News


Temenos teams with MuleSoft to accelerate open banking

Banking software provider Temenos has teamed up with Mulesoft, a platform provider for building application networks. The move is intended to break down barriers to the open banking initiative by facilitating API connections, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister publication). As a part of the partnership, Temenos will develop a core banking adaptor […]

NACHA Pushes on with API Payments Dream

NACHA, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data in the U.S., and its Payments Innovation Alliance, have named the first five APIs for their big payments push.

CFPB finalises small-dollar lending rule

After five years and more than a million comments on its proposed rulemaking, the CFPB has finalised its payday lending rules with the ability-to-repay test intact for many loan types.

Singapore and Thailand mull digital payments alliance

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank of Thailand are in discussions about connecting their national digital payment systems as officials step up efforts to curb the use of cash, according to Bloomberg. The link would bring together Southeast Asia’s first national digital payment platforms, Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay, says Naphongthawat Phothikit, […]

Singapore sets Phase 2 to stun for blockchain inter-bank payments

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) say that the consortium which they are leading has developed software prototypes for improved payments on blockchain. The prototypes included three different models for decentralised inter-bank payments and settlements with liquidity savings mechanisms. The project, conducted together with 11 financial institutions […]

Google bids for AI leadership with new Pixel 2 smartphone

Internet giant Google’s big gadget unveil is all about positioning itself for the artificial intelligence (AI) era, not becoming an iPhone killer, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The flagship product is the Pixel 2 – a product so important for Google that it blew a billion bucks on beefing up its R&D team. As […]

The United Nations of Data – an interesting idea

One of the big problems of the digital economy is unity. Everyone is out for themselves which could mean no one wins, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). What we’re talking about here are the rules – the legislation and regulation which defines how a company can operate in the connected economy. There sure are […]

Hey big lender! Finastra, R3 and seven banks have blockchain plan

Finastra, R3 and seven banks – including BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, HSBC, ING and State Street – are working together to create a blockchain-fuelled online marketplace for the syndicated loan market. Underpinned by Corda, R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platform, Fusion LenderComm exposes real-time credit agreement, accrual balances, position information and transaction data to […]

UK government continues quest to ruin reputation of encryption

The UK’s Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, is a woman on a mission, and that mission is to mutilate the reputation of platforms like WhatsApp in the pursuit of the destruction of end-to-end encryption, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). It isn’t new. Rudd must have been wronged by an online troll at some point and […]

Standard Chartered takes TradeIX and Infor route for digital trade finance drive

Standard Chartered is using TradeIX’s TIX blockchain platform and Infor’s GT Nexus Commerce Network for two separate digitalisation efforts in trade finance. The TradeIX platform enabled Standard Chartered’s unnamed client to “help its customers increase their payment terms whilst maintaining the company’s receivables at current terms”. The financing was offered by Standard Chartered with credit […]

Poland’s Bank Millennium unveils Visa tokenisation

Warsaw-based Bank Millennium has launched “Europe’s first issuer wallet” using Visa tokenisation – so its customers can use the mobile app to create a virtual equivalent of their card. The bank says virtualising the card and using the service is free of charge, and cardholders can pay with their phone via HCE (host card emulation). […]

ADP Buys Global Cash Card

ADP has acquired Global Cash Card, a pioneer in payroll and contract employee payments. The deal gives ADP a proprietary payments processing platform that, it says, provides value-added services for existing clients and will speed time to market for new clients.

Fintech funding round-up: 5 October 2017

Four of the latest stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features SalaryFinance, Featurespace, Worldpay, Invoke Capital, ESF Capital and ThinCats.

Navient’s $155m acquisition shows the importance of being Earnest

US asset management firm Navient will acquire education finance company Earnest for $155 million in cash as it hunts out new markets. As part of Navient, Earnest will continue as a “distinct brand” and will be led by its current management team, including founders Louis Beryl and Ben Hutchinson. Navient says Earnest clients will continue […]

SaaS-y Mambu powers New10’s Dutch SME lending

New10, ABN Amro’s newly launched fintech firm, has selected Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) engine to power a range of SME lending products in the Netherlands. Like many start-ups, speed is part of the sales pitch, and New10 says it aims to provide credit decisions for SMEs within 15 minutes and offers a fully digital application process. […]

Google’s Deepmind sets out to tackle AI ethics

If you ask the world of technology to slow down a bit, you’re instantly branded as a technophobe. But perhaps a bit of reflection is needed in the artificial intelligence (AI) arena, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Google’s Deepmind is one of those which is starting to think a bit deeper about the big, […]

IBM teams with big banks for blockchain-powered trade finance platform

Tech giant IBM has partnered with five banks – UBS, Bank of Montreal, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Erste Group – to launch a blockchain-based trade finance platform. The new platform, called Batavia, is built to be accessed by organisations of all sizes anywhere in the world.

Amazon is latest focus of Europe’s tax raid on US tech companies

The European Commission (EC) has ruled that Luxembourg illegally let Amazon off €250 million of taxes and must now get them back, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). This is the latest round of a general purge by the EC of European countries effectively bribing US tech companies to use them as their European hub by dangling […]

Saxo Bank Securities in Japan warms to Torstone’s Inferno for regulatory reporting

Japan-based Saxo Bank Securities has selected Torstone Technology’s Inferno to replace its legal ledger and comply with regulatory reporting requirements. It will initially use Inferno to improve its post-trade reporting processes and is looking to add additional features in future unspecified phases. Torstone says Inferno is a modular solution, giving organisations the “opportunity to incrementally […]

RGCA Expands Membership, Preps for Next-Gen Gift Cards

The Retail Gift Card Association kicked off its inaugural RGCA Forum in Kansas City, Mo., this week, tackling myriad subjects from gift card fraud to keeping consumers engaged with the No. 1 preferred holiday gift.

Use the Salesforce Luke… for your retail banking

Salesforce has unleashed “Financial Services Cloud for Retail Banking”, a new application that lets bank employees have a “complete view” of their customers and work collaboratively. New features in the application comprise a retail banking data model and console. This includes all customer data – such as bank accounts and personal identification documents – which […]

Spafinder Improves Gifting Options ahead of Holidays

Spafinder, a marketing, gifting, incentives and rewards brand owned by Blackhawk Network, has unveiled new gift card technology, expanded distribution and additional partner services to make giving the gift of spa and beauty experiences easier for consumers and businesses.

Bank of Ireland’s new CEO reviews tech revamp

Bank of Ireland’s new CEO is understood to be reviewing its five-year €900 million modernisation initiative – aka Project Omega – according to the Irish Times. As Banking Technology reported last year, the new set-up will be hosted by Capgemini. The bank was known to be evaluating a joint Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering from Temenos and […]

Barclays US Tests Personal Finance Tool

Barclays US is dipping its toe into the financial health business, testing a personal financial management tool that aggregates all of a customer’s Barclays credit cards, personal loans and savings products—as well as accounts with other banks—in one place.

Voleo and Nasdaq to launch equity trading competition

Social investing platform Voleo has teamed up with Nasdaq to launch its Voleo Equity Trading Competition – with winning investors and investing teams getting $10,000 in real cash portfolios, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). “The goals of the competition are to improve financial literacy, to break down the knowledge barrier, and […]

Starling Bank Expands with Business Accounts

The competition to serve the financial needs of small businesses is heating up in the U.K., where consumer banking challenger Starling Bank is expanding into the business market,

E-book: Principles of data wrangling

Through the last decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, data was largely a medium for bottom-line accounting: making sure that the books were balanced, the rules were followed, and the right numbers could be rolled up for executive decision-making. Attitudes toward data have changed radically in the past decade, as new people, […]

Three US credit unions added to Finastra client list

Three credit unions in the US have signed for the lending software from Finastra (formerly D+H Corporation and Misys). These are Central Florida Educators Federal Credit Union, TruMark Financial Credit Union and Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union.

Snapsheet and KeyBank form virtual duet for insurance claims

Snapsheet, a virtual claims insurtech provider, is partnering with KeyBank for the launch of Snapsheet Transactions, a payment solution for insurance claims. Instead of insurance carriers sending claimants a cheque in the mail once a claim is settled, Snapsheet Transactions provides carriers a hub for issuing claims and expense payments. CJ Przybyl, president of Snapsheet, […]

Truphone raises $339m to fuel global expansion

What would you do with $339 million? London-based mobile operator Truphone gets to answer that question today as it closes its $339 million (£255 million) private equity round.