UK


UK’s Financial Conduct Authority suffers IT incident on regulatory data system

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had an IT incident on its online system, Gabriel, for collecting and storing regulatory data from firms. Due to the “unexpected IT incident”, it was unable to implement Taxonomy 2.4.1.1, which came into effect on 1 October. Those firms who were required to comply with the Capital Requirements Directive […]

Faster Payments faces history with RBS blockchain test

The UK’s existing Faster Payments scheme could be consigned to the slow lane as researchers at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) claim to have demonstrated blockchain supporting a new banking industry clearing system. In a ten-page technical paper, “Proving Ethereum for the clearing use case”, RBS’s innovation engineering team says it has created a clearing […]

HSBC goes hipster in London fintech hub hunt

Overly manicured beard. Check. Clothes that betray blatant narcissism. Check. Holier than thou attitude. Check. Welcome to the world of hipsters as HSBC is looking for office space in trendy tech-focused London neighbourhoods. According to Bloomberg, the bank is seeking to “bolster its fintech capabilities” and has hired real estate broker CBRE Group to find […]

Harrods Bank in search of new core banking system

The FIS Profile core banking project is dead. Long live a new core banking project! UK-based Harrods Bank is back to market to find a new core banking solution, Banking Technology understands. It is understood to be in talks with a broad number of tech suppliers, including Temenos and Misys (the incumbent provider). The bank […]

Misys Connect Forum – London: proud of the cloud

Hey! You! Get onto my cloud. This was the main message from the Misys Connect Forum in London as the vendor held a one-day conference of panel debates, Q&As, presentations and demos. At yesterday’s (20 September) event – “the largest Misys conference ever” with 600 attendees – at The Mermaid in Blackfriars, the morning began […]

Community Savings Bank Association joins UK challenger bank ranks

A new challenger has joined the UK’s banking market, Community Savings Bank Association (CSBA). The association is working with an established bank, Airdrie Savings Bank, to set up a UK-wide network of independent, customer-owned, regional banks. These banks will support local communities and businesses.

Top ten mobile banking apps in the UK – August 2016

What were the most popular mobile banking apps (on Android) in the UK in August 2016? We reveal the stats for the top ten apps in the UK, ranked taking into account two engagement metrics – current installs and active app users.

Android Pay gets four UK OKs

Natwest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank have all launched on Android Pay in the UK today (13 September), with TSB “coming soon”. The development follows hot on the heels from last week, when US-based Chase Bank customers were able to add their eligible Chase Visa cards to Android Pay. The cards include […]

Chase Bank chooses Android Pay for payments

It’s expansion time for Android as it reveals that US-based Chase Bank customers can now add their eligible Chase Visa cards to Android Pay. The cards include Freedom, Slate, Sapphire, United Mileage Explorer and Hyatt Credit Card. On top of this American development, in the UK, Android says Santander and TSB customers “will soon be […]

MasterCard faces £19bn lawsuit over inflated card charges

Priceless? Not this time. MasterCard is facing a £19 billion lawsuit (which now has been reduced to £14 billion and filed, as of 8 September 2016) – the biggest in UK legal history – in a collective action over card charges that were passed on to shoppers. The claim is headed by ex-financial services ombudsman […]

Monitise turns corner in profit quest

UK-based payments vendor Monitise is beginning to turn its fortunes around – with a 45% reduction in operating costs and EBITDA profitability of £600,000 in the second half of the year. As Banking Technology reported in May, the firm brought in a new COO and a new, re-focused business structure. It seems the initiatives have […]

CBA and Barclays partner for Australia-UK mobile payments “first”

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Barclays have joined forces to let their retail customers move money between Australia and the UK with “just a mobile number”. In a “first between the two countries”, CBA and Barclays say they have worked to connect each of their payment apps together – CBA’s CommBank and Barclays’ Pingit. […]

How emerging banks are changing the banking experience

Consumers and businesses alike will often consider a company’s reputation before entering an agreement with them. After all, why would anyone choose an organisation which has history of letting its customers down, over another with a spotless track record? It’s unsurprising then that once the reputation of traditional banks in the UK was tarnished by […]

TransferWise trebles revenue

In its first public annual report TransferWise has revealed its revenue tripled to £28 million in the year to March. The UK-based international money transfer platform also says that figure is now about £5 million a month, having doubled in the past 12 months. It was not all good news as pre-tax losses grew to […]

Gresham Computing opens UK innovation labs

Gresham Computing has launched its “Innovation Labs” in Bristol, UK as it looks to tap into local talent and drive more software development. CTO Neil Vernon will lead the team of engineers and developers, and says he is a “big believer in the ‘serendipity of collisions’” – which the new space provides. Vernon adds that […]

Nationwide hit by payment glitches

Customers of Nationwide Building Society in the UK have taken to Twitter to report a host of problems – with direct debits and standing orders not being paid. According to users on Twitter, the bastion of rage and anger, mortgage bills and other payments have not been made. Nationwide’s Twitter feed is now awash with […]

Commerzbank and UniCredit complete first BPO live transaction in UK

Commerzbank London and UniCredit have “successfully” processed the first UK Bank Payment Obligation (BPO) live transaction. The banks say with the backing of the ICC Banking Commission and Swift, there has been a “growing demand for, and an increasing number of”, BPO transactions, as a “proven” digital settlement tool. Raphael Barisaac, global head of trade […]

Playing games with Mondo’s name change

Changing your name from Mondo to Monzo does not warrant a news story –  unless a rival challenger bank makes some fun out of it. A trademark dispute with another Mondo entailed the new moniker and much unnecessary fanfare. While Monzo revelled in its new name and ignored media queries, Starling Bank decided to do […]

Top ten lending sites in the UK – July 2016

With digital financial services sharply on the rise in the UK, who is leading among the UK lenders? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online lending sites in the UK for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, […]

Parity Treasury Management System business sold to Eurobase

Eurobase International has acquired the Parity Treasury Management Software from Manex Treasury Systems, its flagship product. Parity clients and Manex staff will move to Eurobase as part of the deal. Parity users will continue to be supported but will be encouraged to move to Eurobase’s own offering, Siena. Manex is a long-standing software supplier to the […]

UK contactless spending ascending to new heights

If you’re curious, then it’s been fast and furious. Spending on UK contactless cards in the first half of 2016 has already outstripped contactless spending for the whole of 2015, according to the UK Cards Association. Some £9.27 billion was spent using contactless methods between January and June of this year, more than the total […]

Temenos and BACB go public on core banking software project

Temenos has officially confirmed it is implementing its software at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB). As reported by Banking Technology back in February, BACB opted to replace its legacy core system, Misys’ Midas, with T24. Temenos is also supplying its digital channels (Temenos Connect) and analytics (Insight BI) products to the London-based corporate bank. Temenos […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the UK – July 2016

With digital banking sharply on the rise in the UK – according to the latest figures released by the British Bankers Association – who is leading among the UK retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the UK for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). […]

Octopus Investments launches Octopus Labs for fintech start-ups

A UK-based investment firm, Octopus Investments, is looking to onboard fintech start-ups for its 12-week accelerator programme with Octopus Labs. “We’re rebuilding financial services,” states Octopus Labs. “The financial services sector is broken. We’re on a mission to rebuild it.” The programme will provide mentoring, office space in central London, plus potential access to Octopus […]

Selling VocaLink to MasterCard will kill innovation in UK payments

The proposed sale of Vocalink to MasterCard, threatens to “kill innovation” in UK payments. This is the damning verdict of AccessPay CEO, Anish Kapoor, who is calling on payments experts to come together to voice their opinions and thoughts, before a final decision is reached. In the time it takes you to read this blog […]

RBS cancellation of Williams & Glyn project affects 3,000 staff at Infosys

Infosys has issued a statement regarding its work with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to carve out the Williams & Glyn (W&G) subsidiarity. Infosys was a W&G programme technology partner for consulting, application delivery and testing services. It was working on the W&G project since 2013, but this came to an end earlier this month […]

UK competition watchdog cools ICE’s Trayport acquisition

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) says it has “provisionally” found Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) acquisition of Trayport may give rise to competition concerns. ICE is the largest operator of exchanges and clearing houses in the trading of European utilities. It has its own proprietary software which allows trading of energy commodity and utility derivatives […]

Apple Pay the way for UK’s CYBG banking group

UK-based Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank – which together form CYBG – have introduced Apple Pay to its customers. The payments service is also available to its “B” customers. In May, CYBG unveiled a new digital banking platform, called B, as it gets ready to become a standalone challenger bank. Helen Page, chief marketing officer […]

UK challenger Mondo looks to fund full bank launch

UK-based challenger Mondo is looking for another £15-20 million in funding as it looks to launch as a “full bank”. Last week, Mondo got its banking licence from the Bank of England. However, Tom Blomfield, CEO at Mondo, say that “authorisation comes with restrictions”. It can only hold a maximum of £50,000 of deposits in […]

Cutover start-up passes Nationwide digital banking test

Nationwide Building Society has “successfully” tested UK start-up Cutover’s release management software during digital banking maintenance releases this month. Cutover’s software provides a platform for teams to plan, rehearse and execute events and gives real-time communications to those involved. Matt Cox, head of insight and innovation, Nationwide Building Society, says Cutover’s prototype “clearly demonstrated the […]

Money Router the troubleshooter for London crime

UK-based Route Trading is to unveil Money Router – a solution designed to tackle the problem of “illicit money transfers taking place” in London. Launching on 27 September, Route Trading says the new software enables banks to reduce the risks involved in home remittance. The firm says the solution can “strengthen the safety of global […]

UK challenger bank Mondo gets banking licence

UK-based challenger bank Mondo has got its banking licence. The bank kindly passed the news to the Financial Times first rather than informing anybody else. It then issued a tweet saying it’s an “exciting day” which caused some confusion to its followers. According to the Financial Times, Mondo’s founder Tom Blomfield (formerly chief technology officer […]

Raphaels Bank joins Faster Payments

UK-based Raphaels Bank has become the “first new fully operational participating financial provider” of Faster Payments, the UK’s 24/7 real-time payment service. The bank says it is the 12th direct participant of the Faster Payments Scheme (FPS), and the first new bank to connect directly to the payment system since it was launched in 2008. […]

UK watchdog pushes for open banking revolution

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has unveiled its plans to make banks “work harder for customers” and ensure the “benefits of new technology are fully exploited”. The CMA’s final report on its retail banking market investigation concludes that “older and larger banks do not have to compete hard enough for customers’ business, and […]

Over £20m spent through UK challenger bank Mondo

UK-based challenger bank Mondo has reached the £20 million mark for money spent through its service. Since its last spending announcement, published at the end of April, the bank has gone from around £80,000 spent daily to over £200,000. Of the £20 million spent, around a quarter has been spent abroad, with its customers (called […]

RBS scraps Williams & Glyn banking platform plans, writes off £345m

Royal Bank of Scotland has scrapped its plans to carve out the Williams & Glyn (W&G) subsidiarity – and instead it is likely to be sold to Santander. W&G has a network of 300 branches, 1.4 million retail and 200,000 SME clients – effectively the country’s seventh largest bank. It has been dormant for a […]

New corporate challenger bank seeking to launch in the UK

A new challenger is coming to the burgeoning UK banking market – Copernicus Bank. It is founded and backed by Danela Ventures Partners Limited, a London-based advisory firm set up in 2010 by Aidan Brady and Michael Rossman. Danela Ventures Partners “focuses on financial services innovation”, according to Brady’s LinkedIn profile. It is “currently building […]