News


Company on the Move: TOC, FIDO Alliance

Chilean biometrics company TOC has joined the FIDO Alliance, the association aiming to develop global standards for online authentication based on methods that are more secure than simple passwords.

Cloud nine for UK start-up AccessPay with £1m Barclays backing

Barclays is providing £1 million in funding to UK-based AccessPay to support its growth and further develop their relationship. Access Systems (trading as AccessPay) provides a cloud-based connectivity layer between a business’s finance systems, their banks and “all of the major” UK and international payment networks such as BACS, Swift, SEPA, Faster Payments and Direct […]

Haitong International continues roll-out of GBST’s Syn middle office system

Haitong International Securities Group has gone live with the second stage of the middle office revamp. The underlying tech is the Syn capital markets platform, provided by GBST, an Australia-based securities processing software vendor. Haitong signed for Syn last year and reported the first go-live in November. It has adopted the Syn platform as it […]

European Banking Federation pushing for global policy on cybersecurity

The European Banking Federation (EBF), the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) are planning global policy measures on cybersecurity, data and technology through a new set of common principles. In its paper, “International Cybersecurity, Data and Technology Principles”, the organisations want to create a “starting point for dialogue […]

Nordea to launch crowdfunding service in Finland

Nordea says it will be the “first” bank in Finland to offer its customers an equity-based crowdfunding service. It has developed an online crowdfunding platform that will match entrepreneurs seeking financing with investors; and will be linked to a book-entry system. The service will be launched in the next few months. The bank says the […]

DTCC teams with Korea Exchange for trade repository solution

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and the Korea Exchange (KRX), the securities exchange operator in South Korea, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to co-operate with each other on a trade repository solution in South Korea. Under this deal, both organisations will explore linking DTCC’s global trade repository (GTR) solution directly to […]

Stanbic IBTC Bank in core banking system upgrade

Stanbic IBTC Bank in Nigeria is upgrading its core banking system, Infosys’ Finacle. The new version of the system will go live on 16 May, 2016 – but in the run-up to this the bank will be limiting its operations over the weekend 13-15 May. Stanbic IBTC will close its branches to customers on Friday […]

IBM Watson to bring cognitive computing to South Korean banking

IBM and SK Holdings C&C, a South Korean IT services company, are planning to bring IBM’s Watson cognitive technology language services to South Korean banking. The alliance, which includes training Watson to understand Korean, is designed to “dramatically accelerate” the adoption of cognitive computing throughout the region, giving South Korea-based developers a set of localised […]

Coast Capital Savings Credit Union looks for Temenos T24 software developer

One of Canada’s largest credit unions, Coast Capital Savings CU, is looking for a full-time software developer experienced in Temenos’ T24 core banking system. What’s the job? Writing code, developing and customising the credit union’s core processing platform, T24. “That sounds pretty simple but working on the software platform that powers our core banking operations […]

CFSI Study Cites Key Indicators of Financial Health

Forget traditional measures like credit scores and net worth. A new report from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) identifies eight key indicators that it says provide a better understanding of consumers’ financial health that can help financial services providers and nonprofits design products and services to help consumers get ahead.

Apple Pay Expands in Canada

The mobile payment service, once confined to American Express cardholders, now is available to MasterCard, Visa and Interac customers. Apple has signed deals with four banks for Apple Pay.

Can Password Manager Dashlane Race ahead in Wallet Wars?

Dashlane, a password manager with offices in New York City and Paris, announced on May 9 that its digital wallet has surpassed $5 billion in online consumer spending. Could this digital identity company become a leader in the wallet wars?

Groupon Sells M-POS Arm to Upserve

The sale of the unit to the restaurant management technology company comes amid financial woes for Groupon. The deal makes Upserve the industry’s largest cloud-based restaurant management platform, serving more than 6,000 restaurants in every U.S. state, according to the company.

Int’l Regulatory Roundup: Pakistan Issues Prepaid Rule; SEQR Lands E-Money License

The State Bank of Pakistan has issued new prepaid card regulations in a bid to promote prepaid for financial inclusion and enhanced security. Meanwhile, Stockholm-based mobile payment specialist Seamless Distribution AB has been granted an e-money issuing license by Sweden’s financial supervisory authority for its SEQR mobile wallet.

Indian Bank in search of new BPM and middleware systems

Chennai-based Indian Bank has issued expressions of interest (EOI) for a new business process management (BPM) system and new middleware. The EOI for middleware closed on 5th May, whilst the closing date for BPM submissions is 14th May 2016. The bank will then proceed to the request for proposal (RFP) stages for both solutions. Indian […]

Punjab National Bank to modernise enterprise data warehouse

Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of India’s “big four” banking groups, is looking to renovate its data management set-up. It issued an RFP “to revamp existing functionality” either by enhancing its current enterprise data warehouse (EDW) or to deploy a new one. The RFP was issued late last year, for an end-to-end solution for EDW […]

ING adds some zing to start-up ring

Dutch bank ING has revealed it’s working with 45 fintech start-ups on banking innovation, such as money management, payments, lending and mobile on-boarding. Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group, says of the 45 fintech firms, these include seven start-ups working on their proof-of-concept through the ING Fintech Village initiative in Belgium, and four through the […]

Metro Bank inks teller cash recycling deal with Glory Global Solutions

UK-based Metro Bank will roll out Glory Global Solutions’ Vertera 6G teller cash recyclers (TCRs) across the bank’s new locations as well as replace older technology in existing outlets. Metro Bank will set up a number of new branches in the course of 2016 and 2017. The bank, which opened for business in 2010, currently has […]

Central banks of Spain and France late with Calypso tech project

Banque de France and Banco de España are running late with their implementation of a new treasury and capital markets (TCM) system, Banking Technology understands. The two banks jointly opted for a new solution in 2013/14. It is understood that Calypso was chosen to replace a host of legacy technology, including Wallstreet Suite from Wall […]

Coventry Building Society readies for IFRS 9 with Jaywing

Coventry Building Society is working with a credit risk analytics firm, Jaywing, to meet the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 modelling requirements. The UK-based building society has recruited Jaywing ahead of the 1 January 2018 deadline to meet the new guidelines. Initial work is already underway, says Jaywing, and a prototype model for one […]

RBS and RocketSpace to open London campus for tech start-ups

San-Francisco based RocketSpace, with the support of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), plans to open a campus in London, designed specifically for “high-growth” tech start-ups. The campus, located near Angel tube station, will initially hold up to 1,500 members at its opening in early 2017. Duncan Logan, RocketSpace’s founder and CEO, says: “Creating a physical […]

Dwolla offers FiSync platform to US Fed’s faster payments plan

US payments start-up Dwolla has submitted its FiSync platform as part of its faster payments proposal to the Federal Reserve-chartered Faster Payment Task Force. The Fed-chartered initiative, comprised of over 500 Faster and Secure Payments Task Force members, has been tasked with representing, addressing, and assessing “improved” payments systems. Dwolla is offering FiSync, a communication […]

Green Dot’s Strong Q1 Doesn’t Silence Harvest

Green Dot’s positive financial results for the first quarter of the year included growth in the prepaid segment, the launch of the company’s revamped MonkeyPak reload product and several new partnerships. But the company’s strong quarter wasn’t enough to silence its loudest critic, as activist investor Harvest Capital sends yet another letter to shareholders blasting what it calls Green Dot’s “smear campaign” against its board of director nominees.

Shares fall as Lending Club chairman and CEO resigns

Lending Club’s chairman and CEO Renaud Laplanche has resigned following an internal review of sales of $22 million in near-prime loans to a single investor, in contravention of the investor’s express instructions. Shares in the US-based company fell by more than 20% today (9 May) as a result of the shock departure. Scott Sanborn will […]

Perception brings to market new core platform for UK credit unions, lenders and start-up banks

UK-based financial services vendor Perception is building a new comprehensive platform for credit unions, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), loan companies and start-up banks. The solution aims to cover loans, savings, mortgages and current account business lines, front-to-back office. Be different, make a difference Perception has identified the gap in the market that it feels […]

Tokai Tokyo Securities goes live with Fidessa’s trading platform

Tokai Tokyo Securities (Asia) has gone live in Hong Kong with Fidessa’s trading platform as a fully outsourced service. Nishida Tadahiko, director and president of Tokai Tokyo Securities (Asia), says: “We have been using the Fidessa system for years in Japan [where the parent company, Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, is located], with full confidence in […]

Blockchain and bitcoin round-up: 9 May 2016

With news on blockchain and bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. The Swift Institute has published new research on the practical application of blockchain (or mutual distributed ledger) in securities markets. The paper, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle”, is based […]

New bank gearing up for launch in the UK

First Global Trust Bank (FGTB) is a new name on the UK banking scene. The bank has recently been granted an “authorisation with restriction” licence to take deposits by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The London-based company was originally set up under the name of Llamabrook in 2011. It became FGTB in March this year […]

DZ Bank invests in receivables auction platform TrustBills

Frankfurt-based DZ Bank has acquired a 25% share interest in the Hamburg receivables auction platform TrustBills. This is the bank’s first strategic investment in fintech within the corporate customer business. The amount invested has not been disclosed. TrustBills, a start-up founded in 2015, is an electronic marketplace for selling international receivables of companies to institutional […]

Fiserv revenue rises in Q1 2016

Fiserv has reported adjusted revenue of $1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2016 compared with $1.19 billion in Q1 2015, an increase of 5%. Its financial results reveal nothing specific about the word “profit”, but a Fiserv spokesperson says: “We do disclose our profit in our earning results. We reported adjusted earnings per share […]

Nucleus Software’s net profit and revenue fall in FY 2016

Nucleus Software’s net profit after tax decreased in the financial year (FY 2016), from INR 647 million ($9.7 million) in the previous year to INR 325 million ($4.8 million). For the period ending 31 March 2016, revenue dipped from INR 3.48 billion ($52.2 million) compared to INR 3.53 billion ($53.03 million) in FY 2015. Vishnu […]

NCR and Huntington Technology Finance team up for ATM lease financing

NCR Corporation (NCR) has signed a strategic alliance agreement with US-based Huntington Technology Finance to provide lease financing for NCR ATMs, including “ATM-as-a-Service” type options, for financial institutions (FIs). The new relationship gives FIs a single, monthly (or quarterly) payment for their NCR equipment, deployment, service, administration and software. Gordon Fraser, remote services management director, […]

Sopra Steria partners with DataStax for data storage tools for banks and FIs

Sopra Steria has teamed with DataStax, a provider of database software for cloud applications, as they target finserv organisations across the retail banking, investment banking and trading sectors. Working with DataStax, Sopra says it will provide solutions to some of the “biggest challenges” currently facing traditional banking institutions, such as compliance with “ever more stringent […]

Top fintech stories this week – 6 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Atom Bank adds another system to its tech set-up; readies mobile app Bank has just launched, but already has problems. Monitise looks to be profitable in H2 2016 But did it grow too big too fast? EFG and BSI […]

Atom Bank adds another system to its tech set-up; readies mobile app

UK challenger bank, Atom Bank, has added another solution to its burgeoning IT architecture. This is a lending system from domestic specialist provider Phoebus Software, Banking Technology understands. The bank has just launched, but is yet to launch a fully-fledged mobile app. The app is yet to be available on Android. Meanwhile, the iOS app […]

Persia International Bank implements new trade finance software

London-based Persia International Bank is replacing its legacy trade finance system, supplied by Surecomp. The new system is Eximbills, provided by Surecomp’s rival, China Systems. Surecomp’s product, IBSNet, has been running at the bank’s London and Dubai locations for over 15 years. It is integrated with the bank’s long-standing core banking platform, Misys’ Bankmaster. It […]