People on the Move: GlobalPlatform, 2017 Board of Directors
GlobalPlatform, an association which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has announced its board of directors for fiscal year 2017.
Worldwide
People on the Move: Mastercard, Asia-Pacific Leadership
Mastercard has announced three new leadership appointments for its global products and solutions team in Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore.
People on the Move: Corey Besaw, Ubiquity Global Services
Corey Besaw has been appointed senior vice president of innovation for Ubiquity Global Services, a multinational services organization offering solutions for the financial services and payments space.
House Financial Services Committee Names New Members, Leadership
The newly seated 115th U.S. Congress includes several new faces on one of the most important committees for financial services regulation. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced 10 new Republican members who will serve on the committee for the new Congress.
Payments Paradise by the Dashboard Light: Visa, Honda Test-Drive In-Car Transactions
Honda and Visa are testing a system that enables a driver to pay for fuel and parking from inside Web-connected cars, the latest development in the emerging Internet of Things, and yet another sign that more payments are moving beyond physical payment cards.
Democratic Senators Oppose OCC Fintech Proposal
A skirmish over the future of U.S. fintech is underway in the new U.S. Senate, with two Democratic senators this week saying a new federal charter governing the industry “could weaken consumer protections, limit competition and threaten financial stability.”
Gift Card Study: Self-Gifting, Non-Seasonal Use Going Strong
U.S. adults bought about $46 billion worth of gift cards over the past year—and a significant chunk of that total was comprised of gift cards for self-use, according to a new study by market research firm Packaged Facts. Of the total consumers spent on gift cards, $28 billion was for gift cards given to friends and family, while $11 billion was for gift cards they gave to themselves, the report found. The remaining $7 billion was comprised of gift cards given by companies to their employees.
Microsoft and Qualcomm invest in Israeli cybersecurity firm Team8
Microsoft and Qualcomm have invested in Team8, an Israel-based cybersecurity company. Team8 also revealed a strategic partnership with Citi to assist with developing its products, and says this latest investment brings the total raised to more than $92 million. Team8 was founded by Nadav Zafrir, Israel Grimberg and Liran Grinberg, all former members of the […]
Regtech in 2017: the big sweep
2017 is tipped to be a big year for regtech, with many predicting the beginning of fundamental, tech-enabled transformation of the middle and back office. While the excitement around what the coming year holds for regtech is clear, it could be useful to cast our minds back to December when regtech entrepreneurs and representatives of […]
Will Starbucks make Bitcoin mainstream?
In the latest sign that Bitcoin is moving into the mainstream, iPayYou, a US-based platform, said its technology now will enable coffee and food purchases at Starbucks, a chain typically associated with middle- and upper-class urban and suburban lifestyles, reports Paybefore. The partnership comes as Bitcoin approaches new highs, with its price shooting past $1,100 […]
CFPB Fills Leadership Roles amid Uncertain Future
Ahead of what could be some big changes for the CFPB during the incoming Trump administration, the agency has announced new appointments to several leadership positions.
Walmart and Visa Make Peace in Canadian Payments Dispute
A major payments battle has come to an end: Walmart Canada and Visa said they have reached a deal that enables consumers to use Visa-branded payment cards at retail locations in that country.
InvestCloud acquires Babel Systems for $20m
California-based InvestCloud has acquired Babel Systems in London for $20 million. Babel provides a modular and API-based trade and accounting platform, while InvestCloud has over 660 clients with “accounting needs served by legacy accounting systems that were designed in the last century”. This acquisition links InvestCloud’s digital platform with Babel’s capabilities. InvestCloud will also continue […]
New App Aims to Provide ‘Clarity’ to Personal Finances
Data analytics and artificial intelligence are on nearly everyone’s 2017 trend-watch lists, but Clarity Money wants to put those same tools directly into consumers hands with an app it says will improve financial well-being and increase users’ financial literacy.
Digital Payments and Retail Score Another Christmas Victory
E-commerce accounted for 21.3 percent of U.S. holiday retail sales this past season, up from 15.4 percent from 2015, according to First Data, a further sign that consumers continue to switch their buying and payments away from traditional retail stores. By contrast, full season holiday spending, excluding gas purchases, increased 4.7 percent from last year—still well behind the growth rate for e-commerce but better than the measly 1.8 percent growth booked in 2015.
DTCC selects IBM, Axoni and R3 to develop blockchain for derivatives
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has chosen IBM, in partnership with Axoni and R3, to provide a blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework to drive improvements in derivatives post-trade lifecycle events. The firms will work on DTCC’s Trade Information Warehouse (TIW), building a derivatives distributed ledger solution for post-trade processing. The TIW service currently […]
Putting trust in chatbots
Artificial intelligence (AI) interfaces and chatbots could be revolutionary for financial institutions – but only if they strike the right balance between human and machine interaction.
Top fintech stories this week – 6 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The first weekly news round-up of 2017. Happy 2017! Let it be a year of discovery and success.
Trump Taps Wall Street Legal Vet Clayton to Lead SEC
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A partner with law firm Sullivan & Cromwell specializing in mergers and securities offerings, Clayton has advised on many major investment banking deals, including the record-breaking IPO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2014.
Will Starbucks Make Bitcoin Mainstream?
Bitcoin, which has long nursed an outlaw persona, seems to be transforming into a yuppie. In the latest sign that the digital currency is moving into the mainstream, iPayYou, a U.S.-based bitcoin platform, said its technology now will enable coffee and food purchases at Starbucks, a chain typically associated with middle- and upper-class urban and suburban lifestyles.
Uncle Sam Wants You—Yes, You—to Help Secure the Internet of Things
The federal government wants the public’s help in securing the Internet of Things, an invitation backed by a $25,000 top prize and which comes amid concerns that 2017 will bring a large-scale breach in the emerging Web-connected infrastructure.
Shanghai Prepaid Card Association Blacklists 20 Merchants
The Shanghai Prepaid Card Association is warning consumers about buying prepaid cards from certain merchants because of “malpractice in managing their prepaid card schemes,” according to an announcement on Shanghai’s municipal Website.
S&P sells QuantHouse to original founder
S&P Global is selling trading solutions provider QuantHouse to one of its original founders, Pierre Feligioni. “The time is right for QuantHouse to regain focus and flexibility to exploit growing market opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia,” Feligioni states.
MAIB in major core banking system upgrade
Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB), a universal bank in Moldova, has completed a major upgrade of its core software. The bank, a long-standing customer of Temenos, has moved from T24 R08 to R15.
Top five jargon winners in 2016
For some people in the world of fintech, they find comfort in the language of jargon. Pity these poor souls! Lost, confused and unable to communicate clearly and normally. Here are our top five jargon winners of 2016. You can avoid being on this list next year – just use English! CIBC ends phase one […]
Infosys Finacle core banking system live at Sunrise Bank in Nepal
Infosys’ flagship core banking offering, Finacle, is live at Sunrise Bank in Nepal. Finacle ousted Temenos’ T24 core banking system (installed at the bank six or so years ago).
CMA voices concerns over VocaLink’s takeover by Mastercard
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Mastercard’s acquisition of VocaLink gives rise to competition concerns.
CFPB Keeps Focus on Disclosures, Deceptive Marketing with Latest Enforcement
The CFPB’s emphasis on fee disclosures and marketing practices was highlighted in a major way this week, as the bureau levied a $23.1 million enforcement action against credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion over allegedly misstating the cost and usefulness of their products and “luring” customers into recurring payments. Although targeted at credit bureaus, the enforcement action offers key takeaways for payments providers shaping their own compliance efforts to stay out of the CFPB’s cross hairs, according to industry observers.
U.K. Competition Authority Raises a Concern about Mastercard/VocaLink Deal
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is worried that Mastercard’s billion-dollar deal to acquire VocaLink could hinder competition, and the CMA is giving the two companies until Jan. 11 to address a concern or face an “in-depth investigation,” according to the authority.
Volkswagen Ups its Mobile Payments and Parking Game
The financial services arm of car manufacturer Volkswagen Group has bought parking payments firm PayByPhone, a deal that underscores the appeal of mobile payments and bolsters the automotive company’s presence in the parking transactions space.
For India’s Paytm, Growing up Means Launching a Digital Bank
India-based Paytm is growing up fast. The online commerce platform, which launched its mobile wallet in 2014, has received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to operate a digital bank. The move comes as digital transaction rates in India—where the country’s popular 500 (US$7) and 1,000 (US$15) rupee notes were recently taken out of circulation—have increased as much as 1,000 percent since early November.
Turicum Private Bank swaps ERI’s Olympic for Temenos’ T24 core banking system
Turicum Private Bank in Gibraltar is live with new core banking software, Temenos’ T24. The system is delivered on Microsoft Azure cloud.
TBI Bank automates credit decision-making with Provenir Cloud
TBI Bank is implementing Provenir Cloud “for rapid risk decision-making and streamlined processing of customer applications”.
Are we heading for an identity crisis in fintech?
Establishing if someone is who they say they are in today’s virtual world is a major headache for banks and fintechs, thanks to the strict regulations they operate under and the difficulty in providing non-physical, verifiable forms of identity.
Fed Study Shows Prepaid Growth Slowing
Prepaid cards accounted for 9.9 billion transactions and $270 billion in spending volume in the U.S. in 2015—an increase of $600 million since 2012—but prepaid growth is slowing as the products become more mainstream, according to a study from the Federal Reserve.
China Serious about Fintech with $1.44 Billion Investment
China has made it loud and clear it intends to position itself as a global fintech leader. A group of state and privately held companies launched a $1.44 billion investment fund called the Asia FinTech Merger and Acquisition Fund of Funds (Asia FinTech FoF). The fund will focus on fintech mergers and acquisitions, and “nurture” initiatives in the fintech industry, according to a Dec. 28 announcement by Credit China FinTech Holdings Ltd., which led the investment.
Prepaid Complaints Drop 59 Percent, CFPB Reports
Complaints about prepaid products dropped 59 percent from September through November in 2016 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the latest CFPB Monthly Complaint Report. That drop, to 183 complaints on average per month, represents the largest percentage decrease in complaints among all the products tracked by the federal agency, and comes as the CFPB in its new report focuses on debt collection.
Industry views: ushering in a New Year
To kick off 2017, we asked industry leaders to tell us what happened in 2016 that will most affect their businesses and where they will be investing in 2017 and why.
NDC migrates Sahara Bank to new core banking system, Temenos’ T24
Libya-based Sahara Bank has gone live with new core banking software, Temenos’ T24 (R14). The project was carried out by Pakistan-based National Data Consultants (NDC), Temenos’ regional partner.
Alpari Bank and Attic Lab embark on blockchain-based e-money project
A Ukrainian fintech start-up, Attic Lab, has signed a deal with a local bank, Alpari Bank, to implement blockchain-based banking system SmartMoney.
