News


Standard Chartered focuses IT on retail and risk as Winter’s axe falls

Standard Chartered is to invest $3 billion in “strategic opportunities” and its technology infrastructure as part of a wholesale reorganisation of the bank in the wake of a $139 million third-quarter loss. The restructuring will see 15,000 jobs – 17% of its workforce – go over the next three years.

FSB targets ‘too big to fail’ dilemma

Global regulatory body the Financial Stability Board has released two guidance papers which aim to solve the “too big to fail” scenario and prevent a re-run of the financial crisis by promoting the resolvability of systemically important financial institutions.

Visa Inc. to Buy Visa Europe for Up to €21.2 Billion (Nov. 2, 2015)

Visa Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Visa Europe for up to €21.2 billion (US$23.4 billion), bringing Visa’s global networks under the same roof for the first time since 2007. The long-anticipated deal earned the unanimous support of both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close in Visa’s fiscal third quarter of 2016, pending regulatory approval.

RushCard Making Good after Service Disruption (Nov. 2, 2015)

RushCard will reimburse RushCard customers who experienced financial losses as a result of a temporary service disruption during a technology conversion last month. The company’s systems now are fully restored, the company said Thursday.

IT vendors may hamper blockchain adoption warns survey

Major global IT vendors – including hardware, systems software, ecommerce, big data, cloud, network, telco and systems integrator companies – have little wisdom, advice or vision to offer their customers and prospects when it comes to blockchain technology, according to a survey just conducted by enterprise IT specialist consulting firm Lighthouse Partners.

CFSI Report: Designing High-Quality, Small-Dollar Credit Products

With many American consumers lacking access to affordable, high-quality credit, the Center for Financial Services Innovation has released a new report outlining eight strategies to help financial service providers design small-dollar loans that offer value to consumers and providers.

Thomson Reuters to supply reference data to SmartStream utility to carry

Thomson Reuters is to supply reference data to SmartStream’s Securities Product Reference Data utility. As part of the agreement, SmartStream will have access to Thomson Reuters PermID, a machine-readable identifier that creates a unique reference for any data item. The SmartStream utility will provide services for instrument reference data normalisation and validation across all asset. […]

Deutsche axes 15,000 in technology and ops overhaul

Deutsche Bank is to shed 9,000 full-time staff and 6,000 external contractor jobs in its global technology and operations infrastructure as it sets out to “modernise its outdated and fragmented IT architecture” and improve control systems.

CME inks post-trade deal with Dwolla

Derivatives exchange CME has signed a commercial agreement with Dwolla, a bank transfer platform. The arrangement will use Dwolla’s real-time architecture to support on demand payment clearing and settlement services. It is intended to streamline payment operations for CME Clearing members. “With its established customers and proven real-time systems, Dwolla’s technology provides CME Group with […]

Enacomm, VoiceVault Launch Voice e-Signature at Money20/20 (Oct. 28, 2015)

Enacomm, a provider of intelligent customer service solutions, and enterprise and mobile voice authentication company VoiceVault have integrated technologies for the provision of Voice e-Signatures. Showcased during Money20/20, and recently implemented for a financial industry giant that manages billions of dollars in assets, the technology enables identity verification via a phone or smart device for obtaining and storing customer signatures, the companies said.

Senate OKs Cybersecurity Bill Encouraging Info Sharing (Oct. 28, 2015)

The Senate has approved a cybersecurity bill that would make it easier for the private sector and governmental agencies to share information about potential cyberthreats. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act passed yesterday by a vote of 74-21, after several failed attempts to advance the bill. The House passed a companion bill earlier this year, which means a combined bill soon will be headed for President Obama’s desk.

Money20/20 Panelists: Tokenization is Key to Driving ‘Connected Commerce’ (Oct. 27, 2015)

In the year since token technology made its debut with Apple Pay’s launch, it’s driven some significant new payments innovations, but we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of the technology’s full potential in enabling many future applications in “connected commerce” that will radically enrich and improve payments, according to payments industry executives.

Cashfac adds analytics capabilities for corporates and banks

Cashfac Technologies, a specialist market leader in bank-to-corporate cash management solutions has launched Cashfac Analytics, a real-time data analysis and reporting module that enables banks and corporates to better understand their cash movements.

Money20/20 Panel: Cross-Border Payments are Poised for Breakthrough (Oct. 26, 2015)

Cross-border payments providers looking to drive innovation should focus on solving problems in consumer use cases and getting regulators to help improve—not impede—technology development to streamline global remittances, payments executives said during an introductory panel at Money20/20 in Las Vegas on Sun., Oct. 25.

Breaking News: CFPB’s Cordray Weighs in on RushCard (Oct. 23, 2015)

Despite reassurances from UniRush Chairman and CEO Rick Savard earlier this week that the company is working around the clock to address any remaining cardholder issues arising from its recent technology migration, CFPB Director Richard Cordray today offered his two cents on the matter, saying the bureau will use “all appropriate tools at our disposal to help ensure that consumers obtain the relief that they deserve.”