Europe


Lloyds and Bank of Scotland hit by payment processing problems

Customers of Lloyds and Bank of Scotland have reported a host of payment processing problems as UK banks yet again fail to deliver banking services. In the repellent realm of Twitter, some users reported that wages weren’t paid at the end of the month. With the processing system down, bosses couldn’t pay their staff and […]

Payments round-up: 30 November 2017

We did say there will be no quiet days. Coming straight after yesterday’s (29 November) action, we bring another payments round-up. Features Interac, nanopay, Remitr, ADGM, Nordea, Nets, Facebook and Amazon.

Lloyds to cut 49 more branches

The UK trade union Unite has revealed that Lloyds has informed staff it will be closing another 49 branches of the Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, resulting in 99 job losses. Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, says: “Having returned to profitability Lloyds needs to stop ignoring its corporate social responsibilities. Just over six months […]

FinReach extends digital reach to Austria and Spain

German digital account exchange provider FinReach has expanded into Austria and Spain – meaning its service is now used by over 500 banks in three countries. In Austria, FinReach has partnered with, amongst others, banking group Raiffeisen Austria, which includes 434 banks and has 1.7 million customers. In terms of the Spanish market, Self Bank, […]

PostFinance has crack at Swiss jackpot with new chatbot

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Switzerland’s PostFinance has unveiled a German language virtual assistant on its website – generating automatic replies to customers’ most frequently asked questions. PostFinance, keen to tap into the fintech zeitgeist for artificial intelligence (AI), says it’s the “first Swiss financial institution” to launch such a chatbot. It was developed by the IT […]

EC’s PSD2 regulatory technical standards set for 2019

With PSD2 on its way in January next year, the European Commission has confirmed the deadline for its regulatory technical standards (RTS) will be around September 2019. By way of recap, the security measures outlined in RTS stem from two key objectives of PSD2: “ensuring consumer protection and enhancing competition”. RTS introduces requirements that payment […]

CYBG in exclusive partnership with Mastercard

Mastercard and Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks (CYBG) have unveiled a seven-year agreement that allows for all CYBG debit, credit and commercial cards to use the Mastercard network.

Starling makes big European push

UK-based challenger bank Starling is taking the battle to lenders after being granted a contract allowing for a big push into wholesale banking in Europe.

UK urged to improve data protection for the digitally naive

Several consumer groups have written to UK Minister for Digital Matt Hancock urging changes to data privacy and protection rules, removing grey areas which allow companies to navigate breaches unscathed, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Many rules and regulations should be viewed as dated today. This is not necessarily anyone’s fault, but is more […]

NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank hit by online banking issues

This is becoming a regular fixture in the UK, as yet again British banks are reporting online banking problems. In the latest glitch, customers of NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank have been hampered by the outage. The trio say they are “aware of some issues” with their online banking services. Customers […]

Google eyes more data centre space in Denmark

Google is eyeing an expansion in Europe, buying land in Denmark where it plans to build a new data centre that could be used to expand the company’s cloud computing footprint, as well as meet new European Union standards related to data privacy, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Reuters reported that Google’s […]

Interview: Javier Santamaría, EPC – SCT Inst, catalyst for a new world?

It may not provide all the ticks on everyone’s wish list, but the new SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Scheme (SCT Inst) could well be the start of something even more seismic for the European payments sector and also pave the way for a different, more immediate way of conducting business.

European Payments Council’s SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme goes live

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme created by the European Payments Council (EPC) is now operational. As of today (21 November), the EPC says nearly 600 payment service providers (PSPs) from eight European countries are offering instant payment solutions based on SCT Inst. It was launched last year, with […]

European Association for Biometrics conference: easing the digital journey

Customers are impatient and friction leads to lost sales – a key takeaway from last week’s seminar on the use of “Biometrics in Banking and Payments” organised by the European Association for Biometrics. Researched flagged by Michael Sass, VP market product management, security solutions Europe at Mastercard, highlighted the potential impact on revenue; abandonment rates […]

IberCaja turns to Meniga for personalised digital banking

Spanish bank IberCaja has implemented and integrated Meniga’s digital banking solution into its core systems for real-time customer data processing. According to Meniga, it is the first personal finance software provider that IberCaja has partnered with as part of its digital revamp. Victor Iglesias CEO at IberCaja, says the agreement is an “important milestone in […]

RBS unleashes robo-advice service via NatWest brand

Wealthtech is coming to the UK high street as Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched a robo-advice service for around five million customers under its NatWest brand. The service will be available for clients with a minimum of £500 to invest. The total cost of advice, investment and platform fees will be at 0.95%. […]

Fiorano launches PSD2 solution for banks

Fiorano Software, a specialist in integration middleware and API management, has launched Fiorano PSD2, a solution enabling banks to comply with the European Union’s PSD2 regulations.

ABN Amro joins API rush with developer portal

ABN Amro has launched the first version of its Developer Portal, with a series of commercial application programming interfaces (APIs). The bank says working more closely with external developers will help it accelerate innovation and improve its services.

PoC-ketful of fintech pinnacles for Kickstart Accelerator

Fintech is running like clockwork in Switzerland as over 30 proof of concepts (PoCs) and partnerships have been secured at Zurich-based Kickstart Accelerator’s tech programme. The accelerator – an initiative of digitalswitzerland and operated by Impact Hub Zurich – saw 29 start-ups as well as an intrapreneur team from AXA Winterthur and Swisscom working in […]

Facebook data privacy lawsuit is worth keeping an eye on

Large companies getting sued is nothing particularly new, but a lawsuit over whether Facebook has violated the data privacy rights of European citizens might make quite a splash, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). As reported back in September, Facebook was slapped with a fine from the Spanish data protection watchdog for inappropriately collecting and […]

Rainmaking Colab kicks up a storm for fintech innovation

Rainmaking Colab is looking to make its new model of innovation reign via a theme-based fintech programme that taps into mature markets. Created by the founders of Rainmaking and Startupbootcamp FinTech, they say “mature fintech markets like New York and London are starting to experience ‘accelerator fatigue’ and require a new way of thinking to […]

Supplement: Inside ETFs Europe Industry Report

Inside ETFs has produced a dedicated industry report for its 7th annual Inside ETFs Europe conference, Europe’s largest and most-respected exchange-traded funds (ETF) conference.