Report: Mobile-Centric ‘Moneyhawks’ a Huge Potential Market for FIs (Oct. 2, 2014)
A segment of tech-savvy, mobile-minded consumers comprising more than $1 trillion in deposits could represent a major opportunity for FIs, according to a new report.
PayTech
Executive Profile: One on One with Ray Iglesias, Ubiquity
Ray Iglesias has come into his own. As CEO of Ubiquity Global Services, he has stepped out of the shadows to take center stage and with it his dream job.
Another financial crisis highly likely, say Sibos delegates
There is a high risk of another financial crisis within the next 15-20 years, according to a poll of Sibos delegates yesterday. Those attending the regulatory reform session voted 74 per cent to 26 per cent that another financial crisis within that period was a high risk.
DCPs look beyond T2S cost savings to user benefits
Direct connectivity to the Target2-Securities settlement platform will give participants the opportunity to build new business models, access new markets more easily and deliver new services to clients, said a white paper, Taking the Direct Route to T2S: the industry view, released this week by Swift. Ten representatives of organisations that have decided to become directly connected parties (DCPs) were interviewed by Swift about their decisions to become DCPs and their plans for T2S participation.
Banks defend their payments turf
The launch of Apple Pay, the re-launch of PayPal as a separate company and the move to allow mobile operators to add payment for goods to phone bills across Europe are all threatening the hegemony of banks. But is it going to be as disruptive as many outside the banking world hope?
Bitcoin needs infrastructure
Besides mounting enthusiasm for Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, momentum is gathering to develop the infrastructure needed to turn what some see as a technology into a universally accepted currency.
Mobile becomes a sales platform
With attention increasingly focusing on mobile payments and mobile banking, Fiserv is urging banks to look more closely at how to use mobile to not only deliver services to customers, but also as an up- and cross-selling channel.
Africa the next growth story
The rise of an emerging middle class in Africa is transforming the continent as a group of 11 African nations power past the $1 trillion GDP mark. With tens of millions expected to rise out of poverty in the next decade, it is also providing compelling new opportunities for banks, according to Standard Bank of South Africa.
Microsoft fights cyber crime with pilot project
Microsoft has begun a joint pilot project with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (FS-Isac) to tackle financially-motivated cyber crime attacks, which are estimated to cost $100 billion a year in the US alone.
Swift opts for more vendor and bank integration
A range of product and service announcements during Sibos show Swift becoming ever more tightly integrated with customer and vendor systems.
KDPW launch a sign of Polish progress
Warsaw-based Polish central securities depository (CSD), KDPW, has launched a negotiated securities lending and borrowing system in co-operation with KDPW CCP, the country’s central clearing counterparty. The system is designed to prevent or eliminate suspension of settlement of transactions and ensure the return of securities loaned in the automatic lending system.
Building a transformation vision
This year marks the tenth anniversary of World Payments Report. In this extract from the report, which was launched at Sibos this week, the impact of innovation on payments is examined.
What’s not to like?
The rise of Facebook has been one of the most striking cultural phenomena of the past decade. In January 2007 the site had around 25 million users. But by July 2014, Facebook had reached 2.2 billion users; a number equivalent to one out of every three people on this planet. Meanwhile, Twitter had emerged as the platform of business and news, with 500 million posts ‘tweeted’ daily by its 271 million active users.
Limiting collateral damage
A lack of available collateral to meet demand has become a global problem, with various models being deployed to ensure financial institutions meet the changing regulatory requirements.
Onboarding challenges can be overcome
Increased sanctions, tighter anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) controls, plus client demands for a quicker, better all-round service in the cloud and the move to shared service platforms present client onboarding challenges to banks. But there are also opportunities, said Karen Braithwaite, BNY Mellon’s global head of client service, treasury services.
Alternative realities
The debut of SAP’s Financial Services Network at Sibos last year led many to see it as a threat to Swift’s plans for corporate connectivity.
People on the Move: Monica Monaco, The Bitcoin Foundation
The Bitcoin Foundation has retained Monica Monaco, founder and managing director of Trust EU Affairs, to assist with outreach to political leaders and policymakers in the European Union.
People on the Move: Mary Carol Harris, Apple Europe
Apple Europe has hired Mary Carol Harris to lead the company’s mobile payments efforts in the region.
People on the Move: Dan Schulman and Devin Wenig, eBay Inc.
eBay Inc. announced that Dan Schulman has joined PayPal as president, effectively immediately, and he will become PayPal CEO after PayPal and eBay are separated next year into independent, publicly traded companies. eBay Inc. also announced that Devin Wenig, president of eBay Marketplaces, will become CEO of eBay in 2015.
People on the Move: Richard Hall, Mercator Advisory Group
Mercator Advisory Group has hired Richard A. Hall as head of its Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service.
People on the Move: John Walsh, SightSpan Inc.
In partnership with the U.S. Government, the North Carolina Secretary of State has requested that John Walsh, SightSpan CEO and president, provide counterterrorist financing training to government officials from Moldova.
People on the Move: Christopher Russell, Skrill
Skrill, provider of online payment technologies to merchants and consumers, has appointed Christopher Russell CEO of Skrill USA Inc.
Consumers Soon Can Use Softcard to do Laundry (Oct. 1, 2014)
Softcard has extended its reach to the self-serve laundry business.
Report: Emerging Markets Driving Noncash Payment Growth (Oct. 1, 2014)
Noncash payments are estimated to have increased by 9.4 percent last year, reaching 366 billion transactions, according to a new report from Capgemini and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Data Breach Hits Sandwich Chain, Mom-and-Pop Restaurants (Oct. 1, 2014)
Large retailers and financial institutions aren’t the only victims of fraudsters on the prowl for payment card data.
DTCC-Euroclear move on global collateral processing
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Euroclear have taken the first steps towards the creation of a global collateral processing utility with the announcement that they plan to create a UK-based joint venture, DTCC-Euroclear Global Collateral.
Cool it on compliance, says HSBC
While banks want to root out fraudulent activity as much as governments do they “need to take the temperature down”, said Bob Werner, global head of financial crime compliance and group general manager at HSBC. Speaking at a panel session on trends in financial crime compliance, Werner said: “Every time something goes wrong we don’t need the scalp of a regulator or the scalp of a banker.”
New epoch for finance as trade unbundles …
Rising political tensions and the increasing use of sanctions are making companies think twice about relying on long global supply chains, said John Calverley, head of economic research at Standard Chartered. Firms may decide that rather than hedging their bets with production, they will keep it closer to home, he said during a roundtable session yesterday.
… and financial warfare is unleashed
The threat of banks de-risking and exiting regions and businesses in fear of sanctions-related fines is upon us, said Juan Zarate, the ex-deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism to US President George W Bush. Zarate was speaking at a Standard Chartered session yesterday morning about his new book, Treasury Wars: The Unleashing of a New Era of Financial Warfare.
‘Pernicious disease’ of cyber war escalates
While the average bank heist averages $6000, a cyber-thief can make off with millions. Last year 552 million identities were breached, while every call about a compromised credit card costs a bank $4.
A call to pragmatic action
In a recently published white paper on intraday liquidity reporting*, Swift urges financial institutions to initiate programs now to address serious challenges with regard to data availability, centralisation, aggregation and interpretation in meeting Basel Committee guidelines. Greater industry collaboration will also help to accelerate moves towards cost effective and sustainable models and solutions.
Outsource your way to happiness, urges SunGard
Banks can reduce the headaches associated with cost pressure, tough new regulation, legacy business complexity and changing customer demands by outsourcing non-core areas of business. That is the idea behind two new corporate actions products launched by financial technology vendor SunGard.
Technology consumerisation will soon drive wholesale innovation
The consumerisation of technology is driving the development of new services in wholesale banking as much as it is in retail, as customers demand real-time access through mobile channels.
Federal Reserve says faster payments “must be addressed” to meet growing customer demand
The US Federal Reserve Banks have begun planning for a faster payments system in the US, following research that found US consumers favoured such a system and would be willing to pay more for it.
SGSS launches Global Broker-Dealer services
Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) has launched Global Broker-Dealer Services, an outsourcing solution aimed at institutional brokers, mid-tier banks and broker dealers. The fully integrated global service includes middle-office services, back-office processing and post-trade services.
Power to the people
The growth of peer to peer lending demonstrates that there is an alternative to the traditional lending model of banks. But can crowd funders ever replace the incumbents and do they enjoy long-run advantages or face being co-opted?
The shifting sands of commerce
Changing trade patterns and attempts to ‘de-dollarise’ international commerce are changing the landscape of trade finance, as new partnerships emerge.
