Microfinance organisation Finca and credit scoring specialist First Access have unveiled “the world’s largest microfinance fintech collaboration”. The two companies say this partnership “will create the largest and most sophisticated alternative credit-scoring approach by a microfinance institution (MFI) in the world.” It will also vastly improve Finca’s outreach to excluded populations. First Access will analyse existing […]
Stanbic IBTC Bank in Nigeria is upgrading its core banking system, Infosys’ Finacle. The new version of the system will go live on 16 May, 2016 – but in the run-up to this the bank will be limiting its operations over the weekend 13-15 May. Stanbic IBTC will close its branches to customers on Friday […]
Barclays Africa is piloting a chatbot within the coming few weeks, making it the “first bank” to do so in Africa. The chatbots will use artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate “intelligent conversation” through written or spoken text. Yasaman Hadjibashi, chief data officer at Barclays Africa, says the chatbot is a way to be “more relevant” […]
Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) and FDH Bank will unite, resulting in 250 job cuts and a major core system upgrade. Sobhuza Ngwenya, group head of marketing at FDH, says that the core business strategy of the merged entity “towards achieving the top bank status” will be technology-driven. However, no branches are expected to close. FDH […]
Sudan-based Export Development Bank (EDB) has gone live with its new core banking system, Temenos’ T24. The Islamic bank implemented R13 of T24 and has also got Temenos’ Insight Financials tool. The project was initiated three years ago, with the contract signing in Q1 2013. National Data Consultants (NDC), a regional implementation partner of Temenos, […]
Chase Bank Kenya has migrated its full card portfolio to the Way4 payment software platform from Electra Card System. The solution is developed by Belgium-based OpenWay and Way4 will support the issuance of prepaid, debit and credit cards — under the MasterCard and Visa brands. Chase Bank Kenya is looking to grow its cards business […]
Kenya-based Family Bank is implementing a new insurance platform, based on JMR Infotech’s Avenir offering. Avenir – an integrated bancassurance portal – will support Family Bank’s fresh entry into the insurance business. Just a couple of months back, the bank unveiled a new subsidiary, Family Bank Insurance Agency, to target “the lucrative but highly under-served […]
Barclays is leaving Africa as it looks to consolidate the group and increase shareholder returns after a 2% drop in full-year profit. The bank will sell its 62% stake in Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) over the coming few years and then focus on two divisions – Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate and International. BAGL […]
Libya-based Aman Bank has gone live on Oracle FSS’s Flexcube core banking system – with Oracle’s long-standing integrator JMR Infotech carrying out the implementation. The bank has ditched its legacy system iBank, from Tunisia-based Idee, and Rui Cupertino, deputy chairman at Aman Bank, expects the new system to “deliver significant improvements” and describes it as […]
Albaraka, a Morocco-based microfinance institution, has implemented Infosys’ Finacle core banking system, and customer relationship management (CRM) and wealth management solutions. The institution (formerly known as FONDEP) has ditched its existing core banking system as it plans to expand into retail banking and insurance products distribution. Mouatassim Belghazi, CEO, Albaraka, said with Finacle in place […]
Swift’s Innotribe initiative is to expand its programme to support innovation in emerging fintech ecosystems, including Africa and Latin America. It has also announced a new Industry Challenge programme under which the Innotribe team will work with Swift members to identify business areas that could benefit from collaborative solutions.
South Africa’s Nedbank has chosen Volante Technologies to help it revamp its payments message service using VolPay Foundation, which focuses on validating and processing payments. The move comes ahead of regulatory change next year, which will force all South African institutions to change the way they handle payments.
Stock markets in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are planning to launch cross-listed exchange traded funds later this year, as part of an initiative that aims to boost liquidity across Africa’s three largest markets.
The London Stock Exchange Group has signed an agreement with Casablanca Stock Exchange to support the launch of LSEG’s business development programme, ELITE, in Morocco.
South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange is moving its derivatives and fixed income markets onto Millennium Exchange, the trading platform it bought from the London Stock Exchange when it moved its equities market earlier this year.
The vast majority of payments worldwide are still made in cash. But if mobile were to combine e-commerce with proximity payment, that could be a problem for banks. One potential solution is tokenisation.
As the payments industry adjusts to the gradual demise of interchange fees, banks will face declining profits. That means data will have to be used more effectively to squeeze out the remaining opportunities. But it also means they face a dilemma between building their own services and outsourcing.
As the global payments industry transforms itself to take advantage of new technologies, some services offer the prospect of real change, but others are simply hype. Telling the difference will be the key to success in the next five years …
The Innotribe Start-up Challenge attendees selected the five finalists from the African leg of the Start-up Challenge to compete at Sibos Singapore in October. The showcase was held yesterday alongside Swift’s African Regional Conference.
Africa and Asia are the centres of innovation in payments, with the developed markets of the US and Western Europe lagging behind, but the trend is towards domestic offerings rather than regional or international ones, says the latest Payments Innovation Jury Report.
West Africa’s capital markets are changing fast as regional integration and local stock exchange initiatives combineto transform its infrastructure. Increasing adoption of FIX and a promising demographic profile help too, according to speakers at the FIX Trading Community conference in London this week.
Swift is planning to open two new offices in 2015 in Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya as the organisation seeks to expand its presence in east and west Africa.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has made a series of internal promotions in its EMEA Global Transaction Services team.
A pan-African vision has inspired the African Stock Exchange, which has ambitious plans to tap the potential of the continent using hosted technology and a secure base in Mauritius.
Do banks still need branches, or does the smartphone make a physical presence obsolete? Panellists disagreed during a spirited debate hosted by ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf in Istanbul last week.
A new exchange focusing on sub-Saharan Africa is preparing to target international investors through a partnership with Germany’s Deutsche Börse. The African Stock Exchange, based on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, plans to bring together blue chip dollar-denominated African stocks and other products such as government bonds.
The rise of an emerging middle class in Africa is transforming the continent as a group of 11 African nations power past the $1 trillion GDP mark. With tens of millions expected to rise out of poverty in the next decade, it is also providing compelling new opportunities for banks, according to Standard Bank of South Africa.
Telecoms company Millicom has stepped up its push to gain ground for its mobile money service in the Tanzania as competition heats up between operators in the region
As demand for Islamic banking services continues to rise, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt has overhauled its risk management to better handle the unique needs of ethical banking.
From Senegal to the Seychelles, and Botswana to Uganda, new demands and new opportunities are emerging in Africa, but there are still challenges
Italian financial infrastructure company SIA has inked a deal with mobile commerce provider Swish Payments to support mobile payments in Africa and Europe. The two firms claim the deal will help to bring more efficient forms of payment to both regions.
Three African financial services start-ups have signed to use a cloud-based core banking platform from Berlin-based Mambu as their launch platform business.
South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange has begun a massive overhaul of its clearing and trading systems, which will see its siloed clearing platforms replaced by a single engine from vendor Cinnober and its derivatives market shifted onto the London Stock Exchange’s MilleniumExchange platform.
Why are different parts of Africa experiencing widely different levels of success with mobile banking, despite years of experience in Kenya? Panellists at the IPS conference in London offered a range of explanations
Four Middle Eastern exchanges – Amman, Beirut, Tunis and Muscat – are to migrate to Euronext’s Universal Trading Platform, replacing the older NSC trading engine they are currently using.
Luxembourg telecoms company Millicom has launched an African cross-border mobile payments service in Rwanda and Tanzania, which it claims is the first to automatically include currency conversion.
Hong Kong-based carrier services firm PCCW Global has banded together with 16 other high profile international network operators, including China Unicom, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat and Ooredoo, to construct a high capacity submarine cable system between Asia, Africa and Europe.
Ghana. The word means ‘warrior king’, but it also describes a booming country of 24 million people living on the coast of West Africa. It is here that three African financial institutions – City Investments Company, NDK Financial Services and The Royal Bank – are turning to new technology to realise their plans.
Arab Investment Bank Egypt has chosen Temenos T24 as its technology platform as it draws up its expansion plans for North Africa’s largest economy.
Standard Bank of South Africa has launched a major expansion drive in West Africa, starting with the opening of a new representative office in the Côte d’Ivoire. The bank plans to use the Abidjan office to become familiar with the region and identify further opportunities within it.
