Europe


Woes for Wonga with data breach

UK-based payday loan company Wonga says there may have been illegal and unauthorised access to the personal data of some of its 270,000 customers. In a statement, the firm says information stolen may have included one or more of the following: name, e-mail address, home address, phone number, the last four digits of a card […]

VEB awards core banking system contract to Diasoft

Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs – VEB – a state-owned development bank in Russia, has selected a new core banking system. The contract was awarded to Diasoft, one of Russia’s biggest core banking software providers.

OP Financial Group enlists Token to develop new payment solutions

OP Financial Group has partnered with Token, a Silicon Valley-based crypto-payment software provider. Token says the agreement will enable the Finnish bank “to innovate in the European open banking market and generate new revenue streams via future payment solutions”.

UK and India strengthen fintech ties

A team of British politicians and fintech business leaders are in India as they seek to strengthen trade and investment between the two nations. At the 9th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue, held today (4 April) in Delhi, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley, discussed […]

BNP Paribas to buy 95% stake in French digital bank Compte-Nickel

BNP Paribas is buying a 95% stake in Financière des Paiements Électroniques (FPE), which provides the digital-only bank Compte-Nickel. BNP Paribas wants to tap into Compte-Nickel’s growth – citing its 540,000 accounts opened over the past three years and that a new account is being opened in France every 30 seconds. Compte-Nickel also offers real-time […]

SIX teams with DTCC to issue legal entity identifiers in Switzerland

SIX Securities Services, which runs the central securities depository (CSD) for Switzerland, is partnering with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to offer legal entity identifiers (LEIs) for Swiss entities. According to SIX, LEIs were devised to provide insight into corporate entities with the aim of reducing cross-platform risk exposure. By providing LEIs together, […]

Visa brings more action to Amazon transactions

Visa says it has become the first card network to give its UK commercial account holders a comprehensive view of their Amazon Business purchases. The new transaction data, available to Barclaycard, Citi, HSBC, and Lloyds Bank account holders, provides line-item details on all purchases for Amazon Business customers and integrates with reconciliation tools. Kevin Jenkins, […]

Lloyds standing small with new micro-branches

Not only is Lloyds cutting branches across the UK, it is now making them smaller in size. With the well-known rise in digital banking, the bank has plans to introduce micro-branches. This means no counters, and two members of staff with mobile tablets to help customers who dare walk into a branch. A spokesperson for […]

Attic Lab teams with Polybius for blockchain-powered bank

Ukrainian start-up Attic Lab has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Polybius Foundation to provide the blockchain backbone for a new digital bank. As Banking Technology reported in September last year, Attic Lab unveiled its open source blockchain platform and has been gaining some traction with banks in Europe. It will implement SmartMoney, a […]

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 3 April 2017

Another day, another cryptocurrency. A concise round-up of blockchain and Bitcoin events. Features Japan, Lykke, ChronoBank and London’s Imperial College Business School. It’s the land of the rising sums, as Bitcoin is now a legal payment method in Japan. As a result, Bitcoin trades rose today – at 11am (UK time) it was up 2.8% […]

Consorsbank turns to FinLeap for digital account exchange

Consorsbank, part of BNP Paribas Germany, has implemented fintech incubator FinLeap’s digital account exchange service, FinReach. Bank users who want to move accounts to Consorsbank can do so in “a matter of minutes” and it is all done completely online. Customers will be shown all the credit transferees – and can choose who is to […]

Mortgage Gym muscles into UK market with robo-adviser launch

The “world’s first, regulated mortgage robo-adviser” Mortgage Gym will be launched in the UK in the coming months – offering online applications in 15 minutes. The service is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is free and combines robo- and live-broker advice. Mortgage Gym says its network allows brokers to acquire customers independently, […]

Accenture acquires digital ID firm Arismore

Accenture Security has completed its acquisition of Arismore, a privately held company in France that specialises in security services including identity and access management. The acquisition was first announced in December last year, and Accenture will take on 270 people from Arismore. Kelly Bissell, managing director of Accenture Security, says the deal “immediately amplifies our […]

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority gets persistent on credit card debt

Credit card firms have come in for a kicking as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed new rules to help customers who are in persistent debt. This move follows the FCA’s study of the UK credit card market, which found “significant concerns” about the scale, extent and nature of problem credit card debt. […]

Don’t get miffed, get MiFID II authorisation

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its near final rules on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II and encourages firms to submit applications for authorisation. These rules include changes to the trading of financial instruments – such as issues affecting trading venues, transparency of trading and algorithmic and high frequency trading. […]

Financial fraud fools UK out of £769m

Impersonation and deceptive double-dealing play their mischievous part in creating massive amounts of financial fraud in the UK. According to figures from Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK), losses across payment cards, remote banking and cheques totalled £768.8 million in 2016, an increase of 2% on the previous year. Katy Worobec, director of FFA UK, […]

AlgoMe brings Tinder touch to asset management talent hunt

AlgoMe, a London-based start-up offering career development and job placements in asset management, has launched its beta phase. The firm says it’s “rather like a dating app in that you get to determine if the match is right for you before your data is shared”. The web and mobile-based membership community is led by CEO […]

Payments innovation reigns in Spain with CaixaBank hub

CaixaBank, Global Payments, Visa, Samsung and BNP Paribas’ subsidiary Arval have joined forces to set up Spain’s “first” payment innovation hub. The objective behind the hub is to “present society with the best possible user experiences in purchases and commerce, both online and offline”. The centre, which will be located in Barcelona, will specialise in […]

CASS plays Casanova to CMA’s current account commitments

The UK’s Current Account Switch Service (CASS) says it meets one of the commitments set out in response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) final report into retail banking. As Banking Technology reported in January, the CMA accepted undertakings from the Bacs payment scheme, which owns and manages CASS, that commit it to delivering […]

Image is everything for VocaLink and UK’s new cheque tech

VocaLink and BancTec, a part of SourceHOV, a provider of enterprise information management (EIM) and transaction processing solutions, will build the UK’s new image-based cheque clearing system. As Banking Technology reported this month, the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) launched the industry-wide system to speed up processing for customers across the country. Paul Stoddart, […]

Dash takes a bash at Bitcoin with new allies

Dash, a digital currency and an alternative to Bitcoin, has announced two partnerships in Europe and Russia. BitPanda, formerly known as Coinimal, has added a buy option for Dash on its online brokerage, while Moscow’s exchange, MaRSe, has integrated the digital currency in the “wake of a historic price rise and sustained market demand”. Daniel […]

HSBC and First Direct to get VocaLink Pay by Bank app

VocaLink’s Pay by Bank mobile payment app will soon be available to customers of HSBC and its subsidiary, First Direct. Pay by Bank app, created by VocaLink’s payment innovation team Zapp, enables people to make “digital debit” payments for goods and services via their banking app, with payment made directly from a current account. HSBC […]

U.K. Makes Official Its Intent to Leave EU

A little after noon in Brussels March 29, a British ambassador delivered a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk that set the wheels into motion for the U.K.’s exit from the EU. Today’s announcement makes official the results of the historic vote June 23, when 52 percent of voters in the U.K. stunned many around the world when they opted to leave, or “Brexit,” as it’s commonly called.

EC blocks Deutsche Börse and LSE merger

The European Commission (EC) has prohibited the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the EU Merger Regulation. EC commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, says the merger “would have significantly reduced competition by creating a de facto monopoly in the crucial area of clearing of fixed income instruments” […]

Bokis in mobile payments first with Dankort card

Members of a Danish banking collective, Bokis, have become the first in the country to offer mobile payments using Dankort, the national debit and credit card. Bokis includes 62 banks that form the small to mid-sized banks segment of Lokale Pengeinstitutter (the Association of Local Banks, Savings Banks and Co-operative Banks in Denmark), together with […]

Singapore and France boost fintech ties

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has signed agreements with France’s Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) and the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) to enhance fintech co-operation between both countries. ACPR is responsible for supervising the banking and insurance sectors in France, while AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring […]

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority selects Cognizant for tech revamp

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has chosen Cognizant for an overhaul of its core IT applications and quality assurance processes related to the agency’s market surveillance, supervisory analysis, reporting and risk management functions. This three-year agreement builds on the FCA’s ongoing relationship with Cognizant which began in 2011, when it was selected as one […]

Square launches in UK

San Francisco-based payments specialist Square has landed in the UK. This is the fifth market for Square, following the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.

Infographics: the new £1 coin

It’s infographics time! This nifty infographics, created by Mastercard, outlines some interesting facts and figures about the new £1 coin, compared to the old one (introduced back in 1983).

The Monday mindset: 27 March 2017

Fintech zeitgeist! Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week, Kate Bolton, head of PR and communications at Temenos, explains “Collaboration for Good” – the world’s first banking industry charity challenge. Collaboration, it […]

Germany’s KfW Bank in €5bn money transfer error

KfW, a German government-owned development bank, which gained publicity for erroneously transferring more than €300 million to Lehman Brothers the day it filed for bankruptcy, has done it again, according to Bloomberg. KfW mistakenly transferred more than €5 billion to four banks because of a technical glitch that repeated single payments multiple times, according to […]