way we run our business,” says Andreas Vollmer, chief IT architect of Commerzbank. “It is not just about […]

New core software deal for Temenos in the UK

British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB) is looking to modernise its core software. It is believed the bank has settled for a new platform – Temenos’ T24. BACB is a London-based wholesale bank that specialises in trade finance and treasury services to Africa and the Middle East. The bank has been in the system selection mode […]

Preparing for PSD II

The European Commission’s upcoming PSD II legislation will bring big changes to the payments landscape in Europe. Banking Technology talks to Jerry Norton, VP of financial services at CGI, to find out more. In October, the European Parliament gave its approval to the level one text of the Payment Services Directive II, which aims to further the […]

Nymbus teams with Geezeo for personal finance push

US core banking software vendor Nymbus has teamed up with Geezeo, a white-label personal finance management (PFM) provider for banks and credit unions. Nymbus launched last year with a flurry of Star Wars-inspired quotes. It is looking to work with financial institutions (FIs) and compete with banking behemoths and the neo banks. The vendor sees […]

PayPal plans Latin America growth with América Móvil alliance

PayPal is teaming up with Mexican telecommunications giant América Móvil as it looks to expand in Latin America. The alliance’s focus will be on a new mobile wallet platform, which lets users pay for items by smartphone scans. With América Móvil on board, PayPal can target 140 million users in Brazil and Mexico. Dan Schulman, […]

BBVA makes Cisco top technology partner

Spanish bank BBVA has signed a strategic alliance with Cisco, allowing it to become its “priority” technology partner. BBVA says it wants to “foster connectivity and collaboration” between clients and employees, and speed up innovation and digitisation. This is the first of a series of alliances and BBVA says it is aiming to create more […]

Top fintech stories this week – 26 February 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Fiserv’s CUnify core processing system bags 25 US credit unions More good news for the US software vendor. IBM delivers blockchain-as-a-service for developers Code to joy… nearly 44,000 lines made available. Potential “merger of equals” between Deutsche Börse […]

Retail banking: the power of the personal

In 2016, retail banks are facing up to their biggest challenge. A combination of new market disrupters, increased regulation and the continuing pace of technology change is set to transform the industry, shifting power firmly to the consumer. Natalie McLellan, director of financial services at consultancy firm Egremont, offers her insight. Many commentators argue that […]

I2c and TIS team up for payments in Asia

Payment firms i2c and TIS have formed a strategic partnership to standardise prepaid payment solutions on the i2c processing platform. Under terms of the multi-year partnership, Japan-based TIS will adopt i2c’s cloud-based platform as its standard for prepaid card processing and expand its use to support credit and debit card payment processing in “key Asian […]

New digital bank powered by Temenos’ front-to-back office platform

EQ Bank, a new pure-play digital bank in Canada, has opened its virtual doors. It is underpinned by the front-to-back office software from Temenos. The bank is using Temenos’ T24 core banking system at the back-end and Temenos Connect for digital channels at the front-end. It is also using Insight BI for business intelligence and […]

Deutsche Börse launches fintech initiative in Frankfurt

Deutsche Börse has launched a fintech initiative for new companies and start-ups in Frankfurt. From April onwards, it will make “fully equipped rooms available as a suitable environment to further develop new ideas and entrepreneurial concepts”. The start-ups will also receive on-site support from employees of the Deutsche Börse Venture Network. These will use their […]

AsiaHawala powers Iraq’s “first” mobile money service with Mahindra Comviva

AsiaHawala, Iraq’s “first” mobile money service, has chosen Mahindra Comviva’s Mobiquity Money solution as it looks to expand its reach across the country. The Iraqi company offers consumers a mobile account for a range of financial transactions – such as P2P transfer, bill payments, merchant payments, salary payments and a recharge service. With Mobiquity Money […]

Are cloud-based managed services set to take off in 2016?

Over the last few years, technology infrastructures have become increasingly complex and expensive to manage. At the same time, IT budgets have been cut, leading to companies finding it hard to provide and maintain IT infrastructures. Dana Brants, head of services at Swift, looks at what companies can do under the circumstances. Due to costs, […]

Net Element enters Azerbaijan’s mobile payments market

Florida-based Net Element has launched its mobile payments platform, Digital Provider, in Azerbaijan. The venture is done via the company’s Russian subsidiary, OOO Digital Provider. The company says the new integration allows content providers and aggregators access to all “major” mobile operators in the country. It has also signed a contract with a national television […]

IBM delivers blockchain-as-a-service for developers

Blockchain gets another boost as IBM has made nearly 44,000 lines of code available to the Linux Foundation’s open source Hyperledger Project to help developers build secure distributed ledgers. IBM has also made a range of announcements spanning technology and business consulting to “rapidly advance the use of distributed ledger technology across multiple industries”. These […]

Achieving merchant acceptance – the key to successful digital financial services

Digital financial services (DFS) have the power to transform the lives of millions living in poverty. However, the lack of merchant acceptance presents a significant obstacle to its success. Sacha Polverini, chairman of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) focus group on digital financial services and Carol Benson, managing partner at Glenbrook Partners, look at how […]

Veridian Credit Union revamps digital channels with Alkami Technology’s ORB platform

Veridian Credit Union, a $2.95 billion credit union in Iowa, is implementing Alkami Technology’s ORB platform for digital channels. The new solution will replace a legacy set-up, which includes a mobile banking offering from another US provider, Clairmail (now part of Monitise). Clairmail was selected by Veridian back in 2009. In 2012, the vendor was […]

Broadridge allies with AMA for corporate governance

Broadridge Financial Solutions has taken a minority stake and entered into an exclusive distribution and marketing alliance with Netherlands-based management consulting firm AMA Partners. AMA provides DirectorInsight, a platform offering data and analytical tools for the evaluation of corporate governance and executive compensation. Broadridge says the deal expands its data capabilities for corporations and institutional […]

CopSonic and Natixis join forces for SwipeSonic ultrasound payments

Natixis Payment Solutions has teamed up with French start-up CopSonic to create SwipeSonic, an ultrasound payment solution for online shopping transactions. CopSonic’s technology uses ultrasound to encrypt information within music and voice, or transmit data “entirely inaudibly to the human ear”. Emmanuel Ruiz, CEO of CopSonic, says: “Sound is the easiest and most effective technology […]

Barclays and BlackBerry bringing BBM to Pingit mobile payments

Barclays and BlackBerry are bringing BBM, the mobile instant messaging service, to Pingit money transfers in the UK. BBM users can now make mobile payments to each other using Barclays’ mobile payment app Pingit. Matthew Talbot, SVP, BBM at BlackBerry, says to “exchange money was a logical extension” of BBM’s functions. Once a user has […]

Digital Asset teams with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC for blockchain growth

New York-based Digital Asset Holdings, a developer of distributed ledger technology (aka blockchain), has teamed up with Accenture, Broadridge and PwC. Digital Asset says it has entered into non-exclusive strategic business relationships with the companies, and Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset, says the alliances will “accelerate innovation” and “drive growth”. The Accenture relationship will […]

Capco: Costs driving financial industry towards utility model

Financial technology consultancy Capco has found that cost pressure will drive the uptake of the utility model in finance. In its latest report, ‘What Makes Utilities Useful,’ it surveyed senior banking executives’ attitudes towards adoption of a utilities-style approach. With responses from 102 financial services professionals across 69 financial institutions in 26 countries, they found […]

ICICI Bank launches mobile banking app competition with Visa

India’s ICICI Bank has launched an ‘ICICI Appathon’ as it looks for innovations in mobile banking apps. The bank wants participants in India to create new APIs in five different categories – retail banking, corporate banking, treasury, ‘ICICI Group’ (such as insurance and securities), and ‘Partner APIs’. The latter comprises Visa and National Payments Corporation […]

Nasdaq OMX: Cap Markets Union needs disruptive technology

A whitepaper by market operator Nasdaq OMX has warned that disruptive technology needs to be encouraged if Europe’s proposed Capital Markets Union (CMU) is to prove effective. The paper notes that the current proposals place an emphasis on larger institutions investing and growing their product and service offerings, which the firm argues do not necessarily […]

Nasdaq extends blockchain innovation with Estonian shareholders

Estonia’s e-Residency platform will use a blockchain-based e-voting service to allow shareholders of companies listed on Nasdaq’s Tallinn Stock Exchange, to vote in shareholder meetings. The country’s e-Residency platform is an electronic identity system used by both Estonian residents and those with business interests in the country to access government services through e-Residency digital authentication. The program […]

BBVA breaks off fintech fund

BBVA, a major shareholder in Atom Bank, a UK challenger, has announced an increase in its financial technology fund to US$250 million from US$100 million and a partnership with Propel Venture Partners which will see Propel managing the investment independently. Propel will use the US$250 million in a US and a European fund while opening an office […]

Will innovation replace secrecy in Swiss banking?

To succeed as a startup hub Switzerland may need to focus on developing a hub for senior entrepreneurs within the financial industry. That is one suggestion stemming from a new report into the country’s capacity to become an innovation hub for fintech firms, published by consultancy EY and the Swiss Finance and Technology Association, entitled […]

Fifth Third Bank fingerprints iPhone banking

Fifth Third Bank is introducing Touch ID biometric capabilities to its mobile banking app for the iPhone. Touch ID allows fingerprint authentication for enabled devices, letting customers log into their Fifth Third app with their fingers or thumbs instead of a password. The Bank’s fast mobile app allows people to check balances, transfer funds and […]

AllianceBernstein tracking fixed-income execution with Interactive Data

Investment manager AllianceBernstein is working with Interactive Data, to help evaluate its trade execution quality and perform transaction cost analysis (TCA).  The work will be done across various mutual funds and separately managed portfolios using Interactive Data’s Best Execution (Best Ex) service. The service leverages its Continuous Evaluated Fixed-Income Pricing to run TCA for fixed-income […]

Memory muscle

An in-memory DBMS with its roots in embedded systems for the defence and aerospace sectors is setting records for manipulating financial data. Chief executive Steve Graves told Banking Technology how it works.

Online lenders succeed in capital raising

Two online lending platforms – Spotcap and Credibly – have separately raised a total of £71.8 million in capital facilities, lending support to the sector’s prospects in the eyes of investors. Berlin-based, online lending platform Spotcap has raised €31.5 million (£23.8 million) in new funding led by international private equity firm, Finstar Financial Group, with participation from […]

RBC launching Digital Advice Pilot with FutureAdvisor

The US division of RBC Wealth Management is working with BlackRock-owned digital wealth management provider FutureAdvisor on a pilot program for select clients in the United States. Called RBC Investor Gateway, the new service will provide RBC Wealth Management financial advisors with the opportunity to reach a broader range of clients through FutureAdvisor’s digital advice platform. […]

Rudi Collin named head of Digital Transformation at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB) has announced that it has appointed Rudi Collin as Head of Digital Transformation for CIB. Previously Collin was head of Electronic Business and Markets for the Global Markets business and prior to this, was chief operating officer for the fixed income division of the bank. In his new role, […]