Top fintech stories this week – 27 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial is splashing out $880 million for money transfer operator MoneyGram International. This is Ant Financial’s first acquisition of a US-listed company.
While many traditional tech giants have been struggling to come to terms with the connected economy, SAP’s latest earnings indicate it is adapting well to the world of cloud computing.
Artificial intelligence (AI) on its own isn’t enough to compete – companies need industry-specific solutions to business problems. So said Martin Schroeter, IBM’s senior vice-president and chief financial officer, on the company’s quarterly earnings call.
The Fintech Acquisition Corp I team that raised $100 million through an IPO in February 2015, has returned a new blank check company – Fintech Acquisition Corp II. It seeks to raise $153 million.
Daimler Financial Services is acquiring e-payments services provider PayCash Europe, based in Luxembourg. This will enable Daimler to launch its own e-payments service under the Mercedes Pay brand.
California-based InvestCloud has acquired Babel Systems in London for $20 million. Babel provides a modular and API-based trade and accounting platform, while InvestCloud has over 660 clients with “accounting needs served by legacy accounting systems that were designed in the last century”. This acquisition links InvestCloud’s digital platform with Babel’s capabilities. InvestCloud will also continue […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The first weekly news round-up of 2017. Happy 2017! Let it be a year of discovery and success.
S&P Global is selling trading solutions provider QuantHouse to one of its original founders, Pierre Feligioni. “The time is right for QuantHouse to regain focus and flexibility to exploit growing market opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia,” Feligioni states.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Mastercard’s acquisition of VocaLink gives rise to competition concerns.
North American banking and payments tech vendor DH Corporation (D+H) has set up a committee to review its possible sale, it is understood.
Factset, a US-based provider of financial information and analytics software to the investment management industry, has completed two acquisitions. These are Vermilion Software, a client reporting and communications software specialist and Cymba Technologies, which focuses on asset and investment management software and solutions.
Amsterdam-based digital marketing and customer experience agency Mirabeau and its 260 staff will join Cognizant’s digital business once the acquisition is completed.
Avaloq is rumoured to be talking to private equity (PE) firms. Suitors reportedly include New York-based KKR.
Let’s put the fun in funding by keeping it mercifully brief. Money seekers are PayKey, Euklid and Flender.
Singapore-based DBS Bank is buying the retail and wealth business of Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Indonesia for about SGD 110 million ($79 million) “above book value”. The exact figure has not been disclosed, but the portfolio represents total deposits of SGD 17 billion ($12.2 billion), […]
IT services integrator Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Appirio, a cloud services company, for $500 million. With the acquisition, Wipro will get Topcoder, a crowdsourcing marketplace for designers, developers and data scientists; and expand its cloud offerings. Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO and member of the board at Wipro, says it will “consolidate” […]
Want to save some time but be in the know of the latest funding initiatives in the fintech space? Then read on.
Accenture has acquired London-based design consultancy Allen International as it looks to boost its digital banking ambitions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Accenture says Allen International has worked with more than 350 banks around the world including nine of the top 20 banks. Customers include Emirates NBD, Bank of Ireland, CIBC, Banorte, […]
IBM plans to acquire Promontory Financial Group, a risk management and regulatory compliance consulting firm, to boost IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. Upon close of the deal, Promontory’s employees will train Watson, which will learn by “continuously ingesting regulatory information as it is created and through interaction in real-world applications”. Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice-president, IBM […]
Nordic payments firm Nets has successfully IPO-ed on Nasdaq Copenhagen Exchange the tune of DKK 30 billion ($4.5 billion).
Welcome to the world of mergers and acquisitions – and our mission to provide a quick round-up. Ant Financial, Alibaba’s payments arm, has bought Missouri-based EyeVerify, a biometric security technology company. The big deal here is that its tech is used by Wells Fargo – and regional banks and credit unions in the US. Also, […]
Nordea and DNB will bring together their operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to create a new bank. The two banks say their Baltic operations are “a great match”, with Nordea’s strength being in the large corporate segment, while DNB’s is in the SME segment. Both banks also have significant presence in the retail space. […]
Banking technology vendor Misys – currently residing in the hands of US-based Vista Equity Partners – is understood to be gearing up for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. According to City AM, Misys is planning a £5.5 billion float and has appointed investment advisory firm Moelis to oversee it. In its current form, […]
Nykredit, Denmark’s largest mortgage provider, has invested in a minority stake in a new mobile banking service, Lunar Way, and has become its banking partner. In two months’ time Nykredit will replace Københavns Andelskasse (Copenhagen Cooperative Bank), the start-up’s initial banking partner. Mark Dissing Bækgaard, head of marketing and communications at Lunar Way, tells Banking […]
ATM maker Diebold has completed its $1.8-billion acquisition of Wincor Nixdorf. As Banking Technology reported in March, US-based Diebold announced it had met the tender condition for its German rival Wincor Nixdorf. The combined organisation will begin operating as Diebold Nixdorf tomorrow (16 August). The market share of the combined company will be about 35%. […]
Unicredit is selling its e-money processing unit to payments vendor SIA. The unit – part of Unicredit Business Integrated Solutions (UBIS) – processes around 13.5 million payment cards and manages 206,000 POS terminals and 12,000 ATMs in Italy, Germany and Austria. SIA has also got a ten-year outsourcing contract from UBIS for the supply of […]
Paris-based Sopra Steria has completed its acquisition of Cassiopae, a developer of specialised finance management software. The firm, through its subsidiary Sopra Banking Software, has bought 75% of the share capital of Cassiopae. The planned tie-up was first announced in February, as Banking Technology reported. Cassiopae’s founder and his family, and certain managers including current […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! BBA records dramatic increase in mobile banking usage Digital banking is in a “consumer-led revolution”. MasterCard buys VocaLink for $920 million Current owners Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS will receive a handy windfall. Cidel Bank implementing ERI’S Olympic […]
Merging tech, avoiding “turf wars”, embracing change, careful planning and ensuring alignment between the companies – there is plenty to think about in any merger and acquisition (M&A) deal to ensure its success. Some relief, however, might come in the form of a cloud. When and how should this technology be applied? Banking Technology contributor, Graham Jarvis, […]
Wirecard has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Citi Prepaid Card Services – giving it an expansion into North America. The firm says Citi Prepaid card services have launched over 2,500 client programmes, associated with global companies and brands, but primarily in North America. Subject to the usual regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Visa Inc completes acquisition of Visa Europe Together again. Virgin Money UK in new banking software search Another one of Branson’s ventures. BIL embarks on major technology overhaul with Temenos Second time lucky? MoneyConf 2016: Woe to the […]
Markit, an international provider of financial information services, is buying Prism Valuation, a specialist in independent valuation and risk analysis of derivatives and structured products. Markit says this acquisition will complement its portfolio valuations service, as it will provide enhanced coverage of complex OTC derivatives and structured OTC products. It will also expand Markit’s customer […]
Visa Inc and Visa Europe are united again. The combined company provides digital payment products, services and processing to about 17,100 financial institution clients and partners, 40+ million merchant outlets, and three billion Visa accounts worldwide. The company says its branded cards and payment products amount to approximately $6.8 trillion in global payments volume annually. […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! UniCredit and Open Bank Project launch fintech start-up competition Top prize is €50,000 and a contract to work with UniCredit. BBA to merge with three trade associations to create major industry body British Bankers Association (BBA), Council of […]
DST Systems, a provider of business data services to the financial services and healthcare markets, is selling its North American Customer Communications (NACC) unit to Broadridge Financial Solutions. The deal is valued at $410 million in cash and is expected to close in July. The NACC business generated $1.1 billion in revenue in 2015, or 40% […]
Broadridge Financial Solutions has taken over fellow vendor 4sight Financial Software, a provider of securities finance and collateral management systems to financial institutions worldwide. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Quayle Munro Limited acted as 4sight’s financial advisor in this transaction. UK-based 4sight was founded in 2003 and grew to acquire a client base […]
The European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Visa Europe by Visa Inc. This concludes all regulatory approvals required for this deal to go ahead, as the Jersey and the Turkish competition authorities have already given their stamps of approval. The transaction is expected to close in Visa Inc’s fiscal Q3 2016. The takeover […]
Financial industry has reached the point of no return: new start-ups and technologies are disrupting the traditional world of banking. All the things that were either unavailable, limited, expensive or poorly designed, now can be accessible from the third parties, which are not even close to banks. Small fintech companies are doing the job the […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Atom Bank adds another system to its tech set-up; readies mobile app Bank has just launched, but already has problems. Monitise looks to be profitable in H2 2016 But did it grow too big too fast? EFG and BSI […]