Son of a nutcracker: credit union leadership lessons from Buddy the Elf
Walk with me through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops.
Industry Comment
Online security and user experience: finding the balance
Recent hacks and data breaches have shown that cybercriminals are tenacious, smart and well resourced.
Bitcoin is useless
The recent surge in its price is good news for investors, but perhaps a death sentence for its functional value.
Fintech trends 2017: blockchain, big data… what’s next?
2017 ends with the Bitcoin having surpassed the $19,000 mark. Could this perhaps be a taste of our future?
Using artificial intelligence to keep criminal funds out of the financial system
Are you suspicious? This is a key question at the heart of efforts to tackle money laundering: if you work for a bank or other financial institution and have suspicions money laundering is happening, you have a legal duty to speak up.
Rise of the machines will be monitored
The Financial Stability Board has stated in its first report on AI that the risks they pose need monitoring.
The missing link: the supply side of cryptocurrency
Supply and demand are the bedrock of market-based economics. To achieve economic equilibrium, supply and demand must be in balance. If one is too high or too low, the system is in a state of disequilibrium, associated with inefficient allocation of goods – not a healthy state.
Convenience versus control: getting the balance right
Nick Kerigan, MD of Future Payments at Barclaycard, looks at how innovation is helping the payment industry to balance offering seamless payments with keeping people in control of their money.
Cybersecurity needs to be a global and coordinated effort
Recent cyberattacks, such as the October 2017 Swift attack, show how vulnerable financial firms across the globe are to the machinations of hackers.
Using the web to access online banking? Who is protecting the browser side?
To date, there hasn’t been a way to understand if online users are being compromised or to be sure precisely what they are seeing whilst visiting and interacting with a web page. We know that endpoint security and anti-viruses fail and online users can be infected even with all the precautions that they may take. Server-side security is now very mature and excellent progress has been made in that particular field.
Bankers and retailers – will we see roles switch? Or simply morph into a single discipline?
Technology is having a tremendous impact on the way communities shop so changes are more or less expected as we see these shopping mall operators push back on so many dire predictions being made about them. But can they change and yes, could these changes lead to a greater overlap with banking as it exists today? Do we even need differentiation between the two and yes, will they both be able to keep us satisfied when it comes to access to our cash?
Wealthtech: a market poised for extended growth
Rapid changes are occurring in the wealth management space and the level of disruption in how advice and capital are managed is only beginning. Wealth management is a monumental industry. The players in the space run the gamut from gigantic hedge funds to individuals who manage their own investments. This changing wealth management landscape is driving a significant uptick in transactions.
Infographics: CPPO study reveals Canadian prepaid market grew 17%
The Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization (CPPO) released its second annual benchmark study, “Canadian Open-Loop Prepaid Market: 2016”, that shows 17% growth of the open-loop prepaid card market in Canada between 2015 and 2016.
What defines global customer success?
Payments are changing rapidly, and the industry is struggling to keep pace. Many banks and other card issuers — including the service providers they rely on — lack the agility to stay competitive and quickly deliver the new products, features, and payments experiences today’s customers want.
Q&A with Colleen Dorwart, RGCA board chair
As we reflect on 2017 and look ahead to 2018, we spoke with Colleen Dorwart, Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) board chair, about the most popular gifts in America.
Faure to fintech – what music can teach us about communicating the benefits of tech
On the surface Handel or Shostakovich seem a world away from the world of finance. Yet, strange as it may seem, the similarities are there. This is because both the mechanics behind music and the technology underpinning the digital transformation are – unless you’ve had first-hand experience of either – pretty abstract concepts to understand.
Q&A with Joe Daly, Paysafe
Joe Daly, COO payments processing North America, Paysafe, talks to us about all things paytech.
Slow growth, new regulation and digitisation – driving innovation in the banking sector
Since the global financial crisis the banking industry has witnessed three mega-trends: slow growth, digitisation and new regulation. None of these trends look likely to abate any time soon and in fact, it appears that all of them are set to intensify in the short to medium term.
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.
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.
Biometrics: a question of standards and yet more questions
Watching the recent of smartphone launches, I am taken aback by just how much smartphone manufacturers have led to the normalisation and acceptance of biometrics by consumers.
Crime thriller: Trading Down, by Stephen Norman – part 3
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing some extracts from a new crime thriller, Trading Down, by Stephen Norman, long serving CIO/CTO of RBS Global Markets. Here, in the third and final extract, we return to the action at the Hamilton Datacentre crisis.
Top trends in cybersecurity
Cyber risks have evolved significantly over the last couple of years across industry sectors. The financial services industry, in particular, has become the target of choice with malicious actors exploring every avenue they can in order to identify areas of vulnerability.
Implementing derivatives clearing on distributed ledger technology platforms
Clearing houses and central clearing counterparties (CCPs) play a pivotal role in managing collateral and counterparty risk, in increasing standardisation and transparency of financial markets, and in the credit enhancement process for clearing banks. For such systemically critical functions, how appropriate are innovative new technologies such as distributed ledger technology (DLT)?
Avoid a bank branch nightmare this Halloween
Trick or treat! It’s Halloween and brands everywhere are using spooky season as a way to have some fun with customers. However, any ghoulish behaviour belongs firmly in the land of fun, and should not creep into everyday customer interactions
Crime thriller: Trading Down, by Stephen Norman – part 2
Here’s a second extract from Trading Down, by Stephen Norman, which continues the drama in the Hamilton Datacentre.
Banking on digital natives: Why banks must innovate
Banks need to innovate to stay competitive, here’s how.
Understanding consumer intent is the path to customer loyalty
Building loyalty means delivering convenience. But this means more than just delivering more sophisticated digital services. It means delivering a superior customer experience in every way the consumer interacts with your business.
The changing face of financial crime compliance
Paul Taylor of Swift’s Financial Crime Compliance Services Division discusses the evolving compliance landscape and the critical role of technology in helping the industry come together as a whole to combat financial crime.
Crime thriller: Trading Down, by Stephen Norman
A sneak preview of a debut novel by Stephen Norman, long serving CIO/CTO of RBS Global Markets and previously Merrill Lynch. A fast-paced crime thriller – published on 9 November 2017.
PIF Summit 2017 keynote interview: Suresh Vaghjiani, GPS
Prepaid International Forum (PIF) recently interviewed Suresh Vaghjiani, Managing Director of Global Processing Services (GPS), about the current state of the fintech sector.
Blockchain and the Lycra principle: only when fit for purpose
Few ideas have captivated the modern payments and financial services industries like blockchain. Since Bitcoin officially launched in 2008, the noise around the potential of distributed ledgers and blockchain in particular has been incessant, particularly in the last two years.
Ten questions for, and about, AI
I have had it with the stream of articles about what artificial intelligence (AI) can do. Yes, machine learning works. It is possible to analyse key words, correlate them with other key words, do a massive amount of statistics, and find out some stuff. People cannot do that and computers can. Is this AI?
Corporate client self-onboarding
Know this feeling when you are asked by a check-in clerk where you’d like to sit on a plane? A torrent of thoughts rushes through your head: being able to see the actual seat map with available options would make your choice much easier. Otherwise it’s kind of like a child describing his/her favourite movie.
Q&A with Michael Parlotto, InComm
Michael Parlotto, VP, Emerging Technologies, InComm, gives the lowdown to Paybefore on the evolution of prepaid and what the future might hold for the industry.
I know what I am doing!
Recent business surveys together with published industry trends suggest that ATMs aren’t going to disappear from the landscape quite yet even as the rate of bank branch closures will not take place as rapidly as could have been expected just a short time ago. What’s happening?
Central banking and fintech: a brave new world?
This is a moment to celebrate 20 years of independence during which the Bank of England has been a stabilising force for the UK economy, inspiring others in the world of central banking.
Illinois Policy Could Make Life More Expensive for Citizens Who Struggle Financially
In trying to balance its budget, the Illinois legislature has taken aim at the wallets of the poor. Two changes by the state government will make it harder for low-income people to manage their financial lives by reducing the usefulness of prepaid cards and increasing the expense of cashing a check.
Combat insider data breaches with privileged access management
The high risk of cybercrime for financial institutions means that they are generally quick to adopt new technologies which may alleviate the risk of a breach. However, banking institutions can often be held back by legacy infrastructure and applications, due to the sheer scale of their IT operations, which can prove costly to upgrade.
Takeaways (and Surprises) from 1,000 Fintech Startups
The Center for Financial Services Innovation recently released its 2017 FinLab Snapshot paper. And, if you think you know fintech, what we found may surprise you.
