While the maturity of blockchain discussions and advances are at different stages of development around the world, blockchain is said to be at the height of the Gartner hype cycle. This implies that 2017 will be the year where disillusionment with the technology begins. However, 2017 may also see some real breakthroughs with its application and the emergence of pockets of the first concrete results.
The Central Bank of Lesotho has gone live on Intellect Design Arena’s Quantum Central Banking Solution (QCBS). According to India-based Intellect, the “key highlight was an accelerated implementation with zero errors during migration despite complex integration with multiple external interfaces”. Mothetsi Sekoati, head of business solution at Central Bank of Lesotho, says the project is […]
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, Banking Technology’s deputy editor Antony Peyton briefly reflects on last week’s visit to Morocco for HPS Worldwide’s PowerCARD Users Meeting 2017. At […]
Morocco-based payments firm HPS Worldwide is setting its sights on growth through the use of APIs and extensive collaboration with start-ups. At its PowerCARD Users Meeting 2017, held 5-7 April, in the lively city of Marrakesh – about 400 people from over 50 countries listened to presentations from the company and its partners. The message […]
Kenya-based banking tech provider and integrator NLS Banking Solutions is seeking an injunction against Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) for software infringement rights.
Nedbank, one of South Africa’s largest banks, is implementing a new syndicated lending system, Fusionbanking Loan IQ, supplied by Misys.
Kenya-based Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) has unveiled its mobile-based banking service as it targets millennial entrepreneurs. The new service, created in collaboration with software provider Strands, is called CBA Loop and core banking services will be available on the mobile phone app. Users can manage their personal finances, send money, schedule utility bills payments, […]
Housing Bank Algeria, a subsidiary of Jordan-based Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF), is modernising its front-to-back office technology with Infosys Finacle.
Kenya-based banking tech provider and integrator NLS Banking Solutions has won the bid to supply an integration platform to Madison Finance Company (Mfinance) in Zambia.
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), a Nigeria-based bank operating across multiple countries in Africa, has extended the roll-out of its core banking system, ICS Banks, to Tanzania. The solution is supplied by ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS).
Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has launched its real-time interbank switch, PesaLink, and kicked off a phased rollout of the digital payments platform. The product has been in the making since 2013, when KBA member banks decided to create their own industrywide switch to rival the M-Pesa services. KBA vice-chairman John Gachora says PesaLink is “proof […]
Africa is becoming a very interesting fintech innovation hub (in particular South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt). As much as 80% of the continent is unbanked, opening the door to a breadth of opportunities for fintech companies to seize market share.
Swift Innotribe’s “Start-up Challenge for Africa” is open for applications. For the third year running, the challenge will be part of Swift’s African Regional Conference (ARC) held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 16-18 May 2017. ARC typically attracts up to 500 delegates from around 40 countries, according to Swift. It offers the usual mix of […]
Pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank has launched a fintech challenge for start-ups. The event, open to Africa’s entrepreneurs, innovators and developers, provides an opportunity to win $500,000 in funding as well as partner with Ecobank and roll out services across 36 countries.
SunTrust Bank in Nigeria has renewed the contract with banking software vendor ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) for its ICS Banks core banking system.
Centenary Bank in Uganda has gone live with a new core banking platform, Profits, supplied by Intrasoft International.
Nigeria-based Keystone Bank has selected the FraudGuardian solution from NetGuardians for protection from online banking fraud.
BOND Savings and Loans, a Ghana-based financial services company, has selected new core banking software provider and system as it is aiming to become a fully-fledged bank in 2017. ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) has won the contract to supply its flagship ICS Banks system to BOND.
People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ), a state-owned bank in Tanzania, has concluded its core banking system selection. The bank has signed a deal with ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) to implement the vendor’s ICS Banks platform.
Ghana-based Beige Capital Savings and Loans (BCSL) is in the final stages of rolling out Temenos’ T24 core banking system. The T24 project formally kicked off in February this year, after the November 2015 launch of BCSL’s new technology centre in Accra. During that same period consultants from Temenos and London-based systems integrator Jethro were […]
Who is investing in what? Our latest fintech funding round-up, mercifully brief as usual. Featuring ApplePie Capital and Firepay.
Orabank, a retail, SME and corporate banking group based out of Togo, has completed the implementation the Sopra Banking Amplitude core system, supplied by Sopra Banking Software. The new, standardised solution has been rolled out across 12 countries in West and Central Africa.
Housing and Development Bank (HDB) in Egypt has gone live with new core banking software, Temenos’ T24. The new system ousted an in-house legacy development that “had been deeply customised to cater for HDB’s specific requirements”, according to Temenos.
Barclays Africa and Techstars are inviting start-ups to apply for the Barclays Accelerator programme – “an initiative aimed at uncovering the next M-Pesa or Paypal”.
National Bank of Malawi is implementing the FraudGuardian platform from Swiss specialist vendor NetGuardians. The new solution will “protect customers’ data and prevent fraud,” the vendor says.
The economy of the future will need a vastly different platform for making payments. Consumers and corporations will need access to easier, faster and flexible platforms. I have entered the market with the bold objective of bringing to South Africa and Africa, the revolutions underway in global payments infrastructure – and the necessity of re-design to keep up with the “payments Joneses”.
Nigeria-based Sterling Bank has gone live with a new core banking system – Temenos’ T24 – in a “big-bang” switchover. The new platform was rolled out across the entire branch network of Sterling – 185 locations. The platform is used to support all main retail and corporate operations of the bank. Temenos refers to the […]
South Africa’s insurance group Discovery has received the green light from the regulators to set up a bank – the anticipation is that a banking licence will be granted within a year.
Pan-African banking group Ecobank has launched its Ecobank Mobile App across the continent – the “first unified app delivered by any institution for use in 33 countries”. Ecobank says the app will give it the “scale and capacity” to achieve its target of attaining 100 million customers. Ecobank Group CEO Ade Ayeyemi says the app […]
Correspondent banking enables banks to access products and services which might otherwise be unavailable. By enabling cross-border transactions and access to overseas products, correspondent banking plays an important role in the global payments landscape, states Swift.
BGFI Bank, the Gabon-based financial services conglomerate, has chosen Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX regulatory reporting software for its French and European banking authority reporting obligations. The bank is also using the firm’s Regulatory Update Service. This service is maintained by Wolters Kluwer experts who actively monitor regulation in approximately 50 countries, “helping to ensure the solution […]
The big four retail and commercial banks in South Africa – Standard Bank, Absa/Barclays Africa, FirstRand and Nedbank – have been upping their games in information technology (IT) expenditure.
Extending the reach of financial services in emerging markets is an ongoing challenge and opportunity for traditional banks. Telcos have led the relatively recent development of mobile money products with great success; achieved primarily through the use of innovative technology and agents on the ground. GMSA reports that 37 mobile money markets have ten times […]
International microfinance entity Microcred plans to become a fully-fledged retail bank and grow its presence from nine to 17 countries by 2020. It has opted to keep its long-standing technology provider, Temenos, and upgrade to a single instance of the vendor’s flagship system, T24. It will be operated from Dakar, Senegal. Microcred has recently signed […]
Welcome to the bundle. South Africa’s First National Bank has launched its own-branded smartphones as it looks to mobile banking growth. The ConeXis X1 and A1 phones will be available from 380 branches around the country and come bundled with FNB’s smartphone banking app. Jan Kleynhans, CEO of the FNB Consumer Segment, says the initiative […]
One of South Africa’s largest health insurers, Discovery, is a step closer to selecting a core banking system for its new bank, Banking Technology understands. Discovery went public on its plans to launch a brand new full-service retail bank in South Africa last year. As part of this ambition, it acquired the majority stake in […]
Standard Chartered is rolling out a suite of fingerprint and voice biometric technologies across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The bank says the launch reaches more than five million clients, and is the “most extensive rollout of fingerprint biometric technology by any international bank and a first in most markets”. It is on a […]
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) – Egypt has gone live on Temenos’ Treasury Trader. Treasury Trader was launched in 2010 and is a front to back office solution. It will integrate with the bank’s Temenos T24 core banking system. Pakistan-based National Data Consultants (NDC), a regional partner of Temenos, carried out the implementation. NBK – […]
Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) has gone live with Millennium Exchange for equities and fixed income trading and Millennium Surveillance to monitor trading and “detect unusual behaviour”. The solutions will be underpinned by the Millennium Advanced Platform (MAP), and are all provided by Sri Lanka-based MillenniumIT; which was acquired by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in […]
Absa has launched a MasterCard-powered digital wallet and ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger. ChatBanking will let customers conduct banking without having to leave the social media platform; and follows on from the recent introduction of Absa ChatBanking on Twitter in May. Ashley Veasey, group CIO and chief digital officer at Barclays Africa (Absa is majority owned […]
