Start-up


MoneyConf 2016: Domestic could be majestic for start-ups

Start-ups should first be focused on domestic markets over global ambitions, was one of the messages amidst the hurly-burly of Madrid-based MoneyConf 2016. More than 1,800 people were on hand for the two-day event held at the pleasant venue of La Nave. Part one of our review of the show was on wealth management, while […]

Deutsche Börse to invest in fintech start-ups via new venture capital platform

DB1 Ventures is Deutche Börse’s new dedicated corporate venture capital platform, set up as part of the group’s “Accelerate” growth strategy. The DB1 Ventures team will be primarily based in Frankfurt and will undertake new investments and also manage Deutsche Börse’s existing minority shareholdings. “DB1 Ventures will invest only in areas that are strategic to Deutsche […]

Australian wealth manager Crestone live with Avaloq Banking Suite

Crestone, a wealth management business created out of UBS Wealth Management Australia, is now open for business, underpinned by Avaloq’s flagship core banking system. Avaloq Banking Suite supports front-to-back office operations of Crestone, multi-asset and multi-currency. Peter Scott, the vendor’s GM for Asia Pacific, says that Crestone was among the first users to apply Avaloq Banking […]

Interview: Ramin Niroumand, co-founder of FinLeap

Berlin-based fintech incubator FinLeap and solarisBank have created the first global banking platform, called Solaris – a Banking-as-a-Platform (BaaP) service. What is it all about and how is it going to make its mark on the fintech industry? Devie Mohan interviews FinLeap’s co-founder, Ramin Niroumand. The solarisBank launch has been in the press quite a […]

Mambu launches fintech start-up programme

Banking software vendor Mambu has joined forces with a number of accelerators and incubators to launch a new fintech start-up programme. Partners comprise Startupbootcamp FinTech, 500 Startups, Ynext Incubator by Envestnet/Yodlee, Techstars and Citi Accelerator – and those start-ups that are part of these accelerators and incubators are invited to participate in Mambu’s new venture and […]

UniCredit and Open Bank Project launch fintech start-up competition

UniCredit and Open Bank Project, an open source API and app store for banks, invite fintech developers and start-ups to take part in its Appathon competition. The 2016 Appathon is driven by the Open Bank Project API, developed by the Berlin-based Tesobe Ltd/Open Bank Project. Ten companies will be selected to demo their products in […]

Accelerators: bridging the gap in fintech

Since 2015 the fintech market has changed dramatically but even bigger changes are yet to come in 2016 affecting financial services big time, believes Francisco Lorca, MD of a London-based fintech accelerator programme, Startupbootcamp. Tech is coming for banking as more fintech start-ups are springing up. There still huge gap between the collaboration of these two but […]

New digital bank for SMEs gearing up for launch in Germany

Penta Bank is a new digital banking player in Germany working towards a spring 2017 launch. Penta’s initial target market will be German and French SMEs. “Our target businesses are funded start-ups and SMEs that are cashless,” says Luka Ivicev, Penta’s head of product. Penta has been in the making since February this year. Usability […]

Swirlds emerges from stealth with alternative to blockchain

US-based Swirlds has launched its hashgraph distributed consensus platform, an alternative to blockchain, and free for public download and use by developers. Swirlds says it has “emerged from stealth” with the launch and says its hashgraph “goes beyond blockchain”. Dr. Leemon Baird, founder and CEO of Swirlds, says: “Current stock markets are fair in matching […]

New UK bank, CivilisedBank, submits banking licence application

A new digital bank for UK businesses and consumers, CivilisedBank, has submitted its banking licence to the regulators, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA). It expects to receive the licence later this year and to open for business in early 2017. Set-up and technology CivilisedBank will not have any branches. It will […]

Ex-Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins sets up new fintech start-up

Former Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins has set up a fintech firm called 10X Future Technologies. Jenkins, who was sacked by Barclays in summer 2015 for failing to transform the bank quickly enough, has appointed himself as the sole director of 10X Future Technologies. He has refused to comment on what he plans to do with […]

NAB teams with Telstra for digital SME marketplace

National Australia Bank (NAB) and telco firm Telstra have partnered for an SME digital marketplace called Proquo. Proquo will offer more than two million Australian small businesses an online platform to network, trade or swap services with each other. Leigh O’Neill, NAB executive general manager micro and small business, says: “Small business is the backbone […]

ING Belgium teams with Finnish start-up for invoicing software sales

ING Belgium has acquired the rights to rebrand Finnish fintech start-up Zervant’s invoicing software across Europe. The software will be marketed as ING invoice solutions and will be sold via its own channels to SMEs and entrepreneurs. During the first phase, ING Belgium will have the rights to sell the tool in Belgium, with a […]

UK start-up Ormsby Street launches in Germany with Deutsche Bank

UK start-up Ormsby Street has launched its credit-checking tool CreditHQ in Germany, as part of a new partnership with Deutsche Bank. CreditHQ allows a small business to check the financial health and credit status of any customer or partner and will be available to small business customers of Deutsche Bank. Its German launch is the […]

Temenos Community Forum 2016: Kerv’s ring rules them all at Innovation Jam

UK-based start-up Kerv and its payments ring won the Innovation Jam at the Temenos Community Forum (TCF) 2016, held at the Palau De Congressos, in Barcelona from 17-19 May. About 1,200 delegates were at the event and part 1 of our review looked at Temenos’ ambitions in the US. The event enables customers, potential customers, […]

Top fintech stories this week – 20 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Android Pay now in the UK; Australia and Singapore are next Coming to a country near you… possibly. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stops attempted fraud through Swift system Stop! In the name of the law. Sydney Stock Exchange […]

Capital One UK launches fintech start-up accelerator

Capital One UK is inviting fintech start-ups to join its newly launched Capital One Growth Labs – “an accelerator programme for early-stage start-up and high-growth companies”. The initiative is supported by technology investor L Marks. The aim, states Chris Owen, programme leader, is to discover and partner with the new fintech talent and “and unlock the truly […]

UK challenger banks: who’s who

With so many new banks trying to muscle into the UK banking sector, spurred on by the reduced barriers to entry and calls for competition, Banking Technology wonders: will this boom be followed by a bust? In the meantime, make hay whilst the sun shines! Here is our guide to who’s who in the UK […]

Crowdfunding and investment round-up: 13 May 2016

With news on crowdfunding and investment appearing with relentless regularity, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. UK challenger bank Tandem has now revealed the money it’s raised and its valuation – all in preparation for a crowdfunding campaign that starts on 20 May. Money raised comes to £22 million and it […]

Top fintech stories this week – 13 May 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Perception brings to market new core platform UK credit unions, lenders and start-up banks take note. ING adds some zing to start-up ring It’s working with 45 start-ups on banking innovation. Punjab National Bank to modernise enterprise data […]

RBS puts on Red Hat for new innovation centre

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is powering its new Open Experience centre with Red Hat technologies, including the Red Hat Mobile Application Platform and OpenShift Enterprise, Red Hat’s web-scale container application platform. Open Experience was launched by RBS in February at its HQ in Edinburgh (UK) to pursue “innovative new technologies for the bank and […]

Cloud nine for UK start-up AccessPay with £1m Barclays backing

Barclays is providing £1 million in funding to UK-based AccessPay to support its growth and further develop their relationship. Access Systems (trading as AccessPay) provides a cloud-based connectivity layer between a business’s finance systems, their banks and “all of the major” UK and international payment networks such as BACS, Swift, SEPA, Faster Payments and Direct […]

Nordea to launch crowdfunding service in Finland

Nordea says it will be the “first” bank in Finland to offer its customers an equity-based crowdfunding service. It has developed an online crowdfunding platform that will match entrepreneurs seeking financing with investors; and will be linked to a book-entry system. The service will be launched in the next few months. The bank says the […]

ING adds some zing to start-up ring

Dutch bank ING has revealed it’s working with 45 fintech start-ups on banking innovation, such as money management, payments, lending and mobile on-boarding. Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group, says of the 45 fintech firms, these include seven start-ups working on their proof-of-concept through the ING Fintech Village initiative in Belgium, and four through the […]

RBS and RocketSpace to open London campus for tech start-ups

San-Francisco based RocketSpace, with the support of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), plans to open a campus in London, designed specifically for “high-growth” tech start-ups. The campus, located near Angel tube station, will initially hold up to 1,500 members at its opening in early 2017. Duncan Logan, RocketSpace’s founder and CEO, says: “Creating a physical […]

Dwolla offers FiSync platform to US Fed’s faster payments plan

US payments start-up Dwolla has submitted its FiSync platform as part of its faster payments proposal to the Federal Reserve-chartered Faster Payment Task Force. The Fed-chartered initiative, comprised of over 500 Faster and Secure Payments Task Force members, has been tasked with representing, addressing, and assessing “improved” payments systems. Dwolla is offering FiSync, a communication […]

Perception brings to market new core platform for UK credit unions, lenders and start-up banks

UK-based financial services vendor Perception is building a new comprehensive platform for credit unions, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), loan companies and start-up banks. The solution aims to cover loans, savings, mortgages and current account business lines, front-to-back office. Be different, make a difference Perception has identified the gap in the market that it feels […]

Blockchain and bitcoin round-up: 9 May 2016

With news on blockchain and bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. The Swift Institute has published new research on the practical application of blockchain (or mutual distributed ledger) in securities markets. The paper, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle”, is based […]

New bank gearing up for launch in the UK

First Global Trust Bank (FGTB) is a new name on the UK banking scene. The bank has recently been granted an “authorisation with restriction” licence to take deposits by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The London-based company was originally set up under the name of Llamabrook in 2011. It became FGTB in March this year […]

DZ Bank invests in receivables auction platform TrustBills

Frankfurt-based DZ Bank has acquired a 25% share interest in the Hamburg receivables auction platform TrustBills. This is the bank’s first strategic investment in fintech within the corporate customer business. The amount invested has not been disclosed. TrustBills, a start-up founded in 2015, is an electronic marketplace for selling international receivables of companies to institutional […]

Atom Bank adds another system to its tech set-up; readies mobile app

UK challenger bank, Atom Bank, has added another solution to its burgeoning IT architecture. This is a lending system from domestic specialist provider Phoebus Software, Banking Technology understands. The bank has just launched, but is yet to launch a fully-fledged mobile app. The app is yet to be available on Android. Meanwhile, the iOS app […]

Paytm partners with Wipro for new payments bank

India-based Paytm has teamed with IT services integrator Wipro for its new payments bank, as it gets ready for an August launch. Wipro will be implementing the new core banking system, and Banking Technology understands that Infosys, Oracle FSS and TCS Financial Solutions were in the running to provide their core banking solutions to Paytm. […]

Deutsche Börse opens fintech hub in Frankfurt

Deutsche Börse has opened its fintech hub in Frankfurt to promote Germany’s start-up and investment culture. This launch is part of the Hessian State Government’s fintech initiative, and Carsten Kengeter, CEO of Deutsche Börse, first presented the details and facilities back in February. Kengeter says Deutsche Börse wants to give start-ups in the financial sector […]

LzLabs partners with Cobol-IT for world’s “first” software-defined mainframe

Swiss software start-up LzLabs is collaborating with Cobol-IT to deliver the world’s “first” software-defined mainframe, designed to move legacy mainframe applications and data to open Linux server and cloud platforms. Cobol-IT will act as an integrated software provider for the solution as it is implemented for LzLabs’ customers across the world. Announced at CeBIT 2016, […]

New mobile banking service, Lunar Way, to launch in Denmark

A new mobile banking service in Denmark, Lunar Way, is gearing up for launch as it has secured a local partner, Københavns Andelskasse (Copenhagen Cooperative Bank). Lunar Way is itself not a bank, but is a provider of digital financial services, similar to Simple or Moven. Its model is to partner with established banks (that have […]

Building consumer trust – a major challenge for newcomer banks

The challengers aiming to take on the traditional high street banks are themselves facing an enormous obstacle if they are to disrupt the banking market significantly, observes Zehra Chudry, organiser of the “Challengers versus Legacy Banks” debate at PayExpo Europe 2016. This hurdle is building consumer trust. Not only must they offer powerfully attractive alternatives and improvements, they must also convince consumers […]

Banking Technology April 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.

Top fintech stories this week – 1 April 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Samsung Pay launches in China Big market, big appeal. FIS and Vocalink first to supply access to Faster Payments A number of banks are also lined up to connect directly this year. UK credit unions busy with tech […]

Infographics: global fintech landscape

Want to see the global fintech landscape summed up in an easy on the eye and effortless to digest infographics? You have come to the right place – this excellent infographics has it all, from the hottest start-ups today and those to watch in 2016 to the most supportive countries and governments as well as top investors. […]