Corporate users are increasingly adopting mobile payments, according to figures from HSBC, which expects usage of its HSBCnet Mobile corporate banking platform to double over the next 18 months, reaching $100 billion in payments.
Apple Pay will be available in the UK from next month, with eight of the UK’s most established banks and the major credit and debit card networks supporting it – along with Transport for London.
Citi has launched Futures trading functionality on Citi Velocity, the trading platform which provides clients with access to Citi’s research and liquidity across FX, Rates and Credit. Launched in January 2012, Velocity 2.0 is continuously upgraded to include new features and asset classes. It provides clients with an integrated trading suite enabling fastest possible execution […]
Deutsche Bank plans to open three innovation labs as part of its €1 billion investment in digital initiatives over the next five years. The bank has partnered with different technology partners for each of the Deutsche Bank Labs and will be working Microsoft in Berlin, HCL in London and IBM in Silicon Valley.
Whatever label you use, instant, immediate, faster or real-time payments have moved to the top of the agenda at every payments-related event so far this year and are sure to be high on the agenda when Swift’s annual Sibos event lands in Singapore in October. Nearing the halfway mark for 2015, here’s a roundup of the stories so far …
Regulation has the potential to accelerate the payments innovation sparked by the evolution of internet and mobile technologies. By giving customers the reassurance that payments can be made safely and efficiently, regulation allows providers to develop new and exciting ways to serve customers
Global interoperability of real-time payments systems will require harmonisation of market practices and standards. A group of international clearing houses, banks, vendors, payments associations and other parties have proposed setting up an activity to look at how to deliver this under the aegis of the International Standards Organisation – and set an ambitious target of collating an initial variant of ISO 20022 usage guidelines for real-time payments before the summer.
Mobile startups are changing the way customers interact with financial services around the world. Tier one banks know this, and are keen to get a piece of the action. This week, companies from EMEA demoed at the Citi mobile challenge in London in the final stage of an annual event that takes in hundreds of financial startups around the globe.
Broker crossing networks will be heavily affected by upcoming European Commission rules on dark trading. But with 18 months to go until implementation, uncertainty still unnerves brokers and asset managers – prompting some market participants to re-examine whether they want to trade at all.
Santander has launched the UK’s first standalone ISA mobile app , which was designed and developed with mobile specialist company Monitise.
Standard Chartered has named Michael Gorriz as group chief information officer, replacing Jan Verplancke, whose departure was announced earlier this year. Gorriz is currently vice president and CIO at Daimler.
As international regulators demand more detail from banks on payments to individuals and companies, the first order of business is to ensure compliance with mandates. Migrating Swift MT payment formats to ISO 20022 will allow the industry to shape the transformation of payment messaging standards rather than have others shape it – but there is a need to set timelines for implementation or cede control.
The financial services industry faces a daunting task as the European Commission’s MiFID II legislation draws close to its final deadline, and grave concerns about inconsistencies in the rules and the pressures of meeting it remain.
At lunchtime on the African savannah, you needn’t be the fastest zebra to survive –you need to avoid being the slowest. You can only be sure you’re not the slowest zebra if you can see what the rest of the herd are up to. Efforts in software security to share information on attacks, responses, and best practices are important to understanding what the herd is doing …
The Citi Mobile Challenge, which seeks to unearth innovation and developer talent in some of the most far flung reaches of globe in a bid to get the best talent to help change the way the world banks, has extended its registration deadline to allow more people to take part.
Fixed income markets have historically been a bastion of high-touch trading, with manual processes, large tickets and little standardisation. But as recent years have seen inventory slashed and balance sheets cut in face of rising regulatory pressure, finding liquidity has become more of a challenge. A group of banks are hoping to reinvigorate the market though a standardised messaging system.
Arising out of developments in standardised messaging, eBAM is one step towards the future of more accessible, safer banking
Deutsche Bank and Hewlett-Packard have announced a 10-year, multi-billion dollar agreement that will see parts of the bank’s global IT systems rationalised and migrated to HP platforms10
Citi has opened the doors to entrants for its Citi Mobile Challenge in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, an annual competition that invites developers from around the world to build innovative financial services based on Citi’s digital platform.
London-based Orwell Group, founded in 2005, has launched a pan-European current account called Ipagoo in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. The product aims to take on services provided by traditional banks, using open architecture software and promising consumers greater choice and less hassle.
Italian banks are preparing for T2S, as Europe seeks to reform its cross-border trading infrastructure and bring down barriers between EU countries. The preparations are driving smaller regional banks to make deals with larger global banks as they prepare for implementation in June.
BNY Mellon and State Street have announced a collaboration with Eurex Clearing, the subsidiary of Deutsche Börse Group, to enhance the Eurex service to meet the needs of beneficial owners, and explore expanding its geographic reach into the US.
Several of the UK’s major banking brands are losing customers to rivals such as Spanish bank Santander and building society Nationwide, according to figures released by the UK Payments Council – while competitor bank Nationwide continues to add customers.
RBS’ global transaction services business is exploring collaboration with a number of startup companies as a way of combining its own services with the innovation provided by smaller companies, through API agreements. The move comes as banks around the globe increasingly seek to bring products to market faster and reap the rewards of innovation.
Jan Verplancke is stepping down as chief information officer and group head of technology and operations at Standard Chartered, as is Richard Goulding, chief risk officer. The news of their departure comes as the banks announced further restructuring, including the closure of its institutional cash equities, equity research and equity capital markets businesses as part of a strategic plan to ditch “non-core or underperforming businesses”.
When first reports of an integrated communications project that had attracted a $66 million investment from a consortium of banks led by Goldman Sachs appeared last year, there was an element of cloak and dagger about the enterprise. The truth is both more prosaic and more interesting according to David Gurle, chief executive and founder of the company behind it.
The big four high street banks lost ground in the current account market in the first year of the UK Payments Council’s current account switching service, mainly through poor customer service. But the guarantee did not accelerate the pace of account switching, according to an independent survey of bank customers.
Widespread use of fingerprint authentication for financial transactions on mobile devices could start taking off from early next year as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Google, Samsung, Lenovo, Microsoft, Alipay and others adopt a new authentication standard through their joint project, the FIDO Alliance, which has just published its specifications and launched its first server.
For banks, a race to remain relevant is on. In the past few weeks, Lloyds Banking Group has announced its intention to double-down on digital banking, closing branches and cutting costs. In the US, BBVA Compass announced that its agreement with startup Dwolla to offer real-time payment facilities to customers makes it the first mainstream bank to open its technology platform to digital developers like Dwolla
The volume, speed and power of technology has transformed the Financial Services industry into one the most sophisticated data driven sectors in the global economy, allowing for the execution of complex global transactions at the push of a button. From high frequency trading to eCommerce to mobile banking, the financial sector is generating a huge amounts of data – in fact, almost too much data. Like individuals, institutions are facing an information overload that is limiting the promise and opportunity of technology.
Barclays has launched a new video banking service on smartphone, tablet and computer, which it says will allow customers to have face to face conversations with the bank anytime, anywhere, without having to visit a branch.
Monitise plans to raise £49.2 million through extensions of its relationships with Santander, Telefónica and MasterCard. The money raised will be used to ‘support the development and accelerated roll-out of its global platform capabilities’.
Market participants are worried about data and are deeply concerned about their ability to monitor transactions following a string of major fines to global financial institutions, according to a new report by NICE Actimize.
It has been a busy week for the banking industry. The first big news was the publication of a comprehensive health check of 130 large European banks by the European Central Bank, which was commissioned in response to the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Brussels lauded the latest investigation as the most intense scrutiny that European banks have ever been put through.
As Bob Dylan, famously sang, The Times, They Are A-Changin’. Once, the tools required to carry out a bank raid usually comprised a shotgun, old stockings and a bag labelled “swag”. Today, it’s a laptop, computer programming skills and patience. And the nature of the crime is changing too – previously, the goal was often to get away with a few thousand pounds, before lying low for a while. Now, the “prize” sought may be the theft of millions or the personal details of thousands, to be then sold on.
JP Rangaswami has been appointed as chief data officer at Deutsche Bank, a newly-created role in which he will “play a key role in standardising the bank’s processes, tools and governance around information and in supporting its digital strategy”.
Standard Chartered and Clearstream have implemented a new service to help customers in Singapore make more efficient use of collateral, as tough new financial regulations drive investor fears of an impending collateral shortfall.
The challenger banks are coming of age. Aldermore, the UK’s fastest growing bank, is rumoured to be preparing for its IPO, just like OneSavings Bank, which was the first bank to list on the stock exchange since Bradford & Bingley in 2000.
RBS has confirmed that it has hired Marion King, formerly president of UK and Ireland at MasterCard, in the newly created role of director of payments in the New Year.
It is essential for banks to ensure they have the right strategies and technology in place now, if they are to retain their position as market-leading payment providers in the future, writes Saket Sharma,chief information officer, treasury services, BNY Mellon.
