News


District of Columbia takes top US tech innovation spot

The District of Columbia (DC) can claim bragging rights as it has been deemed the most innovative part of the US, according to a study by personal finance website WalletHub. WalletHub says innovation is a principal driver of US economic growth. In 2016, the country spent an estimated $514 billion on R&D – “more than […]

United States of happiness for two-day settlement rule

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is being vigorously back slapped and group hugged by the finserv industry for finalising rule changes to help achieve a two-day settlement cycle (T+2). With an avalanche of acronyms, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Investment Company Institute (ICI) and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), […]

EdgeVerve calls for fintech’s magnificent seven

EdgeVerve Systems, a product subsidiary of Infosys, has launched Finacle FinTech Connect and the chance for firms to integrate their solutions into Finacle’s banking suite. Companies are invited to register for a partnership evaluation process and stand a chance to present at its event Infosys Confluence 2017 in May in San Francisco; along with joint […]

Isbank does good deed with fully digital mortgage service

Turkey’s largest bank, Isbank, has introduced a digital mortgage process where users can follow up credit pre-approval, the actual appraisal and overall credit process 24×7. In the bank’s “instant transaction” area, users’ mortgage applications are pre-approved within a “few seconds” and users can upload title deed images and pay the appraisal fee online to start […]

Nesta calls for SME innovation with £5m prize fund

UK-based innovation foundation Nesta has launched its “Open Up Challenge” as it looks for services, apps and tools for SMEs. The competition is now open for entries. A £5 million prize fund is on offer and it is looking for 20 entries from anywhere in the world that will use open banking APIs – “newly […]

Diamonds and blockchain are forever for SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba has unveiled its plans to use blockchain across its cloud-based applications and business network for trading goods and services. Among the first applications that SAP Ariba sees potential in involves the tracking and tracing of goods. SAP Ariba will join forces with Everledger, a London-based fintech firm. The latter captures the defining characteristics […]

ADNIC live with Profile Software’s IMSplus for investment ops

Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC) has implemented Profile Software’s IMSplus Insurance Investment Management solution. ADNIC uses IMSplus to monitor sector and asset class exposures of its invested assets. Profile says the system allows investment managers to analyse the company’s invested assets (cash, fixed term deposits, equities, bonds, funds, private equity and real estate) and […]

People on the Move: Simon Banks, Hyperwallet

Global payments provider Hyperwallet has hired Simon Banks to lead its e-commerce and gig economy businesses in the Asia-Pacific region as managing director and senior vice president of Asia-Pacific, based in Sydney.

UK cheque tech goes breakneck

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) has launched an industry-wide image-based cheque clearing system to speed up processing for customers across the UK. The new system will go live with some banks and building societies from 30 October 2017. Then, at some stage in the second half of 2018, all of the UK’s banks […]

Samsung Pay makes its India debut

Digital payments app, Samsung Pay, has been launched in India. Access is limited to those who signed up for the early access programme and available only on its mid-segment and flagship Samsung Galaxy devices.

Earthport revenue and payment volume power up

Earthport, a cross-border payments service provider, has reported a massive rise in its number of transactions and payment volume for the six-month period ended 31 December 2016. The number of transactions reached five million, a growth of about 85% over the prior year period. Payment volume increased by 97% to $7.80 billion and revenue per […]

Tug of love turns to group hug for banks and fintechs

With the EU’s Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and open architecture framework set to come into force next year, regulation may well tip the scales between banks and fintechs for customer loyalty, according to a new report conducted for Temenos by the Economist Intelligence Unit. In the 36-page study, “Symbiosis: Your bank has your trust. […]

Payments Canada picks Accenture for revamp plan

Payments Canada, an organisation that operates the country’s payment clearing and settlement system, has selected consulting firm Accenture to help it lead “Modernization” – its initiative to improve Canada’s payments ecosystem. Jan Pilbauer, executive director of Modernization and CIO at Payments Canada, calls Accenture a “strong consulting partner”. In December, Payments Canada released its plans […]

Illinois regulator joins global distributed ledger consortium R3

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) has become the first US regulatory agency to join the R3 Consortium, a global partnership of banks and other parties working to develop distributed ledger-based applications for financial services.

Will the CFPB’s Proposed Six-Month Effective Date Extension Be Enough?

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the CFPB proposed pushing back the effective date of the final prepaid accounts rule to April 1, 2018. The six-month delay provides industry participants more time to handle the difficulties of complying with certain provisions of the rule and for the CFPB to assess whether any additional adjustments to the rule are appropriate. Comments are due by April 5, 2017.

CFPB Stares down another D.C. Challenge

House bill 1009 would require the CFPB and other independent federal agencies to submit regulations annually to a White House office for review, in the latest push to reform the CFPB and otherwise reduce regulatory burdens for the financial and payments industry under the Trump administration.

Samsung moves on Siri with Bixby AI

Watch out Siri and Alexa, Samsung has unveiled its own artificial intelligence (AI) solution called Bixby. This will be a new interface on Samsung’s devices – with the imminent Galaxy S8 getting it first – and when an application becomes Bixby-enabled, it will be able to support “almost every task” that the application is capable […]

Walmart Pushes Omnichannel Shopping with New Tech Incubator

Walmart recently announced another step toward further developing its e-commerce business with the creation of a technology incubator called Store No. 8 to create new retail online businesses as well as help the retail giant better compete against Amazon.com.

Illinois Regulator Joins Global Virtual Currency Consortium

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has become the first U.S. regulatory agency to join the R3 Consortium, a global partnership of banks and other parties working to develop distributed ledger-based applications for financial services. The agency oversees the regulation and licensing of banks and financial institutions, among other businesses, in the state.

Deutsche Bank opens innovation lab in New York

Deutsche Bank has opened an innovation lab in New York, its fourth globally. The lab is part of its five-year plan for €1 billion investment in digital initiatives. It is sited in Lower Manhattan’s Fulton Center and will explore new technologies focused on several areas, including artificial intelligence, cloud technology and cybersecurity. Elly Hardwick, head […]

IBM turns up heat in cloud pricing war

The last couple of months have been relatively quiet for the major cloud players, though it looks like the lurking pricing war is just beginning to heat up, reports telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Speaking at IBM InterConnect in Las Vegas, the team announced a horde of new offerings, as well as a number of […]

IBM unveils blockchain-based digital identity network

IBM and SecureKey Technologies are working together to enable a new digital identity and attribute sharing network based on IBM Blockchain. When launched later this year, consumers can use the network to verify their identity for services such as new bank accounts, driver’s licences or utilities. IBM’s Blockchain service is built on top of the […]

Survey: how regtech savvy are you?

Banking Technology and BearingPoint are conducting a brief survey to find out the industry view on regtech and its implications for all parties involved.

ZrCoin crowdfunds first ever commodities option on blockchain

A new initiative will hold an initial coin offering (ICO) for the production of an industrial material using green technologies – creating the “first” commodity-backed cryptographic token in the process. Called ZrCoin, this will be a derivative – and with the option to buy an equivalent amount of synthetic Zirconium Dioxide (ZrO2). The latter may […]