Top fintech stories this week – 22 September 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Worldwide
Innovators’ Spotlight: SPENT Money
Rather than being top of wallet, SPENT Money wants to help consumers manage and earn rewards from what’s already there—at least for now.
Fintech funding round-up: 21 September 2017
Following swiftly on from the fintech funding round-up on 19 September, here’s more concise, cash-coated action. Features CivilisedBank, HighRadius, Swirlds and Luno. UK challenger CivilisedBank, which got its banking licence in May, has agreed terms for a further round of funding from current investor Warwick Capital Partners. No more details on that but the bank […]
Bento for Business Names Jeff Pomeroy VP of Product
Blackhawk Network veteran Jeff Pomeroy has joined the Pay Award-winning Bento for Business, a provider of employee expense management solutions for small businesses, as vice president of product.
Fifth Third Bets on Gaming with Investment, Partnership
Fifth Third Bancorp is placing its bets on the newly merged gaming payments companies NRT Technology Corp. and Sightline Payments, announcing a strategic relationship and equity investment in NRT Sightline, “one of the largest pure-play casino payment-technology companies in the world.”
Are you data breach fatigued?
Data breaches are nothing new – quite the contrary – in fact their very frequency makes it likely that we’re fatigued to the point of indifference by the number of leaks which are surfacing, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Knowing the value of money is a lesson parents have been teaching children for years, […]
FT Partners Hires Goldman Sachs Veteran Melissa Wasser
San Francisco-based Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners), a fintech-focused investment bank, has hired Melissa Wasser as a director and head of private capital markets.
Executive profile: Solana Cozzo, Mastercard
It’s a good thing Solana (“Sol”) Cozzo is high energy. When she’s not literally running or chasing after 3-year-old twins, she’s running Mastercard’s North American prepaid and inclusive growth business. It’s hard work when you consider that “the cardable opportunity is about seven times the current market,” she says.
Raise Pulls in $60 Million in Funding, PayPal Joins Party
Raise, which bills itself as the world’s largest gift card marketplace, has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round led by Accel, with participation from PayPal and existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Can money buy friends? Intel is hoping so
Intel has shown its defensive side with a humble-brag that it has invested $1 billion in artificial intelligence (AI). We didn’t realise Intel had to use money to make friends, but each to their own, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). In an editorial piece by CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel has decided to shout at […]
Juniper: Apple Users Likely to Reject Facial Recognition
A new survey conducted by Juniper Research has found that more than 40 percent of iOS users in the U.S. consider themselves unlikely to use facial recognition as a payment security technology. This suggests that a core use case for the iPhone X’s main security feature may struggle to gain traction among consumers, the consultancy says.
Fintech funding round-up: 19 September 2017
Four stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features Ellevest, iZettle, GoCardless and MarketInvoice. New York-based fintech Ellevest, led by former Merrill Lynch CEO Sallie Krawcheck, has got itself $34.6 million funding. Ellevest is a bit different from the rest as it was founded to provide an investing experience to “help women meet […]
Hyperwallet Taps B2B Payments Veteran for Executive Role
Hyperwallet, a global payouts provider to millions of independent workers, has hired Derrick Walton as its new executive vice president of global financial networks.
Santander International in digital banking revamp
EXCLUSIVE: Santander International is embarking on a tech project to modernise its online and mobile delivery channels.
EDI challenges NYSE corporate actions monopoly
Exchange Data International (EDI) says it has broken the NYSE corporate actions monopoly with its launch of a “like-for-like service at less than 50% of the redistribution costs charged by NYSE”.
InComm OLS, NBS Fuel Gift Card Growth with Gas Pump Integration
Consumers now will be able to use some gift cards to pay at the pump, thanks to a partnership with On-Line Strategies Services LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm, and National Bankcard Services.
EML Payments Europe Partners with Fortuna on Gaming Payout Cards
EML Payments Limited announced that its wholly owned subsidiary EML Payments Europe Limited has entered into a multiyear agreement with Fortuna Entertainment Group to provide branded reloadable cards for customers to access their winnings or remit funds back into their gaming accounts.
ICSFS signs new core banking system deal in Iraq with Al-Thiqa Islamic Bank
Al-Thiqa Islamic Bank, a banking start-up in Iraq, has opted for the ICS Banks Islamic system from ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS).
Barcode Payments Spread across Africa with M-vendr, PiP iT
M-vendr, a U.K.-based tech company with a POS pay-in system across 12 African nations, has signed an agreement with international cash payments platform PiP iT to integrate the latter’s barcodes across its network of 45,000 merchant locations.
The Monday Mindset: 18 September 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! This week Liz Lumley shares tips on how start-ups should speak to the press.
Corlytics apoints Stacey English to UK board
Corlytics appoints Thomson Reuters’ head of regulatory intelligence, Stacey English, to its UK board.
Viber Brings Good Vibes to Addiko Bank’s Chat Banking Payments
Austrian banking group Addiko has unveiled chat banking for its customers—the “first ever” Viber-based financial transaction service available in Croatia.
Blockchain and Bitcoin Roundup: JP Morgan Chase, Japan’s Regulator, Wish Finance
Arguments, exchanges and something getting launched. It’s our blockchain and bitcoin roundup, featuring Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Japan’s regulatory plans and alt. lending.
Semafone Appoints John Donaldson CFO
Semafone, a U.K.- and Boston-based provider of data security and compliance solutions for contact centers, has appointed John Donaldson to the role of chief finance officer, as the company prepares to build on its record growth in 2016.
Mercator: Consumer Prepaid Sales Drop in U.S.
U.S. consumers aren’t buying as many prepaid cards, according to a new consumer survey from Mercator Advisory Group. The data show 56 percent of U.S. adults bought prepaid cards in the year preceding the June survey, down from 63 percent in 2016.
Corporate banking: work smarter, not harder. On user self-onboarding
Why would a bank let their corporates indulge in setting up system privileges online – without keeping close tabs on the process? Here’s why.
OCC Isn’t Ready for Fintech Charter Applications Just Yet
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika told FinovateFall attendees in New York this week that the agency is still in the exploratory phase of its fintech charter, according to news reports.
Big Xyt going trading places with new data analytics hub
Big Xyt, a smart data and analytics provider, has unveiled its new hub for trading firms to integrate tick data and analytics via a single API. According to the firm, the Xyt hub allows companies to consume, analyse and visualise data through cloud-based technologies, featuring Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) and nice Analytics-as-a-Service (AaaS) functionalities. Bats has signed […]
U.K. to Get New Payment Systems Operator by Year’s End
Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and Bank of England have revealed that the U.K. will be getting the New Payment Systems Operator by the end of 2017, which the PSR says will be an important step in streamlining the U.K.’s payment systems and fostering competition and innovation.
Leveraging AI and Machine Learning to Enhance the Customer Experience
As big data just keeps getting bigger, banks, retailers and every other kind of company must have more sophisticated tools to understand and predict what customers want and need.
Common Cents Lab unveils millennial financial regret spending report
If you’re trying to cater to millennials, you need to understand how they think and feel about money.
AI is starting to get seriously smart, perhaps worryingly so
We’ve seen a couple of artificial intelligence (AI) shout-outs this week with Microsoft targeting telcos’ worryingly poor customer service record and European scientists potentially creating the building blocks for Skynet, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Starting in the Microsoft offices, the team has paired up with Amdocs to provide an intelligent solution to one […]
Digiliti Money Filing Reveals Deal Progress
Digiliti Money (DGLT) may have gotten knocked down, but it’s not out. And neither is a revised bid from prospective buyer Urban FT.
FirstView Financial Names Bob Raffo New CEO
Bob Raffo Jr. has joined the Pay Award-winning prepaid program manager and processor FirstView Financial as president and CEO.
We’re at the very beginning of the next technological revolution – Nokia’s CTO
Analyst firm Ovum hosted its Digital Futures event at which Nokia’s CTO explained why we need to fundamentally redesign the network.
Fintech funding round-up: 13 September 2017
Quickly following on from the fintech funding round-up on 11 September, here’s more action in a concise form. Features InfoSum, Neyber, Goldman Sachs, Forward Partners and BlackRock. Data tech start-up InfoSum has added $5 million to its seed funding, taking the total raised to date to $8 million. Joining existing investors Mark Suster (Upfront Ventures) […]
Did Apple Just Reinvent Retail Again?
Forget facial scans or a watch that’s not tethered to the phone. If you’re a bank or payments company, you’d best be looking at Apple’s plans for the transformation of retail.
Has the face of payments changed forever?
Marieke Flament, European MD at Circle, discusses how technology is transforming the global payments landscape.
What You Need to Know about Pa.’s Money Transmitter License Changes
The introduction of new bond requirements for money transmitters in Pennsylvania is in line with an overall trend across states to enforce stricter conditions on money transmitter license holders and applicants. See what the licensing requirements mean for your business.
Nets Takes Real-Time P2P to Mobile Wallet Vipps
Nordic payments processor Nets has entered into a 3-year partnership with Vipps, a mobile payment application provider in Norway, to deliver instant P2P payments to customers of all Norwegian banks partnered with Vipps.
