Industry veteran jumps ship to mobile operator payment venture
Weve, the advertising and commerce joint venture between mobile network operators Vodafone, O2 and EE, has hired payments industry veteran David Sear as its permanent chief executive.
FinTech
SEPA …
Cover Story: The SEPA end date is now just a year away. Is everybody ready? Of course not.
Japan Exchange merger attracts algo trading specialists
As Asian markets continue to lure international investors, participants on Japan’s new Exchange will now be able to get market access and algorithmic trading tools from data and analytics company S&P Capital IQ, which has chosen to locate itself at KVH’s datacentre in Tokyo.
Mobile to dominate rise in retail bank IT spending
Further evidence that bank IT spending is growing again comes from industry analysts at Ovum, which is predicting overall growth of 3.4% among retail banks, reaching $118.6 billion in 2013, as they focus on “customer satisfaction and revenue growth”.
Market abuse highlights vulnerable European equity market
The imposition of an £8 million fine against defunct Canadian day trading firm Swift Trade earlier this week illustrates the potential for abusive strategies that distort markets – and the need for a new approach from regulators, according to Matthew Coupe, director of regulation and market structure at NICE Actimize.
Exchanges: time for a rebuild?
Technical problems at Nasdaq and BATS have reinforced the impression among many market observers that there may be something seriously wrong with equity market structure. Recent history reads like a catalogue of disaster for many of the world’s most prominent trading venues.
Western Union: Expanding on all fronts
As the global payments markets changes, Western Union has plans to change with it. Massimiliano Alvisini, regional director UK, Ireland & Nordics explains how and why.
More than a third of euro transactions lack accurate SEPA data
New research from Experian shows that “only 65% of euro transactions have fully accurate destination routing data and 12% of electronic payments made to and from businesses in euros currently contain data errors”.
Report: State of the enterprise tablet market – the new age of mobile computing
The enterprise is experiencing massive changes as the major technology trends of cloud computing and tablets are intersecting to upset the balance of legacy computing environments.
NSD builds business intelligence as Moscow goes for gold
Russia’s central securities depository NSD is to get a complete business intelligence overhaul through a joint project with consultancy Optima Group. The deal should help bolster NSD as one of the key pieces in the government’s strategy to turn Moscow into an international financial centre.
CME gears up for European OTC deluge
As new rules for the central clearing of OTC derivatives loom ever larger on the horizon in both Europe and the US, technology is helping to make the transition easier – but the kind of contracts being traded may well change, according to CME Group.
Banish Missed Trade Misery …
A study shows that 62% of City traders “admit to missing key investment or sell opportunities because they didn’t keep track of time zone differences”.
Customer relationships in a multichannel world
The public perception of banks has been battered in recent years, but financial institutions have been working hard to repair the damage. A key tool in their strategy has been to improve customer service in a multichannel environment.
Finalists named for London banking ideas challenge
Seven innovative start-up companies have been chosen to take part in a major new London-based project that aims to bolster advanced technologies in financial services. The seven firms will participate in a twelve-week programme in which they will gain support from the major banks and gather interest from venture capitalists and investors.
Rise of the machines: banks embrace automation despite the cost
Flawed decisions taken by machines are causing financial services firms to lose customers and suffer unexpected costs, according to new report by the Economist Intelligence unit. Yet retail banks are increasingly turning to technology to assess customers.
Social media 2.0 for banks
A new social media tool designed for banks and built by British technology firm Integritie aims to break through the barriers that separate customers from their bank.
Riding the payments roller-coaster
UK banks are still in “a difficult place” as they face economic uncertainty, increased cost and competitive pressures, complex regulations and rapid technological changes – but the changes that are happening in the payments industry offer scope for them to reclaim the initiative and deploy innovative solutions.
Netherlands’ Rabobank draws on outsourced IT “knowledge”
Dutch cooperative Rabobank has increased its outsourcing of banking software development and testing, via a five-year deal with technology specialist Cognizant that the cooperative hopes will provide it with the benefits of stronger technology.
Regional differences colour IT spending priorities
Total bank IT spending across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific will grow to $179.2 billion in 2013, an increase of 3.4% over last year according to research and consulting firm Celent.
Unlocking the potential of Big Data
At the centre of the national crisis sits a banking industry tarnished in the public’s eyes by poor performance, excessive pay and the ongoing need for state support. Just where does the industry go from here and how does it start to rebuild trust?
Lloyds slashes another 940 jobs as cuts deepen
Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 940 more jobs, the latest in a series of savage headcount culls at major financial institutions. Separate announcements earlier this week confirmed 200 human resources jobs would be axed, and a further 175 cuts made in the Halifax branch network.
Telstra establishes high-speed route to Hong Kong
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has improved its connectivity to the outside world, through a deal with low-latency specialist Telstra Global at its new data centre at Tseung Kwan O.
CGI in mobile alliance with Monitise
CGI, which recently acquired UK software house Logica, has formed a partnership with mobile banking and payment specialist Monetise to offer joint services for banking and payments companies using the Monitise platform.
Broker back-ends still outpaced by trading technology
Too many brokers are still using outdated methods such as email and telephone to confirm trade matches, undermining the advantages gleaned from high-performance trading technology, according to a new study by financial research firm Aite Group.
Nasdaq OMX expands and regroups technology business
Nasdaq OMX is to combine its market technology and corporate solutions businesses, in a move that it says will help the firm provide more transparency to customers and a stronger business proposition.
Trendy techs top CIO priority lists for 2013 says Gartner study
Faced with flatlining IT budgets, global CIOs must better exploit the business potential of technology to achieve results – currently they realise only 43% of that potential says Gartner. Top of the priority list is what the research firm calls ‘digital technologies’. In this it includes mobile, analytics, Big Data, social media networking and cloud, […]
The African banking evolution: High-Street banking on your doorstep
Mobile phones may have revolutionised the way of life of the African population, but when it comes to mobile banking there are a variety of technologies circulating which each provide precise services and levels of connectivity and functionality, writes Simon Pont, chief executive of ECR Retail Systems.
Payments Council pushes mobile payments back another year
The UK Payments Council has announced that the introduction of its planned Mobile Payments Service has been pushed back until “spring 2014” – a year after its previously expected introduction, and two years after Barclays broke from the rest of the UK banks and launched its Pingit service. The delay comes despite commitments from financial […]
The irresistible rise of digital banking
The banking industry, integral to our commercial and personal lives, has always evolved with the times to embrace new challenges and consumer attitudes. Technology plays an obvious and increasingly important role in this evolution.
Social media trading goes live on DCM
Online trading service DCM Capital has released a trading platform with a social media sentiment feed, allowing traders to incorporate information from channels such as twitter and Facebook into their trading decisions.
Moscow draws closer as TMX Atrium opens new trading link
Investors looking to trade in Russia can now take advantage of a new high-speed route from Frankfurt to Moscow, built by technology and connectivity provider TMX Atrium. The idea behind the new link is to provide access for clients that need low-latency access to the Russian market, which currently represents the world’s sixth largest economy, […]
Wall Street Systems acquires IT2 Treasury Solutions
IT2 Treasury Solutions, a UK company that provides treasury management software and services for large corporations and small and mid-sized financial institutions, has been sold to Wall Street Systems, a subsidiary of trading technology provider ION Trading.
Bank AlJazira upgrades Saudi data centres with Siemon
Bank AlJazira has commissioned infrastructure specialist Siemon to supply the IT infrastructure for new data centres across Saudi Arabia as part of its strategy for growth and to secure technical advantage. Siemon was selected as the supplier of choice in a competitive tender with two other industry-leading manufacturers. According to Ahmed Al Hassan, head of […]
Mobile banking to hit 1 billion users by 2017
As uptake of mobile banking services is predicted to reach 1 billion by 2017, banks are starting to view the mobile channel as an indispensable revenue stream, according to Nitin Bhas, senior analyst at telecoms research firm Juniper Research.
IT pros willing to back the bankers
The finance sector has been plagued with bad press over the past five years, with little respite for those in the industry, but despite the issues faced by the sector, 59% of IT jobseekers would still consider entering the industry, writes Richard Nott, website director at CWJobs.co.uk.
ConvergEx targets “dark” Asia Pacific capital markets
Western investment firms looking to trade in Asia Pacific should not rely on algorithms that have been ported from the US or Europe, according to William Capuzzi, president of trading technology company ConvergEx’s global execution business – instead, they should adopt dedicated tools built from the ground up.
Diebold debuts cardless ATM at CES
ATM maker Diebold has developed an ATM that lets customers withdraw cash without using a card – and saves the bank money in the process.
Tough year ahead for NFC as retail payments diversify
NFC technology advocates face continued disappointment in 2013 as it is likely to be overshadowed by other developments in retail payments, according to a new report by financial research firm Celent.
SunGard boosts corporate actions automation capability through acquisition of XSP
Financial technology company SunGard has acquired XcitekSolutionsPlus, a company that provides corporate actions tools, in a move aimed at capitalising on the increasing automation of the sector.
Thomson Reuters debuts FATCA compliance kit
Thomson Reuters has launched a tool to help financial institutions comply with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, widely known as FATCA, which requires banks to identify their US customers for tax purposes.
