PayTech


Artificial intelligence: mind games

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t new but the rise of mobile and cloud computing, combined with big data and cheap computing power, is driving a resurgence. Convergent technologies mean AI is finding new uses in financial services.

Swift issues plea to collaborate in fight against cybercrime

It is vital that the Swift community learns from cyber attacks and strengthens cooperation, delegates were told yesterday. Chief technology officer (CTO) of Swift, Craig Young, said such attacks were increasing in number and sophistication across all industries. Marco Gercke, director of the Cybercrime Research Institute, said: “The financial industry is lacking co-operation. I know […]

Equiniti launches new solutions

It’s a fintech double as Equiniti has developed a digital banking platform and launched a mobile biometric authentication and identity lifecycle solution.

Digitising the transaction banking world

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, transaction banking was considered a reliable source of income for global banking groups. But nearly a decade on, multiple factors are putting pressure on transaction banks’ revenues. This year’s World Payments Report suggests banks increase their investments in digital solutions to offer more compelling propositions to their corporate treasury clients.

Christmas in New York: New State Law Restricts Gift Card Fees, Lengthens Expiration Date

t’s been a bad month for the payments industry in the state of New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law Sept. 26 imposing restrictions on gift cards and gift certificates sold in the state. The new law comes just weeks after the New York Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule regulating the use of payroll cards. The gift card law goes into effect Dec. 25, 2016, as that is 90 days from the governor’s signing.

American Express Wins Appeal in Anti-Steering Case

American Express scored a major legal victory on Sept. 26 when a federal appeals court ruled that Amex had the right to restrict retailers. Specifically, Amex had wanted to prevent Amex-accepting merchants from offering shoppers financial incentives to use other card brands. In its ruling, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit New York tossed out a lower court’s decision that said language barring such “steering” in American Express’ contracts with its merchant clients violated anti-trust laws.

Blockchain Gets Boost from Microsoft and Bank of America

Blockchain, the decentralized transaction-verification system that underpins bitcoin, received a boost Sept. 27, with Microsoft and Bank of America Merrill Lynch saying they will team up to further develop the technology.

The Dos and Don’ts of Mobile Retail Marketing

With the proliferation of smartphones among consumers, retailers have an opportunity to reach customers in thoughtful and engaging ways that could help influence the decision-making process when it comes to making a purchase. Discover offers tips on what strategies retailers should consider implementing to enhance their mobile marketing campaigns.

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.

SmartStream’s Corona Cash & Liquidity gains new live site, Raiffeisen Bank International

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has gone live with new cash and liquidity reporting software, SmartStream Technologies’ Corona. The bank has taken “a proactive approach to Basel III” – being the first in the region to do so, said the vendor. The new centralised solution will help to monitor and manage cash positions on an intraday basis, throughout the RBI group.

Daily News at Sibos 2016 – Day 2

Read our second 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. Free to read online or pick up a complimentary print copy if you are at Sibos!

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.

Sibos 2016: navigating the payments storm

The payments industry faces a perfect storm with immediate, open and context-based changes emanating from new technology, regulation and infrastructures set to “transform the landscape”.

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.

Eurosystem updates infrastructure Vision

The European Central Bank has outlined its plans to consolidate the Target2 and Target2Securities (T2S) platforms, introduce a new European-wide instant payments platform by November 2017 and develop a new collateral management system. The Eurosystem’s “Vision 2020” plans were outlined by Yves Mersch, a member of the executive board at the ECB, at Sibos 2016.

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 […]

The future of money: humans need to keep the robots in check

Udayan Goyal’s vision for the future of money revolves around seamless, instant micropayments being made continuously between autonomous apps and services all triggered by thoughts and actions of humans as they go about their daily lives.

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.

Global Balance Tips to Card Payments over Cash in 2016

Global consumer card payments will surpass cash payments for the first time this year, reaching $23.1 trillion worldwide, according to new data from Euromonitor International. Cash transactions are projected at $22.6 trillion for the year, according to the research firm.

Non-Cash Transactions Grow 8.9 Percent Globally

Global non-cash transactions grew 8.9 percent year-over-year in 2014 to reach 387.3 billion transactions, according to the 2016 “World Payments Report” from Capgemini and BNP Paribas. The report said that “developing markets drove this growth, recording a 16.7 percent increase in 2014 while mature markets grew by 6.0 percent.”

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.

Clearing and settlement: a moving target

Momentum is building behind the T2S securities settlement system as it gains critical mass. While expected benefits and outcomes have not fully materialised, the unexpected benefits have captured the imagination of the post-trade industry.

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.

Doing regtech right

Regulation is likely to be a hot topic at Sibos, both inside and outside of conference sessions. We assesses the main regulatory themes for this year’s event.

Security: survival of the fittest

The threat of cybercrime shows no sign of diminishing any time soon, but to what extent can market infrastructures and financial institutions protect themselves against hacking attacks?

Custodians urged to take up SSI challenge

Custodians are being urged to adopt a standardised utility model for the management of standing settlement instructions (SSIs) to resolve ongoing challenges such as high costs and risks for buy-side firms.

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 […]