Wyelands Bank in ownership, brand and core banking software overhaul
Wyelands Bank (formerly Tungsten Bank) is relaunching in 2017 with a new core banking system.
News
Mastercard: Gift Cards Pack One-Two Punch during Holidays; In-Store Sales Still Dominate
An “extremely strong” November for holiday shopping concluded with a “solid start” over Thanksgiving weekend, according to Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of Market Insights for Mastercard. Although final holiday shopping data won’t be available until the end of the month, Quinlan spoke with Paybefore about how the shopping season is shaping up for retailers.
Irish E-Money License Could Make Facebook a P2P Force in EU
Facebook has received a key license that would enable the social media giant to bring its Messenger P2P service to Europe. The Central Bank of Ireland quietly granted an e-money license to Facebook Payments International Ltd. in late October, the company confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch, paving the way for the potential launch of Facebook’s Messenger-based money transfer service throughout the EU’s 28 member nations under passporting rules.
Chase Pay Bites into QSR Sector with LevelUp
Consumers with Chase Pay mobile wallets can now order and preemptively pay for their meals at quick service restaurants thanks to a deal with Boston-based LevelUp, Chase said. The deal, which comes as Chase expands its mobile wallet, promises to help make that payment technology more important for consumers, as the deal eventually will involve thousands of eateries.
M-Payments Deal Report: Apple Pay, WeChat, Starbucks and Square
Some of the biggest players in the mobile payments space have announced deals that could bring digital payments and gifting to more consumers around the globe. Starbucks will provide “social gifting” and payments to users of China’s WeChat messaging service, while Square will integrate its digital debit cards with Apple Pay, two recent developments that could boost the popularity of mobile payments.
Fiserv acquires cash management software vendor Online Banking Solutions
Online Banking Solutions (OBS), an Atlanta-based provider of cash management software, is being taken over by banking tech giant Fiserv.
Cater Allen Private Bank “continues to work constructively” with Temenos
Cater Allen, a London-based private bank and a subsidiary of Santander, has completed “the discovery phase” of the project with Temenos to overhaul its core banking software.
Swedish Export Credit implements Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX for IFRS9 reporting
Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) is implementing Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX regulatory reporting software for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 reporting.
Fintech funding round-up: 12 December 2016
With so much fintech funding activity going on, we’ve summarised the latest fundraising efforts of start-ups. Featuring Lunar Way, FXCH and Polychain Capital.
AnaCap to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking & wealth management ops, complete IT overhaul planned
AnaCap Financial Partners, a UK-based private equity firm, is set to acquire Barclays’ French retail banking business, life insurance business, wealth and investment management and brokerage operations.
Mobile banking tech start-up Bankjoy signs two credit unions
Fintech start-up Bankjoy has secured two clients for its online and mobile banking software, Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union and Wepawaug-Flagg Federal Credit Union.
BNY Mellon suffers payments glitch
BNY Mellon experienced problems with processing clients’ payments instructions – it blamed the issue on its connection to Swift. The problems were subsequently resolved.
Mobey Day Toronto: Machines of loving grace
Don’t rage against the machine, just embrace its potential and look at the real world applications. The world of machine learning (ML) came under the spotlight on day two of Mobey Day in the great city of Toronto. At yesterday’s (8 December) sessions at the Four Seasons Hotel, about 300 delegates enjoyed panels and presentations […]
Top fintech stories this week – 9 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Mobey Day Toronto: The disruption paradox
Teamwork triumphs in Toronto. The theme of collaboration between start-ups and the big players dominated day one of Mobey Day. While some in the fintech industry say they’re disruptive, it seems that’s no longer true as they all look to work together. At yesterday’s (7 December) sessions at the elegant Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, […]
Banque de France to modernise payments tech with Sopra Banking Software
Banque de France’s banking services department has embarked on a major technology overhaul programme. It will work with a domestic software provider on this project, Sopra Banking Software, which is part of the Sopra Steria group.
Fintech funding round-up: 8 December 2016
Fintech funding stories can be fun if they are brief. Featuring MoneyLion, SETL and Finicity.
Coventry Building Society in technology overhaul, looks for new core banking system
UK-based Coventry Building Society is believed to have embarked on a tech modernisation project and is looking for a new core system.
London Mutual Credit Union live with new core banking and debit card systems
India-based core banking tech provider TCS Financial Solutions has gained its third live site among the UK credit unions for its Bancs core banking system, London Mutual Credit Union.
Fintech tour Toronto: Ontario calls for venture capital
Ontario in Canada is calling for more venture capital to come to the region as it looks to boost its fintech industry. This is the main message from a tour of Toronto, given to the international media by the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth (MEDG).
U.K. Regulator Proposals Take Aim at Competition Barriers to Payments Infrastructure
The U.K.’s Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) plans a sea change to the U.K. payments system after determining an inability for new payments infrastructure projects to compete as alternatives to the three interbank payment systems, Bacs, Faster Payments Service (FPS) and LINK.
Can Amazon Make the Checkout Lane Obsolete?
Amazon’s vision of the future, which it’s testing in Seattle, is a grocery store that enables customers to complete purchases via scanning mobile phones instead of waiting to pay.
People on the Move: Steve Pruitt, Americhip
Steve Pruitt has taken on the role of director of new business development for the Americhip Gift Card Group, a provider of print, specialty packaging, shopper marketing and gift card programs.
People on the Move: Jo Kenrick, Bacs Board
Jo Kenrick has been named an independent director on the board of Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd., the network behind the clearing and settlement of U.K. automated payment methods, direct debit and Bacs direct credit, as well as the Current Account Switch Service and the Cash Isa Transfer Service.
People on the Move: Elly Hardwick, Philip Milne, Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank has made two leadership appointments to its fintech innovation team. Elly Hardwick will become head of innovation for the bank, while Philip Milne has been named chief technology officer (CTO) for innovation.
Company on the Move: GlobalPlatfom, New China Task Force
GlobalPlatform, an industry body which standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technologies, has launched a China Task Force to give Chinese members and all GlobalPlatform members with business interests in China a dedicated platform to identify and agree on requirements from the region and work directly with Chinese industry and standards associations.
People on the Move: Miguel Vias, Ripple
Blockchain-based financial settlement solutions provider Ripple has named Miguel Vias as head of XRP markets.
People on the Move: Crystal Caligiuri, ShopKeep
Cloud-based m-POS solutions provider ShopKeep has appointed Crystal Caligiuri as the company’s new senior vice president of operations and customer care.
NCDEX live with new trading and surveillance software, NextGen
India-based National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has launched NextGen – a new trading and surveillance system developed by MillenniumIT (a trading tech subsidiary of London Stock Exchange).
Citi Prepaid Talks Samsung Pay Rewards, Tipping Point for Incentives
Most of the talk around Samsung Pay’s new points-based loyalty program has been about whether it can spur mobile wallet adoption. But the in-app delivery of a virtual prepaid rewards card could mark a substantial shift for the incentives business, according to Brad Garfield, global product head for Citi’s corporate and public sector prepaid cards.
IBM launches blockchain ecosystem on Hyperledger Fabric
IBM has unveiled a blockchain ecosystem “to help accelerate the creation of blockchain networks”. The programme “is designed for innovators looking to build real networks – venture capitalists, start-ups, systems integrators, independent software vendors and enterprise developers”.
Private & Commercial Finance Group receives banking licence
Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCFG) has received its banking licence from the UK regulators. It is now authorised with restrictions as a bank and enters into a mobilisation period of up to 12 months.
Digital challenger bank N26 goes pan-European
Germany-based mobile bank N26 is taking its business fully across 17 European countries, including Spain, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Slovakia. Until now, some of these locations were in the “soft launch” phase.
P2P lender Folk2Folk gains full FCA authorisation
A UK-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, Folk2Folk, has received full authorisation from Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
HDB in Egypt live with Temenos T24 core banking system
Housing and Development Bank (HDB) in Egypt has gone live with new core banking software, Temenos’ T24. The new system ousted an in-house legacy development that “had been deeply customised to cater for HDB’s specific requirements”, according to Temenos.
40 clients worldwide join IBM Watson for Cyber Security beta programme
IBM Watson has launched a testing programme for its cyber security tech, which includes 40 companies from various sectors worldwide. On the financial services side, participants include Sun Life Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
American Express Acquires Mobile Authentication Provider
Fraud prevention is driving payments acquisition activity, with two major moves by the networks in the last two weeks. American Express has acquired InAuth Inc., a provider of mobile device authentication and intelligence solutions, which follows Visa’s announcement of its plans to acquire e-commerce authentication specialist CardinalCommerce, which operates the largest authentication network in the world, according to the company.
Western Union Gains Mobile Momentum with Investment in Billing Specialist
Western Union continues to expand its presence in the mobile vertical with an investment in Walletron Inc., a provider of mobile wallet bill presentment and payments services. The investment follows a deal struck between the companies earlier this year, under which Western Union’s Speedpay electronic bill payment service began offering biller clients the option to incorporate Walletron’s moBills platform.
Can PayPal, Google Holiday Promotions Spur Long-Term Adoption?
PayPal and Google’s Android Pay are making the holidays more festive with new promotions, but will they lead to more consumer usage? PayPal says it’s making its P2P payment service “more personal and heartfelt,” while Android Pay is offering U.K. users a free gift when they use the mobile wallet for purchases.
Russia Says Cybercriminals Stole $31 Million from Central Bank
Cybercriminals have stolen about $31 million from Russian Central Bank accounts, according to a Reuters report. The hackers broke into bank accounts after faking a client’s credentials, a bank spokesman said at a briefing, disclosing few other details. In a separate instance, Russia had recently warned about a plot by foreign countries to wage cyberattacks on its financial institutions.
