Dubai-based Mashreq has confirmed its future as a branchless bank, with the launch of its digital entity Mashreq Neo. As reported in May, Mashreq was mulling the branchless route in a speech by CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair at its 50th anniversary ceremony. At that time, Banking Technology expected this to be a digital bank […]
Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank has unveiled a new digital platform, Falcon Pulse, as it looks to boost its ambitions in wealth management. Main features will include an algo trader that daily rebalances a portfolio’s asset allocation to “optimise” performance as well as an idea generating tool that will screen market information to offer the “best […]
Israeli equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has furthered its global expansion by opening an office in Spain, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The company’s founder and CEO Jon Medved has identified Spain and the Iberian region as one of OurCrowd’s “priority markets” since Madrid is in the heart of Europe and a gateway […]
International paytech firm First Data and a bank in North Carolina, Live Oak, have partnered to form a new digital banking joint venture (JV) called Apiture.
TSB has selected Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Dynamics 365 cloud solution as part of its digital banking revamp for its eight corporate centres and 550 branches. Microsoft 365 integrates Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security into a solution to help the bank’s 8,500 employees. Dynamics 365 delivers a cloud-based suite of applications […]
Mobile banking is nothing without mobiles, and as Apple leads the way in innovation it provides opportunities for banks to do things differently too. So, with the launch of the iPhone X, what is next for mobile banking in a world that can’t get enough of phone upgrades?
OCBC Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), together with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has become the “first consortium” in South East Asia to complete a proof of concept for a know your customer (KYC) blockchain. The parties say the development “raises the possibility” of using blockchain to make KYC “more efficient […]
Luminor Bank is the new name and brand for the unified operations of Nordea and DNB in the Baltics region.
Norway-based banking tech vendor Evry will provide Finland’s Aktia Bank with the “entire value chain for card payments”, including virtual debit and credit cards for the bank’s digital proposition, Aktia Wallet.
News comes from Russia with love as Sberbank, the country’s largest bank, and Telegram, a messenger API, have partnered up to develop a payment solution for firms using Telegram bots.
Sirin Labs is a recognisable name if you know where to look. Last year, it brought you a £11,400 smartphone with “military grade” security, and now it wants to bring you a blockchain smartphone called Finney.
Blockchain-based commercial bonds on the Russian market, Bitcoin recognition in Japan and new digital currency in Dubai. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features National Settlement Depository, bitFlyer and Dubai Economy. Starting off in Russia, the National Settlement Depository (NSD) has unveiled the first blockchain-based commercial bonds on the Russian market based on Hyperledger Fabric […]
Banco Santander, through Santander Universities and Fundación Universia, will work with internet of things (IoT) institute Mioti to provide training grants and courses in the growing IoT sector. Madrid-based Mioti, “the first 100% IoT institute in Spain”, is a place for companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop their ideas. Banco Santander becomes one of four […]
London-based startup Curve, a mobile app that enables users to spend from all their accounts with one card, is dangling a juicy carrot in front of small business owners and freelancers—it will handle their expense reports.
Ethiopia-based Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO), has gone live with new core banking software, Temenos’ T24.
Robo-advisors are software programmes that provide financial advice with minimal human intervention. Software has been providing advice for half a century, from portfolio management to trading strategies to currency management, and more. The novelty is providing robo-advice direct to consumers. Robo-advice costs less than “bricks & mortar & human” services, hopefully harvesting a bigger market. […]
The last 24 hours for payments start-up Revolut haven’t been kind after its services went down due to a server failure. Not only was it painful for the engineers working to ensure the services are back up, but also painful to the customers who at the time couldn’t access their accounts. Revolut CEO, Nikolay Storonsky, […]
The EBA has to move out of London because of Brexit. With an influx of tech, startups and financial services providers, Ireland is making a case for Dublin.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has launched its SFC Regulatory Sandbox to provide a place for firms to test out their ideas. Like other regulators, the SFC says: “For the sake of market integrity and better investor protection, the reliability of the delivery of such financial services as well as the firms’ internal […]
EXCLUSIVE: Bank of the West, a large regional bank in the US and a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, is embarking on a major tech overhaul with Infosys, it is believed.
Marketplace banking has the potential to deliver an interconnected financial services industry where banks can get closer to their small business customers explains Five Degrees’ Peter-Jan Van de Venn.
Oh brave new world! Where transparency reigns. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
For those in employed in financial services, technology has always been important – integrated systems for operations and execution have been with us for decades. But to the banking customer at a High Street branch the advances in technology may not be obvious. However, slowly and surely innovations from the fintech sector are filtering down to the mass-market.
TymeDigital, a South African online money transfer business bought by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) two years ago, has been granted a banking licence. The first licence issued to a new bank by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) since 1999. TymeDigital will enter a retail banking market dominated by South Africa’s five biggest banks: […]
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled a number of initiatives as it looks to improve the region’s use of payments, APIs and innovation. In a speech delivered during the Annual Banking Conference of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers, Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA, outlined its grand ambitions. Chan says: “The […]
Luxoft Financial Services is moving into the Avaloq implementation and consulting business with the acquisition of Unafortis, a Swiss wealth management consultancy firm.
Timex and Barclaycard have partnered in true style to produce a new range of contactless payment watches. The Fairfield Contactless promises to be a perfect fusion of style and smart functionality. Coming in at a retail price of £159, it’s all about the leather bPay embedded strap, which brings wearable technology to the wrist. bPay […]
Nimbla, a London-based insurtech start-up, has launched a platform offering UK SMEs credit control and single invoice insurance using cloud accounting, as well as underwriting rules agreed upon by Munich Re’s new business unit Digital Partners. The firm says it is looking to tap into the UK’s SME market that has a reported £5.8 billion […]
Funding Societies, a Singapore-based crowdfunding platform, has launched its chatbot Miyu. A first for such a chatbot created by a crowdfunding company in Southeast Asia. Developed by two interns at Funding Societies using bot platforms meya.ai and api.ai, combined with machine learning and natural language processing, Miyu works round the clock to answer queries about […]
Millennial-focused brokerage firm Stockpile has pulled in $30 million this week in a Series B funding round led by Fidelity.
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Following testing by Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, to deliver cash to clients using a custom-made drone, the arrival of more frequent cash deliveries by drones look to be just around the corner, with reports suggesting as early as the end of 2017.
Calligo, a global cloud solution provider, has purchased AMS Systems PSF, a Luxembourg based IT services business that provides managed services and cloud infrastructure to the financial sector. Financial terms were not disclosed but the acquisition means big things for Calligo. Not only does it allow further expansion, but also access to AMS Systems’ technology […]
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is setting up an asset management authorisation hub to support start-ups entering the lively market. In a speech at the “FT Investment Management Summit Europe 2017”, Megan Butler, executive director of supervision – investment, wholesale and specialist, FCA, says the hub will help start-ups as they move between pre-authorisation […]
Singapore-headquartered start-up Instarem has entered the European paytech arena and will now provide international money transfer services from Vilnius in Lithuania. The Bank of Lithuania has issued an approval for the electronic money institution (EMI) licence. As reported last year, the bank, the country’s central bank and regulator, promised to provide preliminary answers to financial […]
While Google is doing its impression of a petulant child, storming home from the park with its football tucked under its arm by barring Amazon Echo Show access to YouTube, Amazon has drafted a host of reinforcements for its Alexa offensive, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). For the most part, the majority of the news […]
The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the City of Milan have opened the “Milan Fintech District”, the country’s first hub dedicated to businesses in the financial industry. The hub is for start-ups, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, investors and universities to foster development and growth. Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, says the […]
HSBC UK is taking steps in a new direction with its first foray into open banking. Starting with the introduction of a new testing platform, HSBC Beta, this allows HSBC to get its feet wet before diving in with a fully fleshed out app for customers in 2018. Still, the testing platform won’t be no […]
Saxo Payments Banking Circle, has become the benefactor of an Emerging Payments Association (EPA) project to support the growth of early stage fintech companies around the world.
Visa employees have a saying that “cash is our biggest competitor.” Mightier threats, however, are looming.
