Digital


Payments round-up: 10 October 2017

Payment services are all the rage this week, here’s a rundown with this week’s round-up. Featuring Paynear, GoSwiff, BBVA, Omnia Pay and Huawei.

Around Fintech in 8 Hours – new online course launched by CFTE

Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has launched a fintech foundation course – Around Fintech in 8 Hours – “designed to give professionals working in the finance industry a solid understanding of how technology is redefining the provision of financial services”.

India’s fintech valley gets pally with Mastercard for smart city plan

Mastercard has partnered with the Andhra Pradesh government in India to bring its digital payments into the Fintech Valley Vizag’s smart city plan. Under the agreement, Mastercard will help Andhra Pradesh in its ambitions to be a cashless society and develop the city concept. Mastercard president and CEO Ajay Banga says it can do this […]

PSD2 – the tip of an Open Banking API iceberg?

It’s been over a year since I first blogged on the subject of open banking and it is fair to say, mainly driven through the regulatory pressures of PSD2 and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) led UK Open Banking initiative, that across Europe, much progress has been made in moving the banking industry to adopt APIs.

Payments: I spy gpi

Much of the focus for correspondent bankers at this year’s Sibos will again be Swift’s global payments innovation (gpi) initiative. More than 110 transactions banks from Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Americas have signed up to the initiative, which opened for live payments in January 2017.

Nymbus unveils digital banking platform, SmartDigital

Banking software start-up Nymbus has launched its digital banking platform – SmartDigital – offering open architecture and APIs to enable financial institutions to integrate with third-party applications.

I know what I am doing!

Recent business surveys together with published industry trends suggest that ATMs aren’t going to disappear from the landscape quite yet even as the rate of bank branch closures will not take place as rapidly as could have been expected just a short time ago. What’s happening?

The tech is there so why aren’t we doing better?

New technology has been billed as a means to make us more efficient in the work place, but we are actually becoming less productive. So what’s missing from the equation? Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication) reports. The point was made by Joshua Meltzer from the Brookings Institute at the “Nordic Digital Business Summit” in Helsinki. […]

Just because it can be connected, that doesn’t mean it should be

Technology breakthroughs are great things; they present the opportunity for ideas, creativity and innovation. But there is always the risk of enthusiasm running away with itself, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). That was certainly evident at this year’s “Nordic Digital Business Summit”, where internet of things (IoT) was at the top of the agenda. […]

Infographic: the world’s most cashless countries

What countries among the 20 largest economies are adapting quickest to using cashless systems like phones and contactless cards? New research (and nifty infographics) from global trading site Forex Bonuses reveals that Canada takes the top spot, narrowly edging out Sweden for the top position.

Tibco acquires Cisco’s data virtualisation business

Integration, analytics, and event-processing software company Tibco has agreed to acquire Cisco Data Virtualization (formerly Composite Software), reports Julie Muhn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company). The solution powers enterprise-scale data virtualisation and offers associated consulting and support services. Tibco will leverage the new solution to “enhance its portfolio of analytics products and will help clients onboard analytics […]

Central banking and fintech: a brave new world?

This is a moment to celebrate 20 years of independence during which the Bank of England has been a stabilising force for the UK economy, inspiring others in the world of central banking.

Google bids for AI leadership with new Pixel 2 smartphone

Internet giant Google’s big gadget unveil is all about positioning itself for the artificial intelligence (AI) era, not becoming an iPhone killer, reports Telecoms.com (Banking Technology’s sister publication). The flagship product is the Pixel 2 – a product so important for Google that it blew a billion bucks on beefing up its R&D team. As […]

Poland’s Bank Millennium unveils Visa tokenisation

Warsaw-based Bank Millennium has launched “Europe’s first issuer wallet” using Visa tokenisation – so its customers can use the mobile app to create a virtual equivalent of their card. The bank says virtualising the card and using the service is free of charge, and cardholders can pay with their phone via HCE (host card emulation). […]

Interview: Vijay Oddiraju, Volante Technologies

In an exclusive interview with Vijay Oddiraju, co-founder and CEO of payments processing software provider Volante Technologies, speaks on the topics of agility, automation and how the ambitious company intends to prosper in the fast moving and competitive world of payments.

Starling Bank Expands with Business Accounts

The competition to serve the financial needs of small businesses is heating up in the U.K., where consumer banking challenger Starling Bank is expanding into the business market,

Mashreq launches Neo digital bank for millennials

Dubai-based Mashreq has confirmed its future as a branchless bank, with the launch of its digital entity Mashreq Neo. As reported in May, Mashreq was mulling the branchless route in a speech by CEO Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair at its 50th anniversary ceremony. At that time, Banking Technology expected this to be a digital bank […]

Falcon plans to feather more nests with new digital platform

Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank has unveiled a new digital platform, Falcon Pulse, as it looks to boost its ambitions in wealth management. Main features will include an algo trader that daily rebalances a portfolio’s asset allocation to “optimise” performance as well as an idea generating tool that will screen market information to offer the “best […]

Cloudy with a chance of Microsoft for TSB’s digital banking

TSB has selected Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Dynamics 365 cloud solution as part of its digital banking revamp for its eight corporate centres and 550 branches. Microsoft 365 integrates Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security into a solution to help the bank’s 8,500 employees. Dynamics 365 delivers a cloud-based suite of applications […]

What does the new iPhone X mean for mobile banking?

Mobile banking is nothing without mobiles, and as Apple leads the way in innovation it provides opportunities for banks to do things differently too. So, with the launch of the iPhone X, what is next for mobile banking in a world that can’t get enough of phone upgrades?

Evry in five-year, $18.7m card deal with Aktia Bank

Norway-based banking tech vendor Evry will provide Finland’s Aktia Bank with the “entire value chain for card payments”, including virtual debit and credit cards for the bank’s digital proposition, Aktia Wallet.

Banco Santander makes Mioti move for IoT education

Banco Santander, through Santander Universities and Fundación Universia, will work with internet of things (IoT) institute Mioti to provide training grants and courses in the growing IoT sector. Madrid-based Mioti, “the first 100% IoT institute in Spain”, is a place for companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop their ideas. Banco Santander becomes one of four […]

Banking Technology October 2017 issue out now

Oh brave new world! Where transparency reigns. The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.

Prime Tyme for South Africa’s newest bank

TymeDigital, a South African online money transfer business bought by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) two years ago, has been granted a banking licence. The first licence issued to a new bank by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) since 1999. TymeDigital will enter a retail banking market dominated by South Africa’s five biggest banks: […]

Rodney C. Adkins Joins PayPal’s Board of Directors

PayPal has welcomed Rodney C. Adkins to its board of directors. Adkins is president of 3RAM Group LLC, a privately held company specializing in capital investments, business consulting services and property management.

HSBC and friends team up for integrated SME accounting

HSBC is expanding its existing bank feed services with the launch of a new online tool that enables SMEs to establish a data feed from their bank account to their accounting software. Its customers can now connect their bank accounts to their choice of accounting package – namely Xero, Sage and Intuit. Nadya Hijazi, global […]