FinTech


Six Startupbootcamp stars secure sweet deals in India

Six graduating start-ups from Startupbootcamp FinTech Mumbai have secured pilots with banks and corporates such as RBL Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI). At Startupbootcamp’s demo day at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai, 11 start-ups showcased technologies in financial services to more than 400 guests. Propositions included SME banking, blockchain, digital […]

Deutsche Bank feels the fourth on GBST Syn system in Australia

Securities processing software vendor GBST has migrated the back and middle-office operations of Deutsche Bank from the legacy GBST Shares platform to GBST Syn for processing the bank’s equity market trades in Australia. This is GBST’s fourth live Syn installation in the country. Other users are Macquarie Bank, Citi Australia and brokerage and investment firm […]

Fintech funding round-up: 2 June 2017

The money’s rolling in for fintech – as this round-up follows hot on the heels from 30 May. This latest report features Zopa, RateSetter and Niyogin Fintech. The plans of peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Zopa to launch a new digital-only bank in the UK are going well as it has completed a £32 million funding round […]

Hong Kong launches IPO support system for start-ups

Hong Kong is looking to boost its fintech scene with an initiative to help tech firms take the right road for their initial public offering (IPO). Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) have launched their “Road to IPO” platform. It’s not purely for fintech as the […]

Sweden’s SEB selects CGI for trade transaction action

Swedish financial services group SEB has selected Canada-based CGI’s Trade360 solution for trade finance and emerging digital technologies, such as blockchain. CGI Trade360 is a cloud-based transaction platform and includes a portal for end-to-end transaction management, including regulatory compliance. SEB is the first bank headquartered in Europe that will implement the solution. Robert Pehrson, head […]

Sterling Bank and Trust signs for iFinancial BankWare core system

Sterling Bank and Trust, a new bank in the Bahamas, has selected the BankWare core system from UK-based International Financial Systems’ (iFinancial). The bank will be using the multi-currency accounting, exposure management, current accounts, deposits, loans, payments, and Swift modules from the BankWare portfolio of retail and wholesale banking solutions. The bank is part of […]

InvestCloud wins deal with South African wealth manager

US-based InvestCloud has a spring(bok) in its step as it has been appointed by South Africa’s Anchor Private Clients to provide digital client communication and client reporting solutions. Johannesburg-headquartered Anchor Private Clients, the private client division of Anchor Group, specialises in investment management and advice for private clients across South Africa and internationally. Its parent […]

HSBC to debut robo-advice investment service

HSBC is entering the robo-advice market with the launch of a new online service for wealth management advice The service will use data and algorithms and will make personal recommendations based on an individual’s circumstances. It is expected to be available by the end of the year. The bank says this will “open up wealth […]

Deloitte buys consulting firm Market Gravity

Deloitte has acquired design consultancy firm Market Gravity as it looks for a lift and the chance to moisten its creative juices. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in London with teams in New York, Edinburgh and Toronto, Market Gravity works across multiple sectors including financial services, retail, energy, telecoms and automotive. It recently helped UK-based […]

Flywire acquires UK-based PACE Invoice

US payments firm Flywire has acquired PACE Invoice, a multi-currency invoicing platform provider based in London. International business law firm Addleshaw Goddard advised PACE on this transaction. With the acquisition, Flywire adds international invoicing to its cross-border payments and receivables services, enabling its business, education and healthcare clients to “more easily link invoices to cross-border […]

Afghanistan’s First Microfinance Bank selects Accuity for regulatory compliance

The First MicroFinance Bank in Afghanistan (FMFB-A) has chosen Accuity for regulatory compliance screening of its customer accounts and cross-border transactions. Accuity says it will help FMFB-A enhance the performance of its compliance operations by eliminating manual procedures and speeding up the end-to-end process with its automated regulatory list updates and real-time screening of transactions […]

R3 powers Japan’s blockchain derivatives prototype

R3 and four Japanese financial institutions (FIs) have joined forces to use blockchain in a derivatives prototype test. Nomura, Daiwa Securities Group, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and R3 have tested a prototype developed using Corda, R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform based on blockchain, to streamline International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement […]

Implications of triggering Article 50 on London’s banking sector

Article 50, triggered just nine months after Brexit was officially announced, will give the UK exactly two years to strike a deal with the EU concerning its departure from the economic and trading bloc. What will be the impact of the referendum on the square mile? Will it cease to be the major financial hub this side of the Atlantic?

Android Pay arrives in Taiwan

Android Pay has now launched in Taiwan and users can add an eligible Visa or Mastercard credit card from one of its supported banks, including CTBC and First Bank. It will have the usual rivals – Apple Pay arrived in Taiwan in March this year, while Samsung Pay was launched across the island nation just […]

ING’s Yolt money app beta launches in UK

With an intended jolt and volt of energy, Yolt, a new money platform backed by ING, has launched its open beta for iOS and Android in the UK. The app has been tested in closed beta since October last year, and is now ready to invite more people to the platform. Yolt enables users to […]

Banking Technology June 2017 issue out now

The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

People on the Move: A.J. Koehn, Urban FT

A.J. Koehn has joined Urban FT Inc., a digital payments platform provider and 2017 Pay Awards winner for Startup of the Year, as its new senior vice president of compliance and program management.

ABN Amro and ING lead charge for Dutch ATM survival

ABN Amro, ING, Rabobank and Geldservice Nederland (GSN) have teamed up to explore a potential initiative to ensure the availability of ATMs in the Netherlands. These discussions are being conducted in consultation with the nation’s central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), and draw upon “successful initiatives” in Sweden and Finland. With the rise of digital […]

Cisco and IBM team up to tackle cybercrime

Cisco and IBM Security have joined forces for products, services and threat intelligence as they seek to improve their market share and combat cybercrime. Cisco will integrate its security solutions with IBM’s QRadar for network, endpoint and cloud protection. IBM says this also establishes a new relationship between its IBM X-Force and Cisco Talos security […]

Analysis: commercial cards, clear lines and communication

There is no question that the commercial card sector is growing strongly. According to Research and Markets, the US commercial card market in particular is outstripping other B2B payment types. For banks and banking services providers, this presents a huge opportunity to grow revenues while improving customer experience – a vital component in customer retention and increased lifetime value.

Spain seeks fintech stardom with Red Lyra blockchain network

A consortium of Spanish companies has created Red Lyra, the “first multisector technology platform in the world based on blockchain”. Lyra comprises fintech and non-fintech companies, professionals, and experts in blockchain. Its founding members include Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, Bankia, BBVA, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) and consulting firm Grant Thornton. In fact, just last […]

Sweden’s central bank goes live on Intellect Quantum system

Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, has finally gone live on Intellect Design Arena’s Quantum Collateral Management Solution (QCMS). The bank signed for the system back in 2013. QCMS provides automation of market operations and intraday liquidity provision, and Intellect says Riksbank will benefit from real-time control, multiple collateral pools and “better cover” over the exposure […]

People on the Move: Jeff Hibbard, Fidor

Fidor, a digital banking solutions provider, has appointed Jeff Hibbard chief product officer. Hibbard’s focus is on driving product innovation for Fidor’s operating system.

OCBC Bank unveils first standalone mobile payments app

Singapore’s OCBC Bank has launched its first standalone mobile app for QR code cashless payments at nearly 2,500 NETS terminals. The new OCBC Pay Anyone app brings together all its Pay Anyone services – peer-to-peer e-payments, QR code payments, and integration with Siri and iMessage – into one place. Pranav Seth, OCBC Bank’s head of […]

Legacy IT is the least of a bank’s problems

A recent Reuters article explored how companies like Cobol Cowboys make a fortune helping banks who struggle to keep their legacy systems running. But in fact, the real problem is not legacy IT, that’s just a symptom of the root problem in banks… the decision makers.

NCR makes it nice and Eazy for Bahrain’s biometric payments

Bahrain-based Eazy Financial Services will launch the region’s “first” biometric payment network powered by NCR. Consumers will be able to register their fingerprint through any bank linked to Eazy’s network and then use that at any device (ATM or POS) to start a transaction rather than using a card. In the first phase, NCR will […]

Skills over degrees in IBM’s new cybersecurity initiative

IBM Security has launched fintech programmes and partnerships to overcome the projected 1.8 million-person cybersecurity worker shortage and boost its market share. As part of its initiative, IBM is sponsoring alternative education models such as Hacker Highschool and Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH). It is also looking to change traditional hiring models […]

Fintech funding round-up: 30 May 2017

It’s all go for money flow. Our latest fintech funding round-up, featuring NetGuardians, Banco BNI Europa, Raize and Wave. Swiss fraud prevention vendor NetGuardians has reported a Series C investment of CHF 8.5 million ($8.7 million). The investors in this round are Swisscom Ventures and Freemont Management. The financing will be used to fund NetGuardians’ […]

Till left with no part in Barclaycard pocket checkout

Barclaycard has begun trialling a new payment concept that lets consumers scan and pay for their shopping using their smartphone, without the need to visit a physical checkout. Called Grab+Go, it’s the firm’s plan to turn a smartphone into a “pocket checkout”, allowing users to scan the items they want to buy as they pick […]

Malaysia’s central bank unveils fintech sandbox

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the nation’s central bank, has approved four fintech start-ups to operate within its regulatory sandbox. As Banking Technology reported last month, BNM called out to fintech start-ups for ideas to improve the financial services sector. The bank’s Financial Technology Enabler Group (FTEG) announced it was open to concepts through its “Fintech […]

Nasdaq powers Kazakhstan’s new stock exchange

Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has chosen Nasdaq to power Kazakhstan’s nascent stock exchange, the AIFC Exchange. The exchange is targeted to launch in late-2017 and will initially trade equities and fixed income with other asset classes for future phases. Within the framework of the agreement, the Nasdaq Matching Engine will be implemented and go […]

Lombard Risk still feeling the loss

UK-based regtech and risk management vendor Lombard Risk is still reporting losses in its latest full year results. For the period ended 31 March 2017, pre-tax loss came in at £1.6 million, an improvement on the £2.2 million from the year before. As reported in May 2016, as a result of its loss for 2015/16 […]

Cecabank and Grant Thornton create Spain’s first blockchain banking consortium

Spanish wholesale bank Cecabank and consulting firm Grant Thornton have created the first blockchain consortium in Spain. Called Blockchain Banking Consortium, the project intends to progressively develop the potential of blockchain in the financial sector, and according to the pair it presently comprises 33% of the Spanish banking sector. Luis Pastor, Grant Thornton technology and […]