Banking


Volante Technologies makes inroads into Turkey via tie-up with Payfessional

Financial messaging and payment specialist Volante Technologies has inked a partnership agreement with Payfessional, a Turkey-based IT firm. The tie-up will see Payfessional offering Volante’s VolPay suite of payment integration and processing solutions to the Turkish banking market. Payfessional, which focuses on e-payment processing solutions for the financial services industry, will also market the solution […]

Bigbank overhauls credit processing with Provenir

Estonia-based Bigbank is modernising its credit decisioning and loan origination processes with Provenir. Provenir’s cloud-based solution will reduce time to market, improve efficiency and customer centricity at the bank, says the vendor. Agur Jõgi, chief technology officer at Bigbank, comments that investment in technology will help the bank to achieve the goals of “delighting customers” […]

Earthport and Ria Money Transfer join forces for remittances

Earthport, a UK-based cross-border payment network, and Ria Money Transfer, the world’s third largest money transfer company, have teamed up. Earthport will provide Ria with access to a global payment network. “Through a single, managed relationship with Earthport, Ria will gain access to over 60 domestic clearing schemes,” Earthport states. The solution “enables complete transparency”, […]

M&A in investment management tech space: Linedata acquires Derivation

France-based Linedata has taken over fellow investment management software provider, Derivation. Derivation specialises in risk, analytics, and portfolio management solutions to institutional and hedge fund managers. It is based in the UK, employs 20 people and its pro-forma revenue for 2015 is £2 million (€2.5 million). The acquisition has now been completed. Derivation’s products will […]

Insights EMEA: what corporates want from their banks

The recent D+H conference in London has provided a platform to corporates to share their experiences of dealing with banks, vent their frustration, highlight the improvements and discuss the latest developments and the way forward. Unsurprisingly, the main themes were standardisation, automation and the reduction of complexity. The panellists – representatives of Hilton Worldwide, Ingersoll […]

Top fintech stories this week – 8 April

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Money 20/20 Europe: Biometric identity, SMEs and final day’s sessions round-up Key highlights, what went well and what could be improved. Money 20/20 Europe: KYC/ID, commerce disruption and femtech round-up Valid points raised, key issues discussed. A must […]

Insights EMEA conference: corporate banks and their pains

At the D+H customer event in London, Insights EMEA, there has been a lot of talk about innovation, blockchain (of course) and where corporate payments are heading. Whilst D+H and its Global Transaction Banking Solution (GTBS, formerly Fundtech) unit are, understandably, promising their clients better solutions – so we won’t dwell on that – it […]

Fintechs, prepare for a wave of M&A

The financial services ecosystem is experiencing dramatic change, driven on the one hand by disruptive fintech models that are causing disintermediation of the financial incumbents, and on the other hand by rapid advances in technology that are disrupting the ancient, creaking core banking platforms. Fintechs, prepare for a wave of M&A, says FirstCapital’s CEO, Jason Purcell, as […]

Platformification: all together now

Platformification – what is it and why do banks need to know about it? Hans Tesselaar, executive director at Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), explores the issue. When alternative fintech players first established themselves in the financial services industry, they raised their profile by collectively bashing the banks – positioning themselves as a more transparent, […]

Western Union launches digital B2B payments platform for SMEs worldwide, WU EDGE

Western Union Business Solutions has unveiled a brand new payments platform for SMEs, WU EDGE. The project has been 18 months in the making and is available to new and existing customers for free. WU EDGE is cloud-based, and is designed to be a single global payments tool for businesses worldwide. It will go live […]

Reference data management: utility is the future

So here is a major headache for the treasury and capital markets industry: the cost line remains dead flat but the revenue line has dropped off the cliff. Utility is the answer to the market woes, strongly believes Philippe Chambadal, CEO of SmartStream Technologies. He talks to Tanya Andreasyan about SmartStream’s initiative in this space. […]

Keeping up in a Faster Payments world

Faster payments is one of the more pervasive topics in almost any global payments conversation. And if you look at key countries like Singapore, the US, and Australia, it may seem to be more than just talking. Additionally, many countries are improving their infrastructure to clear payments in the same day or already have domestic […]

Banking Technology April 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.

New competition or new regulation: which is the bigger challenge for banks?

One of the most talked about issues in retail banking today is the emergence of the new entrant, or “challenger”, bank. “New” banks are being spun off from existing institutions and more than twenty organisations having applied for, or received, a banking licence over the past twelve months or so. Banking is becoming an ever […]

Blockchain: why smart contracts need shrewder people

“I’ve forgotten – woe is me! What the magic word may be.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1797) How smart is your code? So-called “smart contracts” are science fiction realised. Executable pieces of code stored on a mutual distributed ledger for future execution bind people and payments to actions and outcomes. Computer scientist […]

Online banking 2.0 with API

When you think of the new era in banking — let’s call it “Banking 2.0” — what do you see? Is there something revolutionary such as totally virtual branches or no paper money at all? It’s hard to tell how Banking 2.0 will exactly look like, especially with virtual reality (VR) sets going mainstream, but […]

Harrods Bank gets new CIO, but core banking overhaul in question

Will Simon Bateman, the new CIO of London-based Harrods Bank, restart the bank’s long-suffering core banking software overhaul? Bateman moves from another UK-based bank, Aldermore, where he spent around three years, first as transformation and change director and then as head of IT for the savings business line. Aldermore, a small domestic bank focused on […]

Swiss banks and SIX plan national mobile payments platform

Exchange group SIX and Switzerland’s five largest banks are in talks over a joint mobile payments platform for the country. SIX, retail chains Migros and Coop, and telecoms company Swisscom are planning to create a standardised digital payment system for consumers in Switzerland. A joint statement from the banks – UBS, Credit Suisse, Raiffeisen, PostFinance […]

FATCA and CRS survey: how ready are you?

With the new era in global tax reporting, Thomson Reuters is conducting a survey to gauge the level of the industry’s readiness for FATCA and CRS. Evolving global regulations around tax transparency are challenging organisations around the world to implement new procedures. Are you ready? We are calling on you to help us create a […]

Splitska Banka live with Comarch’s SB SmartNet banking system

Croatia’s Splitska Banka has gone live with SB SmartNet, a new internet and mobile banking system provided by Polish IT specialist Comarch. SB SmartNet, based on Comarch’s Smart Finance solution, will give Splitska’s retail customers access to account information as well as a multitude of transactional services. The mobile version is designed for iOS and […]

Infographics: global fintech landscape

Want to see the global fintech landscape summed up in an easy on the eye and effortless to digest infographics? You have come to the right place – this excellent infographics has it all, from the hottest start-ups today and those to watch in 2016 to the most supportive countries and governments as well as top investors. […]

Smartphones? Credit cards are the most mobile payment method!

The world has been talking about “mobile payments” for years, but the phrase means different things to different people. So what exactly are mobile payments? And how much more mobile than cash or cards can payments actually get, asks Philipp Nieland, co-founder and CTO of PPRO Group. Some people believe that mobile payments are those […]

What is your view on real-time payments? Take our survey and win an iPad!

Banking Technology is conducting a brief survey to find out the industry view on real-time payments and their implications for all parties involved. How ready are you? What are the key drivers for your organisation to embrace real-time payments? Will they displace the existing types of payments? And what are your main concerns when it […]

Top fintech stories this week – 24 March 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! As it’s Easter holidays in the UK, this time it’s published on Thursday. Deutsche Bank reduces branch network in Germany Rise of digital banking drives change. Polymer notes pose £45m problem for UK cash machines Slippery when plastic. […]

Commerzbank live on SAP HANA for finance and risk management

Commerzbank is now live with an integrated set of finance and risk solutions powered by the SAP HANA platform. SAP says the bank has more than 70% of its balance sheet running on SAP Bank Analyzer and SAP Accounting for Financial Instruments. It adds that Commerzbank is able to close its monthly books “significantly faster”, […]

Storming the banks

Traditional banking has taken quite a beating in recent years as more and more customers prefer to handle their banking needs digitally rather than be bogged down by paperwork or wait in lines at a physical bank. In a bid to meet developing customer expectations, many banks have begun offering web-related services such as e-deposits, […]

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

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 […]