News


Hitachi and BTMU cheque mates for blockchain digitalisation

Hitachi and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) have started proof of concept (PoC) testing for using blockchain in the digitalisation of cheques in Singapore. In this PoC testing, Hitachi and BTMU developed a system in which a blockchain infrastructure is used for issuing, transferring and collecting electronic cheques. BTMU issues and settles them, while […]

Parity Treasury Management System business sold to Eurobase

Eurobase International has acquired the Parity Treasury Management Software from Manex Treasury Systems, its flagship product. Parity clients and Manex staff will move to Eurobase as part of the deal. Parity users will continue to be supported but will be encouraged to move to Eurobase’s own offering, Siena. Manex is a long-standing software supplier to the […]

Eddie Bauer, Walgreens, Costco Top Gift Card Bad Boys List

The weakest gift card retailers, according to a report from Retail System Research published Aug. 23 that gave them each zero points, include Eddie Bauer, Costco, Walgreens, and Advance Auto Parts as well as quite a few quick-service restaurant chains, including McDonald’s, Denny’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, KFC and Chick-Fil-A.

NBPCA Criticizes Arbitration Proposal from CFPB

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s proposal prohibiting financial services firms from including class action waivers in arbitration agreements has another critic: The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA) has sent a letter to the federal agency about the “negative” impacts the rule would have on the prepaid industry.

Walgreens Taps into NFC Loyalty for Android Pay

Walgreens on Aug. 22 became the first retailer to enable customers to earn loyalty points via NFC tap with Android Pay. The pharmacy and convenience giant’s Balance Rewards members now can load their rewards card onto Android Pay and hold their phone near the PIN pad to earn points when making a purchase.

Erroneous Emails another Bump in the Road for Costco, Citi

Some members of big box retailer Costco received erroneous email messages Aug. 19 from Citi stating their Costco Anywhere Visa credit card account had been closed. The emails were intended to inform certain Costco customers that they couldn’t use their Costco Anywhere Visa cards because their memberships had expired.

SEB in Norway live with ERI’s Olympic core banking system

Private banking software vendor ERI has completed the implementation of its flagship core system, Olympic, at SEB in Norway. This is the vendor’s first site in the country. Olympic manages SEB’s onshore private banking business and associated transaction processing for Norway. The project commenced in 2013. SEB – already a long-standing Olympic user in Luxembourg, […]

CustomerXPs releases real-time intraday liquidity monitoring solution for UAE banks

Banking analytics vendor CustomerXPs has unveiled its new Clari5 Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Solution. This “real-time, packaged and ready-to-deploy” solution aims to help banks in the UAE to comply with BCBS 248 requirements for intraday liquidity risk management, says CustomerXPs. The deadline for compliance with the BCBS 248 regulations is January 2017. CustomerXPs’ offering promises data […]

UK contactless spending ascending to new heights

If you’re curious, then it’s been fast and furious. Spending on UK contactless cards in the first half of 2016 has already outstripped contactless spending for the whole of 2015, according to the UK Cards Association. Some £9.27 billion was spent using contactless methods between January and June of this year, more than the total […]

Ripple blockchain powers payments for Japanese bank consortium

SBI Ripple Asia has announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in a new network will use Ripple’s blockchain technology for payments and settlement. Using Ripple, customers of the banks will get real-time domestic and cross-border payments, 365 days of the year. Initial participants include Bank of Yokohama and SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SBI […]

Temenos and BACB go public on core banking software project

Temenos has officially confirmed it is implementing its software at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB). As reported by Banking Technology back in February, BACB opted to replace its legacy core system, Misys’ Midas, with T24. Temenos is also supplying its digital channels (Temenos Connect) and analytics (Insight BI) products to the London-based corporate bank. Temenos […]

Philippines Land Bank goes live on Miles Software’s MoneyWare Custody

Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has gone live with Miles Software’s MoneyWare Custody solution. The government-owned bank was recently accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) to offer third party security custody and registry services. The new deal is part of its growth plans. Josephine Cervero, senior vice-president and trust officer, LBP, […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the US – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the US retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the US for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the UK – July 2016

With digital banking sharply on the rise in the UK – according to the latest figures released by the British Bankers Association – who is leading among the UK retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the UK for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). […]

Chase Pay Deal Could Help Phillips 66 Pump Up Mobile Apps

Mobile payment service Chase Pay has landed a major new merchant partner, announcing a multi-year acceptance agreement with Phillips 66 that also will boost the fuel retailer’s mobile payments and loyalty integration. Under the deal, Phillips will accept Chase Pay at fuel pumps and convenience stores that operate under its Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 brands.

Can Bank Biometrics Be Broken?

Using facial recognition to log into bank accounts could present security vulnerabilities, according to a security researcher.

WEX Ends My Travel Cash Prepaid Card Program in U.K.

WEX Inc., a South Portland, Maine-based provider of corporate payment services, will kill its my Travel Cash prepaid card program in the U.K. as of Oct. 4. Shuttering my Travel Cash is part of WEX’s plan to concentrate on its corporate payments products and services, according to the company.

Job Listings Hint at Square Expansion Plans in U.K., Beyond

Square Inc. could be moving closer to its long-expected expansion into Europe. The San Francisco-based mobile payments company posted three openings for positions in the U.K. and Ireland on jobs board Indeed.com. The openings were for a compliance analyst and communications manager, both based in London, and a technical customer support rep, in Dublin.

Octopus Investments launches Octopus Labs for fintech start-ups

A UK-based investment firm, Octopus Investments, is looking to onboard fintech start-ups for its 12-week accelerator programme with Octopus Labs. “We’re rebuilding financial services,” states Octopus Labs. “The financial services sector is broken. We’re on a mission to rebuild it.” The programme will provide mentoring, office space in central London, plus potential access to Octopus […]

Infographics: real-time payments – the odyssey

Banking Technology, ACI Worldwide and Nets have joined forces to survey the global market about the highs and lows of its current journey towards real-time payments. From individual institutions’ readiness to key market drivers, obstacles and fraud concerns, and everything in between – survey participants from across the globe share their views.

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka in tech overhaul with Fiserv

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) has signed for Fiserv’s Signature back office system and the Teller front-end solution. MBSL has around 100,000 customer accounts and 49 branches. Last year, it merged with its two subsidiaries, MBSL Financial Services and MBSL Savings Bank. Fiserv says the bank needed new technology that was “flexible, scalable and […]

Misys appoints advisers for £5.5 billion IPO

Banking technology vendor Misys – currently residing in the hands of US-based Vista Equity Partners – is understood to be gearing up for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. According to City AM, Misys is planning a £5.5 billion float and has appointed investment advisory firm Moelis to oversee it. In its current form, […]

SK Telecom and Hana Financial team for mobile platform launch

South Korea’s SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group have formed a joint venture (JV) agreement to develop and launch a mobile financial services platform. The firms say the deal combines SK Telecom’s mobile technologies and big data analytics with Hana Financial Group’s experience in financial products and mobile financial services. Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana […]

Apple bites back over Australian banks’ “cartel”

You can tell cartels to go to hell if you’re Apple. The firm has responded strongly to three of Australia’s big banks’ plans to team up for negotiation deals on digital wallet access. According to the Australian Financial Review, the request from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac to “collectively negotiate […]

Top fintech stories this week – 19 August 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! New core banking project for Temenos in Canada Exclusive. Credit union in British Columbia goes for T24. Swift slow on strong security say execs “Took their eye off the ball.” Volksbank pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room An “experimental […]

Lunar Way gets new investor and banking partner, Nykredit

Nykredit, Denmark’s largest mortgage provider, has invested in a minority stake in a new mobile banking service, Lunar Way, and has become its banking partner. In two months’ time Nykredit will replace Københavns Andelskasse (Copenhagen Cooperative Bank), the start-up’s initial banking partner. Mark Dissing Bækgaard, head of marketing and communications at Lunar Way, tells Banking […]

New T24 core banking software client for Temenos in Ghana

Ghana-based banking start-up, Sovereign Bank, has implemented Temenos’ T24 core banking system. The project was delivered by a local integrator and Temenos’ regional partner, Global Solutions. Sovereign Bank was among the three entities granted banking licences last year. The other two are Heritage Bank and Union Savings and Loans. Sovereign Bank is a universal bank offering […]

Chinese tourism inspires Ingenico and Alipay payment partnership

Payments provider Ingenico has partnered with Alipay to give Chinese tourists visiting Europe the ability to pay via their Alipay app at any store using the Ingenico solution. With this partnership, Alipay will be imbedded into Ingenico’s in-store payment gateway, which will allow acquirers across Europe to integrate and offer Alipay acceptance to their merchants. […]

Discovery in core banking system selection mode for new bank

One of South Africa’s largest health insurers, Discovery, is a step closer to selecting a core banking system for its new bank, Banking Technology understands. Discovery went public on its plans to launch a brand new full-service retail bank in South Africa last year. As part of this ambition, it acquired the majority stake in […]

Meridian Credit Union plans to take on top Canadian banks by launching own bank

One of Canada’s ten largest credit unions, Meridian CU, is looking to launch a new digital bank and has applied for a banking licence. “We believe, and our research shows, that there is a clear desire in the marketplace for an innovative digital bank that offers a true full-service alternative to the big banks,” states […]

Cisco to cut 5,500 jobs in order to refocus on IoT and the cloud

US networking gear giant Cisco has announced it will be cutting 5,500 jobs to reinvest the consequent savings on strategic growth areas like IoT, cloud, data centres and collaboration, reports Scott Bicheno at Telecoms.com. The announcement was made as part of the company’s quarterly earnings announcement, which revealed flat revenue growth but improved profitability. It […]

New core banking software project for Temenos in Canada

Integris CU, a credit union in Canada’s British Columbia, is implementing a new core banking platform, Banking Technology understands. This is Temenos’ T24. In addition, the credit union will also deploy Temenos Connect (digital channels) and Insight BI (business intelligence), it is understood. No comment was available from Integris. Integris was formed in 2005 as […]

Rakuten blockchain lab to open in Belfast

Rakuten will open its Rakuten Blockchain Lab (RBL) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 22 August to develop applications in the fintech and e-commerce sectors. The establishment of RBL follows the acquisition by Rakuten of the IP assets of Bitnet Technologies, operators of a blockchain-powered digital payments platform. Yasufumi Hirai, group executive vice-president, CIO, CISO and […]

Swift forms task force for ISO 20022 harmonisation

Swift has formed a global market practice task force of markets infrastructures and banks to assist its ISO 20022 Harmonisation Charter. Sponsored by the Payments Market Practice Group (PMPG), the task force aims to address the evolving ISO 20022 standards requirements of high value payments systems (HVPS) providers. Swift says it is a “key component” […]

IDFC Bank deploys customer experience and digital banking platforms from Backbase

Digital banking software specialist Backbase is implementing its omnichannel banking platform at IDFC Bank. India-based IDFC Bank will be able to service its customers “through multiple channels synchronously, creating a single multimodal touch point”, according to the vendor. The goal is to “quicken response time and improve efficiencies”. Dr Rajiv Lall, MD and CEO of IDFC Bank, […]

SS&C’s Global Wealth Platform live at Smead Capital

Seattle-based Smead Capital Management has gone live with a new wealth management platform – Global Wealth Platform (GWP) – provided by SS&C Technologies. The solution is delivered in the cloud. GWP replaced Smead Capital’s legacy solution supplied by a third party. SS&C says Smead Capital was looking to increase automation “simply and cost-effectively” and to […]

Volksbank eG pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room

NCR Corporation has introduced “a completely new concept” – NCR Innovation Experience Room – an “experimental playground” for financial institutions to “build digital literacy among employees and customers”. Germany-based Volksbank eG Schwarzwald Baar Hegau has become the first taker. It has introduced an experiential room where customers and employees can discover and experience new technologies. […]

SWIFT Knew About Security Issues, Did Little about Them

SWIFT, a Belgium-based, bank-owned co-op and provider of financial messaging services, has been aware of flaws in the way smaller banks used SWIFT’s messaging terminals, thus compromising the security of the system, but the organization did little to address the matter. Those are the assertions of more than a dozen current and former high-ranking Swift officials, according to a Reuters report on Aug. 17.