News


Payments round-up: 8 November 2017

A distinctly European feel in the latest payments round-up by Banking Technology (Paybefore’s sister publication). Stars Facebook Messenger, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator, Concardis and AliPay.

Major Indian bank looks for fintech acquihire

A major financial institution in India is looking to make a fintech “acquihire” (an acquisition of a company primarily for the skills and expertise of its staff, rather than for the products or services it supplies).

China Everbright Bank selects Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for regulatory reporting

China Everbright Bank (CEB) has chosen Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX regulatory reporting software for its operations in Luxembourg. According to Wolters Kluwer, OneSumX uses a single source of data to ensure consistency, reconciliation and accuracy and includes the firm’s regulatory update service. This service is maintained by its staff who monitor regulation in approximately 50 countries, […]

Google joins with Salesforce to mix online, offline customer analytics

Google’s enterprise momentum is building, as Google and Salesforce have combined online and offline analytics, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Google also becomes a preferred Salesforce infrastructure partner – but not the preferred infrastructure partner, a Salesforce executive noted carefully. The analytics collaboration will allow enterprises to aggregate analytics for both online […]

Payments round-up: 7 November 2017

A distinctly European feel in our latest payments round-up. Stars Facebook Messenger, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator, Concardis and AliPay. The UK will be the first country outside the US to get the Facebook Messenger payments service. Messenger was launched in the US in 2015 and lets people transfer cash during any conversation within the […]

AMX selects InvestCloud to power exchange solution

The Asset Management Exchange (AMX) has selected US-based InvestCloud to build a bespoke digital solution for its client base of asset owners and asset managers. The digital interface will let clients access and monitor some $2 billion of investments already on the exchange. Established by advisory firm Willis Towers Watson earlier this year, AMX is […]

Fintech funding round-up: 7 November 2017

Not cash-strapped just backed. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Douugh, Choice Financial, Monzo and Smartkarma. All rise please. Banking (not baking) challenger Douugh has partnered with community bank Choice Financial to launch an integrated checking account and debit card. Choice has also made an investment to “support Douugh’s roadmap”, bringing the company’s total seed funding […]

Sunlight Payments to “revolutionise” distribution for global philanthropic sector

Sunlight Payments, a US-based paytech start-up, says it has “successfully tested a new platform to enhance controls and accountability for philanthropic funding and grants”. The test was carried out with Pathfinder International, a women’s reproductive health non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works in 19 countries.

Starling Bank bolts to Yolt money app

Yolt, the money app backed by ING, has integrated with its first digital challenger bank, Starling Bank. Yolt says its aggregation functionality now enables Yolt users to view their Starling Bank account details and transactions alongside their other bank accounts, together in one place. Since launching in June 2017, Yolt states that its users have […]

Deutsche Bank goes live with Swift’s gpi

Deutsche Bank has gone live on Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi) EUR services as it looks to increase transparency and speed in cross-border payments. Swift’s gpi offers real-time tracking of payments and same day use of funds for corporate clients. Deutsche Bank says it is one of the first banks globally to go live via […]

Salesforce doubling down on AI

A little over a year ago, Salesforce introduced Einstein, making a huge bet that artificial intelligence (AI)  would play a major role in the future of information technology. Now, the CRM giant is doubling down on that bet, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). At the start of its annual Dreamforce conference in […]

No laughing matter as Smile and Co-op online banking goes down

The customers of the UK’s Co-operative Bank and its digital arm, Smile, have been affected by an online banking glitch that is preventing access to accounts. As with all these problems the banks say they are investigating. There are no more details on specifics or when the systems will be back up. However, the mobile […]

Bahrain launches largest fintech hub in MENA region

The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and FinTech Consortium (FTC) have launched Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), the “largest dedicated fintech hub in the Middle East and Africa”. The new hub aims to further the development and acceleration of firms as well as the interaction between investors, entrepreneurs, government bodies and financial institutions. BFB, with an […]

Wirecard provides paytech to Orange Bank

France’s latest mobile bank, Orange Bank, is getting its mobile payment and banking services underpinned by Wirecard. The paytech vendor says it is providing “all the technical components integrated into the Orange Bank platform to manage their mobile payments”.

SoftBank to increase Sprint stake as Vision Fund boosts earnings

SoftBank has revealed plans to increase its stake in Sprint shortly after abandoning efforts to merge the US telco with local rival T-Mobile US, reports Light Reading (Banking Technology‘s sister company). The announcement came as the Japanese company reported a sharp increase in operating profits for the April-to-September period thanks to investment activities by its $98 […]

Mastercard, Bank Asia and a2i team for financial inclusion in Bangladesh

Access to Information (a2i, an innovation lab supported by the Bangladeshi government), Bank Asia and Mastercard have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate financial inclusion in Bangladesh by making digital payment services accessible countrywide through the Union Digital Centres (UDCs).

Wells Fargo unveils Greenhouse effect with money management app

Wells Fargo has unleashed Greenhouse, a new standalone mobile banking app to help consumers manage their money and know where they stand financially. The app combines personal finance management (PFM) tools with Wells Fargo banking, offering “personalised” insights through artificial intelligence (AI). The bank says Greenhouse will be available in a limited, national pilot in […]

Crime thriller: Trading Down, by Stephen Norman – part 3

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing some extracts from a new crime thriller, Trading Down, by Stephen Norman, long serving CIO/CTO of RBS Global Markets. Here, in the third and final extract, we return to the action at the Hamilton Datacentre crisis.

Cashplus licence = new UK challenger bank

London-based financial services provider Cashplus is making the bold move into the challenger bank ring by unveiling its next move: applying for a banking licence.

Cisco: we’ll put IT back in charge

Cisco and its partners want to put IT back in charge of their enterprise technology infrastructure, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Years of deploying technology in multiple locations have left enterprise IT with cloud sprawl, workloads spread over multiple public, private and hybrid clouds. By applying the right technology and business services, […]

Studio Bank starts up with CSI’s core and mobile banking

Tennessee-based Studio Bank has powered up in the US and selected Computer Services Inc (CSI) as its core and mobile banking technology provider. Studio, which filed its application to become Nashville’s “first newly chartered de novo bank in nearly a decade”, plans to use CSI’s NuPoint core processing solution for an omnichannel and “hyper-local” strategy. […]

German mobile challenger bank N26 expands to UK

Germany-based mobile challenger bank N26 will enter the UK market in the first half of 2018. According to N26, the UK is “one of the most advanced markets” in Europe in terms of digital payment methods. It says “non-cash payments and e-commerce are the accepted norm” and reckons there is a demand for a “fully-fledged […]

Facebook alumni-led database start-up YugaByte de-stealths

Start-up YugaByte, which is run by ex-Facebook engineers, thinks it’s got a database that can compete with Oracle and a crowded market of other established proprietary and open source incumbents, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). YugaByte, which comes out of stealth with $8 million funding, says it stands out from the crowd […]

IBM’s Watson Data Platform focuses on AI

The IBM Watson Data Platform already provides data scientists with the ability to crunch numbers and share large data sets across different public and private clouds. Now the company has its sights set on artificial intelligence (AI), reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Big Blue has announcing expanded capabilities and tools for the […]