FinTech


Fintech in the US: where is regulation headed?

Aaron Cutler, partner, and Loyal Horsley, associate at Hogan Lovells, examine the state-level fintech regulation, proposed legislative solutions, and provides a brief overview of international regulation.

Piraeus Bank e-branches go Greece lightning

Piraeus Bank has launched three fully automated e-branches, across the region of Attiki – the first of their kind in Greece. Services on offer include a “remote cashier”, where customers can perform 90% of the transactions provided via a video call with a cashier; remote registration of internet banking through a phone service point; a […]

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority champions consumer

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is calling for an end to consumer vulnerability and more access to financial services in its plans for 2017. In a speech today (18 April) by Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, the publication of its corporate documents and its role and goals were all outlined. Bailey says: […]

Intesa Sanpaolo and EBA Clearing complete first pan-European instant payment test

Italy’s largest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, and EBA Clearing have successfully completed their first user testing activities on Dovetail’s solution for EBA’s pan-European real-time payment platform. Among the institutions funding the new EBA infrastructure, Intesa Sanpaolo is the first one to connect to the test system. The new infrastructure will provide a real-time payment processing […]

Dubai International Financial Centre calls for fintech start-ups

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is seeking applications for its FinTech Hive at DIFC accelerator programme. The 12-week programme is designed to help early and growth-stage firms accelerate product and business development by gaining exposure to financial institution executives. Successful applicants will be offered the opportunity to develop, test and modify their innovations in collaboration […]

Silicon Valley Bank opens up throttle for API banking

US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has launched new APIs to let its clients programmatically open bank accounts, and send payments using a credit card network and via the automated clearing house (ACH) network. Dan Kimmerling, director, API banking at SVB, says its goal this year is to “develop a broad array of APIs” and wants […]

Lloyds says Hello to Microsoft Windows 10 biometrics

Lloyds is working with Microsoft to test biometric authentication for customers logging into their Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland internet banking sites. The three organisations will use Windows Hello to get access to Windows 10 devices using a fingerprint or facial recognition. Devices will recognise the user, “rather than having to remember an assortment […]

Chart: fintech investment in 2016

Fintech investment fell in 2016 for the first time. On the bright side? Banks are becoming much more active in the space, putting money in 61% more start-ups.

Top fintech stories this week – 14 April 2017

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Mastercard gets approval to buy VocaLink for $920m Deal expected to close in coming weeks. Bank of England implicated in Libor rigging by secret recording Well, it was secret. FIS sheds Ambit Private Banking business FIS inherited it […]

Savings get real with Starling Bank and Moneybox

UK challenger bank Starling has teamed up with Moneybox to give its customers access to a suite of saving and investing tools. Starling says it is the first digital challenger to join the list of banks supported by the Moneybox app for its “round ups” feature. The service will be available to Starling customers at […]

UK regulators call for PSD2 feedback

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) are calling for input on their approach to applying the second EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2). PSD2 is required to be in place in the UK by 13 January 2018, and the nation’s HM Treasury will transpose PSD2 into UK legislation in the Payment […]

Deputy editor replaced by robot

Banking Technology’s deputy editor, Antony Peyton, has been replaced by an artificial intelligence (AI) powered robot – paving the way for scintillating journalism free from acidic remarks and unfettered bouts of sarcasm. With the relentless rise of AI and robots, it was only a matter of time before a journalist would be thrown on the […]

More banks get mobile with Android Pay

Like an astute player of the Risk board game, Android Pay’s global expansion plans continue apace as it is working with several banks to let their customers add cards to its service from a mobile banking app. The latest banks include Bank of America, Bank of New Zealand, Discover, mBank and USAA. They follow on […]

Quash the queue with WoraPay’s Masterpass coup

We all love food and drink, and mobile service WoraPay has got in-sync and integrated Masterpass, the digital payment service from Mastercard. WoraPay’s service allows customers to buy food and drink, and pay in advance with their mobile. This means customers can order their morning coffee or tea (or whisky if you have a crappy […]

Aegon is Ohpen to savings and investment tech overhaul

Financial services provider Aegon is partnering with core banking engine provider Ohpen to develop a new platform for its Dutch services. The platform will be used for the administration and distribution of its savings, pension and investment products. The firms say they are merging their domain knowledge within pensions and technology. Aegon will plug into […]

Fintech boosts UK economy by £6.6bn

Oh UK fintech firms, you pretty things. The industry brings £6.6 billion to the nation’s economy, employs 61,000 people, and was showered with praise at the UK government’s inaugural International Fintech Conference in London. At yesterday’s event (12 April), Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, like any smart politician, latched himself like a limpet onto […]

Fintech outside London – part 1

There is no smoke without fire. The “big smoke”, as London is colloquially known, has been creating a fire of innovation in the financial technology space for years, but there are other UK fintech centres in the Southwest; Cardiff; Manchester/Leeds; and Edinburgh/Glasgow that create their own heat.

Swift calling time on cybercrime with new payment controls

Swift has unveiled a new real-time payment controls service to add to its customers’ existing fraud controls. The new fraud and cybercrime prevention service will enable its customers to screen their payment messages according to their own chosen parameters, “enabling them to immediately detect any unusual message flows before transmission”. Yawar Shah, chairman of Swift, […]

R3 and Acord launch DLT-ful insurtech centre

Consortium R3 has partnered with Acord (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) to launch a virtual “centre of excellence” for distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the insurance industry. R3 counts a number of insurance companies amongst its member base, including MetLife, AIA and Suncorp Group, as well as other financial services members that have […]

TSB turns to First Data for bank portfolio services

First Data has been appointed by Sabis, the IT arm of Spanish banking group Sabadell, to provide processing and acquiring services across its subsidiary TSB. First Data will migrate TSB’s credit and debit card portfolio onto its FirstVision platform. Additionally, First Data will power TSB’s digital payments and provide merchant acquiring services for money and […]

Contactless payments ramp up in 2017

Following the announcement WhatsApp will enter into the mobile payments arena, new estimates from Juniper Research claims Apple Pay contactless users will nearly double over 2017.

Standard Chartered supercharges two Asian start-ups

Standard Chartered has given a big boost to two Asian start-ups with two proof of concept (PoC) projects. Bambu, a Singapore-based robo-advisory for wealth management firm, and KYC Chain, a Hong Kong-based digital identity management firm using distributed ledger technology, were selected from SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator 2.0 – a 12-week accelerator programme in Hong Kong […]

Nasdaq revamps Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing tech

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has chosen Nasdaq to upgrade the technological infrastructure of Hong Kong’s main derivatives market, including trading, clearing and real-time risk management technologies. The agreement also extends the existing relationship for an additional five years. HKEX and Nasdaq have been technology partners since 1994. Under the new agreement, Nasdaq will […]

Central Bank of Iceland chooses SIA for payments overhaul

The Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) has chosen Italian firm SIA to implement and support a new real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) and new instant payment platform. These technology infrastructures developed by SIA, are planned to go live in 2018, and will replace CBI’s current mainframe-based real-time solutions for high and low-value payment systems, which […]

Mastercard Wins U.K. Approval for VocaLink Buy

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority gave its blessing April 11, enabling Mastercard to complete its acquisition of 92.4 percent of VocaLink Holdings for $920 million. The deal, which is expected to close within weeks, gives Mastercard control of a large portion of the U.K. transaction processing market.

CFSI, Chase Seek Fintech Startups for Financial Health Awards

Fintech entrepreneurs still have a few weeks left to win financial backing from two big players in the payment space. The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab (FinLab) plan to award $250,000 to programs that help consumers build financial health, “with a special focus on those communities that are frequently underserved, such as older Americans, communities of color, people with disabilities and products that address the gender wealth gap.”

North State Bank goes live on nCino Bank Operating System

North Carolina-based North State Bank has gone live with nCino’s Bank Operating System to centralise and automate its commercial loan process. nCino’s cloud-based solution is built on Salesforce.com. The vendor says it combines customer relationship management, loan origination, workflow, enterprise content management, business process management and instant reporting on a single platform. Last month, Valley […]

UK regulator plays sheriff to fight “Wild West” sandboxes

As fintech regulators across the world begin to set up their own sandboxes, with different models and standards, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority says a “Wild West” version could emerge. But hang on folks, we got a new sheriff in town. Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London, Christopher Woolard, executive director of […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 11 April 2017

Make the most of your limited time with this brief blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Commercial Bank of Qatar, Russia, Waves Platform, and a farmer. The Commercial Bank of Qatar has completed an initial pilot phase using the “first ever” blockchain network to process international transfers in partnership with ABank in Turkey, National Bank of […]

Silicon Valley Bank and First Data launch fintech accelerator

US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and First Data are calling on US start-ups to apply for their latest Commerce.Innovated accelerator programme. The four-month virtual programme provides participants with operational mentorship from the pair’s respective networks. Reetika Grewal, head of SVB’s payments strategy and solutions group, says its “small class size allows us to work closely […]

Visa unveils European payments innovation initiative

Visa has expanded its Everywhere Initiative innovation programme into Europe as it looks for the “next big thing” in payments. Entrants in Visa’s first-ever European Everywhere Initiative can win up to €50,000 to support a development programme with Visa, or through business partnership with Visa’s clients, and potentially have access to Visa APIs, mentors and […]