North America


Who will win the battle for millennials – Zelle or Venmo?

As a Gen Xer, I have always had difficulty relating to the obsessive appeal social media has to millennials. Tweeting and Facebook posting of mundane daily events seemed like over-sharing and just a little narcissistic to me. This is not an intellectual problem of understanding the concepts or technologies, but a kind of generational disparity […]

Randolph Savings Bank in early contract renewal with Fiserv

Massachusetts-based community bank, Randolph Savings Bank, has renewed its long-term contract with Fiserv for a host of back and front office solutions. The renewal was spurred on by the bank’s IPO. Randolph Savings Bank floated its shares in July. It also completed the integration of its earlier acquisition – First Eastern Bankshares Corporation and its […]

Top ten lending sites in the US – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the lending companies in the US? We have put together some nifty stats for the US top ten online lending sites for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller […]

GMEX tech to underpin new swap execution facility, Seed SEF

Chicago-based swap execution facility, Seed SEF, has been granted full registration by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is underpinned by the GMEX Technologies’ trading and surveillance software. GMEX is also a stakeholder in Seed SEF. SEFs are trading facilities that operate under the CFTC’s regulatory oversight for trading and processing swaps. They […]

US Bank Wealth Management teams with FutureAdvisor for automated investing

US Bank Wealth Management is partnering with FutureAdvisor to offer automated investing capabilities to clients of its affiliate US Bancorp Investments. FutureAdvisor, an investment advisory firm owned by BlackRock, expects the service to be available to US Bancorp Investments clients in 2017. Mark Jordahl, president of US Bank Wealth Management, says: “Moving forward we believe […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the US – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the US retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the US for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller […]

Meridian Credit Union plans to take on top Canadian banks by launching own bank

One of Canada’s ten largest credit unions, Meridian CU, is looking to launch a new digital bank and has applied for a banking licence. “We believe, and our research shows, that there is a clear desire in the marketplace for an innovative digital bank that offers a true full-service alternative to the big banks,” states […]

Cisco to cut 5,500 jobs in order to refocus on IoT and the cloud

US networking gear giant Cisco has announced it will be cutting 5,500 jobs to reinvest the consequent savings on strategic growth areas like IoT, cloud, data centres and collaboration, reports Scott Bicheno at Telecoms.com. The announcement was made as part of the company’s quarterly earnings announcement, which revealed flat revenue growth but improved profitability. It […]

New core banking software project for Temenos in Canada

Integris CU, a credit union in Canada’s British Columbia, is implementing a new core banking platform, Banking Technology understands. This is Temenos’ T24. In addition, the credit union will also deploy Temenos Connect (digital channels) and Insight BI (business intelligence), it is understood. No comment was available from Integris. Integris was formed in 2005 as […]

SS&C’s Global Wealth Platform live at Smead Capital

Seattle-based Smead Capital Management has gone live with a new wealth management platform – Global Wealth Platform (GWP) – provided by SS&C Technologies. The solution is delivered in the cloud. GWP replaced Smead Capital’s legacy solution supplied by a third party. SS&C says Smead Capital was looking to increase automation “simply and cost-effectively” and to […]

Two credit unions on to Fiserv’s OnCU core processing solution

Two US credit unions have selected Fiserv’s integrated OnCU core account processing solution suites. Badlands Federal Credit Union, based in Montana, and Danville City Employees Federal Credit Union, based in Virginia, will use the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) suites. The solutions will be customised for each of them. Lisa Tickle, manager of Danville City Employees FCU, says: […]

NCR Interactive Teller tech passes 300 milestone

NCR Corporation has revealed US-based Bank of Oak Ridge and Gorham Savings Bank are the latest financial institutions (FIs) to deploy its Interactive Teller technology – taking the total number of customers beyond 300. With the tech, consumers can interact via video and audio with their banks’ remote-based video teller. NCR says its software gives […]

Mystery as Mexican Bitcoin exchange goes offline

Mexico’s third-largest Bitcoin exchange, MeXBT, has gone offline without any prior warning – leaving its users confused. The firm’s website has gone and now just says “the page you are looking for cannot be found”. Its Twitter account is slightly more helpful and says (in Spanish) the platform has been suspended temporarily and it needs […]

Losses at the double for Lending Club

Lending Club has experienced a double blow – with a net loss of $81.4 million and the departure of its CFO. These latest developments follow in the wake of the recent jobs cuts and reorganisation of its top brass. That was all initiated as the firm is looking to rebuild investor confidence following the untimely […]

Visa Direct expands real-time payments in US

Visa says more banks and companies in the US have chosen Visa Direct to expand their real-time payment services, including PayPal, Fiserv and Square. Visa Direct is a payments platform designed to allow financial institutions, developers and partners to offer real-time person-to-person (P2P) payments and business disbursements such as insurance claims payments, contractor payments, tax […]

Vanbex and NetCents bank on blockchain in Canada

Services firm Vanbex Group and payments provider NetCents Technology have teamed up to speed up the adoption of blockchain to Canadian banks. NetCents will be integrating Vanbex’s Genisys product, a blockchain-integrated payment platform that offers a turn-key transaction messaging system for cross-border payments, to work in conjunction with the Swift and Clearing House Interbank Payments […]

DCI gains nine new iCore360 core banking system takers

Kansas-based banking software developer, Data Centre Inc (DCI), has onboarded nine new clients for its flagship iCore360 core banking system. The new banks have joined over the last ten months, says the vendor. These are: Oregon Pacific Bank, Oregon Star Bank, Minnesota First National Bank of Steeleville, Illinois Millennium Bank, Kansas First State Bank of […]

Green Dot’s Active Card Metrics Propel Q2 Results

Per-card revenue for active cards and better unit economics on new products boosted second-quarter revenues for Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot, which beat revenue expectations for the second consecutive quarter.

Meridian Trust Federal Credit Union swaps in-house core deployment for outsourcing

Wyoming-based Meridian Trust FCU has converted to a hosted version of its core processing system, Symitar’s Episys. The credit union originally installed it in 2010 in-house. Symitar (a subsidiary of one of the “big four” core processors in the US, Jack Henry) says that as the time came to update its servers, Meridian Trust decided […]

TMX Group embarks on business integration initiative

Canada’s major exchange, depository and clearing group – TMX – has unveiled a new initiative that is set to transform the company into “a client-driven solutions provider to the Canadian and global capital markets”. TMX states that “the objective of the initiative is to align, simplify and integrate relevant systems and operations to both lower […]

New data and analytics solution for Aequitas NEO Exchange

Canada’s newest stock exchange, Aequitas NEO Exchange, has implemented the hosted version of OneTick platform, supplied by OneMarketData. The new platform underpins the exchange’s data and advanced analytics service, OneTickCloud. OneTickCloud supports global equities and futures tick history, reference data, and adjustment factors, and provides on-demand analytics for creating custom datasets. Karl Ottywill, COO at […]

MasterCard credit card chips surge in US

MasterCard says 80% of its US consumer credit cards have chips, an 88% increase in their adoption since the 1 October 2015 liability shift started to bring EMV-secured payments to the country. The company has had to do this due to the change in law. It says it also sees 1.7 million chip-active merchant locations […]

Texas-based Frontier Bank implements new board portal, DirectorsLink

Banc Intranets, a US provider of enterprise content management software, has onboarded Frontier Bank for its DirectorsLink web-based board portal. The Texan bank “sought to reduce time and costs associated with its board processes”, according to the vendor. DirectorsLink was chosen at the recommendation of Frontier Bank’s IT security vendor, Solis. The bank is now […]

Pennsylvania credit union goes live with Temenos’ lifecycle management suite

Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU) has gone live with Temenos’ Lifecycle Management Suite’s account origination module. Temenos says PSECU was looking for a method to “streamline” the account opening process for both deposit and loan-based accounts. Andrew Coy, AVP of lending, PSECU, says the account origination solution goes “hand-in-hand with the other Temenos Lifecycle […]

Bank of Montreal signs for Kyc.com service

Bank of Montreal has signed onto Kyc.com’s service to streamline the collection and management of KYC (Know Your Customer) information. Kyc.com, a joint venture between IHS Markit and Genpact, says it standardises and centralises operations around client onboarding and due diligence. Michele Trogni, executive vice-president, consolidated markets and solutions for IHS Markit, says the addition […]

Boston Trust selects SS&C for outsourcing services

Boston Trust & Investment Management Company has selected SS&C Technologies’ Advent Outsourcing Services for hosting and data management. As part of the agreement, SS&C will provide portfolio accounting and reporting, trade order management, compliance and revenue management via products such as Advent Portfolio Exchange (APX), Moxy, Advent Rules Manager, and Advent Revenue Center. Kenneth Pickering, […]

Payments Canada pushes for innovation drive

The Canadian payments space needs to have more flexible and secure systems to promote innovation, according to a public consultation carried out by Payments Canada (formerly the Canadian Payments Association, CPA), the operator of the nation’s payment clearing and settlement system. In its “Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem” report, done in collaboration with more […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the US – June 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the US retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the US for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller […]

Fiserv gains with Dakota Plains

Dakota Plains Credit Union has replaced its existing system with an integrated technology suite from Fiserv, including XP2 for core account processing. The North Dakota-based credit union will also use Fiserv’s Virtual Branch for online banking, Mobiliti for mobile banking, CheckFree RXP for electronic payments, Statement Advantage for statements and e-statements, Wisdom for comprehensive accounting […]

Wells Fargo and NCR partner for retail banking innovation

NCR Corporation and Wells Fargo have established a team focused on research and development in ATM and retail banking customer experience. Over the past eight years, NCR and Wells Fargo have worked together on other projects. These range from cash- and check-processing to self-service devices. The latest agreement expands the relationship to a “more strategic […]

FIS revamps Bank Leumi USA’s tech platform

Bank Leumi USA, part of the Bank Leumi Group, has replaced its legacy technology platform with FIS’s banking and payments solutions, including core processing, branch, digital and mobile banking, compliance, risk and back office systems. FIS says it was a “big bang” project implementation and large in size and scope for a mid-sized banking institution. […]

Cidel Bank implementing ERI’S Olympic core banking system

Canada-based Cidel Bank & Trust is implementing ERI’s flagship Olympic core banking system. Banking Technology understands that the deal was inked at the start of 2016. The implementation has already begun, and will equip the Cidel group with portfolio management and reporting tools, an automated transaction processing capability and an omni-channel client service architecture. Craig Rimer, […]

BMO “first” for account opening with smartphones

BMO Bank of Montreal has introduced a new service that allows customers to open an account using their smartphone, without having to go to a branch or download an app. The bank says this “first-of-its-kind account opening capability” allows customers to search, select and open a new account with BMO “in minutes”. Niti Badarinath, head […]

FIS and PAI eye cardless cash expansion in US

FIS and Payment Alliance International (PAI) have teamed up to offer cardless cash services across the US. The partnership connects mobile solution FIS Cardless Cash to PAI – the nation’s “largest”, privately-held provider of ATM processing and maintenance services. FIS says the deal will “ultimately” expand to 70,000 ATMs in the PAI ATM network. Anthony […]

Encentus Federal Credit Union selects Fiserv’s Portico core processing system

Oklahoma-based Encentus Federal Credit Union has chosen Fiserv’s Portico core account processing platform for digital banking and lending services. The credit union is migrating from its current providers to Fiserv; and Misty Potter, president and CEO, Encentus, says Fiserv “will empower our credit union with the progressive and innovative technology to drive a more rewarding […]

HSBC dodges US money laundering charges

HSBC has escaped charges of money laundering by US officials due to fears by the Department of Justice (DOJ) it might create a “global financial disaster”. A US Congressional report shows that UK officials, including Chancellor George Osborne, used their clout to warn the US it could lead to market unrest. According to the BBC, […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 7 July 2016

With news on blockchain and Bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. In Switzerland, the city of Zug, is piloting the acceptance of Bitcoin for payments. From 1 July, residents could start to pay their taxes, fees and fines with the digital currency. The project is part […]

Torstone’s Inferno backs BNP Paribas in Fed Reserve deal

BNP Paribas Securities Services has become a direct securities participant to the US Federal Reserve through FedLine, its online financial services information and payment service. The company, a subsidiary of the BNP Paribas group, says this completes its direct connectivity to the US market on all securities instruments. BNP uses Torstone Technology’s post-trade securities and […]

FacePhi lands in Mexico with Selphi

Spanish biometrics firm FacePhi has signed a new contract with Mexico’s Banco Inbursa to implement its face recognition technology on mobile banking apps and web platforms. This is the company’s ninth contract in total. FacePhi says Banco Inbursa becomes the first financial institution in Mexico offering facial recognition authentication to its clients, “just by taking […]

Lending Club management reshuffle leads to job losses

Jobs will go as Lending Club reorganises its top brass and looks to rebuild investor confidence following the untimely resignation of former chairman and CEO Renaud Laplanche. Laplanche resigned in May following an internal review of sales of $22 million in near-prime loans to a “single investor”, in contravention of the investor’s express instructions, according […]