Payment Trends: BAI Beacon 2017 Preview
Cut through the noise and examine the payment trends most likely to affect your bottom line.
Artificial Intelligence/AI
RHB and RinggitPlus launch chatbot lending in Malaysia
Malaysia’s RHB Bank Berhad and RinggitPlus – a comparison website for financial products – have introduced “ChatBot’”, the “first” real-time messenger-style platform in Southeast Asia for personal loan applications. Consumers can apply for a loan via ChatBot on RinggitPlus’s website and obtain the results for eligibility via an SMS. The platform auto populates information provided […]
Intel unveils self-learning “neuromorphic” AI chip
It might not have totally nailed artificial intelligence (AI) yet, but with its new research project, Loihi, Intel claims to have crossed a bridge which many are still trying to build; on-chip learning, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). In its search for a new growth area, Intel has focused on the burgeoning world of […]
Japan embraces fintech’s hard-boiled wonderland
Banks and politicians in Japan are getting ever more energetic for fintech with grand plans for APIs, artificial intelligence (AI), digital currencies, blockchain, funding for start-ups and an easing of regulations. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) will launch a website on Monday (25 September) for makers of smartphone […]
State Street unveils Quantextual Idea Lab for investment research
State Street has launched its Quantextual Idea Lab, a hybrid of machine learning and human knowledge, for improved investment research. According to the firm, investment professionals are inundated with research reports from the sell side, the buy side and academia. It reckons financial research teams can produce enough content to consume 24 reams or 12,000 […]
South Africa Bettr get ready for new mobile banking service
South African start-up Bettr Finance is preparing to launch its mobile banking service – with the offer of no monthly account fees and no bricks and mortar branches. It’s early days at the moment, so timelines and specific details are not available. But on its website its alpha phase is limited to 10,000 users. The […]
Can money buy friends? Intel is hoping so
Intel has shown its defensive side with a humble-brag that it has invested $1 billion in artificial intelligence (AI). We didn’t realise Intel had to use money to make friends, but each to their own, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). In an editorial piece by CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel has decided to shout at […]
Fintech funding round-up: 19 September 2017
Four stories in one for a fast fintech funding round-up. Features Ellevest, iZettle, GoCardless and MarketInvoice. New York-based fintech Ellevest, led by former Merrill Lynch CEO Sallie Krawcheck, has got itself $34.6 million funding. Ellevest is a bit different from the rest as it was founded to provide an investing experience to “help women meet […]
Royal Bank of Canada pilots AI-powered finance guide
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), with the help of Personetics Cognitive Banking’s applications, will deliver two new services this autumn that provide AI-powered financial guidance and an automated savings programme through the bank’s mobile app. The development follows on from last month, when RBC unveiled these two digital services – called NOMI Insights and NOMI […]
Leveraging AI and Machine Learning to Enhance the Customer Experience
As big data just keeps getting bigger, banks, retailers and every other kind of company must have more sophisticated tools to understand and predict what customers want and need.
AI is starting to get seriously smart, perhaps worryingly so
We’ve seen a couple of artificial intelligence (AI) shout-outs this week with Microsoft targeting telcos’ worryingly poor customer service record and European scientists potentially creating the building blocks for Skynet, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). Starting in the Microsoft offices, the team has paired up with Amdocs to provide an intelligent solution to one […]
Fintech funding round-up: 13 September 2017
Quickly following on from the fintech funding round-up on 11 September, here’s more action in a concise form. Features InfoSum, Neyber, Goldman Sachs, Forward Partners and BlackRock. Data tech start-up InfoSum has added $5 million to its seed funding, taking the total raised to date to $8 million. Joining existing investors Mark Suster (Upfront Ventures) […]
STACK Taps Mastercard Prepaid for Challenger M-Banking App
There’s a new fintech challenger in town. Toronto-based STACK announced its partnership with Mastercard two weeks ahead of the beta launch of its mobile financial services app and companion prepaid card.
What we learnt at CloudSec: life, death and Twitter
Before you get too excited about the down and dirty world of cloud security, we should warn you this is more of a light-hearted report on the quirky things our sister publication Telecoms.com picked up at the CloudSec conference.
Petal uses machine learning to underwrite credit without credit score
After two years of stealth technology development and $3.6 million in venture capital backing, New York City-based Petal has announced a credit card that uses machine learning to underwrite customers instead of traditional credit scores.
Fears about AI are a load of rubbish – Capgemini
Capgemini has roared into the artificial intelligence (AI) battle with new research which claims the human cost of automation is a myth, reports Banking Technology’s sister publication Telecoms.com. There might be a few people who will raise concern over such a claim, but in a survey of almost 1,000 organisations with revenues of more than […]
IBM and MIT team up for AI research
IBM will make a ten-year, $240 million investment to create the MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab as the duo seek to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). The collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aims to advance AI hardware, software and algorithms related to deep learning and other areas, increase AI’s impact on industries, […]
Gambit acquisition offers BNP Paribas robo-advisory opening
France’s BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has acquired a majority stake in Belgium-based robo-advisory company Gambit Financial Solutions. BNPP AM says via the deal it will look to improve its advisory-guided or autonomous interfaces. Gambit will maintain its independence and become the preferred partner for robo-advisory solutions for BNP Paribas’ retail and wealth management […]
Most of us are worried about AI rules
With every technological breakthrough there needs to be updates to the rules, and the UK general public think the government needs to pull the finger out when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). That rules need to be changed in relation to everyday life is a given, but it would […]
Crealogix purchases AI and machine learning tech from Koemei
Swiss digital banking company Crealogix has bolstered its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities with the acquisition of new technology from Koemei, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology’s sister company). Crealogix will leverage Koemei’s technology that uses automated speech recognition (ASR) to convert audio, podcast, and video content into text data, which facilitates cross-media […]
Artificial intelligence round-up: 31 August 2017
Where’s the humanity? Well, not here as this is an artificial intelligence (AI) round-up. Features Royal Bank of Canada, Emirates NBD, and the ten greatest threats to mankind. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has announced a pilot launch of two digital services based on AI that offer insights about client’s financials and an automated savings […]
Japanese start-ups fire up in force
The land of the rising sun is seeing a rising number of start-ups power up as they hunt for fintech glory. According to Nikkei Asian Review, 46 tech companies have gone public in Japan so far in 2017, with the full-year total seen reaching 80 to 90. The highest tally in the last decade was […]
Fintech Trends: the Expected, Unexpected and What’s Next at FinovateFall
Get a sneak peek at what trends will shape the discussion at FinovateFall, including a few things you might not expect.
Alexa gets into bed with Cortana
Amazon and Microsoft have announced their previously competing voice-driven artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are now an item, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The world can be a lonely place for virtual assistants. All the company they have are demanding millennials constantly asking what their latest email is or a retiree wondering what the weather […]
Bridg Raises $11 Million from Morpheus Ventures, March Capital, Visa and NextEquity
Bridg, which claims to be the first marketing software company to leverage point-of-sale data to drive “precision-marketing campaigns” for restaurant and retail brands, has secured $11 million in Series B funding.
Top fintech stories this week – 25 August 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Fiserv buys payments software vendor Dovetail Pushes deeper into the payments infrastructure sector. Mobile contactless transactions hit £370m in UK in H1 2017 A whopping 336% year-on-year increase. Avaloq maintains momentum with massive earnings rise Adjusted EBITDA increased […]
Mizuho primes for financial crime with IBM Watson time
Mizuho is testing out new ways of risk management and dealing with financial crime by using IBM Watson’s cognitive technology. The plan is to use the Watson-powered software, which runs on the IBM Cloud, to analyse a range of data sources, including retrieving news sources and extracting data using screening technologies, that were previously done […]
Douugh rises to occasion for AI-powered banking
Banking challenger Douugh has unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI) powered financial platform, guided by “Sophie” – a 24/7 personal assistant for finances. Andy Taylor, founder and CEO of Douugh, says: “We believe the future of banking is about platform, data and identity.” Douugh plans to use Sophie to offer better financial decisions for consumers. Services […]
Qualcomm lays out AI vision of the future
Qualcomm’s view of the future is one in which every smartphone, device and car on the road is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) via a connected – Qualcomm – chipset, reports Light Reading (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The company laid out this AI-driven view of the world last week as its Qualcomm Technologies subsidiary announced the […]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch brings AI to accounts receivable
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) is launching a new solution – intelligent receivables – that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and other software to help companies “vastly improve” their straight-through reconciliation (STR) of incoming payments to help them post their receivables faster, reports Banking Technology‘s sister publication Paybefore. Intelligent receivables is designed for large or […]
Taiwan goes in big on AI craze
The Taiwanese Ministry of Science and Technology has put its money where its mouth is to make a mark on the world of artificial intelligence (AI) with a TND $16 billion ($527 million) investment, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The AI craze is very quickly gathering pace in every aspect of our lives, and […]
LendingRobot joins NSR Invest to form biggest roboadvisor in marketplace lending
P2P lending roboadvisor LendingRobot will join NSR Invest, creating what it calls “the largest independent roboadvisor in the alternative lending space”, reports Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). LendingRobot explains in its blog that the “websites, operating, and trading systems” of each platform will continue to function as usual for the time being as the companies prepare […]
Jemstep the right roboadvisor step for KeyBank
When roboadvisor firm Jemstep was acquired by investment management company Invesco a year and a half ago, Invesco CEO Martin Flanagan highlighted the importance of combining technology and human insight to produce better investment outcomes for customers. Now Jemstep has partnered with KeyBank’s Key Investment Services (KIS), to provide another opportunity for Invesco’s roboadvisor to […]
AWS beefs up security with new bouncer named Macie
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new machine learning-based security service, which it claims will help customers identify anomalies inside their network, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology‘s sister publication). The launch comes only a month after its S3 storage hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as Verizon customer data was left on an […]
Industry bullish on promise of fintech – Opimas research
Market players are bullish on the near- and longer-term promise of fintech, according to new research by Opimas, “Fintech Spending and Innovation in Capital Markets”. In 2017, it estimates fintech spending across all capital markets participants to exceed $127 billion.
But what about the human cost of automation?
New research from recruitment agency Robert Half has outlined the jobs which are under threat from automation, but when are we actually going to talk seriously about the dark side of artificial intelligence (AI)?
Where top US banks are investing in fintech – CB Insights
Since 2012, the top ten US banks (by assets under management) have participated in 72 rounds totaling $3.6 billion to 56 fintech companies, according to CB Insights. While investment activity dropped on a quarterly basis in Q1 2017, four of the last five quarters have seen over $1 billion invested into fintech start-ups in the US backed by venture capital firms.
Morgan Stanley’s diversity-focused innovation lab welcomes first cohort
Morgan Stanley’s new innovation lab, which aims to support multiculturalism and diversity in financial services, has onboarded five start-ups for its three-month accelerator programme.
PayPal launches two innovation labs in India
PayPal has set up two innovation labs in India – based out of the company’s tech centres in Chennai and Bangalore – to help the country’s fintech start-ups grow.
Abu Dhabi Global Market and UAE Exchange partner for “vibrant fintech ecosystem”
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi and UAE Exchange have teamed up “to support, develop and promote the fintech” ecosystem in the country.
