News


People on the Move: Simon Moran, Yoyo

London-based mobile payment and customer engagement startup Yoyo has hired former PayPal General Manager Simon Moran as its first vice president of commercial.

Seconds out for Monzo tech

Mobile-only challenger bank Monzo has been hit by tech issues for the second time this week. As Banking Technology reported on 6 March, payment outages caused major problems to cardholders and fintech services provides in the UK and internationally – and Monzo was one of the affected firms reporting issues with their payment processor. Today […]

Abu Dhabi and Singapore sign up for fintech innovation

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have signed a co-operation agreement to help fintech entrepreneurs and support innovation in financial services in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The agreement establishes a framework for both regulators to assist start-ups and innovators to understand the regulatory regime in each jurisdiction and provide […]

Mobile wallet users want more incentives, new study says

Payments pundits for years have been saying consumers need incentives to use mobile wallets, and a new survey report from Auriemma Consulting Group has numbers to back up the claim. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that a survey of 1,505 consumers found that 25% of those who have an eligible smartphone use mobile pay services.Those […]

As Gifting Evolves, First Data, FLEETCOR Combine Gift Card Operations

With gifting loads hitting nearly $300 billion annually in the U.S. according to Mercator Advisory Group, First Data and FLEETCOR Technologies are banding together in a new joint venture that will consolidate each company’s gift card operations into a new, single entity, in a bid to give clients a “broader international reach and a more robust end-to-end offering.”

Corporate One Federal Credit Union tests real-time payments with D+H

North American banking and payments tech vendor DH Corporation (D+H) is helping Corporate One Federal Credit Union move to real-time payments. Corporate One FCU is using D+H’s cloud-based testing environment to simulate connectivity to The Clearing House’s (TCH) real-time payments network.

China’s Chained Finance brings blockchain boost to SME funding

Chinese fintech firms Dianrong and FnConn have launched Chained Finance, the “first-ever” blockchain platform for supply chain finance. According to the pair, supply chain finance companies have been limited by existing technology and, to date, have only served about 15% of suppliers needing financial resources. They claim the vast majority of the 40 million SMEs […]

Emerging payments hot topic on social media, Mastercard study finds

Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new Mastercard report. Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analysed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels – including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter […]

Dwolla seeks more dollars with repackaged services

Capping an approximately 18-month effort to pivot into a software-as-service platform for businesses, US payments firm Dwolla has repackaged some of its services into a pair of products and pricing structures. The company’s clients now can use Dwolla technology to enable same-day ACH capabilities or to move funds between bank accounts without having to do […]

Wirecard brings mobile payment app boon to Apple Pay in Ireland

Wirecard has launched its mobile payment app boon with Apple Pay in Ireland – and the app is “independent from any bank or telecom operator”. After the initial launch to the UK, France and Switzerland, Ireland is the fourth market where people can use boon with Apple Pay. Georg von Waldenfels, EVP consumer solutions with […]

LendIt USA: $400 from disaster

A startling 46% of American adults would be unable to come up with $400 to meet an unexpected expense without borrowing or selling something. We are so used to thinking about financial exclusion in terms of the un- or under-served that we are overlooking the financial vulnerability of nearly half the US adult population.

Symantec ventures into cybersecurity start-up space

Symantec has created a venture capital arm, Symantec Ventures, as it looks to work with cybersecurity start-ups. Its plan is to get start-ups to build on its Integrated Cyber Defence Platform and save them time. It will also talk to start-ups and academic communities through sponsorship of activities such as innovation challenges and hackathons. These […]

IBM and Maersk first for cross-border supply chain on blockchain

Maersk and IBM have unveiled the “first industry-wide” cross-border supply chain solution on blockchain. According to IBM, 90% of goods in global trade are carried by the ocean shipping industry each year. Their new blockchain solution will do the usual things – help manage and track the paper trail of shipping containers across the world […]

Emerging Payments a Hot Topic on Social Media, Study Finds

Consumers are expressing interest in and enthusiasm for emerging payment methods in their social media conversations, according to a new report. Mastercard’s fifth annual Digital Payments Study analyzed more than 3.5 million public interactions in 2016 between consumers on social media channels—including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter—to glean insight about consumer attitudes toward new payment technologies worldwide.

Financial services consulting firm Arthur Andersen is back

Accounting and consulting firm Arthur Andersen, the folks who audited Enron, is back with 26 offices in 16 countries on five continents. In case you had forgotten; back in 2002, the company voluntarily surrendered its licences to practice as Certified Public Accountants in the US after being found guilty of criminal charges relating to the […]

The Monday mindset: 6 March 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy as he gives us the lowdown on electronic payments in India. India’s Prime Minister […]

Hellenic Bank to launch open APIs

Cyprus-based Hellenic Bank is readying the first project by its recently unveiled innovation lab – open application programming interfaces (APIs).

Former Infosys top exec launches lending start-up

A former Infosys senior exec and venture capitalist has unveiled his new India-based lending start-up, Billionloans. V Balakrishnan, formerly in charge of BPO, Finacle and India business units at Infosys, has founded the firm with Rangan Varadan. The latter is also CEO of Indian peer-to peer microcredit firm MicroGraam – and Balakrishnan is an independent […]

Banking Technology March 2017 issue out now

The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Atom Bank goes atomic with £113m funding plan

UK challenger bank Atom plans to raise almost £113 million in equity investment to support its ambitions for growth. As Banking Technology reported late last year, Atom opened for all customers in the UK. Its “invitation only” phase is over and people can download the Atom App, both in IoS and Android, and open an […]

Alibaba targets Amazon with $177m stake in Paytm e-commerce

India-based Paytm’s e-commerce unit has raised $200 million in a funding round led by Chinese titan Alibaba, with the latter potentially muscling in on Amazon’s arena of action. Alibaba’s Singapore unit will invest $177 million into Paytm E-Commerce, with $23 million coming from Indian venture and growth capital fund SAIF Partners. With the deal Alibaba […]

Banks not fine with $321bn paid in fines

Banks are stumbling along amidst the cumulative financial penalties of $321 billion handed out to them since the financial crisis. In a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) – “Global Risk 2017:  Staying the Course in Banking” – it says “prudent operations will be required to avoid the errors of the past” and […]

DeVere enters international fintech space with Lithuania launch

Financial consultancy firm DeVere Group has taken advantage of Lithuania’s ambitions to attract fintech firms and set up a new office in the capital Vilnius. The Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank and regulator, recently issued an electronic money institution licence which made it possible for DeVere to establish its new subsidiary DeVere E-Money. […]

Bots and biometrics: The Mobile World Congress shows the future of payments

Bots, biometrics and wristbands stood out as examples of payments innovation this week at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Judging by the product releases and displays, the future promises to involve more use of fingerprints in payments, and technology that allows quick purchasing from social media, reports Paybefore (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Payment bots […]

PwC blockchain aims to win Oscar for London insurtech

PwC has created a working blockchain prototype for the London Market Target Operating Model (TOM) Innovation Exchange, as it seeks to use the tech for payments in the specialist insurance market. Completed over a six-week period, the proof of concept (PoC) focuses on “enhancing” interactions between multiple different London Market parties involved in a claims […]

Netspend Hires Veteran Jeff Johnson to Lead Commercial Prepaid Channel

Netspend has landed a 20-year prepaid industry veteran in Jeff Johnson to manage the financial services provider’s commercial prepaid channel, the company announced March 2. The freshly minted senior vice president for commercial prepaid will oversee Netspend’s programs for paycards, incentives, disbursements and awards, as well as the Tip Network, which serves businesses whose employees supplement their incomes with tips.