Fintech tour Hong Kong: Park and ride
Park and ride? A visit to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and an opportunity for fintechs to ride the start-up wave.
Banking
Thesys awarded major tech contract to track all US stock and options orders
Thesys Technologies, trading technologies and analytics software specialist, has won the contract to build a new system for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to track and store all stock and options orders and transactions.
CMA comments on current account switching plans & VocaLink’s takeover by Mastercard
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK has accepted undertakings from the Bacs payment scheme that commit it to delivering the improvements required by the CMA retail banking market investigation within a year.
DSB upgrades core and digital banking tech with Fiserv
De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB), the largest commercial bank in Suriname, is implementing the latest version of Fiserv’s Signature core banking system and DigitalAccess for digital banking capabilities.
Single point of access to all real-time payments schemes worldwide from ACI
Payments software and services vendor ACI Worldwide says its latest version of UP Immediate Payments provides “single point of access to all immediate payments schemes globally”.
UBS extends agreement with EPAM Systems worth $300m
The world’s largest wealth manager UBS has extended its long-standing agreement with EPAM Systems, a provider of product development and software engineering solutions. The agreement – worth over $300 million – “supports the bank’s strategic cost reduction programme”, according to EPAM.
Validata and OneAston in strategic partnership for Temenos projects
Validata Group, a specialist in enterprise software testing and release automation, has teamed up with OneAston, a Singapore-based tech services provider to the wealth management industry, to jointly work on Temenos’ WealthSuite projects.
Aperio to revamp investment management ops with Linedata
Aperio Group, $16 billion investment manager in California, has selected investment management software from Linedata.
Schroders in digital drive with Capriza
Global asset manager Schroders has selected Capriza’s enterprise mobility platform “to power its drive to digitisation”, according to the vendor.
HSBC to capitalise on tech innovation with technology advisory board
HSBC has appointed a technology advisory board of top-level specialists from around the globe as the banking giant is keen to capitalise on opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics, blockchain and data science, combat cybercrime and leverage its global infrastructure.
AnaCap to acquire German payments provider Heidelpay
Private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners is taking over a controlling stake in Heidelpay, an online payment service provider (PSP) in Germany. Heidelpay’s co-founders and existing management will retain a minority stake in the business.
Fintech tour Hong Kong: Spirit levels and start-ups
Hong Kong is telling its citizens and the world that fintech start-ups are welcome to do business and capitalise on the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit.
Smooth Commerce and Visa first in Canada for Visa Developer Programme
Smooth Commerce and Visa have completed the first integration of Visa’s Developer Programme in Canada and brought to market “a first of its kind innovation” in the mobile commerce space.
BNP Paribas Securities Services and Calypso team for post-trade services outsourcing
BNP Paribas Securities Services has teamed up with Calypso Technology to bring to market “a full, end-to-end post-trade services offering across asset classes” for investment banks.
Money rolls
Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!
First Oklahoma FCU in core banking and digital software revamp with Fiserv
First Oklahoma Federal Credit Union, the oldest credit union in the state, has embarked on a major tech overhaul. It will implement Fiserv’s Portico core processing system and a suite of digital solutions.
Automic Software now on Temenos Marketplace
Business automation software vendor Automic Software has inked a deal with Temenos to make its Automic Workload Automation available on the Temenos MarketPlace store.
Fintech funding round-up: 17 January 2017
They said it. We read it. We edited. A round-up of the latest funding efforts in the fintech and payments space. Featuring Kasisto, BillGO, Gumption Labs and Fraugster.
Video: Banking Technology Awards 2016
Our dazzling event gathered together over 260 banking and financial technology specialists from all over the world – recognising the excellence and innovation in the use of IT in financial services, and of course the people that make it happen! Join us at the 2017 awards, which will be held at a 5-star venue in London in Q4 this year.
RosEvroBank builds blockchain platform for remote customer identification
RosEvroBank, a top-50 bank in Russia, has created a prototype of a blockchain-based system that enables remote verification of customers for other financial institutions. The decentralised system is built on the Microsoft’s Ethereum Consortium Blockchain infrastructure.
Five Degrees and SEI provide tech to new digital investment service, Munnypot
Munnypot, a new robo-advice and investment service in the UK, has fully launched with tech support from a number of partners.
RBI investigates blockchain for financial applications in India
The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has recently issued a whitepaper, “Applications of Blockchain Technology to Banking and Financial Sector in India”. We summarise the report and highlight the key findings.
Private equity firms to buy German payments provider Concardis from local banks
Advent International and Bain Capital Private Equity have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Concardis, a German payment services provider currently owned by local banks. It is understood the price tag is around €700 million.
The White House unveils fintech framework for US
The National Economic Council (NEC) of the US, part of the Office of White House Policy, has published a whitepaper, “A Framework for Fintech”.
One in four UK card payments now contactless
According to the UK Cards Association, a trade body for the country’s card payments industry, a quarter of all card transactions are now made via contactless in the UK. 325 million purchases, altogether worth £2.9 billion, were made using contactless debit and credit cards in November 2016.
Seven European banks join forces for blockchain platform for SMEs
Seven European banks – Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Natixis, KBC, Rabobank, Société Générale and UniCredit – have agreed in principle to develop a blockchain-based shared platform for domestic and international commerce for SMEs.
BNP Paribas Wealth Management goes for digital client experience and “pizza” teams
BNP Paribas Wealth Management has unveiled its new Client Experience venture co-created with customers and fintech firms. The initiative focuses on digital solutions as the bank is keen to “create a new wealth management experience”.
Deutsche Bank bans texting and messaging apps on work phones
No more texting or using messaging apps such as WhatsApp on company issued phones, Deutsche Bank tells its employees. According to a memo issued by COO Kim Hammonds and chief regulatory officer Sylvie Matherat, the functionality will be switched off this quarter.
Yes Bank opens fintech accelerator programme for start-ups
India’s Yes Bank is inviting fintech start-ups to take part in its Yes Fintech Accelerator Programme. The application process is open until 2nd February 2017.
Fintechs making strides in PSD2
In November last year, German fintech firm figo completed a financing round that totalled €6.8 million. Figo has developed a banking application programming interface (API) and various products and services related to the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). It is just one of the many fintech firms that are poised to grab the considerable opportunities that PSD2 opens.
Wearable technology in investment banking: watch your money on your watch
How can wearable technology be made popular in investment/wealth management services? We suggest a number of features that can create value and relevance to individual traders and wealth managers, if made available on smartwatch trading apps.
US core banking software projects: win for DCI, go-live for Symitar
Kansas-based banking software developer, Data Centre Inc (DCI), has signed a new client, The First National Bank in Falfurrias, Texas. Jack Henry’s Symitar division has completed a core conversion at Sun East Federal Credit Union in Pennsylvania.
Europe a pushover for machine takeover
In another example of glacial bureaucracy, a committee from the European Parliament has written a report which recommends a meeting about robots and artificial intelligence (AI).
Top fintech stories this week – 13 January 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Airtel Payments Bank launches in India
Airtel Payments Bank, India’s “first” payments bank, has started national operations with services now live across the country. As Banking Technology reported in July 2016, telecoms giant Airtel was planning its own bank. It says it is a “fully digital and paperless” bank, and from today (12 January), over 250,000 neighbourhood Airtel retail stores across […]
HSBC targets Hong Kong millennials with new social payment app
HSBC will unveil a new payment app in Hong Kong in early 2017 aimed at millennials and offering a social aspect in addition to just payments. Called PayMe, it is “available to everyone in Hong Kong”, regardless which local bank the customer uses. However, the small print says it is only eligible to users with […]
New name in the UK challenger bank space – ClearBank
The bustling UK challenger bank scene has grown by another addition, ClearBank. It is a brainchild of Nick Ogden, founder and former CEO of WorldPay.
Can you marry an app Monzo?
Mobile-only challenger bank Monzo has revealed some witty conversations between its banking customer support team and customers. In an amusing blog post, the bank says its customer support team of around 17 people manage hundreds of queries on a daily basis in as “close to real-time as possible”. Some of these conversations struck a chord […]
Dubai gets first fintech accelerator
FinTech Hive, to be housed at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in Dubai’s Central Business District (CBD), is set to launch this quarter. Accenture runs fintech innovation labs in New York, London, and Hong Kong; and has been tasked with setting up and operating the accelerator. Aimed at providing better financial services technology to […]
“Humanoid” Ira to assist customers in HDFC Bank branches
India-based HDFC Bank is about to introduce its first “humanoid” branch assistant – Ira. The human-sized robot was built together with artificial intelligence (AI) company Asimov Robotics.
