Digital


An Ant Can Teach A Big Lesson To U.S. FIs

Ant Financial created the world’s largest money market fund in four years by enabling mobile wallet users to move money to the fund simply within the mobile app. The program’s meteoric rise shows that consumers are willing to adopt financial services from new players and the mobile device can supercharge that consumer shift of assets if incumbents don’t react quickly enough.

Mobile wallet round-up: 20 July 2017

It’s been a busy week for mobile wallet partnerships – and this round-up can help. Features Apple Pay, ANZ, CaixaBank, Starling and Samsung Pay. Banking Technology’s sister publication Paybefore reports. Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, is rolling out Samsung Pay to customers in Australia. The bank says it’s the only major Australian bank […]

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 […]

PayPal Teams with Samsung Pay

The partnerships keep coming for PayPal. Following recent news that the company is partnering with Apple for payments on iTunes and in the App Store, the company announced July 17 that it’s expanding its partnership with Samsung to enable PayPal as a payment method in any channel Samsung Pay is accepted.

mVisa Takes on M-PESA with Free Domestic Mobile Money Transfers

Move over M-PESA, customers of a Visa-led bank partnership in Kenya will be able to send money to each other domestically without paying transaction fees using mVisa, and the payments network has added additional in-store merchant acceptance for the QR-code-based payment method.

New partnership turns PayPal into Apple App Store payment option

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce. One giant leap in PayPal’s quest to be the payment option of choice for shoppers online, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). This week the company announced a partnership with Apple to allow shoppers pay for their purchases at the App Store using PayPal. The feature will be available for users […]

Apple Deal Puts PayPal One Step Closer to Ubiquity

One small step for consumer choice in e-commerce, one giant leap in PayPal’s quest for ubiquity. The company announced a partnership with Apple to enable shoppers to pay for their purchases in the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music and iBooks using PayPal.

Altice puts squeeze on Orange with bank move

In a copycat move that will come as a blow to Orange, rival Altice plans to launch its own online bank by early 2019 in the countries in its network footprint, according to a report from Reuters that cites a source close to the matter. Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports that the launch of […]

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.

Bold statement three: statements from around the bleeding edge of innovation

Hello all and apologies it’s taken a little while to get to the third instalment of the series about “pet peeve statements”. For those who are new, I am talking about those bold, declaratory statements that puff up the chest and make people feel awfully progressive and far sighted – and as I have said before, all sound and fury, signifying stormy waters ahead!

Finicity and JP Morgan Chase pair for data share

Data aggregation provider Finicity has signed an agreement with JP Morgan Chase to let the bank’s customers choose data to share with apps. The companies will use a direct API to allow Chase customers to share information with the apps and services that Finicity supports. According to the firms, this tokenised access will eliminate the […]

Quantum of solace with Atos simulator launch

Prepare for cybersecurity impact! IT services corporation Atos has launched the “world’s first commercially available” machine-system capable of simulating up to 40 quantum bits (Qubits). The simulator, named Atos Quantum Learning Machine (Atos QLM), is powered by an ultra-compact supercomputer and a universal programming language. Its uses naturally extend far beyond fintech, such as for […]

Just in case you need a reason: why participate in Banking Technology Awards?

This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and there are plenty of reasons why you and your team should be a part of this prestigious event. Besides having a good chance at winning, entering the Awards also allows you to: Make global headlines in the industry if your entry […]

Fintech funding round-up: 4 July 2017

There’s no lacking of backing. Our latest fintech funding round-up features Tide, Instarem and IntellectEU. UK-based mobile banking firm Tide, which launched in January, has raised $14 million in its Series A investment round. The round has been led by specialist fintech investor Anthemis, alongside Creandum, the Scandinavian fund that has backed companies including Spotify […]

P2P Is Gaining Steam, but Security Concerns Remain

Consumers prefer to use P2P payments for retail purchases, paying back relatives and friends, and settling bills—but not so much for contributing to group gifts or paying housing costs, according to a new report from NerdWallet. It also found that that while only 35 percent of U.S. consumers use such P2P products as Venmo, PayPal and Square Cash, 63 percent are interested in the payment technology.

Nominate your projects for Banking Technology Award!

Banking Technology is on the lookout for all the best FinTech projects of the year! Recognising excellence, innovation and the use of IT in banking and financial services, the Banking Technology Awards will be taking place on 13 December in London. Think your achievements deserve a special recognition? Or know projects that do? Nominate today […]

Money20/20 Europe: is banking a dead cat?

What is the future of banking? Is it a giant menu from which customers (individuals and businesses) choose who is to provide what contingent upon well-informed choice and best value. Or is it a model where banks still rule from the centre, providing customers the simplicity of a range of products through a single provider. Putting aside whether or not this highly competitive state is possible, which is the future direction of banking?

Flywire Snags PayPal for Cross-Border Payments

Cross-border payments and receivables specialist Flywire has added PayPal to its platform as a funding option, enabling businesses, students and patients to fund cross-border payments via PayPal accounts. PayPal now is available as a payment method for Flywire users in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and European Union, Flywire said.

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: 21 June 2017

Some people have got deep pockets, because the funding fun never ends. Our latest round-up features Soldo, Atom Bank, British Business Bank, BlackRock and Scalable Capital. Multi-user spending account, Soldo, has reported a Series A funding round of $11 million, led by Accel and includes participation from Connect Ventures, InReach Ventures, U-Start and R204 Partners. […]

Who is the greatest fintech leader of 2017?

This year’s Banking Technology Awards are taking place on 13 December in London and once again we will be recognising individuals for leading and playing an instrumental role in devising and/or delivering the technology strategy to support the key business objectives of an organisation. The Tech Leadership Award category is open to all industry participants worldwide – those […]

Executive Profile: One on One with Richard Steggall, Urban FT

Richard Steggall didn’t even set foot in the U.S. until he was approaching 30. So, what prompted the native Aussie by way of London to set up a fintech shop in New York—first as Waspit, then as Urban FT, the SaaS-based digital payments platform he now heads? It was, of course, American optimism.

Instant Payments Set to Displace Cards in Europe, Report Says

More than $809 billion is set to switch to the fledgling instant payments system in Europe by 2027, representing a significant threat to cards, according to a new report from Ovum, a London-based consultancy. Instant, or real-time, payments enable account-to-account bank transfers in seconds instead of days.

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 […]