Fintech funding round-up: 11 December 2017
This round-up features WorldRemit, PAIR Finance and an update on Sophia the AI robot and SingularityNET.
FinTech
Fintech companies will be a new kind of business in 2018
Fintech companies will find that they are a different kind of business in 2018 than they were in 2017.
Report: Global security spending will top $96bn in 2018
New regulations are forcing enterprises to spend more of their IT budgets on security.
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 8 December 2017
The latest features IOTA, Microsoft, Indonesia’s central bank and Australian Securities Exchange.
Coinbase caught up in Bitcoin blowout
What happens when you’re facilitating the trade of a product that is experiencing extreme hockey stick growth?
Fifth Third Bank chooses FIS for real-time payments
US-based Fifth Third Bank has chosen FIS to enable real-time payments (RTP) for its customers through The Clearing House’s (TCH) payments system.
Startupbootcamp launches Scale innovation programme for start-ups
Startupbootcamp has unveiled the launch of Startupbootcamp Scale, an innovation programme for growth stage start-ups in emerging markets.
Survey report: UK bank account opening comparison
Have any UK high street or challenger banks made the jump to 100% digital onboarding?
What is the future of digital cash?
The recent World Economic Forum (WED) report “Sweden could stop using cash by 2023”, says that the country is moving towards favouring cards and mobile payment apps. Yet retailers are expected to accept cash for at least a couple of years afterwards.
Top fintech stories this week – 8 December 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 7 December 2017
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up – features a nasty hack on NiceHash; Pundi X in Indonesia; a Deluge Network for ICOs; and Blockchain Centre Vilnius in Lithuania.
The missing link: the supply side of cryptocurrency
Supply and demand are the bedrock of market-based economics. To achieve economic equilibrium, supply and demand must be in balance. If one is too high or too low, the system is in a state of disequilibrium, associated with inefficient allocation of goods – not a healthy state.
Revolut launches cryptocurrency trading
Consumer interest in digital currency is at an all-time high. Much of this is thanks to Bitcoin and so this week is the perfect time for global banking company Revolut to launch cryptocurrency trading on its platform.
IBM’s Power9-based AC922 system designed for AI workloads
IBM is ready to start shipping the first commercial server systems built around its recently released Power9 processor. Dubbed the AC922 Power Systems, these servers will ship by the end of December, and are specifically designed for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
E-book: In-Memory Computing for Financial Services – Part 2
New financial services challenges – are you ready for Modern Payments Systems, IoT and blockchain?
Convenience versus control: getting the balance right
Nick Kerigan, MD of Future Payments at Barclaycard, looks at how innovation is helping the payment industry to balance offering seamless payments with keeping people in control of their money.
Fintech funding round-up: 4 December 2017
Coming straight after Friday’s (1 December) fintech funding action, here’s another round-up to take the Monday blues away. This round-up features Oakam, KeyBank, Snapsheet, Payrailz and Elsen.
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 5 December 2017
Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up features R3’s Corda and AWS; gambling with McDonalds; XinFin in Singapore; and Cardano Foundation and Z/Yen Group teaming up.
Calastone plans mutual funds market on blockchain in 2019
Calastone has revealed its funds transaction network will be migrated onto a full blockchain-enabled infrastructure in 2019.
Cybersecurity needs to be a global and coordinated effort
Recent cyberattacks, such as the October 2017 Swift attack, show how vulnerable financial firms across the globe are to the machinations of hackers.
WePay to power payments for Volusion
Having finalised its acquisition of WePay, JP Morgan Chase announced that it has already put the payments platform to work: powering commerce platform Volusion, reports Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company).
Fintech funding round-up: 1 December 2017
Who doesn’t love a trilogy? Following on from the round-ups on Thursday (30 November) and Tuesday (28 November) here’s another slice of fintech funding action. Features Deposit Solutions, Hanson Robotics’ Sophia, and BNP Paribas Asset Management. Germany’s Deposit Solutions, an open banking platform for deposits, has closed an investment round of $20 million led by […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 1 December 2017
Quickly following on from yesterday’s (30 November) blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, here’s more action. Features money laundering in Japan; Coinsource ATMs in Georgia; Cardano Foundation, IOHK and Emurgo teaming up; and PwC in Hong Kong. Over in Japan, Kyodo and Jiji news sites have reported 170 cases of suspected money laundering linked to cryptocurrencies were […]
Allianz accelerates to new digital investments
Allianz with its in-house incubator, Allianz X, has switched gears and pivoted towards a new range of digital investments.
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 30 November 2017
Coming straight after yesterday’s (29 November) fun and games, here’s another quick summary of the blockchain and Bitcoin action. Features the European Central Bank, Tieto, Coinsilium Group and StartupToken. Well, Bitcoin went past $11,000. And then dropped. As you read this it will have changed again. So, opinions are aplenty. And… banks should speed up […]
Fintech funding round-up: 30 November 2017
Quickly following on from Tuesday’s (28 November) funding round-up, here are more stories from a cash-drenched world. Features 1QB Information Technologies, FinTecSystems, Betalo, Nordea and Constellation Digital Partners. 1QB Information Technologies (1QBit), a quantum computing firm based in Vancouver, has closed a CA$45 million ($34.9 million) Series B round comprising equity and revenue contracts. This […]
FIS seeks API effect with Code Connect
FIS has unveiled Code Connect – an online gateway that allows its clients and third-party developers to access FIS APIs for use in developing and testing new solutions. With APIs more popular than free alcohol at a fintech conference, FIS joins the masses seeking to capitalise on the API fever. Code Connect includes more than […]
The AI arms race might be a bit more dangerous than you think
In the tech world, an arms race usually a metaphor for two companies battling for supremacy, but McAfee thinks it might be a bit more literal for artificial intelligence (AI) as hackers upskill to make use of the breakthrough, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). As one of its predictions for 2018, security software vendor […]
Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 29 November 2017
Bitcoin high, Russian firsts, trade finance digitisation, US moves, and an interoperability alliance. Another day of action in the busy blockchain and Bitcoin world. Features Sberbank, IBM, Infosys Finacle, BitFlyer and the Blockchain Interoperability Alliance. Doubt you missed it, but Bitcoin has reached an all time high of $10,000. We were inundated with similar comments […]
Amazon closes cloud performance gap with “bare metal instances”
Amazon Web Services (AWS) kicked off its annual re:Invent conference with a new service designed to make its cloud more competitive to enterprise IT in performance and security, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). EC2 Bare Metal Instances gives enterprises the “best of both worlds,” Peter DeSantis, AWS VP of global infrastructure, said, […]
Payments round-up: 29 November 2017
No quiet days, and no respite from the action. Our latest paytech round-up stars Instarem, Form3, Starling Bank, Optile and Worldpay. Singapore-headquartered start-up Instarem has expanded into Malaysia, “solidifying its presence” in Asia Pacific (APAC). The firm already has individual and corporate customers in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Instarem says it has licences in […]
AlphaPoint plans new public blockchain network
AlphaPoint has announced plans to build a new public blockchain network that will enable users to digitise real-world assets and monetise them across new markets, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). The network, dubbed the AlphaPoint Public Network (APN), will be the first public blockchain built based on Intel SGX technology. AlphaPoint will fund […]
Microsoft and SAP expand HANA and Azure partnership
Microsoft and SAP are expanding their current cloud partnership to include additional support for SAP software running on the Azure public cloud. The two companies also plan to use each other’s applications internally, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The expanded partnership coincides with Microsoft’s biggest rival for public cloud – Amazon Web […]
Passport to success: optimising treasury technology in the connected age
To reap the real benefits of technology, treasurers should be thinking about an extended journey, not a day trip.
Bankers and retailers – will we see roles switch? Or simply morph into a single discipline?
Technology is having a tremendous impact on the way communities shop so changes are more or less expected as we see these shopping mall operators push back on so many dire predictions being made about them. But can they change and yes, could these changes lead to a greater overlap with banking as it exists today? Do we even need differentiation between the two and yes, will they both be able to keep us satisfied when it comes to access to our cash?
Intuit selects AWS for machine learning and AI workloads
Business and financial software company Intuit has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its standard for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
VMware and Amazon grow hybrid cloud tie-up
VMware and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are expanding their hybrid cloud partnership to run VMware workloads at “very large scale” on AWS, a VMware executive says. VMware is launching new tools for migrating and scaling production applications to AWS, as well as business continuity and disaster recovery services, reports Enterprise Cloud News (Banking Technology’s sister […]
Fintech funding round-up: 28 November 2017
No slowing down when it comes to the fintech funding action and this week we’ve got three of the latest stories for another ever-informative round-up. Featuring MoneyMe, TreasuryXpress and Chip.
BehavioSec’s behavioural biometrics right match for Crossmatch
BehavioSec has partnered with identity management firm Crossmatch in a deal that will add keystroke capture to Crossmatch’s composite authentication platform, DigitalPersona, reports David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). “We selected BehavioSec’s platform because they are singularly focused on behavioural biometrics and have well-established and proven technology that already serves more than 35 million end […]
Earthport expands to Bangladesh to deliver cross-border payments
Earthport, a cross-border payments service provider, has partnered with BRAC Saajan Exchange, the payments arm of BRAC Bank, to deliver cross-border payment services into Bangladesh.
