Everyday Loans automates IFRS 9 compliance with Jaywing
Everyday Loans, a UK-based provider of “loans for bad credit”, has signed for Jaywing’s Horizon solution for IFRS 9 modelling and provision calculation.
Europe
Interview: Ben Brabyn, Level39 – high rise
In the beating business heart of London, Banking Technology met Ben Brabyn, head of tech hub Level39, for an exclusive interview on Brexit, rivalry and how success isn’t a zero-sum game.
UK fintech start-up DueCourse goes into administration
UK-based DueCourse, a cloud-based invoice financing start-up, has run its course with the revelation that it has gone into administration. The bad news comes less than a year after it received £6.25 million in funding from investors, including the founders of TransferWise, and non-fintech firms such as LinkedIn, Zoopla and Lovefilm. According to online publication […]
Top fintech stories this week – 28 July 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Vipera acquires SoftTelecom for $1.5m
Mobile financial services company Vipera is acquiring SoftTelecom. The deal is expected to close for $1.5 million (€1.3 million).
SIX buys girocard network
SIX Payment Services is buying the Frankfurt-based girocard network operations business from VÖB-ZVD Processing, a subsidiary of Deutsche Postbank, reports Paybefore, Banking Technology‘s sister publication. The agreement provides for the customer relationships, employees and assets of the network operations business being transferred in full to SIX Payment Services as part of the acquisition. The terms of […]
Alipay comes to Greece via Viva Payments
Paytech firm Viva Payments is bringing Alipay to Greece. A strategic partnership between the two companies will see Alipay users “access the service for the first time” while visiting the country.
Bank of Cyprus in digital transformation with IBM
Bank of Cyprus has selected IBM as its “strategic partner” for its digital transformation plan.
Legal & General Insurance unveils fintech business
Legal & General Insurance (LGI) has created a new business to build and buy into a range of fintech companies. LGI says its fintech subsidiary Investments Discounts Online (IDOL), which was established in 1999, will form a key part of the new fintech business area. Nick Frankland, who’s been with LGI since 2010, will take […]
Visa expands with data centres in Singapore and UK
Visa is expanding its transaction-processing capabilities with two data centres in Singapore and the UK, reports Paybefore, Banking Technology‘s sister publication. The new global processing hubs will “increase the speed, resilience and geo-diversity of Visa’s infrastructure, while strengthening the company’s ability to deliver new and more sophisticated ways to pay in today’s hyper-connected global economy,” […]
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit gets hacked
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit has been the victim of a security breach due to unauthorised access through an Italian third-party provider to customer data – with up to 400,000 customers potentially affected. The incident is confined to Italy and relates to personal loans only. The bank says a first breach seems to have occurred in […]
3SI Security Systems’ European business acquired by Cennox
UK-based banking software specialist Cennox has completed the acquisition of 3SI Security System’s European division.
Worldline to buy Baltics payment processor from First Data for €73m
France’s Worldline is buying 100% of the share capital of First Data’s fully owned subsidiaries in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia (aka First Data Baltics or FDB) for around €73 million, financed by available cash. This latest deal follows on from earlier this month, when Worldline announced a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital […]
UK regulator balances the looks for current accounts
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched proposals to help people compare the service levels for personal and business current accounts. The FCA proposes that firms offer information on how long it takes to open an account; how long it takes to replace a lost, stolen or stopped debit card; and the number and […]
PCFG has banking licence restriction lifted, goes live with core and digital banking tech
UK-based Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCFG) has had its banking licence restrictions lifted. It has gone live with a new core banking system, Temenos’ T24, a front-end digital platform from Sandstone Technology and the ICS lease and loan administration solution from Sopra Banking Software.
UK Government plans new cybersecurity innovation centre
The UK is fighting back against cyberattacks with a new cybersecurity innovation centre in London and investment of up to £14.5 million to develop technology to help keep the nation safe. The investment will be made over the next three years to bolster the UK’s cybersecurity defences, and follows on from February, when the new […]
Germany’s National Bank overhauls IT infrastructure with Atos
Germany-based National Bank has selected Atos for a five and a half year contract to revamp its IT infrastructure. The contract includes data centre, server, mainframe, database and storage services. Atos will deliver the operation and maintenance of the internet and application servers; and be responsible for creating customised security solutions. Thomas Stephan, head of […]
Aire pulls in $5m, lands partnerships with Zopa and Toyota Financial Services
Alternative credit scoring company, Aire, has raised $5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Sunstone Capital, with funds also coming from White Star Capital, which led the company’s 2016 seed round. Aire’s funding now totals $12 million, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The London-based company plans to use the funds […]
The end of IBIS3G core banking system?
Berner Kantonalbank (Banque Cantonale de Berne or BEKB/BCBE), one of the last users of the IBIS3G core banking system, is pondering the system’s future as the contract with system provider is terminated.
Mastercard triumphs against £14bn collective action lawsuit
Mastercard can breathe a sigh of relief as the £14 billion lawsuit – a collective action over card charges that were passed on to shoppers – has been stopped by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal. As reported last year, Mastercard faced the massive lawsuit. The claim was headed by ex-financial services ombudsman Walter Merricks, who […]
Investment firm Permira buys into Klarna’s banking ambitions
Investment firm Permira will acquire a 10% equity stake in Swedish payments and banking firm Klarna. As part of the deal, Permira will buy shares from existing shareholders General Atlantic, DST Global and Niklas Adalberth, upon receipt of approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen). Once the transfer is complete, General Atlantic and DST […]
Data Pitch launches European accelerator
Data Pitch has unleashed its new accelerator in the search for start-ups and SMEs across Europe with fresh ideas for data products and services. The plan is to connect data providers “with nagging business problems” to firms with the right solutions. It’s not limited to fintech, but successful applicants will receive up to €100,000 equity […]
House of Lords launches artificial intelligence inquiry
The UK’s House of Lords wants you to come clean on the rise of the machines – with a call for feedback on the economic, ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence (AI). The House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence is asking for contributions to its inquiry and is looking for pragmatic solutions […]
“Game changer” Jargon Bank appoints sales director
The fintech world has been left breathless and bewitched by the stunning revelation that UK-based challenger Jargon Bank has appointed a sales director. As reported last year, the “game changer” bank launched offering “compelling and innovative” products. This was followed in February with a payments app update; an office move in March; and a cat […]
TSB goes dotty for iris scanning tech
The buzz for biometrics gets bigger with TSB now eyeing up the launch of iris scanning tech to let users login into bank accounts by glancing at their phone. According to the BBC, some TSB customers will be able to do this from September when the bank introduces iris recognition to its mobile banking app. […]
Bank of England opens up RTGS service to fintech competition
The Bank of England (BoE) is opening up access to settlement accounts in its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system with the goal to promote fintech innovation and competition. The bank says it’s extending access to non-bank payment service providers (PSPs), offering direct access to the UK’s sterling payment systems. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), […]
Synechron signs Calypso post-trade deal with SIX
Swiss financial services provider SIX has selected Synechron as the systems integrator for the Calypso v15 solution as an update to its post-trade services. The deal is part of the SFR (securities finance renewal) programme, with the objective to revamp SIX’s post-trade services where it acts as a contractual triparty agent for its clients to […]
IBM blockchain powers Borsa Italiana’s digital securities scheme
Italy’s only stock exchange Borsa Italiana, part of London Stock Exchange Group, and IBM are building a blockchain solution to digitise the issuance of securities for unlisted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe. The aim is to simplify the tracking and management of shareholding information, and create a distributed shared registry containing a record […]
Irish Stock Exchange goes live on Deutsche Börse’s T7 trading tech
The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) has implemented Deutsche Börse’s new T7 trading platform for the Irish equity market. According to Deutsche Börse, this new platform reduces cost for international trading firms to connect and trade equities on the ISE, due to lower development and maintenance costs for firms, which are active on T7 across multiple […]
Monzo gently rolls out current account
Mobile-only challenger bank Monzo is taking it nice and easy with a steady roll-out of its current account. The bank, which received its full UK banking licence in April, says it’s been using the current account internally and today (17 July) is now inviting some of its customers to join and “help put it through […]
FinLeap reveals new €39m funding, partners and HQ
German fintech incubator FinLeap has a spring in its step with new capital, new partners and a new HQ. The company has raised around €39 million from several investors, including the German Insurer Signal Iduna, SBI Group from Japan and the Dutch NIBC bank. Furthermore, the reinsurer Hannover Re, as a “big institutional investor”, raised […]
Commerzbank preps for major job losses
As part of its massive job cutting spree, Commerzbank has agreed an outline reconciliation of interests and social plan with the employee representative committees in Germany. As reported last year, Commerzbank firmed up plans to lay off nearly 5,000 people. According to a letter by German labour union Verdi, the majority of these job cuts […]
Debit cards knock off cash as No. 1 payment method in UK
Cash is no longer king in the UK, according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Payments Survey, which found that debit card transactions accounted for almost 43% of all retail transactions in 2016, overtaking cash, which accounted for 42% of all retail transactions, for the first time. Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore reports that […]
UK watchdog backs PSR plan for merger of three payment bodies
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has got approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its plan for the consolidation of the operators of three payment systems. As first reported in May, the PSR aimed to get Bacs Payment Schemes (BPSL), Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) and the Faster Payments Scheme (FPSL) […]
Falcon Private Bank flies into blockchain asset management nest
Falcon is the “first” Swiss private bank to provide blockchain asset management solutions for its clients through a new co-operation with crypto financial broker Bitcoin Suisse. The bank’s clients can exchange and hold Bitcoins via Falcon using their cash holdings. Additionally, a Bitcoin ATM has been installed in the lobby of the bank’s headquarters in […]
Darktrace raises $75m to fight cybercrime with AI
Darktrace, a start-up that tackles cybercrime with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, has raised $75 million in a Series D round, reports Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The latest capital injection values the company at $825 million, testament to the security threat faced by network operators and fintech enterprises and the power of machine learning technology. […]
Mothership launches blockchain exchange for Estonia’s e-residency
Mothership, a digital asset exchange, has launched offering a cloud hosting platform and wallet for blockchain financial services around the Estonian e-residency programme. The start-up is the “first company of its kind” to integrate with e-residency. As reported in May, the Baltic state unveiled this programme to let anyone apply to join its new digital […]
HSBC and Barclays pilot banking without borders
A consortium of European private and public sector organisations are testing out the use of a citizen’s national digital identity from France to open a bank account in the UK. The group comprises HSBC, Barclays, the UK Government Digital Service (GDS), Orange, OT-Morpho and the Open Identity Exchange (OIX UK). The project is co-financed by […]
Fidor adds a touch of Nutmeg to banking with Seedrs
Seedrs will be the sole equity finance provider in a new partnership with challenger bank Fidor.
Intesa Sanpaolo teams with iwoca for SME lending
SME lender iwoca and Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo are partnering to provide Intesa’s SME clients with credit products. The partnership coincides with an investment in iwoca by Neva Finventures, Intesa Sanpaolo’s fintech venture capital arm. Maurizio Montagnese, chief innovation officer at Intesa Sanpaolo, adds that the “industrial synergies” between the firms “could be significant in the […]
