FinTech


Co-op turns cop in ATM crime coup

The UK-based Co-op has teamed up with forensic technology company SmartWater to roll-out a new deterrent linking criminals back to the scene of an ATM crime. In a “first of its kind”, SmartWater have adapted their dispersal technology to ensure that both the criminals and the stolen cash are marked, regardless of how the ATM […]

SETL blockchain powers Cobalt’s FX post trade

London-based blockchain firm SETL and Cobalt DL, a private peer-to-peer network, have teamed up to use SETL’s OpenCSD within the Cobalt FX post trade platform. The service is set to launch in 2017, with 15 institutional FX participants “already committed” to the service. Earlier this year, SETL unveiled the OpenCSD platform, its first commercial offering, […]

BBVA favours Amazon Web Services for cloud drive

BBVA has reached a global agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as it looks to cloud computing to boost its digital banking services. The agreement, which is part of a series of accords that the group is making with providers, turns AWS into its “preferred” cloud infrastructure services provider. AWS will execute the migration of […]

Bank of America to launch AI chatbot

Bank of America has unveiled its new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to help customers make decisions on their finances. Called Erica, a nod to the name America, it will be available inside the bank’s mobile app in 2017. Customers can do the usual AI stuff – chat via text or voice – and it’s all […]

Chinese tourism powers Verifone and Alipay payment partnership

Verifone is partnering with Alipay to enable retailers in North America and Europe to accept payments from Chinese tourists. According to Verifone, nearly 100 million Chinese consumers annually travel abroad and use Alipay to make purchases. This latest partnership follows quickly on Alipay’s deals with Zapper and Ingenico – both for the same reason as […]

CBA and Wells Fargo in “world-first” interbank blockchain trade transaction

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Wells Fargo and trading firm Brighann Cotton have completed the “first” global trade transaction between two banks using blockchain, smart contracts and the Internet of Things (IoT). The transaction involved a shipment of cotton from Texas to Qingdao, China, using a distributed ledger – Skuchain’s Brackets system – for all […]

Dassault Systemes unveils seven finalists for KYC/AML start-up challenge

French software firm Dassault Systemes has named the seven finalists for its “3D FinTech Challenge” 2016 to address anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) issues. This is its fourth annual accelerator programme in collaboration with senior finance executives, regulators and “influencers”. As Banking Technology reported in August, Dassault Systemes invited start-ups to apply. […]

Envestnet Yodlee extends tie-up with Backbase, unveils updates

Envestnet Yodlee has extended its partnership with omnichannel banking specialist Backbase. The two companies have been collaborating for some time. With the new agreement, Backbase will be providing its customers with integrations to the Envestnet Yodlee data aggregation platform.

R3 blockchain code goes open source

R3 has made its blockchain platform’s code publicly available as it seeks to make it an industry standard. The Corda platform has been developed by R3’s consortium, which comprises more than 60 financial institutions around the world (the latest addition is Synchrony Financial – the first credit card company to join the consortium). “We want […]

Is your mobile banking app causing more harm than good?

Without the right digital strategy, small and midsize banks risk ceding built-in advantages to larger competitors. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to successfully move into the digital realm and retain customer engagement (and sales). Mobile banking has become an imperative for retail bankers looking to keep pace with the industry and satisfy customers’ needs. It […]

Payments round-up: 21 October 2016

Jargon defeated. Unnecessary words deleted. A brief payments round-up. LeFinance, a division of Beijing-based tech firm LeEco, has partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation for cross-border payments on the latter’s blockchain network. The deal means Stellar expands into China. LeFinance will also use Stellar’s network to monitor credits for usage across their various devices and […]

Wipro to buy cloud firm Appirio

IT services integrator Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Appirio, a cloud services company, for $500 million. With the acquisition, Wipro will get Topcoder, a crowdsourcing marketplace for designers, developers and data scientists; and expand its cloud offerings. Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO and member of the board at Wipro, says it will “consolidate” […]

Top fintech stories this week – 21 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Bank of Ireland in major tech revamp EXCLUSIVE. Accenture and Capgemini working on Project Omega. Trouble in the R3 paradise? Thinking about time and money. Millions at risk from India ATM hack Debit cards in danger due to […]

R3 and Ripple trial interbank cross-border payments

R3 and twelve of its blockchain consortium member banks have trialled Ripple’s Digital Asset XRP for interbank cross-border payments. Using XRP, Ripple says it can enable near real-time value exchange anywhere in the world, providing “liquidity on demand and reducing associated costs”. David Rutter, CEO of R3, says the prototype “paves the way for a […]

Big deals power Temenos profit and revenue rise

Temenos has reported a growth in total quarterly revenues by 9% and profit by 17% on the back of major banking tech revamps. For its third quarter 2016 results, IFRS revenue for the quarter was $160.6 million, up from $145 million in Q3 2015. Non-IFRS revenue was $160.8 million for the quarter, up from $148.9 […]

Banking Technology October 2016 issue out now

The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Payments round-up: 20 October 2016

Words cut. Time saved. A round-up of key events in the payments enclave. Azimo, the money transfer service, has launched a new version of its mobile app for Apple and Android users. On the iPhone, the app will allow users to transfer money through the voice-activated Siri system. Customers can transfer money by telling Siri […]

Alicia key to Tieto’s AI leadership team

Tieto says it is the first Nordic company to appoint artificial intelligence (AI) to the leadership team of a new data-driven businesses unit. The AI, called Alicia T, will help the management team to become “truly data-driven”; assist with unspecified “innovative ways”; and possess the capacity to cast votes. Ari Järvelä, head of data-driven businesses […]

Symphony unveils open developer platform and access to API

Symphony Software Foundation has launched an open developer platform. The foundation hosts open source development, bots, apps and integrations on the Symphony platform. It will also provide community contributors and foundation member organisations with access to the Symphony API, as well as development tools. Gabriele Columbro, executive director, Symphony Software Foundation, says open source “fuelled […]

Interview: Kyle Ferguson, Fraedom’s CEO – on the road to Fraedom

Payments technology and expense management specialist Fraedom is on the journey to tap into the $110 trillion B2B market opportunity that remains untapped today. “If the technology is both powerful and intuitive, people will use it,” states Kyle Ferguson, Fraedom’s CEO.

Configo launches site to aggregate banks’ API portals

Fintech start-up Configo has launched a project to aggregate the API portals launched by financial players around the world. It is not commercial driven but is “just a small project to put everything in order”, says Yosi Dahan, co-founder and CEO of Configo.

Citi’s treasury and trade goes digital with eSubmit

Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions has launched electronic document submission (eSubmit) for account opening. The service is available in “select” Western European countries and allows clients to complete the account opening process by returning electronic versions of documentation rather than paper. Sabine McIntosh, global head of account services product, Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions, says […]

Accenture acquires Allen International for digital banking push

Accenture has acquired London-based design consultancy Allen International as it looks to boost its digital banking ambitions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Accenture says Allen International has worked with more than 350 banks around the world including nine of the top 20 banks. Customers include Emirates NBD, Bank of Ireland, CIBC, Banorte, […]

Trouble in the R3 paradise?

More than 60 of financial institutions around the world (including many top-tier banks) are involved in the R3 consortium, with considerable financial and resource commitments. The international consortium promises to build a common blockchain-based platform – called Corda – but the end-result is still a number of years away.

BNP Paribas picks Fidessa’s derivatives trading platform

BNP Paribas has selected Fidessa’s derivatives trading platform to underpin the bank’s futures and options agency trading business. The platform will support the workflow requirements across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. It will also provide BNP Paribas with a suite of specialised derivatives algorithms, including benchmark algos and advanced synthetic order types to normalise trading […]

Blockchain.info gets hacked

Bitcoin wallet provider Blockchain.info has been the victim of a hack attack on its DNS servers. It experienced an outage for several hours while under attack, and Peter Smith, the CEO and co-founder, says its internal systems “alerted our infrastructure team who immediately began to assess the attack” but it “became clear the attackers gained […]

Nod and pay a virtual reality with Alibaba

Alibaba has revealed a new payment service that lets virtual reality (VR) shoppers pay just by nodding their heads. Called VR Pay, it’s been developed by Ant Financial’s (Alibaba’s financial arm) incubator F Lab, and it’s another innovation in the lively and overcrowded payments arena. With the tech, shoppers (bovine at the best of times) […]

Top fintech stories this week – 14 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! MasterCard to buy French payment firm Stet? EXCLUSIVE. Payments processor could be a target. Brooks Macdonald puts IT revamp with Third Financial on hold EXCLUSIVE. All freeze for wealth management firm. Banks behaving badly in Singapore Monetary Authority […]

Payments round-up: 13 October 2016

Make it lean, keep them keen. A round-up of events in the payments space. Nordea is leaving the Swipp collaboration and partnering with Danske Bank’s MobilePay platform in Denmark and Norway. The shared payment solution’s plan is a reaction to “new international players” who “regularly appear in the market”. Danske says it will begin converting […]

White Paper | Driving High Frequency Trading and Compliance With In-Memory Computing

This paper looks at the current state of high-frequency trading – why it’s popular and what types of strategies and technologies are being used. It then explores how in-memory computing can meet the technological challenges and increase trading profits. As competition intensifies in the field of high-frequency trading, financial services firms need a new level […]

ISITC Europe and Oasis to define technical standards for blockchain

The International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC) Europe and the Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (Oasis) are to jointly define technical standards for blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Fintech funding round-up: 13 October 2016

Fintech funding without the tub-thumping. A realistic and brief round-up of key events. ComplyAdvantage, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help firms manage compliance, has revealed an $8.2 million Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital. The funding will allow the regtech firm to do the usual stuff – growth and […]

SIBOS Interview: Payments trends in EMEA

Alain Raes, CEO EMEA and Asia Pacific, Swift, discusses the main payment trends in Europe, including real-time and the Global Payments Innovation Initiative.

SIBOS Interview: The securities services industry

Bruno Prigent, Head of Societe Generale Securities Services (SGSS) and Mathieu Maurier, Global Head of Sales and Relationship Management discuss the global securities industry and SGSS’s plans for the future.

SIBOS Interview: Gerry Gaetz, Payments Canada

SIBOS Interview: Gerry Gaetz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Payments Canada discusses the modernisation of Canada’s payments system with Tanya Andreasyan, editor of Banking Technology.