Innovation


Come over to my Marketplace says Starling Bank

UK-based challenger bank Starling has gone live with its Marketplace, a new ecosystem of financial products accessible through its app. As reported in June, Starling said it would launch Marketplace at some point. This idea was first discussed back in April, when its developer portal went live. Now the marketplace is alive and kicking and […]

R3, RBS and UK regulator build regtech prototype for mortgages

Enterprise software firm R3, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), RBS and another unnamed bank have built a prototype application for regulatory reporting of mortgage transactions on R3’s Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. The application is also able to generate automated delivery receipts for the regulator when a mortgage is booked. The application was […]

Payments funding round-up: 12 September 2017

Pineapple Payments announced a $35 million equity investment for its merchant-focused payments technology, PayJoy snagged $6 million while B2BPay won BBVA’s Open Talent Global Fintech for Companies competition.

France is not making many friends with new tech tax idea

The French Finance Minister has put forward new proposals to shake-up the tax set-up for technology companies who are based outside of the European Union, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Under the current rules, internet giants such as Google or Facebook are taxed on profits which are generated in Europe, though French Finance Minister […]

The Monday mindset: 11 September 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, Tim Rogers, engineer at London-based start-up GoCardless, asks do we need to kill screen scraping? If you work in this industry you’ll […]

Blockchain firms R3 and Ripple locked in legal tussle

The blockchain duo of R3 and Ripple are suing each other over an options contract to purchase Ripple’s digital currency XRP, according to Reuters. In September 2016, the two companies entered an agreement giving R3 the right to purchase up to five billion XRPs for $0.0085 per unit until September 2019, according to a lawsuit […]

What we learnt at CloudSec: life, death and Twitter

Before you get too excited about the down and dirty world of cloud security, we should warn you this is more of a light-hearted report on the quirky things our sister publication Telecoms.com picked up at the CloudSec conference.

Google licks lips at thought of DCI pie

Google might be raising some eyebrows with its traditional business, but the cloud team has started down an interesting route in the world of data centre interconnect (DCI).

Fears about AI are a load of rubbish – Capgemini

Capgemini has roared into the artificial intelligence (AI) battle with new research which claims the human cost of automation is a myth, reports Banking Technology’s sister publication Telecoms.com. There might be a few people who will raise concern over such a claim, but in a survey of almost 1,000 organisations with revenues of more than […]

IBM and MIT team up for AI research

IBM will make a ten-year, $240 million investment to create the MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab as the duo seek to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). The collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aims to advance AI hardware, software and algorithms related to deep learning and other areas, increase AI’s impact on industries, […]

Fintech funding round-up: 7 September 2017

The fintech funding is on fire. Following on from yesterday’s (6 September) action, here’s another round-up. Features ABN Amro, Cloud Lending Solutions, Dataiku, EY and Innovate Finance. Amsterdam-based ABN Amro has made an undisclosed investment in US-based Cloud Lending Solutions (CLS) – the second by the bank’s Digital Impact Fund (DIF) and in line with […]

Tech City UK calls for start-ups for financial inclusion challenge

Tech City UK is looking for start-ups for a competition to find the best products and services from the fintech sector that promote financial inclusion. As part of the UK Government’s Digital Strategy, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has asked it to hunt for the best across the country. The competition […]

Amazon’s Alexa speaks to US Bank customers

More than a year after Capital One unveiled the feature, US Bank customers still are among the first in the US to be able to complete banking tasks, such as checking an account balance or paying a credit card bill, by speaking a command to an Amazon Alexa device.

The future of cross-currency payments

The landscape of cross-currency (FX) payments is taking on a whole new look – creating challenges for corporate financial managers and the need for new banking solutions.

Most of us are worried about AI rules

With every technological breakthrough there needs to be updates to the rules, and the UK general public think the government needs to pull the finger out when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). That rules need to be changed in relation to everyday life is a given, but it would […]

Fintech alliance round-up: 5 September 2017

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. And fintech is on hand to deliver with a pair of co-operation agreements. Features the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Chongqing; and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and Israel. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Chongqing Financial Affairs Office and the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative […]

Challenger bank Redwood takes tech to the cloud

EXCLUSIVE: Redwood Bank, a new SME-focused bank in the UK, has opted for a cloud-based banking platform. The front-to-back office solution is supplied by a local fintech firm, DPR Consulting, Banking Technology understands. It is hosted in a private cloud.

Banking Technology September 2017 issue out now

Welcome to fintech central! Good service operating on all lines. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Bambu wins strategic investment from Franklin Templeton

Singapore-based B2B robo-advisor Bambu has completed a funding round, featuring a strategic investment from Franklin Templeton Investments and venture capital funding from Wavemaker Partners, part of the Draper Venture Network.

E-book: Top 5 challenges of digital transformation and how to tackle them

Get practical advice for overcoming the top 5 challenges of digital transformation, revealed by research in over 1000 enterprises around the globe. Are you struggling with inflexible legacy technologies? Or a lack of collaboration between business and IT teams? You’ll find the answers here. Download your copy of the Bizagi e-book to see: The 5 most […]

Banks, are you a passive data donor or a proactive data seeker?

With the arrival of new regulations, there are two main options for banks: they can choose to become either “data donors” or “data seekers”. These two positions imply opposite approaches to the new banking market that is in prospect, and sharply contrasting mentalities.

Artificial intelligence round-up: 31 August 2017

Where’s the humanity? Well, not here as this is an artificial intelligence (AI) round-up. Features Royal Bank of Canada, Emirates NBD, and the ten greatest threats to mankind. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has announced a pilot launch of two digital services based on AI that offer insights about client’s financials and an automated savings […]

Six new banks join UBS-led utility settlement coin plan

The UBS-led effort to create a digital cash model for payments and settlement on blockchain has got six new banks onboard, according to the Financial Times. As Banking Technology reported in August last year, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, ICAP and Santander joined UBS and Clearmatics to advance their utility settlement coin (USC) concept, and plan […]

Fintech: beware the fake news

In every aspect of life, sentiment overshoots. We overbuy and oversell securities. The political pendulum swings from left to right. Shops run out of ultra-fashionable goods only to heavily discount excess stock a couple months later. Ben Robinson, chief strategy officer at Temenos, explains how this is not a new phenomenon, but has got worse […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 31 August 2017

Audio ambitions, accelerators and an association. It’s our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Anryze, Starta Accelerator and the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Anryze, which provides a blockchain platform designed for speech recognition and analysis, has announced it will hold a token sale to develop its product and expand into new markets. The […]

Alexa gets into bed with Cortana

Amazon and Microsoft have announced their previously competing voice-driven artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are now an item, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The world can be a lonely place for virtual assistants. All the company they have are demanding millennials constantly asking what their latest email is or a retiree wondering what the weather […]

Ping is king for Open Banking’s UK framework

Open Banking, the implementation entity set up by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has chosen Ping Identity to provide the identity and access management (IAM) technology to underpin its UK framework. Ping’s IAM solution suite, the Ping Identity Platform, will provide the hub for Open Banking, where all UK banks and financial services […]

Apple and Accenture announce alluring alliance

Apple and Accenture have jumped into bed with each other to create a new digital agency which will help customers design business solutions for iOS, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). It’s a relatively simple idea; the digital economy is growing and people want to make money off it, but they don’t know how. In […]

Bahrain’s fintech sandbox fires up with dynamic duo

Anything UAE can do, we can do better. No you can’t, yes we can. The UAE has got some competition as the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has welcomed the first members to its new regulatory sandbox – mobile banking firm Now Money and finserv provider Tramonex. As reported in June, CBB announced new regulations […]

Europe’s pan-industry e-identity platform preps for launch

A joint European pan-industry platform for online registration, e-identity and data services is readying for launch at the turn of the year with new partners on board. As reported in May, Deutsche Bank and a variety of German and European companies teamed up for the plan to “make online registration simpler and more secure for […]

Singapore’s Payments Council seeks road to common QR code

The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) new Payments Council plans to set up interoperable electronic payments and has unveiled a taskforce to develop a common QR code for the city-state. As reported earlier this month, the Council launched and comprises 20 people from banks, payment service providers, businesses, and trade associations. MAS says the setting […]

Five solutions for the challenges women face in tech today

In the most recent InsurTech Bytes podcast, Sarah Greasley, CTO, Direct Line Group, opened up about her experience as a woman in fintech, the challenges and the solutions. FinTech Futures (Banking Technology’s sister company) uncovered the solutions for five of the key hurdles in her career. 1: Entrepreneurship and empowering risk taking Challenge: From a […]