News


Finca and First Access join forces for microfinance fintech

Microfinance organisation Finca and credit scoring specialist First Access have unveiled “the world’s largest microfinance fintech collaboration”. The two companies say this partnership “will create the largest and most sophisticated alternative credit-scoring approach by a microfinance institution (MFI) in the world.” It will also vastly improve Finca’s outreach to excluded populations. First Access will analyse existing […]

Capital One UK launches fintech start-up accelerator

Capital One UK is inviting fintech start-ups to join its newly launched Capital One Growth Labs – “an accelerator programme for early-stage start-up and high-growth companies”. The initiative is supported by technology investor L Marks. The aim, states Chris Owen, programme leader, is to discover and partner with the new fintech talent and “and unlock the truly […]

IDBI Capital goes live with new trading platform, TCS Bancs

IDBI Capital, a subsidiary of India-based IDBI Bank, has gone live on a new securities trading and processing system, Bancs. The system is supplied by TCS Financial Solutions. Bancs supports online brokerage operations at IDBI Capital. It provides front-to-back office functionality and replaced IDBI Capital’s multiple trading and trade processing platforms. According to TCS, IDBI […]

MCX Delays CurrentC, Shifts Focus to FI Partnerships

Retailer consortium MCX said it will postpone the rollout of its CurrentC mobile payments service and shift its focus to partnering with financial institutions. Results from its pilot in Columbus, Ohio, led to the strategy move as well as the decision to cut about 30 jobs.

PayNearMe Scores Deal with Dallas Transit

PayNearMe is enabling Dallas commuters to pay transit fares in cash at nearly 800 retail locations through a partnership with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Fares can be loaded onto the existing DART GoPass app or the new DART GoPass card, the transit agency’s first reloadable NFC-enabled transit card designed and distributed by PayNearMe and Blackhawk Network.

Shoptalk: Payments Execs Focus More on Check-In than Checkout

Can you imagine a world where check-in matters more than checkout when it comes to payments? Some of world’s leading payment experts can, and their ideas, presented this week at the Shoptalk conference in Las Vegas, foreshadow how consumers might buy products in the coming years.

Pimco picks Kyc.com and Markit regulatory and compliance system

US investment management firm Pimco has selected Kyc.com and Markit for its due diligence and onboarding requirements. Pimco has opted for Counterparty Manager, Tax Utility, kyc.com and the “entire regulatory and compliance ecosystem”. Kyc.com and Markit say their “ecosystem” provides buy- and sell-side firms, and corporates with a solution for onboarding, KYC (Know Your Customer), […]

NICE’s robotic automation solution gets the Italian jobs

Italy’s Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Helpline have implemented NICE’s Robotic Automation solutions for loan approvals and credit card fraud prevention. Banca Popolare di Sondrio, which has 350 branches across the country, decided to implement NICE Robotics to speed up its online loan and credit approvals process. As a result, NICE says average handle time […]

UBS invests in digital tech firm SigFig, develops new platform for advisors

UBS Wealth Management Americas (WMA) and tech company SigFig has formed a “strategic alliance” to develop digital technology for UBS WMA, its financial advisors and their clients. San Francisco-based SigFig specialises in wealth management software. It will create and customise digital tools and services for UBS WMA’s 7,000 advisors. UBS WMA’s remit is domestic US and […]

MyState in digital banking transformation

Australia-based financial services group, MyState, is gearing up to launch a new digital banking system, provided by domestic vendor Rubik Financial. The new solution is set to go live in August and promises to transform MyState’s digital channels and customer experience, according to Rubik. It will provide “superior digital experience” to customers, the vendor says, […]

Infographics: the efficient treasury

The treasury function plays a pivotal role within a bank, and with great power comes great responsibility… and the need for automation. Misys and Banking Technology conducted a survey to find out about the changing role of the banks’ treasury and the degree of support received from current systems. How can technology help treasurers cope […]

ICAP profit and revenue fall, plans name change to NEX

ICAP, a UK-based financial services firm, has revealed profit and revenue loss for the year ended 31 March 2016; and a new name following the sale of its global hybrid voice broking and information business. Revenue, trading operating profit, trading profit before tax and profit before tax were all down for year ended 31 March […]

Green Dot Agrees to Split CEO, Chairman Role amid Proxy Fight

A week from its 2016 annual shareholder meeting, Green Dot has announced plans to split up the role of chairman and CEO. The move comes in the midst of Green Dot’s proxy battle over board seats, propelled by Harvest Capital, which owns 9.3 percent of Green Dot common stock and has proposed three nominees to the board.

Walmart Pay Rolls out in Texas, Arkansas

Five months after unveiling its own in-store mobile payment service, Walmart has begun rolling out Walmart Pay in Texas and the retail giant’s home state of Arkansas. Available through the Walmart smartphone app for iOS and Android, Walmart Pay can be loaded with any major credit, debit or prepaid card or a Walmart gift card.

Sen. Durbin Wants Answers on EMV Terminal Certification Delays

More than seven months after last October’s EMV liability shift in the U.S., customers “are forced to continue using fraud-prone magnetic stripe technology” because chip-reading payment terminals remain idle, charged U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chair Edith Ramirez.

HSBC to cut 850 jobs in UK

HSBC is to cut 850 information technology jobs in the UK today (16 May), the first stage of its restructuring plan that will see 8,000 British jobs terminated by the end of 2017. The employees are based in London, Sheffield, Leeds and Birmingham and all the jobs will disappear by the end of this year, […]

Calastone expands funds transaction network to New Zealand

London-based Calastone, the global funds transaction network, has expanded into New Zealand, and already carried out its first transaction with Australia. Calastone MD Australia, Sarah Hayward, says the firm’s extended cross border coverage enables transactions between Australian and New Zealand platforms, fund managers and respective counterparts. “Our expansion has been primarily driven by our Australian […]

Vietnam’s TienPhongBank stops attempted fraud through Swift system

Vietnam’s TienPhongBank (TPBank) says it has stopped an attempted wire fraud that involved the use of “fraudulent” Swift messages. The bank said in a statement late on Sunday (15 May), in response to inquiries from Reuters, that in Q4 2015 it “identified suspicious requests through fraudulent” Swift messages to transfer more than €1 million in […]

VocaLink signs ATM deal with UnionPay

VocaLink, the payment systems provider, has signed a five-year deal with China’s UnionPay International, which will enable UnionPay cardholders to access ATMs in the UK and continental Europe. Under the deal, VocaLink will provide ATM transaction processing and UnionPay sponsored access. VocaLink says on average, the value of UnionPay card withdrawals from UK ATMs are […]

Bloomberg applies to join global LEI system

Bloomberg has applied to the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) to become a local operating unit (LOU) of the Global LEI System (GLEIS). By submitting this application, Bloomberg moves to the candidate stage of the LOU accreditation process and joins an existing network of LOU’s monitored by GLEIF. Peter Warms, senior manager of fixed […]

Swift warns of second new malware threat

Swift has warned its customers about a newly identified malware found at a “commercial bank”, which it has declined to identify. This latest development follows yesterday’s (12 May) news where Swift rejected the allegations made by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials about the first cyber fraud scandal in February. Details […]

Crowdfunding and investment round-up: 13 May 2016

With news on crowdfunding and investment appearing with relentless regularity, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. UK challenger bank Tandem has now revealed the money it’s raised and its valuation – all in preparation for a crowdfunding campaign that starts on 20 May. Money raised comes to £22 million and it […]

Top fintech stories this week – 13 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Perception brings to market new core platform UK credit unions, lenders and start-up banks take note. ING adds some zing to start-up ring It’s working with 45 start-ups on banking innovation. Punjab National Bank to modernise enterprise data […]

BPCE implements new core banking system in Vietnam, Sopra Banking Amplitude

Vietnam-based subsidiary of France’s major financial group, BPCE, is implementing a new core banking system, Sopra Banking Amplitude. The new solution will cover front-to-back office operations of the bank, including digital banking functionality. The system is supplied by Sopra Banking Software. The project follows the reorganisation of BPCE’s operations in Vietnam, with the business moved […]

Barclays swerves Android Pay with smartphone NFC payments

Banking giant Barclays has announced the launch of its own mobile contactless on Android, and confirmed it will not be joining Android Pay, reports Tim Skinner at Telecoms.com. The bank has been one of the UK’s more innovative financial institutions harnessing mobile payments, and specifically the integration of payment technology into wearable or alternative devices. […]

Blackhawk: Mobile Wallets Gain as Cash and Check Usage Falls

A Blackhawk Network study finds that more consumers (44 percent) are buying gift cards for themselves, most consumers are familiar with digital gift cards and other innovative payment methods are catching steam, while checks and even cash are declining.

Walmart Sues Visa over Debit Verification Rules

Walmart has filed a lawsuit against Visa Inc. over claims that the payment network is forcing Walmart to offer customers the option to verify EMV debit card purchases via signature—a method the retail giant says is more prone to fraud than PIN verification.

Fidor Bank and Telefónica Germany to launch O2’s first mobile bank account

Telefónica Germany, in association with Fidor Bank, will be launching its mobile banking offering, “O2 Banking”, in Germany in late summer 2016. Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank, says the collaboration offers “the best of two digital worlds”. Namely, banking services via a mobile app and additional services from an O2 mobile contract. Fidor says […]

RBS to cut 200 more jobs in UK

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to cut around 200 more jobs at its UK retail bank, according to sources close to the development. The latest round of job cuts follows the announcement last month that 600 jobs were to go in the UK. Rob MacGregor, national officer at the Unite trade union, says: […]

RBS puts on Red Hat for new innovation centre

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is powering its new Open Experience centre with Red Hat technologies, including the Red Hat Mobile Application Platform and OpenShift Enterprise, Red Hat’s web-scale container application platform. Open Experience was launched by RBS in February at its HQ in Edinburgh (UK) to pursue “innovative new technologies for the bank and […]

Banking Technology May 2016 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.

Swift quick to dismiss Bangladesh’s allegations over cyber fraud scandal

Swift has rejected the allegations made by Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials to Reuters about the cyber fraud scandal in February. A few months ago, hackers stole more than $100 million from the country’s foreign currency reserves. In the ensuing furore, the head of Bangladesh’s central bank, Atiur Rahman, resigned; […]

IDBI Bank in major tech upgrade and business process re-engineering

IDBI Bank (formerly Industrial Development Bank of India), a state-owned bank in India, is going through a major core banking platform refresh. The bank is currently running on an old version of Infosys’ Finacle, version 7.x. Furthermore, the system was deployed in separate installations for domestic operations (retail and corporate), commercial lending (corporate finance), Dubai […]

People on the Move: Gene Fredriksen, Global Forum to Advance Cyber Resilience

Gene Fredriksen, chief information security officer for credit union service organization PSCU, has been selected to help represent the nation’s credit unions in the Global Forum to Advance Cyber Resilience, a public/private initiative bringing together industry, business, government and critical infrastructure leaders to operationalize cyber resilience and cybersecurity.