Digital bank bunq launches Apple Pay; comes to Italy and Spain
bunq is expanding into Spain and Italy, and has also introduced Apple Pay, the first in the Netherlands.
Italy
Banca Generali and Saxo Bank partner for digital trading
An eight-year “exclusive partnership” to provide online trading and digital services to Italian clients.
Objectway Conference 2018: the eternal digital city
When in Rome, reveal the latest insights on digital ambitions and wealthtech.
Visa and Allianz partner to create mobile payment app
Allianz Prime app is “first of its kind” in insurance industry.
Banca IMI consolidates trading business on Murex MX.3 platform
The investment bank has consolidated all front office trading activities on a single platform – MX.3 from Murex.
Buddybank finally opens for business
Smartphone-only bank was slated to open its doors in early 2017.
Widiba homes in on Artificial Solutions for VR banking launch
Enter a virtual branch to carry out transactions or talk to an advisor.
Top fintech stories this week – 29 September 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Italy’s first fintech hub comes to Milan
The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the City of Milan have opened the “Milan Fintech District”, the country’s first hub dedicated to businesses in the financial industry. The hub is for start-ups, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, investors and universities to foster development and growth. Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, says the […]
La dolce vita for mobile payments service Jiffy in Italy
Jiffy – the instant mobile payments service developed by SIA – is now available in over 150 outlets in Milan, Rome and Turin. As reported last year, the person-to-business (P2B) project was piloted in Milan and Bergamo, allowing customers to pay via app at participating retail outlets authorised by UBI Banca. SIA said at the […]
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit gets hacked
Italy’s largest bank UniCredit has been the victim of a security breach due to unauthorised access through an Italian third-party provider to customer data – with up to 400,000 customers potentially affected. The incident is confined to Italy and relates to personal loans only. The bank says a first breach seems to have occurred in […]
IBM blockchain powers Borsa Italiana’s digital securities scheme
Italy’s only stock exchange Borsa Italiana, part of London Stock Exchange Group, and IBM are building a blockchain solution to digitise the issuance of securities for unlisted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Europe. The aim is to simplify the tracking and management of shareholding information, and create a distributed shared registry containing a record […]
Simcorp acquires investment and portfolio management tech vendor APL Italiana for €35m
SimCorp has acquired a fellow wealthtech vendor, APL Italiana, for €35 million. APL Italiana specialises investment and portfolio management software for the Italian insurance market.
The Monday mindset: 26 June 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, Banking Technology’s editor Tanya Andreasyan looks at one bank that has managed to successfully converge its digital and “brick and mortar” journeys […]
Apple Pay launches in Italy
Apple Pay has landed in Italy with users able to add Mastercard, Maestro, Visa and V Pay credit and debit cards to the app. On the Italian Apple Pay website it says that the cards can be used with the banking services of Boon, Carrefour and UniCredit. It also states that more will be coming […]
UniCredit and SIA bring Alipay to Italy
The agreement between Alipay and UniCredit has now entered the operational stage. Technological infrastructure for this has been provided by SIA.
Top fintech stories this week – 23 December 2016
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! The last weekly news round-up of 2016. Happy holidays from everyone at Banking Technology!
Italian banks set up cybersecurity response team, Certfin
The Bank of Italy, the Italian Banking Association and the ABI Lab Consortium have signed an agreement to set up Certfin – “a highly specialised Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for Italy’s financial sector”.
Intesa Sanpaolo sends PIN codes to customers via digital channels
Italy’s largest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, is working with Gemalto to deliver PIN codes to customers via SMS, web and mobile banking app. Gemalto describes the project as “the world’s first comprehensive e-PIN notification service”.
Mobile payments and European millennials: saying and doing are two different things
Vocalink has unveiled its comprehensive research into the habits and perceptions of millennials when it comes to mobile payments. Turns out, this group is still waiting for the “Uber moment” of payments.
Banca Consulia in tech overhaul with ERI’s Olympic core banking system
Banca Consulia has implemented ERI’s Olympic core banking platform for advisory services.
SIA partners with Politecnico di Milano for payments innovation
Italian payments firm SIA has invested in a 3.17% stake in technical university Politecnico di Milano (MIP). SIA is the third new partner to join in 2016 after Microsoft and Whirlpool, and says it has already been collaborating with MIP for several years on international innovation and development projects. “Being close to companies and to […]
The digitisation of private banking in Italy
The financial institutions have adjusted their service and relationship models by integrating digital interaction and communication tools for private banking customers, writes Alberto Cuccu, chief product officer at Objectway. In Italy, the digitisation of banking services has for many years been focused primarily on propositions aimed at retail customers (such as payment services or home […]
Italy live on T2S (at last)
Target2-Securities, the European Central Bank project to harmonise Europe’s post trade infrastructure, has finally gone live in Italy – three months after Italy’s last-minute decision to drop out of the first wave earlier this summer.
SIA sees mobile future in 2015
Nearly two-thirds of Italians will be able to make real-time peer to peer payments using a mobile phone by this summer, according to Massimo Arrighetti, chief executive of Italian payment processor SIA. That’s not the end of SIA’s plans however, as the company focuses on an internationalisation agenda that targets 400 million European current account holders.
Italian banks go global as Europe prepares for T2S
Italian banks are preparing for T2S, as Europe seeks to reform its cross-border trading infrastructure and bring down barriers between EU countries. The preparations are driving smaller regional banks to make deals with larger global banks as they prepare for implementation in June.
Connect with customers or face extinction, banks told
Banks in Italy and beyond must find new ways to connect with consumers, or risk going out of business. But how to achieve a successful transformation exercised the minds of senior bank representatives at the SIA Expo in Milan this week.
SIA to shake up “fossilised” P2P payments in a Jiffy
Italian payment processing specialist SIA has released a new P2P payments service that allows users to send and receive funds on their smartphone using their phone contacts. Called Jiffy, the app has been welcomed by Italian retail banks – but SIA’s ambitious plan calls for the service to be rolled out to 400 million European current account holders.
Banca Popolare di Bari in branch refresh with NCR
Italy’s Banca Popolare di Bari has chosen ATM manufacturer NCR to help it revitalise its branch network with a new set of systems that it says will help to cut queues and better connect with customers.
Italian banks sell stake in SIA
The group of banks holding a controlling interest in SIA, the Italian payments processor and systems developer, have reduced their ownership in a sale to a consortium of investment funds led by Fondo Strategico Italiano.
SIA’s Andrea Galeazzi takes up chairmanship at Emmecom
Andrea Galeazzi, director of network services at Italian payments and technology infrastructure company SIA, has taken up a new role as chairman at Italian telecoms firm Emmecom. The move is part of SIA’s acquisition of the smaller firm, which took place in July and forms a key part of its European expansion plans.
Mobile payments success needs complete ecosystem
The public is ready to adopt mobile payments in many aspects of their lives, but service providers need to have a defined role in the ecosystem and an understanding of how they interact with other players and the consumer.
UniCredit plans mobile payments play with First Data
European commercial bank UniCredit has chosen payment processing company First Data Corporation to help it pursue its mobile payments plans.
Italy’s ICBPI deploys Milan trading tools
Italian banking group Instituto Centrale Banche Popolare Italiane has introduced a new trading and recording system across its Milan operations, which it says will help it to better keep up with changing regulation and offer a better service for its traders.
Warsaw installs co-lo as Italy imposes HFT tax
Poland’s Warsaw Stock Exchange has introduced co-location systems designed to appeal to high-frequency traders, as Italy clamps down on HFT with Europe’s first HFT-specific tax. The moves highlight ongoing national and international divisions over the role of HFT in capital markets.
SIA ramps up European expansion
Financial technology company SIA has acquired Italian telecoms firm Emmecom, as part of a plan to create a new technology infrastructure across Europe for merchants and banks.
LSE’s Luxembourg venture highlights regulator’s dilemma
The London Stock Exchange’s plans to establish a new central securities depository in Luxembourg reveal the way regulation can have unintended consequences – in this case a proliferation of CSDs.
New research slams “cynical” financial transaction tax
The imposition of a financial transaction tax in Italy on Friday has prompted condemnation from senior financial market observers, who are warning that the new rules could tip Europe into a liquidity drought that will damage banks and asset managers, punish traditional market participants and encourage a slide away from equities towards other asset classes.
