Rise of the megabanks
A great visual of how four US-based conglomerates – JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) – have grown to be the megabanks we know today. Source: American Banker
Banking
Dear banks, social media doesn’t have to be scary
Dear Banks, how’s it going? If you’re reading this, you must be on social media, or you’re at least checking the internet. That’s great. I’ve been meaning to write this letter for a long time. The first thing you should know is that I think you’re really important. Sure, I might like to joke about […]
Top fintech stories this week – 18 March 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Deutsche Börse and LSE to merge Two hearts beat as one. D+H Corporation joins US real-time payments rush Catches up with rivals FIS and Jack Henry. Deutsche Bank and Bank of China partner for cash management Becomes first […]
Do banks need IT expertise at the board level?
Technology is the most important agent of change today; hardly any industry is immune to both its value-creating and disruptive potential. However, in an April 2011 survey of corporate directors by McKinsey Quarterly, more than half said their boards had only one technology-related discussion a year, or none at all. Since then, the situation has […]
D+H Corporation joins US real-time payments rush
US-based banking and payments software vendor D+H has joined its rivals FIS and Jack Henry in partnering with The Clearing House (TCH) for real-time payments. D+H will provide US banks and financial institutions with access to TCH’s domestic instant payments system. The system is currently being built, with the “plumbing” provided by VocaLink. The vendor’s […]
Efma and SAP partner for SME AppsBank Portal
Efma, an association of 3,300 retail financial services companies in more than 130 countries, and SAP have launched a new online portal to help banks’ SME-related business. The portal – (unsurprisingly) hailed as “innovative” and “disruptive” by its creators – supports banks in developing new apps for their SME clients and also holds competitions to […]
The United Bank of Egypt upgrades core software with Misys
A long-standing user of a host of Misys’ products, The United Bank of Egypt has committed to upgrade to the latest version of software. The project is penned for completion later this year. The bank will upgrade to FusionBanking Equation (core system), FusionBanking Trade Innovation (trade finance) and FusionCapital Opics (treasury and capital markets). It […]
Peering into peer-to-peer: lack of understanding affecting post-IPO prices
Mike Lobanov, partner at Target Global, takes a look at the recent fluctuations in Lending Club’s share price to assess the impact on the peer-to-peer (P2P) industries. The P2P lending platform Lending Club is proudly the largest platform of its kind in the US. Founded in 2007, it successfully raised in excess of $390 million […]
Wolters Kluwer signs new client in Poland, Bank Pocztowy
Poland-based Bank Pocztowy is implementing a new risk management system, OneSumX, supplied by Wolters Kluwer. The solution will support the following areas: asset and liability management (ALM), market risk, liquidity risk, and credit risk (for the Basel III capital charges calculation). The bank will also use Wolters Kluwer to provide funds transfer pricing (FTP) analysis […]
UBS Securities automates risk and surveillance with Eventus
Eventus Systems, a US-based provider of data processing and analysis solutions, has signed UBS Securities for its flagship Validus risk and surveillance platform. Mark Holder, global co-head of electronic trading at UBS, says Eventus and Validus offered “impressive capabilities that strengthen our current platform”. The implementation has just begun. “Validus is going to bring a […]
Path Solutions gains two new takers of iMAL core banking system
Path Solutions is implementing its flagship core banking offering, iMAL, at Summit Bank in Pakistan and Wifack International Bank in Tunisia. The contracts were signed in December and the roll-out is underway. Summit Bank Pakistan-based Summit Bank is implementing iMAL as it looks to grow its Islamic banking presence. Summit Bank was searching for a […]
Cash is still king but “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown!”
Even as I am prepping for my next industry event, observations from the last conference I attended continue to permeate my thoughts. The ATMIA US Conference that was held in New Orleans only recently and yet, three items continue to have me thinking about the durability, indeed longevity, of some of the points raised. In […]
Bank Treasury Optimisation Survey – brief, insightful & could get you a free iPad mini
Banking Technology is conducting a survey – short and sweet – to find out the banks’ priorities when it comes to treasury software and solutions. How can technology help treasurers cope with the multitude of regulation, business transformation and industry demands? The treasury function plays a pivotal role within a bank, and with great power […]
Fundamental Review of the Trading Book: impact on capital requirements and risk architecture
The introduction of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) requires a rethink when it comes to risk architecture and data requirements. Xavier Dubois, Wolters Kluwer’s senior risk and finance specialist for EMEA, outlines the key points. There is an area of complete agreement when it comes to examining the potential impact of FRTB – […]
FinLeap and SolarisBank launch “Banking as a Platform”
Berlin-based fintech incubator FinLeap and SolarisBank have created the “first” global banking platform, called Solaris – a Banking as a Platform (BaaP) service. FinLeap says it brought the team of entrepreneurs together, provided seed funding and support during the development phase for SolarisBank. Jan Beckers, chairman of FinLeap and chairman of the supervisory board at […]
Virtus Partners live with new lending platform from Misys
Texas-based asset administrator, Virtus Partners, has gone live with new back office lending system, FusionBanking LoanIQ, supplied by Misys. The new platform supports full-service agency administration and bank portfolio loan administration. It covers SME, commercial and syndicated lending. The contract was signed in November last year. The implementation work took around three months and came […]
Watch out EBA, Swift and Visa – here comes Masterlink!
MasterCard’s planned acquisition of VocaLink has the potential to create a new payments powerhouse in Europe and beyond. Tom Hay, head of payments, Icon Solutions, explores the possibilities. The news of the planned acquisition broke a few days after the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) recommendation that banks divest their ownership of the company. I’m sure […]
What will the future of money look like?
Cash payments are in decline – mobile payments are on the rise (thank you, Apple Pay, Google’s Android Pay and Samsung Pay). This nifty infographics sums up the ideas on what the future of money might look like. The infographics is courtesy of the MBNA credit card company (owned by Bank of America) and its […]
Aktia Bank signs for Accuity’s Global WatchList, perseveres with core system conversion
Finland-based Aktia Bank is implementing Accuity’s Global WatchList to provide regulatory sanctions and other compliance data. The solution covers politically exposed persons (PEPs), companies, vessels, goods, countries and payment information. Accuity says that Aktia’s decision to sign for the Global WatchList was driven by the compliance needs and the need to improve the efficiency of […]
Labs’ labour lost: forget fin, forget tech, focus on the client
Not a day seems to go by without another innovation of fintech announcement from a bank. While most have now dabbled in an incubator, accelerator or a lab here, and a fintech investment there, they all have one thing in common, argues Leda Glyptis, director at Sapient Global Markets. And that is a lack of tangible […]
Half of retail banks say branches to disappear within five years
Almost 50% of retail banks worldwide believe the rise of digital will bring an end to branch-based banking, according to a study by Temenos. “Retail Banking: In Tech We Trust”, the third annual study of retail banks produced in association with the Economist Intelligence Unit, reveals that banks perceive the threat from tech companies operating […]
Challenger banks must strike the right balance between mobile and card
NFC mobile payments continue to grab headlines, but to really drive uptake and ensure full market coverage, combining contactless cards with next-gen mobile banking apps is surely the right way to go for 2016’s challenger banks, says Paul Underwood, MD of Thames Card Technology. Much has already been said about the opportunity for challenger banks to […]
Marketing banking products with API: now a reality
Promoting financial products is a very challenging task. Konstantin Rabin, head of marketing at Kontomatik, suggests how a bank can improve its marketing efforts by leveraging API technologies. A financial services marketer needs to at least combine the benefits of the offer with a sense of security. Needless to say, the larger the offered benefits are, […]
Fundamental Review of the Trading Book: analysing the impact
Exactly who is affected as a result of the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB)? Xavier Dubois, senior risk and finance specialist for EMEA at Wolters Kluwer, explores the subject. Earlier year, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) set out the long awaited revised standards for minimum capital requirements for market risk. We […]
Standard Chartered brings “Bank on an iPad” to new markets
Standard Chartered has launched its “Bank on an iPad” sales and service tool in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Called Retail Workbench, it is a digital tablet-based sales-and-service tool that “brings the bank” to clients. It is integrated with the bank’s back-end infrastructure, and will allow sales staff to open an account for a […]
Digital banking can be fun
Less than one in three customers now trust their bank or insurer, according to a 2014 research by PwC Financial. Banks are not only suffering from deep consumer mistrust, but they are also seen as stuffy, slow-moving relics of the pre-digital era. Antony Bream, UK managing director at Crealogix, argues that all that can be changed […]
US to move to shorter T+2 settlement cycle by September 2017
Make a note, 5th September 2017 has been unveiled as the industry target for the US to move from a T+3 to a T+2 settlement cycle. The decision on this has been reached by the US T+2 Industry Steering Committee (T+2 ISC), organised by The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and co-chaired by the […]
Ulster Bank and KPMG launch start-up hub in Northern Ireland
Ulster Bank and KPMG have launched the “world’s largest free business accelerator” for entrepreneurs – Entrepreneurial Spark – in Belfast in Northern Ireland. The new hub, or “Hatchery”, can host up to 80 businesses and early stage entrepreneurs. Also involved in the launch were Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest (all three are part […]
Infographics: the state of fintech industry as we know it
Who, what, where, when of the fintech industry today – this excellent infographics pulls together plenty of useful data, from top specialists, unicorns and start-ups to geographies and M&As. Created by Savvy Beaver and Call Levels.
Big data analytics and its many uses
There are many uses of big data analytics by financial organisations to meet evolving regulatory and compliance requirements, Swift Institute reveals in its recent paper, “The Role of Big Data in Governance: a regulatory and legal perspective of analytics in global financial services”. The paper cites two case studies as examples of how these analytical […]
Mine that data to keep that customer
What does the future of loyalty hold and what is the role of big data in it? Christopher Evans, director at Collinson Group, shares some key insights. The fervour for big data analytics sweeping through retail bank boardrooms at a global scale is intensifying as corporate strategy prioritises a shift towards true real-time intelligence. This […]
Turning financial messaging data into business profit
Long considered an impenetrable space dominated by a few, the financial services industry is currently riding a giant wave of entrepreneurial disruption, disintermediation, and digital innovation. Recent industry developments such as the regulatory pressure as well as the criticality of business intelligence (BI) and customer experience are impacting banks more than ever before. Financial institutions […]
Securities Financing Transactions Regulation: danger signs
The aims of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) may be laudable – but how much difference will some of the changes really make, other than create another operational burden? As Tracy Dilks, senior consultant, and Akber Datoo, founder and managing partner, D2 Legal Technology, suggest, the regulator might as well put a sign in […]
Payments in 2016: a pivotal year
With challenges across the board, banks will have their work cut out to keep up with the changing world of payments in 2016. It is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the payments industry as regulation, new technology, major infrastructure overhaul projects and security issues combine to reshape the landscape. According to a […]
Client lifecycle management solutions: build or buy?
Mark Bands, head of product & regulatory intelligence, iMeta Technologies: When speaking with prospective financial institution customers of our client lifecycle management (CLM) platform I am surprised at how often an “in-house” build solution has either already been chosen or is being seriously considered as an option. Surprised, that is, that firms’ in-house technology functions are confident […]
Digitising risk data architecture reporting
Can applying semantics make BCBS 239 reporting consistent and comparable across all regulatory bodies? Rupert Brown explores the options when best practice isn’t good enough… Regulatory vagaries and the punitive fines make these tense times for bank risk officers. On the one hand, regulators are asking for a whole lot of architectural work to be […]
D+H Corporation bullish on payments software business
North American software provider, D+H Corporation, has made optimistic noises over its Global Transaction Banking Solution (GTBS) unit in its latest financial results. The vendor claims to have “won a majority of payment hub RFPs” as well as “surpassed the Fundtech [now GTBS] backlog record” in generating revenue from the existing projects. Gerrard Schmid, CEO […]
Japan Exchange Group overhauls clearing platform with Cinnober
Japan Exchange Group (JPX) is building a real-time clearing solution for its listed derivatives market with the help of specialist provider Cinnober. Sweden-based Cinnober is providing JPX with its flagship Tradexpress clearing platform. JPX’s listed derivatives market is operated by the Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE) and cleared by the Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC). JPX […]
The force awakens: data science in banking
A quiet revolution powered by the force of data science has begun to deliver significant improvements in many areas including national security, business intelligence, law enforcement, financial analysis, healthcare and disaster preparedness. But are we ready to use the force in banking? Standard Chartered’s global chief innovation officer, Anju Patwardhan, explores the topic. Digital data […]
Fintech 2.0: creating new opportunities through strategic alliance
Banks and fintechs should collaborate rather than compete, leveraging their respective strengths to revolutionise the B2B payments space and create sustainable business models in today’s digital era. As the next stages of digital structural change continue to transform financial services, the focus of technological developments will shift. Most recent developments in business models have been […]
