For an event that is based around the idea of introducing new players and new concepts to the financial technology world, this year’s Finovate Europe was heavy on familiar faces and some increasingly familiar concepts.
Senior market participants have expressed outrage that exchanges continue to charge high fees for market data, while MTFs still lack the means to compete on auctions and are not represented on international indices.
2012 seemed like the year of regulators taking a prolonged look at computer trading – defining what it might be, its potential effects, why it may be problematic. It is still far from clear that we have answers to these fundamental questions.
Feb. 14, 2013 Pressure is mounting for U.S. debit networks to find a suitable technology for routing chip-based debit transactions under the Durbin Amendment network non-exclusivity rules, but a unified plan is not yet within sight, industry executives say after a new round of meetings this week to digest last week’s developments. MasterCard Inc. and […]
Feb. 14, 2013 A new “plug-and-play” mobile money platform from Visa Inc. is aimed at enabling financial institutions and mobile network operators in developing nations around the world to offer mobile financial services. The program—built on technology Visa acquired via its 2011 purchase of mobile financial services provider Fundamo—enables the payment network to host and […]
Social media and mobile now are intertwined, according to panelists who participated in Tuesday’s panel on The Power of Social Media in Business at the InComm Partner Alliance in Miami.
Feb. 14, 2013 Three members of the Senate Banking Committee yesterday demanded that Republicans “end unprecedented obstruction” of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s nomination as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) assert that several Senate Republicans have stalled Cordray’s confirmation in […]
Feb. 14, 2013 Needham, Mass.-based Enservio, which provides software and services to property insurers, has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on what the company claims is the industry’s first co-party activation debit card for insurance claims payments. Since its debut three years ago, Enservio’s ReStore Card debit card has been utilized for some […]
A 400% increase in malware for mobile devices masks a security scene where many of the threats are much as they have been for several years – but where the volume of attacks means that firms should think in terms of when they will be attacked rather than if they will be.
Bank deleveraging may inadvertently spur a revival of equity markets, Antonio Zoido, chairman and chief executive at Spanish exchange group BME told delegates at the World Exchange Congress in London yesterday.
As new rules for the reporting of OTC derivatives draw closer around the globe, US post-trade services utility the DTCC is positioning itself as the provider of a global network of trade repositories – but OTC derivatives reform will only work if consistent measures are taken everywhere, says Stewart Macbeth, president and chief executive at the DTCC.
Regulatory data collection tools have been refined, standardised identifiers nearly constructed and more frequent and granular reporting rolled into regulation. Now that regulators have this mass of data, what is the next step in linking it and putting it to use?
Feb. 13, 2013 Three members of the Senate Banking Committee will hold a press conference today at 2:30 p.m. at the U.S. Capitol to discuss the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and how Senate Republicans are “circumventing the traditional democratic process” by stalling on the confirmation of its director, Richard Cordray. Sens. […]
Financial systems supplier Temenos made something of a splash at the Finovate Europe conference in London with the launch of LiveDesigner, a dynamic user interface designer.
Indonesia-based PermataBank has developed the first mobile payments service for the BlackBerry Messenger service. The bank has teamed up with UK mobile banking solutions provider Monitise to roll out a commercial pilot of BBM Money in the country ahead of a full launch. BlackBerry users will have the option to access a Mobile Money account from their […]
The Enterprise Data Management Council has appointed Dennis Wisnosky to lead the implementation process for its Financial Industry Business Ontology – FIBO – suite of standards. Wisnosky is a veteran of the data management world, having previously acted as the chief technology officer and chief architect in the US Department of Defense Business Mission Area, […]
Feb. 12, 2013 Shoppers are getting some help navigating Tokyo’s Ginza district from nearly 300 NFC-based location tags the city’s government has placed throughout the upscale retail hub. The system works with an Android app, available for download from the Google Play store, which enables users to search for and select a destination within Ginza, […]
Feb. 12, 2013 In the opening sessions of InComm’s annual Partner Alliance yesterday, CEO Brooks Smith and futurist Mike Walsh offered glimpses of their visions of the future. With a corporate acquisition strategy based on delivering new technologies to retailers, Smith focused his comments on a future filled with more choices—for retailers and their customers. […]
Feb. 12, 2013 Job growth and an improved housing market, among other dynamics, put consumers in a mood to spend in January, despite the Jan. 1 expiration of the payroll tax cut, according to the latest SpendTrend data released by First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based payments processor. Dollar volume growth last month improved to 6.2 […]
Feb. 12, 2013 United Arab Emirates-based RAKBANK, also known as the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah, recently launched a reloadable prepaid MasterCard for Filipinos who live and work in the UAE, featuring an extra card for remittance funds-recipients back home. Each new RAKBANK Bayani Prepaid MasterCard comes with two cards—one for personal use and another […]
Feb. 12, 2013 Money transfer provider MoneyGram has launched a mobile version of its online transfer service, which enables users to send cash via smartphones using a mobile-optimized version of moneygram.com. The service is part of Dallas-based MoneyGram’s efforts to tap into what the company claims is a $50 billion cross-border remittance industry—much of which […]
Hey! Mr Retail Banker, don’t get too worried about the new UK Account Switching regulation that comes into play in September – just offer your customers some money. About 100 quid should do it.
While card payments continue to grow – up by 10% in 2011 – the use of cash is still growing “at a more than healthy pace”, says the latest edition of the European Payment Cards Yearbook. The use of cards to withdraw cash at automated teller machines was also up – with 17.3% more ATMs issuing 2% more cash during the year.
OTC derivatives trade processing service MarketSERV and banking technology provider Misys have partnered to create a service for CCP clearing of FX derivatives trades.
Nadeem Chowdhry, formerly sales director of financial services for QlikTech, the makers of the QlikView business intelligence system, has joined data visualisation specialist Panopticon as senior vice president in the UK.
Feb. 11, 2013 Two prepaid card-related bills being considered by the New Jersey State Assembly took steps forward last week, earning approval by the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee. The first bill, A-3561, permits New Jersey’s Treasury Department to issue state income tax refunds onto prepaid cards, while the second, A-3562, enables state and local governments to […]
Feb. 11, 2013 Monitise plc today announced the launch of a mobile payments pilot in Indonesia harnessing BlackBerry smartphones. The new service will enable BlackBerry users to access a mobile money account on their smartphones and transfer funds among bank accounts and to other BlackBerry customers who are also signed up for the service, as […]
Feb. 11, 2013 Italian software provider TAS Group and Payair South Europe S.A., a Swedish mobile commerce company, have agreed to launch a mobile commerce platform that incorporates Payair’s commerce platform and a customization solution supplied by TAS. The platform will support large-scale retailers that require advanced automation of their purchase and payment processes, according […]
Germany’s Commerzbank has adopted a visual transaction signing tool from British security firm Cronto for its online banking customers, designed to protect against Trojan malware.
Technologists in financial services are the least loyal to their employers, even though they also have the worst perception of the economy and of their employment prospects.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is among merchants worried they will miss the October 2015 U.S. EMV liability-shift deadline, in part because the debit networks have not yet determined which technology path they will take to route chip-based debit transactions under the Durbin Amendment network non-exclusivity rules.
The Taiwan Futures Exchange is to list futures and options on German derivatives exchange Eurex, following an agreement between the two bourses to make it easier for international investors to access each other’s markets round the clock.
Swedbank has become the first live user of Bloomberg PolarLake’s managed service model for enterprise data management.
A new FX platform built by inter-dealer broker Tradition and backed by 11 major global banks aims to remove the competitive advantage of low-latency trading in FX.
Feb. 7, 2013 Consumers are responding positively to merchant offers in the Isis Mobile Wallet test, according to early data since the pilot launched in late October in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas, according to Jim Stapleton, Isis chief sales officer. “What we are seeing is once they leave the store, about two-thirds [of consumers […]
Feb. 7, 2013 The Utah Transit Authority (UTA), which has been at the forefront of U.S. transit system mobile payment development since introducing an open-loop, contactless payment system for city buses and trains in Salt Lake City beginning in 2009, this fall plans to add a contactless, closed-loop prepaid card to its consumer payment options. […]
Feb. 7, 2013 Do GPR cards pose significant money laundering threats? That’s the question the Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta explores in recently published paper. Among the paper’s findings is that, as GPR prepaid cards have grown in popularity and come under increased scrutiny by regulators, significant regulatory measures […]
Feb. 7, 2013 Online retail giant Amazon is looking to beef up its app offerings, and to help with the goal, the company is turning to virtual currency. Set to be released in May, Amazon Coins can be used to buy apps from the Amazon Appstore and to make in-app purchases via Amazon’s Kindle Fire […]
Feb. 7, 2013 Kuwait International Bank (KIB) has launched a new Visa-branded prepaid card, adding a third prepaid product to the bank’s offerings. The card’s release was timed to coincide with the country’s National & Liberation Day. “The national celebrations are an important aspect of Kuwait’s society, and Kuwait International Bank is taking part in […]
Just a day after Osborne vowed to drag the UK payments systems into the 21st century by, er, improving cheque clearing times, a ceremony dating back to the 12th century was getting underway in the City of London.
