North America


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 […]

Cyberattack on Equifax threatens 143m US consumers

Information specialist Equifax has revealed a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million US consumers. It says criminals exploited a US website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files. Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorised access occurred from mid-May through July 2017. The company has found “no evidence of unauthorised activity on Equifax’s […]

Square wants to be a bank, sort of

Mobile point-of-sale pioneer Square Inc. is applying for an Industrial Loan Company (ILC) charter to support the expansion of its lending business, the volume of which grew 68 percent year-over-year in Q2 to $318 million.

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, […]

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.

Payments Industry Steps up to Help Harvey Victims

Several payments companies have announced efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, including monetary donations, interchange fee waivers and m-POS equipment.  

HSBC makes a GT Nexus for digital trade

HSBC’s customers in the US can now access GT Nexus’s digital commerce platform for managing supply chain processes. Vinay Mendonca, global head of product and propositions, global trade and receivables finance at HSBC, says: “We, and a number of our customers, identified GT Nexus as a platform that could help our customers improve their financing […]

NextLabs and NIST team for access rights management framework in financial services

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Department of Commerce promoting innovation and industrial competitiveness, and cybersecurity tech specialist NextLabs have partnered to develop a framework for implementing and administering access rights management (ARM) in the financial services sector.

How Does Your Prepaid Card Rank?

Two reports ranking U.S. consumer prepaid cards were released in August. Find out which cards made the lists and why.

Wells Fargo fake bank account scam gets bigger

The scandal of employees at Wells Fargo creating 2.1 million fake bank accounts and credit card numbers to boost sales figures has just got bigger. After an expanded third-party review of retail banking accounts dating back to the beginning of 2009, Wells Fargo reveals that the number is in fact 3.5 million accounts. As reported […]

Baxter Credit Union takes Temenos’ Lifecycle Management Suite to the cloud

Baxter Credit Union (BCU) has become the first taker of Temenos’ Lifecycle Management Suite in the cloud. The Illinois-based credit union is now live with the system delivered in the Microsoft Azure cloud. The functionality includes collection, service and loan origination. The project, which was completed in four months, also incorporated an upgrade spanning four […]

Digiliti Money rejects Urban FT offer

Prospective buyer Urban FT, which first announced its desire to acquire mobile app technology company Digiliti Money (DGLT) on 16 August, reports that its revised offer for the company has been rebuffed. DGLT has been silent since 14 August when it announced the delay of its second-quarter earnings report, pending an internal investigation and floating […]

Apple chases $200m tax incentives with Iowa data centre

It was a promise on the campaign trail from President Trump, and at least this one is coming true. Apple has been teased into opening a data centre on US soil with the promise of $207.8 million in tax incentives, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). As part of the project, Apple will purchase 2,000 […]

Accenture acquires fintech consulting firm Verax

Accenture has acquired Verax Solutions, a Toronto-based technology and systems-integration consulting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed. Verax is a privately-owned company founded in 2003 that employs around 180 people at offices in Toronto and Halifax. Its service areas include IT strategy, enterprise architecture consulting, project and programme management, financial risk and compliance solutions, as […]

Fraud prevention firm Emailage raises $10m funding

Fraud prevention and identity verification firm Emailage has raised $10 million in new funding. The round was led by Anthos Capital, and featured the participation of Mucker Capital, Radian Capital, Tallwave Capital, and Wipro Ventures, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). “This investment will allow us to continue our rapid growth, enhance our leadership position […]

USAmeriBank goes live on Finastra’s hosted payments hub

USAmeriBank has implemented Finastra’s hosted payments hub for US domestic and international wire transfers. As reported in April, USAmeriBank announced its payments hub plans – with the software supplier revealed as DH Corporation (D+H). In June, Misys and D+H joined forces to create Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world. Finastra […]

Walmart taps Google for omnichannel commerce play

Google and Walmart are teaming up to take on Amazon (and Alexa) with voice-activated commerce and more plans for 2018, reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. Starting in late September, the retail giant will be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via Google Assistant – the largest number […]

Mountain America CU chooses digital banking platform from Alkami

Utah-based Mountain America Credit Union (MACU), with $6.7 billion in assets, will deploy a new digital banking platform courtesy of Alkami Technology, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). The new platform will integrate with Mountain America CU’s existing core system and enable the 650,000 member institution to provide a variety of digital banking services including billpay and PFM. […]

Bank of America Merrill Lynch brings AI to accounts receivable

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) is launching a new solution – intelligent receivables – that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and other software to help companies “vastly improve” their straight-through reconciliation (STR) of incoming payments to help them post their receivables faster, reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. Intelligent receivables is designed for large or […]

Ondot Systems unveils card control integration platform

Card control firm Ondot Systems has released its multi-interface card control integration platform. The California-based company has combined a server-side API, mobile apps, and an HTML5 framework to give financial institutions (FIs) the ability to add card control technology to their mobile banking solutions, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). “Much as Facebook Messenger fits […]

US Consumers Union calls for more prepaid regs; NAFCU wants them rescinded

Plagued by delays, threatened by US Congressional repeal and finally opened to further comment and changes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on prepaid accounts now has some consumer groups calling for the bureau to “strengthen” consumer protections with additional changes, while one credit union association wants the rule rescinded. To refresh your […]

App economy dodges bullet as Uber wins in court

It’s a rare ray of sunshine for the under-fire Uber, as it won a key battle as the US Second Court of Appeals ruled its Terms and Conditions (T&C) were legally binding, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). Uber has proved to be a difficult ally to have in recent months with the firm facing […]

Fintech layoffs round-up: 18 August 2017

A distinctly cheerless round-up as we highlight some key moments regarding fintech layoffs. Features Simple and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). US-based digital banking service Simple has fired 33 staff members (about 10% of its workforce), including several executives, according to The Oregonian. Simple’s CMO, chief people officer, VP of operations, and VP of engineering […]

LendingRobot joins NSR Invest to form biggest roboadvisor in marketplace lending

P2P lending roboadvisor LendingRobot will join NSR Invest, creating what it calls “the largest independent roboadvisor in the alternative lending space”, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). LendingRobot explains in its blog that the “websites, operating, and trading systems” of each platform will continue to function as usual for the time being as the companies prepare […]

CIBC goes it alone with new Simplii Financial banking brand

Canada’s banking group CIBC has unveiled Simplii Financial, its new direct banking brand, signalling the end of its President’s Choice (PC) Financial consumer banking business with retailer Loblaw. Mike Boluch, EVP, direct banking, innovation and payments, CIBC, says Simplii will deliver “straightforward, no-fee everyday banking” and offer services by telephone, online, or through mobile and […]

Jemstep the right roboadvisor step for KeyBank

When roboadvisor firm Jemstep was acquired by investment management company Invesco a year and a half ago, Invesco CEO Martin Flanagan highlighted the importance of combining technology and human insight to produce better investment outcomes for customers. Now Jemstep has partnered with KeyBank’s Key Investment Services (KIS), to provide another opportunity for Invesco’s roboadvisor to […]

US Senator questions big banks on CFPB arbitration

As expected, US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is not going to let the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on arbitration agreements go down without a fight. The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protections wants big banks – not just their lobbyists – to address the […]

Samsung to power biometric authentication pilot for Bank of America

Samsung will launch a pilot programme that enables Bank of America (BofA) customers to log into their mobile banking app by taking a picture of their eye, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). According to a report from American Banker’s Penny Crosman, half of BofA’s customers are using fingerprint authentication to log into their app, […]

Is Prosper prospering?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Prosper released its second quarter earnings recently, just days after the company shuttered its consumer-facing bill management system.

Where top US banks are investing in fintech – CB Insights

Since 2012, the top ten US banks (by assets under management) have participated in 72 rounds totaling $3.6 billion to 56 fintech companies, according to CB Insights. While investment activity dropped on a quarterly basis in Q1 2017, four of the last five quarters have seen over $1 billion invested into fintech start-ups in the US backed by venture capital firms.