Artificial Intelligence/AI


Fintech funding round-up: 28 July 2017

The riches rounded up. Following on from the brief report on 26 July, here’s our latest fintech funding round-up. Features Brolly, Callsign and Aquiline Capital Partners. Insurtech start-up Brolly has got itself some lolly – with the closing of a £1 million seed round. The round, led by Valar Ventures, Pi Labs and Entrepreneur First, […]

Fintech funding round-up: 26 July 2017

Bread but with the bluster removed. Following on from yesterday’s concise report, our latest fintech funding round-up keeps it brief. Features Cleo, Skype, ItzCash, Ebix and research from Innovate Finance. The “Siri of personal finance,” Cleo, a virtual money assistant, has received £2 million in funding from Skype’s co-founder Niklas Zennström and venture capital (VC) […]

Layer’s new messaging design system gets conversational

FinovateSpring 2017 alumnus Layer has released a new customer engagement-enabling solution as the latest reminder of a trend toward more and better engagement options for businesses, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The San Francisco-based company has launched its Conversation Design System, giving enterprises new tools to build and customise conversational experiences for their customers “in […]

Musk disses Zuckerberg over knowledge of AI

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has given Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg a very public b*tch-slap over Twitter, accusing the social media guru of not knowing much about the future of artificial intelligence (AI).

Google makes loads of money, but cloud is real story

Googlers are still swimming in cash as the latest quarter brought in $26.01 billion, and not even a $2.74 billion fine from the European Commission could dampen the mood at this party, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The uplift in revenue, accounting for a 21% year-on-year boost, should not really come as a huge […]

Mastercard buys in to AI with Brighterion

Mastercard has entered into an agreement to acquire Brighterion, a software company specialising in artificial intelligence (AI), reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. This acquisition follows Mastercard’s March acquisition of NuData Security and will further expand Mastercard’s capabilities to “deliver an enhanced customer experience and security”. Brighterion’s portfolio of AI and machine learning technologies provide real-time […]

No silver lining for IBM cloud revenues

Despite a big push in its cloud-coated ambitions, IBM has revealed a drop in revenues for its technology services and cloud platforms. For its Q2 2017 results, revenues for this largest part of its business (including infrastructure services, technical support services and integration software) was $8.4 billion, down 5.1%. However, in its “strategic imperatives”, IBM […]

Mastercard Buys in to AI with Brighterion

Mastercard has entered into an agreement to acquire Brighterion Inc., a software company specializing in artificial intelligence. This acquisition follows Masterdard’s March acquisition of NuData Security and will further expand Mastercard’s capabilities to “deliver an enhanced customer experience and security.”

AI will be ubiquitous in 2020 but overhyped in 2017 – Gartner

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be baked into nearly every new software product and service by 2020, but the rush to claim AI integration today is causing confusion, according to a new report from analyst firm Gartner. Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports that while virtually every company across industry verticals is busy today figuring out […]

More human than human: banking’s AI future is all in the voice

Aditya Challa of IMImobile takes a look at some current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer experience in the financial and banking sector, as well as the challenges that still need to be overcome. Beyond the current race to build chatbots, he predicts that voice-driven AI services will ultimately become the main […]

Behavioural black magic

In 1957 the US market researcher James Vicary claimed he could get moviegoers to “drink Coca-Cola” and “eat popcorn” by flashing messages onscreen for such a short time that viewers were unaware they had seen them. The term “subliminal advertising” was coined to describe this unnerving practice and it was subsequently banned in many countries.

Fintech funding round-up: 13 July 2017

And the money keeps rolling in for fintech! Features Revolut, Curve, Pixoneye and Gridspace. Banking Technology’s sister publication Paybefore reports. UK challenger bank Revolut announced a $66 million investment from Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital, which the company will use to introduce new features and expand globally, starting with Asia and North America. […]

Google extends long arm of influence further into AI

Google has launched a new initiative, Gradient Ventures, its own VC arm to seek out artificial intelligence (AI) talent and invest in start-ups, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The initiative itself is a simple one. Google will provide funds and access to experienced engineers to help the start-ups develop to the next level. AI […]

Fintech Funding Roundup: Revolut, Curve, Pixoneye, Gridspace

And the money keeps rolling in for fintech. U.K. challenger bank Revolut announced a $66 million investment it will use to introduce new features and expand globally, starting with Asia and North America. Meanwhile, Santander InnoVentures, the bank’s fintech venture capital fund, has added U.K.-based Pixoneye and Curve and U.S.-based Gridspace to its portfolio.

Regtech: features that make data work harder and smarter

There is far more to regtech than regulatory technology, or at least there can and should be. Regtech, as it is coming to be understood, must be something qualitatively different from what it’s replacing and not just a faster and better version of the same thing.

ARM says we are A-OK with AI

New research commissioned by ARM has highlighted that the tide might be turning in the acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI), not only in the industry but in the wider world.

Verizon jumps on the AI-security bandwagon

Verizon’s venture capitalist arm has started throwing its weight around the security arena, pumping cash into artificial intelligence (AI) start-up SparkCognition.

Money20/20 Europe: PSD2 Creates More Questions than Answers

On June 26, artificial intelligence captured the imagination of some at Money20/20 in Copenhagen. But during the June 27 sessions on the second day, it was like I had stepped back in time to November 2016, reported Deputy Editor Antony Peyton. Last year, at the Payments International conference in London, PSD2 left some in the payments industry confused as to where the risks and opportunities lie.

Money20/20 Europe: let AI negotiate

Are trends eclectic for artificial intelligence (AI)? Perhaps not as the fintech world is getting more imaginative and calling for the machines to negotiate on behalf of less-than-objective humans. At this morning’s (26 June) sessions at Money20/20 in Copenhagen, the themes of AI use cases in financial services and fraud were discussed.

Fintech funding round-up: 23 June 2017

For the third day in a row we present a fintech funding round-up. The previous two were here and here. Our latest report features Blockchain, Julia Computing and Mswipe Technologies. We’ll begin with a confusing company name. Blockchain (yes, really), a UK-based software platform, has raised a Series B of $40 million with Lakestar and […]

Wirecard Lends Speed, Functionality to Partner VEON

Amsterdam-based mobile network operator and technology company VEON has partnered with Wirecard AG as part of a global payments and processing agreement. Wirecard, a Germany-based provider of global payments solutions, now manages third-party payments functionality and airtime top-up on VEON’s Internet platform, enabling customers to upload funds and update mobile payment accounts within seconds, according to an announcement.

Voice is a natural step in the technology evolution – Amazon

If there is any doubt in which direction the technology world will head next, its being brushed aside by Amazon Web Services (AWS); voice is the natural progression. Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports. Speaking at TechXLR8 in London, David Low, “principal evangelist” at Amazon Alexa EU, highlighted that the voice user interface will be […]

TSYS launches fraud prevention tool that learns

Global payments provider TSYS announced June 12 it has launched TSYS Foresight Score with Featurespace, a fraud-prevention and risk-scoring product that integrates artificial intelligence, enabling the software to learn and improve its ability to detect fraudulent behavior while reducing false positives, the company says.

Softbank continues spending spree, grabbing smart robotics firm from Google

Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank continued its drive to take centre stage in the evolution of the tech industry with the acquisition of Boston Dynamics from Google/Alphabet. Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication) reports that Boston Dynamics has been a fairly high profile robotics pioneer in recent years, specialising in humanoid and quadrupedal machines apparently designed to […]

Hands off! BBVA creates patent office

With its increase in innovation BBVA has created a Global Patent Office (GPO) to protect its intellectual property (IP) – particularly in biometrics and artificial intelligence (AI). The GPO will put the bank’s IP work in a single office and offer collaboration between departments, agents and training. Don Relyea, director of the BBVA global patent […]

How do you stop AI from taking over the world? Make it neurotic of course

For those worried about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over the world, the University of California has got your back with an idea to make robots neurotic to stop them getting too cocky, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). One of the concerns which has been raised through the implementation of AI, and also the advancement […]

Oracle taps into AI buzz to calm security fears

Oracle has announced a number of updates to its security portfolio focusing on leveraging the buzz surrounding machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and contextual awareness technologies.

The Monday mindset: 5 June 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 sum up the predictions made by Google’s illustrious chief futurist, Ray Kurzweil, on what awaits us this century. 2019 Farewell cables. […]

HSBC to debut robo-advice investment service

HSBC is entering the robo-advice market with the launch of a new online service for wealth management advice The service will use data and algorithms and will make personal recommendations based on an individual’s circumstances. It is expected to be available by the end of the year. The bank says this will “open up wealth […]

HSBC plots to stop rise of the technophobe

A lack of understanding and trust in technology is stalling mainstream adoption of innovative new fintech services, according to HSBC’s research. The bank’s report, “Trust in Technology”, shows that technologies such as fingerprint recognition, voice recognition and robo-advice “hold enormous potential” for uses from bank security to mobile payments and investment advice. John Flint, global […]

Will robotic process automation herald a new digital era in regulatory compliance in banks?

Exploring how the robotic process automation (RPA) powered digital workforce looks to disrupt the manual effort intensive regulatory compliance landscape in BFS, what edge it has over its human counterpart, the roadmap towards RPA driven compliance, challenges in this digitisation journey and success mantras, and innovations that are underway towards building intelligent RPA to replicate human decision-making.

The Monday mindset: 22 May 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, Antony Peyton, Banking Technology’s deputy editor, briefly discusses artificial intelligence (AI) and job security. It seems humans’ jobs in fintech are safe […]

Knowledge economy in financial services: from curator to conductor

Once upon a time, not so long ago, companies tried to generate new business by sending marketing messages to prospective clients by post. Direct or “junk” mail – sending a leaflet or letter to anyone for whom the firm had a job title, street address or postcode – was pretty unsophisticated, often derided as a “scattergun” approach.

Fintech boosted by IBM’s quantum computing leap

Fintech innovation could be getting a push as IBM has built and tested its most powerful universal quantum computing processors. IBM says this development opens up a range of possibilities within the fintech world. Namely, solutions to optimisation problems found in supply chains, modelling financial data, and risk analysis; making facets of artificial intelligence (AI) […]