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Fintech funding round-up: 16 November 2017

Say it isn’t so, another fintech funding round-up? Of course! It’s busy as always. Here’s the latest news action. Featuring DIFC and its investments, ASEAN seeing a boom with fintechs on the rise, and two firms; Active.ai and PayStand get individual funding too.

All aboard the Amex blockchain payments express

American Express has launched blockchain-enabled, business-to-business cross-border payments with Santander using Ripple’s network. The Amex FX International Payments (FXIP) business is working with Ripple to make blockchain payments commercially available, “reducing the time and cost of settlement”. Santander UK is the selected partner to initiate this new transaction channel. Marc Gordon, EVP and CIO at […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 16 November 2017

Coming straight after yesterday’s (15 November) action, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Features Mastercard in a patent place, ING Bank opening up, and another warning from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Let’s start with yet another patent. Mastercard has jumped on the blockchain payments bandwagon by filing “Method and System for Instantaneous Payment […]

Give donations better with Betterment

Robo advisory platform Betterment says it is not only making it easier to give to charities, it is also giving consumers more reasons to do so, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Starting 28 November, on “Giving Tuesday”, Betterment investors will be able to donate shares of long-term investments from their taxable accounts directly to […]

EyeLock docks with ViaTouch for iris-powered payments

Iris-based biometric authentication specialist EyeLock has signed an agreement with ViaTouch Media that will integrate EyeLock’s technology within ViaTouch’s smart-shelf vending solution, Vicki. David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company) reports that EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus says the agreement was the culmination of years of working with firms from a variety of industries to bring embedded […]

TransferTo and Fern Software get UN funding for payments push

Cross-border mobile payments network TransferTo and banking software provider Fern Software have both been awarded a grant as a part of the United Nations Capital Development’s Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformation (Shift) Challenge Fund, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The goal of the fund is to use remittances to improve the economic power of women […]

Brief: Digitizing the Bank

Read this brief to get best practices and expert advice from SEFCU, one of the 50 largest credit unions in the U.S, on how they went from their first electronic signature to fully digital workflows using DocuSign.

Q&A with Joe Daly, Paysafe

Joe Daly, COO payments processing North America, Paysafe, talks to us about all things paytech.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 15 November 2017

Following on from yesterday’s (14 November) news, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Trustology, Accenture, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Association of Banks in Singapore, Square and London Block Exchange. Another day, another new firm. Trustology has emerged from stealth and revealed it is building a peer-to-peer network of smart contract compute services. Trusted […]

Investec Bank to use iMeta for client data management

Investec Bank has selected iMeta’s client lifecycle management (CLM) platform to help with the automation and streamlining of data management processes. The platform consists of know your customer (KYC) support; credit and legal help (such as with MiFID II); and standing settlement instruction (SSI) for data management processes to provide a centralised hub of reference […]

Boku to raise $60m ahead of London IPO

Carrier billing company Boku plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market (AIM), an international market for smaller growing companies, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Ahead of next week’s public debut, the company announced it expects to raise $60 million on a post-money valuation of $164 million. Of the […]

E-book: How Digital Lenders Can Win the Fight Against Fraud

Ready for the truth about fighting fraud? It’s not as futile as you might think. Yes, fraud is hitting digital lenders of all sizes… Pretty sizably. But recent research shows that with the right approach, it is possible to stop the bad guys and stem the losses—without slowing opportunity.

When are we going to look at the human cost of AI?

Another week has passed, and another piece of research has emerged about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), but the human cost is starting to become a very big elephant, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The research itself is from SAS and highlights businesses are becoming normalised to the idea of AI. The concept […]

Cisco creates $1bn financing programme for smart cities

Cisco is looking to expand its presence in the smart city and internet of things (IoT) markets with a $1 billion financing program that will allow communities to make investments in their infrastructure with the vendor’s financial backing, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The City Infrastructure Financing Acceleration Programme also has backing […]

Aegon opts for Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for operational risk

Pension, insurance and investment management firm Aegon is replacing its local risk systems with Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for operational risk management. Charles Garthwaite, global head of operational and conduct risk at Aegon, says his company needed “a global solution” that could “comprehensively manage Aegon’s requirements”. Following local implementations in the UK and within its asset […]

Why mobile wallet acceptance is key to retail growth

A young woman has made plans to join a friend for dinner at a restaurant across town, and with a few clicks on a mobile device she sets her night in motion. Her go-to ride-sharing service has sent a car, she’s ordered a cappuccino from her favorite coffee shop – this one is free because she’s a loyalty member –  and her social app pings her friend to let him know her ETA.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 14 November 2017

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s (13 November) action, here’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Bitcoin Gold, OTC Exchange Network, Deloitte and Github. Bitcoin Gold (BTG), the newest fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, has officially gone live. It’s not the first to breakaway from Bitcoin, as previously in August, Bitcoin Cash (BCC) launched. […]

Rackspace and HPE offering OpenStack as private cloud service

With most of the chatter in the cloud computing market focused on the big public cloud providers, it’s easy to forget that private cloud is a viable option for many larger enterprises. Now, Rackspace and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) are looking to change that, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The two companies […]

Token and Envestnet | Yodlee team up for open banking

Open banking platform provider Token has partnered with Envestnet | Yodlee, a data analytics platform, for payments and financial data aggregation. The partnership will use Token’s operating system, TokenOS, which offers PSD2 compliant payments and gives access to banks for third-party service providers, via an API. In addition, the deal will use Envestnet | Yodlee’s […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 13 November 2017

Following Friday’s (10 November) feisty blockchain and Bitcoin action, here’s another round-up. Features CryptoCoinBits, European Commission, R3 and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. With increasing fears about Bitcoin ICOs and bubbles bursting, it was inevitable someone would see a gap in the market. Enter CryptoCoinBits, which has unleashed a Bitcoin trading platform and asks: “So how can […]

Crime moves upmarket as fraud becomes UK’s number 1 offence

New research from Experian claims fraud is now the UK’s most common criminal offence, much to the dismay of thugs and hoodlums everywhere, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The company’s Annual Fraud Indicator 2017 estimates the annual cost of fraud in the UK is £190 billion, exceeding the total gross domestic product of 148 […]

Mastercard, Bank Asia and a2i team for financial inclusion in Bangladesh

Access to Information (a2i, an innovation lab supported by the Bangladeshi government), Bank Asia and Mastercard have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate financial inclusion in Bangladesh by making digital payment services accessible countrywide through the Union Digital Centres (UDCs).

It’s time to pull the brake on Bitcoin

With ten years in fintech under my belt, I have seen the creation of the word itself. I have also seen the rise of various hypes, adoption of buzzwords, sky-high funding rounds, epic failures and a surprising knowledge gap in what is the world’s biggest industry.

Talend acquires API design and test specialist Restlet

Talend, which specialises in big data and cloud integration, is acquiring the outstanding shares of Restlet SAS, a France-based company that specialises in API design and testing, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Although no financial details were released, all 16 members of the Restlet staff along with the company’s founder will join […]

Fintech funding round-up: 10 November 2017

Just when you thought there couldn’t be more following yesterday’s (9 November), Wednesday’s (8 November) and Tuesday’s (7 November) fintech funding round-ups, here’s more news action. Featuring Crux, Accern and Blume Ventures.

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 9 November 2017

Whether it’s AI to bridge cryptocurrencies or someone accidentally losing it, something is always going on, whether right or wrong in the world of blockchain and Bitcoin. Our latest round-up features Parity, AiX, R3 and SIA.

Payments round-up: 9 November 2017

We got a trilogy folks. Following the payments round-ups on 8 November and 7 November, here’s more paytech action. Features PayPal, NCR, Samsung, Scotiabank, Mastercard and Eftpos. It’s been offering cross-border payments in India for a decade, but PayPal has now launched domestic operations in the country as it looks to take on Paytm and […]

Microsoft looks to secure clouds with Project Cerberus

Microsoft is looking to make cloud infrastructure safer at the hardware level with a new offering called “Project Cerberus,” which is the company’s latest contribution to the Open Compute Project (OCP), reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Company engineers unveiled Cerberus at Zettastructure, the European digital infrastructure conference, which is taking place this […]

Mobey Day Barcelona: disruption, money and forward thinking

This year’s Mobey Day continues with the consistent collaboration between banks, start-ups and fintechs. Focusing on the development of technology during a time of disruption, the biggest players drew attention to leading in future challenges and trends.

UK start-up secures inevitable Hollywood movie sequel

With unerring predictability, the Hollywood movie machine has churned out a sequel for the energetic and eventful life story of a UK-based payments start-up. As reported in May, the rise of Charon Ferries, the creation of the husband and wife team of Michelle and Mark Morrison (who have defied all known laws of the universe […]

Fintech funding round-up: 9 November 2017

Briskly following yesterday’s (8 November) and Tuesday’s (7 November) fintech funding round-ups, here’s more brief news action. Features WeLab, FinMkt and FriendlyScore. Hong Kong’s lending platform WeLab has raised $220 million of combined Series B+ equity and debt financing – and has won the backing of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, International Finance Corporation (IFC) […]

A new edge for fintech centres in a post-Brexit world

The uncertainty produced by the Brexit vote – and the turbulent negotiations since – has led some to question whether the UK can maintain its status as a global fintech capital. But for London as much as for its rivals in the US, China and beyond, the key may lie in capitalising on the next competitive edge for fintech centres.

Payments round-up: 8 November 2017

Just yesterday (7 November) was a payments round-up, but here’s more action from the lively paytech place. Features Apple, Coinsilium Group, UMT United Mobility Technology, Visa and even the Olympic Winter Games. Apple, which is rarely out of the news, has set up Apple Pay Cash for person-to-person (P2P) payments in Messages. This feature is […]