News


Singapore and Switzerland strengthen fintech co-operation

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) have signed an agreement to foster more fintech co-operation. The plan is to share information, support financial innovators, smooth out regulations, and offer more dialogue and secondments. To provide more evidence, FINMA says it is “consistently removing unnecessary regulatory hurdles” – […]

Dodd-Frank Overhaul Plan Goes before Financial Services Committee

The House Financial Services Committee will meet Sept. 13 to mark up a bill that would overturn major provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Initially proposed in June by Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the Financial CHOICE Act would strip significant authority away from the CFPB, renaming it the Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission and tasking the agency with the dual mission of protecting consumers and ensuring competitive markets.

PCI Council Updates Payment Device Standard to Keep Up with Criminals

In an effort to thwart advanced attacks by criminals, the PCI Security Standards Council has released updated specifications to protect cardholder data stored on mag stripe and EMV chip cards when used at ATMs, in-store and unattended payment terminals and mobile devices.

Allevo’s FinTP gets SEPA compliant for EximBank

Allevo’s open source application, FinTP, is now SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) compliant for EximBank (Export-Import Bank of Romania). The FinTP collaboration between state-owned EximBank and Allevo started one year ago, when the bank chose to implement the solution for low-value Euro payment instructions. EximBank now takes the partnership “one step further with the implementation of […]

SKG Bank launches digital-only lending and consumer credit service

SKG Bank, the consumer finance arm of Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB), has unveiled a digital-only lending and consumer credit service. In co-operation with Munich-based FinTecSystems, DKB says in the future loans can be arranged without submitting documents such as bank statements. Thomas Teuber, director of SKG Bank, says its customers “can close more quickly and completely […]

Goldman Sachs in free software gambit

In a new gambit, Goldman Sachs is giving its most valuable software away for free to win more business from clients. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Michael Dubno, who was CTO at Goldman Sachs for 20 years, discussed how the investment bank makes “billions of dollars in well-timed trades, and sidestep billions […]

Fundflow and Wirecard launch invoice discounting platform for SMEs

Wirecard and fintech start-up Fundflow have launched an invoice discounting platform for SMEs in Germany. The firms say that SMEs and freelancers can sell their outstanding invoices on the Fundflow website, which then enables refinancing with institutional investors. Wirecard Bank has provided its German banking licence and will handle the payment process. Joachim Kaune, MD […]

Chase Bank chooses Android Pay for payments

It’s expansion time for Android as it reveals that US-based Chase Bank customers can now add their eligible Chase Visa cards to Android Pay. The cards include Freedom, Slate, Sapphire, United Mileage Explorer and Hyatt Credit Card. On top of this American development, in the UK, Android says Santander and TSB customers “will soon be […]

Wells Fargo fined $185m for fake bank account scam

Fake it until you make it… unless you get caught. Employees at Wells Fargo have been found guilty of creating millions of fake bank accounts and credit card numbers over the past five years, as an unsubtle attempt to boost sales figures. For this illegal activity, the bank has been fined $185 million, including a […]

Start-up Clinc unveils Finie, AI personal assistant for mobile banking apps

Fintech start-up Clinc says it has created “the world’s first” open source platform for building artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning-based personal assistants. Clinc calls it “the financial genie” or “Finie”. It is pitched to banks, financial institutions and personal finance managers. The solution was developed by a group of professors at the University of Michigan, […]

Deloitte launches its first Bitcoin ATM

Deloitte has unveiled its first Bitcoin ATM in its Toronto office in Canada – as it looks to promote cryptocurrency technology. The Toronto office, home to its Rubix blockchain division, initially offered the bitcoin ATM to employees only. But this was quickly followed by a public launch. Deloitte’s Rubix strategy director, Iliana Oris Valiente, says […]

Top fintech stories this week – 9 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Barclays and Wave pioneer blockchain trade finance transaction What is a fintech day without blockchain? UK challenger banks: who’s who The list has been updated. US credit union consortium plots blockchain use Watch out R3. Smile and an […]

CFPB Levees Record $100 Million Fine on Wells Fargo

The CFPB on Sept. 8 announced a $100 million fine against Wells Fargo for what the agency called “widespread unlawful sales practices.” The agency said the fine is the largest such penalty it has ever issued.

MasterCard faces £19bn lawsuit over inflated card charges

Priceless? Not this time. MasterCard is facing a £19 billion lawsuit (which now has been reduced to £14 billion and filed, as of 8 September 2016) – the biggest in UK legal history – in a collective action over card charges that were passed on to shoppers. The claim is headed by ex-financial services ombudsman […]

Russell Investments selects Qumram for digital record-keeping

Russell Investments, a US-based asset management firm, has chosen Qumram to provide compliant digital record-keeping. Qumram, a digital interaction audit solutions provider, says it mitigates risk at Russell Investments by recording and retaining all digital interactions on the firm’s corporate website in real-time, in accordance with global regulatory requirements. Qumram says that “increasingly, regulation is […]

N.Y. DOL Issues Strongly Opposed Final Rule on Payroll Cards

A New York Department of Labor (DOL) rule that has been bitterly opposed by a major prepaid card association is being implemented anyway. The N.Y. DOL has issued its final rule regulating methods and payment of wages, including the use of payroll cards, in the state and includes no substantive changes from its second revised proposal in June.

Android Pay Adds Chase, Apple Pay Coming to Japan

Two of the leading mobile payments services made significant moves on Sept. 7, with Android Pay adding support for more payment cards in the U.S. and U.K. and launching on the mobile Web, while Apple announced it will bring Apple Pay to Japan in October.

Monitise turns corner in profit quest

UK-based payments vendor Monitise is beginning to turn its fortunes around – with a 45% reduction in operating costs and EBITDA profitability of £600,000 in the second half of the year. As Banking Technology reported in May, the firm brought in a new COO and a new, re-focused business structure. It seems the initiatives have […]

CBA and Barclays partner for Australia-UK mobile payments “first”

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Barclays have joined forces to let their retail customers move money between Australia and the UK with “just a mobile number”. In a “first between the two countries”, CBA and Barclays say they have worked to connect each of their payment apps together – CBA’s CommBank and Barclays’ Pingit. […]

Finding the Future of Fintech

The term “fintech” has long been tied to the idea of disrupting the existing financial services industry. Although that spirit remains, Discover sees a maturation of the market and a growing realization from investors and startups that there is a greater value in collaborating with the industry rather than trying to supplant it.

New core banking system go-live finally in sight for Aktia Bank

Finland-based Aktia Bank says its new core banking platform – Temenos’ T24 – “will be implemented step-by-step during the last quarter of 2016”. The project has been underway since 2013. T24 will replace a legacy development by a local vendor, Samlink. The total investment is now estimated to exceed €65 million – a €10 million […]

Avaloq Community Conference 2016: Lego of the past for fintech innovation

Lessons learned from Lego’s business renaissance could be the way of the future for fintech innovation. At yesterday’s (7 September 2016) Avaloq Community Conference at the Seminarhotel Bocken in Horgen, Switzerland, the private banking software specialist held an open day as it looks to the future. Our first report included an exclusive interview with CEO […]

Banking Technology Awards 2016 – shortlist unveiled

Our rejuvenated Banking Technology Awards have received an unprecedented amount of entries this year – from banks, financial institutions, fintech firms and individuals worldwide – and we are happy to reveal the shortlisted candidates. Now in their 17th year, Banking Technology Awards recognise and reward excellence and innovation in the use of IT in financial […]

PriceMetrix acquired by McKinsey

McKinsey has bought PriceMetrix, a Toronto-based data and analytics company focused on the wealth and asset management sector. McKinsey says that “PriceMetrix will retain its management team, brand and identity, and will work in close collaboration with McKinsey’s wealth and asset management team”. PriceMetrix’s tools – ValueOne, CommissionCheck and FeeCheck – are complementary to McKinsey’s […]

Rash of Email Fraud Schemes Prompt FinCEN to Issue Advisory

A spate of email fraud schemes involving stolen consumer information and financial institutions being duped into conducting wire transfers has prompted the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to issue an advisory Sept. 6 in an effort to thwart the illegal activity.

Executive Profile: One on One with Sam Shrauger, Visa

Discovering the secrets of the universe may not be part of Sam Shrauger’s day job, but exploring what’s possible in payments is. As senior vice president of digital solutions at Visa Inc., Shrauger is responsible for making sure the payments network is leading the charge into new territory—whether that’s through Visa Checkout, contactless payments, wearables or whatever comes next.

Avaloq in tune as iTunes for finserv

“We can be the iTunes for finserv,” was one of the messages from Avaloq CEO Francisco Fernandez on company strategy and software functionality. This morning at today’s (7 September 2016) Avaloq Community Conference at the Seminarhotel Bocken in Horgen, Switzerland, the private banking software specialist is holding an open day as it looks to the […]

Barclays and fintech start-up Wave pioneer blockchain trade finance transaction

Barclays and fintech start-up Wave claim to have become the first organisations to complete a global trade transaction using distributed ledger/blockchain technology. Barclays is now calling on other banks to adopt Wave’s platform. “This can develop into an industry-wide improvement in how trade documentation is managed,” Barclays urges. The letter of credit (LC) transaction between […]

Mambu plans to onboard 50 new clients by year-end

Fintech vendor Mambu says it has added 25 new clients to its portfolio this year and is set to double this figure by the end of 2016. It will also more than double the size of its team by the year-end. “All [of Mambu’s new customers] are focused on servicing consumers and businesses poorly reached by […]

USAA launches online virtual assistant

USAA, a provider of banking and insurance services to the US military personnel and their families, has launched a virtual assistant for its website. The solution is based on the Nina artificial intelligence (AI) technology, supplied by Nuance Communications. It will provide immediate online support and answers to USAA’s member’s “most critical needs”, says Nuance, […]

PayPal Signs Deal with Mastercard, Expanding ‘Ubiquity’ of Brand

PayPal has struck a deal with Mastercard, resulting in, among other terms, Mastercard being presented as an equal payment option within the PayPal Wallet, customers having the option to select Mastercard as their default payment method and Masterpass becoming a payment option for merchants of Braintree, a PayPal subsidiary.