FinTech


Famous five unsettle Bitcoin with utility settlement coin

BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, ICAP and Santander have joined UBS and Clearmatics to advance their utility settlement coin (USC) concept, and plan tests in a real-market environment. USC is a digital cash model for payments and settlement. It will run on blockchain and be another rival to Bitcoin. The group plan to build on the […]

SAB lands first core banking software deal in UAE, with Reem Finance

UAE-based Reem Finance has overhauled its core software with French vendor SAB and its flagship core banking system, SAB AT. This is the first taker of the system in the UAE, to Banking Technology’s knowledge. Banking Technology understands that on the way out is the Ethix system from regional vendor International Turnkey Systems (ITS). It […]

Qatar Islamic Bank launches mobile app for banking training

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has launched a mobile app to identify and train people in the country to work in the private banking sector. Khalefa Al Mesalam, head of QIB Human Capital Group, says: “Through this mobile application, QIB aims to reach out to young talents and encourage them to work in Qatar’s banking sector. […]

Top ten lending sites in India – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the lending companies in India? We have put together some nifty stats for India’s 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 picture […]

Top ten retail banking sites in India – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the retail banks in India? We have put together some nifty stats for India’s top ten online banking 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 picture of […]

Nordea has every idea for start-ups worldwide

Nordea’s Oslo office will welcome 35 start-ups as the bank prepares to assist the firms in fintech innovation. During the week, the best projects (around 20 teams) will be selected to take part in Nordea’s Accelerator programme, which kicks off in the autumn in Stockholm and Helsinki. In total, over 200 companies applied to the […]

Hitachi and BTMU cheque mates for blockchain digitalisation

Hitachi and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) have started proof of concept (PoC) testing for using blockchain in the digitalisation of cheques in Singapore. In this PoC testing, Hitachi and BTMU developed a system in which a blockchain infrastructure is used for issuing, transferring and collecting electronic cheques. BTMU issues and settles them, while […]

Parity Treasury Management System business sold to Eurobase

Eurobase International has acquired the Parity Treasury Management Software from Manex Treasury Systems, its flagship product. Parity clients and Manex staff will move to Eurobase as part of the deal. Parity users will continue to be supported but will be encouraged to move to Eurobase’s own offering, Siena. Manex is a long-standing software supplier to the […]

SEB in Norway live with ERI’s Olympic core banking system

Private banking software vendor ERI has completed the implementation of its flagship core system, Olympic, at SEB in Norway. This is the vendor’s first site in the country. Olympic manages SEB’s onshore private banking business and associated transaction processing for Norway. The project commenced in 2013. SEB – already a long-standing Olympic user in Luxembourg, […]

Ripple blockchain powers payments for Japanese bank consortium

SBI Ripple Asia has announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in a new network will use Ripple’s blockchain technology for payments and settlement. Using Ripple, customers of the banks will get real-time domestic and cross-border payments, 365 days of the year. Initial participants include Bank of Yokohama and SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SBI […]

Temenos and BACB go public on core banking software project

Temenos has officially confirmed it is implementing its software at British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB). As reported by Banking Technology back in February, BACB opted to replace its legacy core system, Misys’ Midas, with T24. Temenos is also supplying its digital channels (Temenos Connect) and analytics (Insight BI) products to the London-based corporate bank. Temenos […]

Philippines Land Bank goes live on Miles Software’s MoneyWare Custody

Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has gone live with Miles Software’s MoneyWare Custody solution. The government-owned bank was recently accredited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) to offer third party security custody and registry services. The new deal is part of its growth plans. Josephine Cervero, senior vice-president and trust officer, LBP, […]

Top ten retail banking sites in the UK – July 2016

With digital banking sharply on the rise in the UK – according to the latest figures released by the British Bankers Association – who is leading among the UK retail banks? We have put together some nifty stats for the top ten online banking sites in the UK for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). […]

Octopus Investments launches Octopus Labs for fintech start-ups

A UK-based investment firm, Octopus Investments, is looking to onboard fintech start-ups for its 12-week accelerator programme with Octopus Labs. “We’re rebuilding financial services,” states Octopus Labs. “The financial services sector is broken. We’re on a mission to rebuild it.” The programme will provide mentoring, office space in central London, plus potential access to Octopus […]

Infographics: real-time payments – the odyssey

Banking Technology, ACI Worldwide and Nets have joined forces to survey the global market about the highs and lows of its current journey towards real-time payments. From individual institutions’ readiness to key market drivers, obstacles and fraud concerns, and everything in between – survey participants from across the globe share their views.

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka in tech overhaul with Fiserv

Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) has signed for Fiserv’s Signature back office system and the Teller front-end solution. MBSL has around 100,000 customer accounts and 49 branches. Last year, it merged with its two subsidiaries, MBSL Financial Services and MBSL Savings Bank. Fiserv says the bank needed new technology that was “flexible, scalable and […]

Misys appoints advisers for £5.5 billion IPO

Banking technology vendor Misys – currently residing in the hands of US-based Vista Equity Partners – is understood to be gearing up for an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. According to City AM, Misys is planning a £5.5 billion float and has appointed investment advisory firm Moelis to oversee it. In its current form, […]

Digital games banks got to play – part 2

Today, most banks want to be digital leaders because that is where the customers are! This has brought in a change in the attitude of many traditional banks. Arun S. Padaki, a seasoned corporate banker, credit risk and business process management consultant, explores what it takes to become a digital leader and who is already […]

SK Telecom and Hana Financial team for mobile platform launch

South Korea’s SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group have formed a joint venture (JV) agreement to develop and launch a mobile financial services platform. The firms say the deal combines SK Telecom’s mobile technologies and big data analytics with Hana Financial Group’s experience in financial products and mobile financial services. Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana […]

Top fintech stories this week – 19 August 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! New core banking project for Temenos in Canada Exclusive. Credit union in British Columbia goes for T24. Swift slow on strong security say execs “Took their eye off the ball.” Volksbank pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room An “experimental […]

Lunar Way gets new investor and banking partner, Nykredit

Nykredit, Denmark’s largest mortgage provider, has invested in a minority stake in a new mobile banking service, Lunar Way, and has become its banking partner. In two months’ time Nykredit will replace Københavns Andelskasse (Copenhagen Cooperative Bank), the start-up’s initial banking partner. Mark Dissing Bækgaard, head of marketing and communications at Lunar Way, tells Banking […]

Chinese tourism inspires Ingenico and Alipay payment partnership

Payments provider Ingenico has partnered with Alipay to give Chinese tourists visiting Europe the ability to pay via their Alipay app at any store using the Ingenico solution. With this partnership, Alipay will be imbedded into Ingenico’s in-store payment gateway, which will allow acquirers across Europe to integrate and offer Alipay acceptance to their merchants. […]

Discovery in core banking system selection mode for new bank

One of South Africa’s largest health insurers, Discovery, is a step closer to selecting a core banking system for its new bank, Banking Technology understands. Discovery went public on its plans to launch a brand new full-service retail bank in South Africa last year. As part of this ambition, it acquired the majority stake in […]

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 […]

Rakuten blockchain lab to open in Belfast

Rakuten will open its Rakuten Blockchain Lab (RBL) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 22 August to develop applications in the fintech and e-commerce sectors. The establishment of RBL follows the acquisition by Rakuten of the IP assets of Bitnet Technologies, operators of a blockchain-powered digital payments platform. Yasufumi Hirai, group executive vice-president, CIO, CISO and […]

Swift forms task force for ISO 20022 harmonisation

Swift has formed a global market practice task force of markets infrastructures and banks to assist its ISO 20022 Harmonisation Charter. Sponsored by the Payments Market Practice Group (PMPG), the task force aims to address the evolving ISO 20022 standards requirements of high value payments systems (HVPS) providers. Swift says it is a “key component” […]

IDFC Bank deploys customer experience and digital banking platforms from Backbase

Digital banking software specialist Backbase is implementing its omnichannel banking platform at IDFC Bank. India-based IDFC Bank will be able to service its customers “through multiple channels synchronously, creating a single multimodal touch point”, according to the vendor. The goal is to “quicken response time and improve efficiencies”. Dr Rajiv Lall, MD and CEO of IDFC Bank, […]

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 […]

Volksbank eG pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room

NCR Corporation has introduced “a completely new concept” – NCR Innovation Experience Room – an “experimental playground” for financial institutions to “build digital literacy among employees and customers”. Germany-based Volksbank eG Schwarzwald Baar Hegau has become the first taker. It has introduced an experiential room where customers and employees can discover and experience new technologies. […]

ACI Worldwide integrates Ethoca Alerts for payments gateway

ACI Worldwide will integrate Ethoca’s service, Ethoca Alerts, into its UP eCommerce Payments solution, making it available to payment service providers (PSPs) worldwide. The integration gives PSPs, acquirers, processors and their merchant customers a means to “bolster” their fraud defences with card issuer-confirmed fraud and customer dispute data. Keith Briscoe, chief marketing officer, Ethoca, says […]

Misys’ FusionBanking Essence core system live at Yoma Bank

Myanmar-based Yoma Bank has gone live with Misys’ core banking system, FusionBanking Essence. Yoma Bank, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, has been in tech modernisation mode since 2014. In-mid 2014, it issued an RFI for new core banking software, with the financial support from International Finance Corporation (IFC; a subsidiary of the World […]

Northern Trust teams with Scorpeo for corporate actions reporting

Northern Trust Corporation has signed for Scorpeo’s services to provide an “innovative” historical corporate actions reporting service. Scorpeo’s Harmonia solution enables historical analysis to generate “detailed reports to show investors exactly how much value has been missed”, the vendor explains. It will be incorporated into the Northern Trust Historical Corporate Actions Transparency report. Northern Trust’s […]

Thomson Reuters teams with Oddup for start-up rating app

Thomson Reuters has teamed with Oddup to launch a new app that rates fintech start-ups in Asia. The “first of its kind in Asia”, the app is now available on Thomson Reuters’ Eikon App Studio and provides ratings, which Thomson Reuters says enables people to “stay on top” of the growing Asia fintech scene. James […]

RBS cancellation of Williams & Glyn project affects 3,000 staff at Infosys

Infosys has issued a statement regarding its work with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to carve out the Williams & Glyn (W&G) subsidiarity. Infosys was a W&G programme technology partner for consulting, application delivery and testing services. It was working on the W&G project since 2013, but this came to an end earlier this month […]

Sri Lanka’s National Savings Bank goes into system selection mode

The National Savings Bank (NSB) in Sri Lanka is calling for expressions of interest (EOI) as it looks to upgrade its core banking system. It is now inviting bidders to supply, implement, rollout and maintain the new core banking system. EOIs should be submitted on or before 19 September 2016. Once the EOIs have been […]

Apple Pay the way for UK’s CYBG banking group

UK-based Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank – which together form CYBG – have introduced Apple Pay to its customers. The payments service is also available to its “B” customers. In May, CYBG unveiled a new digital banking platform, called B, as it gets ready to become a standalone challenger bank. Helen Page, chief marketing officer […]