News


State Bank of India merges with associate banks

India’s government has given the green light to the State Bank of India (SBI) to merge with its five associate banks. SBI is already among the largest an India and a sizeable international player, with the total assets of $400 billion and a network of 16,500+ branches (including over 190 international locations across 36 countries). […]

TCS to deliver cloud-based post-trade processing platform to Sernova Financial

Sernova Financial, a UK-based provider of turnkey post-trade services, has recruited TCS to deliver a new cloud-based derivatives post trade processing service. The software underpinning this service is supplied by Calypso. TCS says this tie-up “combines Sernova’s capital markets expertise, Calypso platform’s capability and TCS’s bouquet of capital markets solutions”. Venkat Ramasamy, executive chairman of […]

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank deploys IBM Bluemix cloud development platform

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Australia’s fifth largest retail bank, has deployed IBM’s cloud development platform, Bluemix. It will assist the bank to develop new banking products and services for its 1.6 million customers, says Stella Thredgold, the bank’s business enablement exec. “The way our customers engage with us and the service they need is changing, […]

BIL embarks on major technology overhaul with Temenos

Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), the oldest bank in Luxembourg, is embarking on a major tech overhaul. It will replace its legacy software with Temenos’ T24, Banking Technology understands. Founded in 1856, BIL operates in retail, private and corporate banking, treasury and financial markets. The core banking software replacement comes as part of a broader […]

ING deploys ThetaRay’s analytics solution for fraud detection in SME lending

Israel-based specialist vendor ThetaRay has implemented its Advanced Analytics Solution at ING Netherlands for fraud detection. The vendor says that combining its tech with ING’s standing risk engine will enable the bank to detect new instances of SME lending fraud hidden within massive amounts of transactional and organisational data – in real-time and with industry-low false […]

New stock exchange, IEX, to launch in the US

IEX Group has gained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a stock exchange. IEX will become the 13th official stock exchange in the US. The company has already been operating as a private trading pool, attracting around 1.6% of all daily trading volume recently. Notably, IEX is run by the prominent […]

Australian wealth manager Crestone live with Avaloq Banking Suite

Crestone, a wealth management business created out of UBS Wealth Management Australia, is now open for business, underpinned by Avaloq’s flagship core banking system. Avaloq Banking Suite supports front-to-back office operations of Crestone, multi-asset and multi-currency. Peter Scott, the vendor’s GM for Asia Pacific, says that Crestone was among the first users to apply Avaloq Banking […]

Bank of England jumps on the fintech accelerator bandwagon

The Bank of England (BoE) will launch its own fintech accelerator to harness innovation for central banking. Fintech firms will be invited to carry out a proof of concept with the BoE. The bank will then act as a reference site for these companies. The BoE says it “will offer firms the chance to demonstrate […]

Evolution, not revolution – Robeco’s take on blockchain

Asset management firm Robeco has released its findings and views on the much-discussed subject of blockchain. The overall theme is to be sensible, study the facts and not fall for the hype when it comes to this emerging technology. The report, “Distributed ledger technology for the financial industry. Blockchain administration 3.0”, has been created by […]

New coalition to ensure fair banking software deals for community FIs

A new alliance of US community banks, credit unions and other financial institutions – Golden Contract Coalition (GCC) – launches to stand up to IT providers. GCC’s aim is to ensure fair market deals from the technology suppliers to its members. “GCC is the first alliance of its kind where a group of like-minded institutions […]

Top fintech stories this week – 17 June 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! UniCredit and Open Bank Project launch fintech start-up competition Top prize is €50,000 and a contract to work with UniCredit. BBA to merge with three trade associations to create major industry body British Bankers Association (BBA), Council of […]

Emerge: Google Defends Ban on Payday Loan Ads

Nope, it’s not censorship, nor restraint of trade. Rather, Google’s recently announced ban on online payday loan ads shows that the search engine giant wants to do good by consumers. That’s what Vijay Padmanabhan, a policy adviser at Google, said this week in New Orleans at the Emerge: Consumer Health Financial Forum.

uTrade unveils blockchain tech solution, GMEX the first taker

India-based uTrade Solutions has launched uClear, a blockchain tech solution for real-time clearing and settlement for financial markets. The first taker is Global Markets Exchange (GMEX) Group. It will integrate uClear next month through its GMEX Technologies subsidiary and with the support of its development partner, Forum Trading Solutions. Hirander Misra, CEO of GMEX Group […]

Top 10 Viewpoints of 2016

From the future of prepaid and which mobile wallets stand to win to regulatory uncertainty and the best route to market in Europe, view our most popular opinion pieces from 2016, so far.

Wells Fargo invests in Alpha Payments Cloud

Alpha Payments Cloud, a provider of the AlphaHub Payments-as-a-Service platform, has received investment from Wells Fargo. Through its Startup Accelerator programme, for the next six months Wells Fargo will collaborate with Alpha Payments Cloud on its global payments network technologies for merchants. The company says its valuation now stands at $100 million. Wells Fargo’s Startup […]

Standard Chartered explores blockchain viability

Standard Chartered has compiled a report questioning whether blockchain could disrupt the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Target2Securities (T2S) project. T2S aims to standardise European cross-border trade settlement by integrating securities and cash accounts onto a single IT platform. Not only blockchain could play a material role in this project, some analysts suggest, but it could […]

SDC and Signicat bring cross-border digital signing to 120 Scandinavian banks

SDC has signed a deal with Signicat for the latter’s cloud-based eID digital signing solution to be rolled out by SDC’s banking clients in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands. SDC supplies financial technology and data processing services to 120+ banks in Scandinavia. Signicat, the first and largest identity assurance provider in the world, […]

Indopay and ACI Worldwide team up for international e-commerce platform

PT Indopay Merchant Services, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s banking solutions provider PT Abhimata Persada, has teamed up with ACI Worldwide for the latter’s UP eCommerce Payments solution. Indopay is keen to grow its share of the domestic market and also expand across Asia – and ACI’s platform will underpin the strategy. The Indonesian eCommerce marketplace […]

Morgan Stanley in $1bn cost-cutting exercise, Project Streamline

Morgan Stanley is going through a major cost-cutting initiative – Project Streamline – in an attempt to shed $1 billion in annual costs. James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chairman and CEO, outlined the Project Streamline components at a recent conference the bank hosted. Non-client travel expenses is a big part, he said, and this is already […]

Humans will have to go as Bank of America gears up to go digital

Bank of America is shrinking its consumer banking division by 8,000 people as it prepares to go digital. The bank has already considerably reduced the staffing numbers: from 100,000 in 2009 to 68,400 in Q1 2016. Thong Nguyen, Bank of America’s president of retail banking and co-head of consumer banking, expects the numbers to go […]

Corezoid takes digital core process engine to Amazon Web Services cloud

Corezoid, a US-based provider of a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution to banks, has announced that its product can now be delivered on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Corezoid’s offering is a process engine for banks to create a digital core. It “allows banks to rethink all of their operations as a set of states and […]

N.Y. DOL Revises Payroll Card Proposed Rule; Fee Restrictions Remain

For more than a year, payroll card providers have had to deal with the specter of a final rule on payroll card regulations from the New York Department of Labor. The wait is now over, sort of. Rather than issue a final rule, the N.Y. DOL today issued a second revision to its proposal, but the industry is still concerned about its implications.

DiPocket, GPS Launch Financial App in Poland

DiPocket, a U.K.-based fintech company heads east to Poland with the launch of its DiP mobile financial app, which the company says will provide an alternative to expensive traditional bank accounts or complement consumers’ current banking services.

Samsung Pay Launches in Australia, Promising Gifts

Samsung Pay has launched in Australia, enabling mobile payments for consumers, but the hardware maker wants its mobile wallet to encompass much more, including gift cards, loyalty and transit.

Nymbus acquires credit unions software vendor KMR

Hot on the heels of the R. C. Olmstead (RCO) acquisition, core banking software start-up Nymbus takes over another fellow vendor, KMR. KMR was founded in 2007 and focuses on the US credit union space. Its flagship suite, AgilityFOUR, consists of two products: AgilityWeb (a remote banking solution) and AgilityOrg (credit union management and compliance software). […]

Broadridge to acquire DST Systems’ North American Customer Communications for $410m

DST Systems, a provider of business data services to the financial services and healthcare markets, is selling its North American Customer Communications (NACC) unit to Broadridge Financial Solutions. The deal is valued at $410 million in cash and is expected to close in July. The NACC business generated $1.1 billion in revenue in 2015, or 40% […]

Mambu launches fintech start-up programme

Banking software vendor Mambu has joined forces with a number of accelerators and incubators to launch a new fintech start-up programme. Partners comprise Startupbootcamp FinTech, 500 Startups, Ynext Incubator by Envestnet/Yodlee, Techstars and Citi Accelerator – and those start-ups that are part of these accelerators and incubators are invited to participate in Mambu’s new venture and […]

Eurobank in digital banking overhaul with Accenture

Eurobank Ergasias has signed a ten-year agreement with Accenture to pursue digital transformation of its subsidiaries in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine. Accenture will help build a new platform for the bank, dubbed “Intelligent Infrastructure”. It will be based on Accenture’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering and will support Eurobank’s core functions, such as loans and deposits, […]

Visa Trumpets Success of Gas Station Anti-Fraud Technology

Gasoline sellers that use a Visa fraud-reduction tool have experienced significant declines in chargebacks and other fraud metrics, the payments network said today. On average, gas stations that use the service experienced a 54 percent decline in counterfeit fraud rates and a 51 percent decline in lost and stolen fraud chargeback rates.

Apple Pay to Take on E-Commerce Giants

Apple is about to make it easier for its users to shop online, and the move will put Apple Pay in direct competition with PayPal, Amazon and the networks’ online payments services for the loyalties of online shoppers.

Broadridge acquires 4sight Financial Software

Broadridge Financial Solutions has taken over fellow vendor 4sight Financial Software, a provider of securities finance and collateral management systems to financial institutions worldwide. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Quayle Munro Limited acted as 4sight’s financial advisor in this transaction. UK-based 4sight was founded in 2003 and grew to acquire a client base […]

Supercard Here to Save U.K. Travelers from Fees; Amex not Included

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Supercard, a MasterCard prepaid card and accompanying mobile app catering to U.K. consumers traveling abroad. Supercard, developed by Wirecard AG and Travelex, enables travelers to earn rewards on the cards they want—except for American Express cards—without paying the typical international transaction fees.

House Amendment Could Stymie CFPB Payday Rulemaking

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations recently approved its Fiscal Year 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill, and its passage (30-17) most definitely represents a thorn in the side of the CFPB because it delays the bureau’s regulations for payday loans.

Report: Digital the New Front in Fraud Fight

With fraudsters setting their sights on digital channels, financial services providers have to walk a fine line to balance security with consumer demand for a fast, frictionless payment experience. A new report canvassed fraud management executives across multiple industries—including mainstream and alternative financial services—to gain insight into the latest techniques and strategies to meet evolving fraud challenges.

Copedu searches for new core banking system and consultant

Co-operative of Savings and Credit Duterimbere (Copedu), a non-profit finance organisation in Rwanda, is looking for a consultant to help it select and implement new core banking software. The consultant will be working with Copedu’s technology department and assist the project manager and the company’s senior executives for best practices in project management. From the project […]

Sberbank to overhaul core banking platform

Russia’s largest banking group, Sberbank, is undergoing a major technology overhaul. The bank’s senior MD of technology, Mikhail Khasin, did a presentation on the bank’s new business development platform at a recent conference, TAdviser SummIT. The initiative is a “revolutionary transformation” of all systems that currently form Sberbank’s core banking platform. He said the new […]

Travelex partners with Wirecard to launch new card and mobile product, Supercard

Travelex has launched Supercard, a MasterCard and mobile app combo for UK travellers to avoid debit/credit card roaming fees and charges when spending abroad. Supercard will be chip and PIN protected. The security aspect will be taken care of by a payments firm Wirecard. Following a successful pilot, Supercard is now offered to the UK […]

Neema and MasterCard team up for debit card for migrant workers in Asia

Fintech start-up Neema has issued the MasterCard debit card for migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – which promises to drastically reduce the cost migrant workers pay to send money home. Neema says there are no transfer or foreign currency exchange fees. “One of the biggest expenses for migrant workers is […]

Myanmar Oriental Bank in banking software revamp

Myanmar Oriental Bank (MOB Bank) is looking to modernise its core banking software. Banking Technology understands that the new system of choice is Temenos’ T24. Temenos provided a “no comment” response. MOB Bank was set up in 1993 and is privately owned. It has 26 branches and offers savings, remittances and SME financing. The bank […]