Finance made social
The social contract between the banking system and society is fundamentally broken. We deserve a financial system that we can all be proud of, one that is fairer and more sustainable than the current iteration.
Industry Comment
Money laundering: rapid development is creating new risks
The internet has opened the door to purchase almost anything from any part of the world through electronic payments. As globalisation continues to flourish – especially in the banking industry – it’s now possible to transfer money across different countries with ease and speed. While this has increased the opportunity for businesses to extend their reach globally, it also creates an appealing opportunity for criminals.
Gearing up for the future of payments
It is essential for banks to ensure they have the right strategies and technology in place now, if they are to retain their position as market-leading payment providers in the future, writes Saket Sharma,chief information officer, treasury services, BNY Mellon.
Blog: Get Ready to Be Acquired
The M&A market for payments companies is booming, as larger companies look to acquire smaller innovators. Even if no deal is on the immediate horizon, early preparation pays off when a sale transaction is at hand.
Blog: The Future Is Financial Health
If we want to consolidate the gains we’ve made and scale the innovations we’ve seeded, we need to think big. We need to redefine financial services from the pursuit of wealth to the pursuit of health.
Viewpoint: With Expanding Use Case, GPR Poised for Growth
GPR cards are quickly moving beyond their traditional role as an alternative to checking accounts for the financially underserved, to serve broader use cases for a changing demographic.
Regulatory overload and the role of the data scientist
In the ongoing discussion about the need to use data to increase business value, it is imperative to substantiate the argument with practical, real-world use cases. Otherwise, the debate becomes just another line of marketing waffle around big data – an area already suffering from too much hype.
Across the spectrum: ISO 20022 perspectives
The original concept of the ISO 20022 was to create a repository of data used in financial messaging to communicate business information of any type – and to be able to add any types of data that might arise in the future. There has been a lot of focus on the use of the standard in payments and securities messaging roles, this has obscured its current and potential use in other areas.
Cross border co-operation is key to the safe evolution of financial markets
Global financial markets are experiencing a paradigm shift as governments, regulators and participants recalibrate the processes and structures underpinning global finance. The challenge is to repair and remedy where needed, with dialogue between central banks, regulators and participants, but also to avoid creating fragmented markets or worse, unintentionally reintroducing risk.
ISO 20022: the beginning of the future?
The ISO 20022 standard is 10 years old this year, but its roots go back to some five years before that, and the story of its development and adoption is likely to go on for many years in the future. The datum point is probably the publication in 1999 of a Green Paper from SWIFT called ‘Building Standards for Tomorrow’. The modest proposal in that document is that “the next generation of standards will be based on a structured and formal framework”.
Intraday Liquidity Reporting
Reporting on the management of intraday liquidity risk will start on a monthly basis from 1 January 2015 to coincide with the implementation of the liquidity coverage ratio reporting requirements. Christian Goerlach, global head of FI balance sheet & liquidity, Deutsche Bank, takes a closer look at some of the issues facing global banks.
Open source middleware is everywhere in financial services
Enabling rapid growth and agility with creaking IT systems poses a major challenge to UK financial services companies where the IT infrastructure, as in many other industries, has evolved over time and features a wide variety of solutions.
Blog: ‘Banking’ the Unbanked with Direct Express
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Direct Express Debit MasterCard program now serves nearly one-quarter of the nation’s entire unbanked population, a recent cardholder survey confirms.
Is your analytics solution getting the better of you?
All banks, whatever their size rely on data to make decisions. With that in mind getting that data in a timely manner and in a format that can be digested easily is critical. So why can this be so difficult? We are all used to receiving reports from our systems and even the most rudimentary examples will utilise some form of analytics, however simple. We might be getting the reports and be used to the status quo, but is your analytics platform getting the better of you?
Viewpoint: The One Who Enrolls Is the One Who Controls
The most effective strategy for retailers to thrive in an omnichannel age is to enroll customers for payment in their own mobile shopping apps.
The brave new world of mobile banking
The digital era is changing your bank rapidly. Is your mobile testing & assurance practice ready? P Venkatesh, director of the product division, and Srivatsan TT, vice president of the solutions group, at Maveric Systems discuss the issues
The mobile movement driving multi-channel banking
Despite the significant challenges faced by the UK’s banking sector over the last decade, there has been a dramatic evolution in the customer experience following the introduction of online, telephone and mobile banking. While the branch remains an important channel, especially for older customers, mobile technology is rapidly redefining how customers interact with their banks.
Blog: Apple Pay—It’s a Matter of Trust
Apple’s big NFC move legitimizes the mobile wallet concept.
Viewpoint: With Russian Payments Landscape in Disorder and Chaos, Is a National Payment Scheme the Logical Answer?
Russia’s fragmented payments infrastructure cries out for modernization as it confronts international and domestic chaos. Could a national payments scheme unlock the giant’s potential as a huge emerging payments market?
Blog: No Pressure, Acquirers, but You’re the Key to Debit Growth in Emerging Markets
Acquirers hold the keys to driving debit growth in emerging markets. Here are five key questions acquirers intent on growing debit should be asking their merchant partners.
Goods in transit: how lessons from retail can transform the financial data supply chain
Regulatory mandates call for the financial services industry to collaborate and rethink its data supply chain to tackle systemic risk and improve transparency. Looking at how the retail industry manages its supply chain could hold the key.
Viewpoint: Separating Fact from Fiction: Consumers Union Campus Banking Report
The NBPCA responds to the CU report on student cards.
Getting ready for mobile payments
With the penetration of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets constantly growing, attention is increasingly turning to mobile marketing, mobile commerce and mobile payments. It is still the case, however, that these trends are largely played out in specialised media, and do not influence the actual behaviour of consumers. This is especially true for mobile payments, with consumers very sceptical about this concept
As global commerce expands, so does payments complexity: How should banks respond?
The increased globalisation of business has opened up new challenges – and opportunities – for companies and the banks that serve them. Corporate treasurers and finance professionals face complexities in the payments arena that range from inconsistencies in local payment processing to new regulations, emerging payment clearing systems and the need to manage geopolitical risk in an ever-expanding array of countries. To address these challenges for their clients, and for themselves, global banks need to invest and innovate to make sure they have the solutions to meet business needs today and in the future.
Corporate connectivity – is Swift the only answer?
Corporates want easier connection to their financial institutions – is Swift the answer or do other options exist?
Moral hazard: the ghost of bail-outs past
The bailout of Espirito Santo Bank brings back unwelcome memories of the events of the last financial crisis and raises the spectre of moral hazard returning to the financial services industry both in the UK and abroad. But how far have we really come since those dark days of 2008 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers and how far do we still have to go? A quick look at recent events gives us a good indication.
Should banks consider domestic payments schemes?
Domestic card schemes have traditionally partnered with MasterCard and/or Visa in an arrangement that leaves the domestic player handling the local transactions and their international partner facilitating and controlling the international business. Should banks work with both or just partner with one of the international schemes?
Viewpoint: Finding the Genius in Mobile Payments
The available technologies that will make payments simpler, cheaper and seamless, and will therefore drive mobile payments, aren’t going away.
Viewpoint: Gift Card Evolution, Not Revolution
Digital gift cards bring depth, not disruption, to gift card product lines.
Viewpoint: Attention Banks and Vendors: Don’t Forget the Contract
For banks and their third-party vendors, it’s crucial to have a solid contract. Or, at least it’s crucial if they want to avoid the ire of regulators and fines that could reach into the billions.
Viewpoint: The Case for Gift Card Exchange
Gift card exchanges play a key role in connecting motivated shoppers with retailers and driving incremental sales, according to survey data from Blackhawk Network. Consumers say they’d like to see more retail locations add gift card exchanges.
Blog: Emerging Trends in Prepaid Card Fraud
Fraudsters are ingenious at finding cracks in the bulwark against prepaid card fraud, but industry cooperation can blunt their effect with strategic practices that are surprisingly easy to implement.
Trading automation, regulations, and systemic risk
The financial services industry has always pursued technical supremacy. But after years of financial crisis and attempted reforms to improve the transparency and understanding of risk exposure in financial services, we seem as much in the dark as ever …
Open plan development: collaboration in retail banking
One of the most distinguishing features of the current wave of financial innovation is how the innovators are often not banks, but small fintech firms often led by former bank employees.
Don’t drown in over-regulation
It should be no shock that the risk for banks of being caught-out for non-compliant activity has soared in recent years in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008. Banks are being monitored more closely now than ever before and it’s been difficult to escape without scrutiny or a heavy reputational impact.
Viewpoint: Why HCE is an Acronym You Need to Know
HCE moves payments credentials to the cloud, which could radically speed up mobile payments development. Analyst Sarah Grotta believes HCE also offers compelling leadership opportunities for prepaid card issuers.
Viewpoint: Jack Ma and the Discovery of Billions
Alibaba Group’s $7.5 billion empire lurks like a crocodile waiting to strike its next opportunity. What does the Chinese giant’s appetite mean for the worldwide payments industry?
Entering the Banking Technology Awards – guidelines from the editor
Entries for the Banking Technology Awards 2014 have been open for a while now, but as we move into the last few weeks, this is always a time when we are flooded with questions about the process. By way of response, here are some guidelines based on my experience chairing the judging panel over the past 11 years.
Six reasons why cloud computing will transform the way banks serve clients – and the five hurdles to overcome
The European Commission wants to bring down the barriers to cloud computing in a move that promises to revolutionise the way transaction banks can serve clients.
Financial institutions and Cybercrime: It’s only just begun
A recent bout of high profile cyber-attacks on financial institutions across the UK, US and Canada has put the spotlight back on the importance of data security and the need to be diligent when it comes to cybersecurity within the banking industry
