Financial Services/Finserv


R3 brings the Intel to Corda DLT platform

Enterprise software firm R3 is working with Intel to beef up its data privacy and security for Corda, its distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. R3, which used to call itself a blockchain consortium, says Corda only sends data to those who have a “need to know”. According to the company, this feature emerged from the […]

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 […]

Broadridge buys data and intelligence firm Spence Johnson

Broadridge Financial Solutions will acquire Spence Johnson, a provider of institutional data and intelligence, for its asset management market ambitions. With the purchase, Broadridge says its Global Market Intelligence, a platform for retail cross-border fund data and analytics, will be able to use Spence Johnson’s Money in Motion dataset that provides analytics on assets, flows […]

Santander and Tradeshift partner for supply chain finance

Santander is partnering with business commerce platform Tradeshift, for a digital capital solution, the first of which will be supply chain finance (SCF). As reported last year, Tradeshift got an investment from Santander InnoVentures. At that time, Mariano Belinky, managing partner at Santander InnoVentures, said the company “is at the forefront of tackling a very […]

ANZ, Westpac and IBM trial blockchain for bank guarantees

Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, and Westpac have teamed with IBM and shopping centre operator Scentre Group to use blockchain to digitise the bank guarantee process for commercial property leasing. The trial used distributed ledger technology (DLT) to eliminate the need for current paper-based bank guarantee documents, resulting in a “single source of […]

Japan to unveil fintech testing hub for start-ups

The Financial Services Agency of Japan (JFSA) is setting up a hub for fintech start-ups to test new services, according to Nikkei. The hub will help “identify legal complications and risks standing in the way of industry’s growth” and is seen as a precursor to a regulatory sandbox. Nikkei says the sandbox could be in […]

The Monday mindset: 3 July 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, Banking Technology’s deputy editor Antony Peyton mulls briefly on the world of fintech events. Having attended what feels like every fintech event […]

Bank of America signs for Oracle ERP

Bank of America is rolling out Oracle’s cloud-based ERP system and financial applications for its international general ledger and broker-dealer systems.

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?

Study: Americans Uneasy about Finances Provide Opportunity for Financial Service Providers

One-fourth of Americans say they have too much debt, with 96 percent of them reporting they are financially stressed, according to a survey by the Center for Financial Services Innovation to gauge Americans’ financial well-being. While those statistics are bleak, they should signal an opportunity for banks, credit unions, fintechs and other companies to provide products, services and guidance to improve consumers’ financial stability, according to Jennifer Tescher, founder and CEO of CFSI.

Fintech funding round-up: 22 June 2017

It was only yesterday we did a fintech funding round-up. But as there’s a mad dash for cash, here’s another one. Features Digital Financial Services Lab, TrueLayer and Enterprise Ireland. Digital Financial Services Lab (DFS Lab) will invest $250,000 in four separate fintech start-ups that are building products to help low-income consumers in developing markets. […]

Money’s the honey for Swift global payments innovation challenge

Swift is offering funding of up to €200,000 for the two winning fintech finalists of its industry challenge to develop new overlay services that use its global payments innovation (gpi) platform. The winners will work with banks on collaborative concepts that solve additional industry challenges in cross-border payments on top of gpi. As reported previously, […]

Eight Fledgling Fintech Providers Win Capital with CFSI Awards

Eight fledgling fintech companies have won $250,000 each from the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Each FinLab winner in this third annual competition from the CFSI receives $250,000 in capital, along with resources to test, enhance and scale their products, in part via the expertise of JPMorgan Chase, a founding lab partner.

Microcred looks ahead with BankBI business intelligence software

Microfinance entity Microcred has chosen BankBI’s business intelligence software applications as part of its move into retail banking. As reported last year, Microcred said it plans to become a fully-fledged retail bank and grow its presence from nine to 17 countries by 2020. It has opted to keep its long-standing technology provider, Temenos, and upgrade […]

Blockchain fuels IBM and Standard Chartered insurance policy pilot

American International Group (AIG), IBM and Standard Chartered have piloted the “first” multinational, smart contract based insurance policy using blockchain. The trio converted a controlled master policy written in the UK, and three local policies in the US, Singapore and Kenya, into a smart contract that provides a shared view of policy data and documentation […]

Misys and D+H merge to launch fintech titan Finastra

Misys and DH Corporation (D+H) have joined forces to create Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world. As reported in March, D+H was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $3.6 billion. The venture capital firm, which owns UK-based banking software vendor Misys, beat rival Advent International to acquire D+H. Finastra will […]

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 […]

Fintech funding round-up: 7 June 2017

Fintech funding can be an intense blur of money, jargon and unerringly similar expansion plans. Here’s a round-up that gets to the heart of the matter. Features Plynk, IHS Markit, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Wahed. Ireland’s Plynk, a money messaging app, has revealed a Series A raise of €25 million. Led by […]

HSBC launches social network for business customers

HSBC Commercial Banking has launched its Connections Hub, a digital platform to connect buyers and sellers around the world. Businesses in Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and the US can sign up to the multi-lingual hub for free. The service will be available to customers in France in the coming weeks […]

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 […]

Deloitte buys consulting firm Market Gravity

Deloitte has acquired design consultancy firm Market Gravity as it looks for a lift and the chance to moisten its creative juices. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in London with teams in New York, Edinburgh and Toronto, Market Gravity works across multiple sectors including financial services, retail, energy, telecoms and automotive. It recently helped UK-based […]

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 […]

Compliance Titans: Jani Gode, Payoneer

Jani Gode’s knowledge of payments compliance reaches to parts of the globe that are about as far away from the small Minnesota farm where she grew up as you can get. Gode leads the global compliance program as chief compliance officer at Payoneer, an online payments company founded in 2005 that enables businesses to send and receive cross-border payments.

R3 hits jackpot with $107m investment for DLT

Blockchain consortium R3 has completed the first two of three tranches in its Series A fundraising round, securing $107 million in the “world’s largest distributed ledger technology (DLT) investment to date”. The consortia contest is heating up as this handy cash injection follows on from yesterday’s (22 May) announcement from the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) […]

Nasdaq and Citi team up for blockchain-powered payments reconciliation

Nasdaq and Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) have unveiled a new payment solution for automating reconciliation using Chain’s blockchain infrastructure platform. The solution enables straight through payment processing by using a distributed ledger to record and transmit payment instructions. A number of payment transactions have been done including Citi’s automated processing of cross-border payments […]

Equifax forms new alliance to develop open banking products

Equifax, credit information provider Castlight and Oakbrook Finance, the owners of consumer loan brand Likely Loans, have teamed up to develop new products for the 2018 open banking initiative. Under open banking, Equifax says bank transaction data will play a crucial role in lending decisions. Lenders will have access to real-time and historic account and […]

Jabre Capital turns to Broadridge for risk management

Asset management firm Jabre Capital Partners has chosen Broadridge’s integrated trading, portfolio management, and risk management platform to help manage its front, middle and back-office operations. Broadridge says its solution will enable Jabre to streamline and automate workflow, and help meet its pre- and post-trade compliance requirements while providing connectivity to brokers and EMS platforms. […]

Sweet sixteen keen on CCRManager’s trade finance platform

Sixteen financial institutions (FIs) are onboard for CCRManager’s new electronic platform, developed for the distribution of trade finance, supply chain finance and working capital assets. Bank of China, DBS Bank, ICICI Bank, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and UniCredit have signed up as members of the platform to support their trade risk distribution businesses. In addition, […]

CFSI Sets the Table for Financial Health

Hoping to build on last year’s success, the Center for Financial Services Innovation is encouraging participants in next month’s FinHealthMatters Day to craft videos, write blogs and plan events that highlight the need for better financial health for U.S. consumers. FinHealthMatters Day is June 27.

Fintech funding round-up: 17 May 2017

Quickly following on from the cash flow glow of 15 May, here’s another fintech funding round-up. Features Additiv, BZ Bank, Symphony, BNP Parabis and IOTA. Zurich-based digital finance provider Additiv knows how to stay healthy as it has secured its first capital investment funding round of CHF 21 million ($21.3 million). The round was headed […]

Fintech funding round-up: 15 May 2017

Brevity and celerity. It’s our latest fintech funding round-up for a quick fix – featuring Axoni, Citi, MarketInvoice, Banco BNI Europa, Alibaba and Qupital. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) provider Axoni has revealed that Citi has joined its Series A funding round, bringing the total amount raised to over $20 million. Citi joins a group of […]

The Monday mindset: 15 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, looks at why journalism is not controlled by your company. Well, not here anyway. Hey fintech […]

Facebook’s Q1 results and five things for financial services

With the release of Facebook’s Q1 2017 results, there are five things worth your attention about its strategy that are relevant for financial services. In its latest results, Facebook announced a major emphasis in solving for communities and reiterating the key messages from its F8 developer conference. Q1 2017 profit is +76.6% YoY to $3.06 […]

Fintech M&A round-up: 10 May 2017

Say goodbye to long reads with this brief round-up of the latest buys in the fintech world. Features KPMG, Matchi, Ancoa, Cinnober, Valitor, International Payment Services and AltaPay. KPMG has acquired Matchi, a matchmaking platform that connects financial institutions with fintech companies. The pair have worked together since 2015, so the deal “cements” their relationship. […]