Bank ABC revamps digital channels with Backbase
Bahrain-based Bank ABC (Arab Banking Corporation) is modernising its digital channels for retail and wholesale banking customers with Backbase’s tech.
Digital
Zelle makes its presence known in P2P payments arena
The recent performance of Zelle Network, the peer-to-peer (P2P) payments platform with the funny name, is no laughing matter for competing P2P providers.
Piraeus Bank e-branches go Greece lightning
Piraeus Bank has launched three fully automated e-branches, across the region of Attiki – the first of their kind in Greece. Services on offer include a “remote cashier”, where customers can perform 90% of the transactions provided via a video call with a cashier; remote registration of internet banking through a phone service point; a […]
HSBC France revamps core banking software with SAB
HSBC France is in the process of replacing its legacy core banking system with SAB AT, provided by local vendor SAB.
Zelle Makes Presence Known in P2P Arena
The recent performance of Zelle Network, the P2P payments platform with the funny name, is no laughing matter for competing P2P providers. Early Warning Services, a provider of real-time payments, authentication and risk mitigation services, announced April 17 that its Zelle Network processed more than 170 million P2P payments in 2016, totaling $55 billion in transaction value.
Dubai International Financial Centre calls for fintech start-ups
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is seeking applications for its FinTech Hive at DIFC accelerator programme. The 12-week programme is designed to help early and growth-stage firms accelerate product and business development by gaining exposure to financial institution executives. Successful applicants will be offered the opportunity to develop, test and modify their innovations in collaboration […]
Silicon Valley Bank opens up throttle for API banking
US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has launched new APIs to let its clients programmatically open bank accounts, and send payments using a credit card network and via the automated clearing house (ACH) network. Dan Kimmerling, director, API banking at SVB, says its goal this year is to “develop a broad array of APIs” and wants […]
Lloyds says Hello to Microsoft Windows 10 biometrics
Lloyds is working with Microsoft to test biometric authentication for customers logging into their Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland internet banking sites. The three organisations will use Windows Hello to get access to Windows 10 devices using a fingerprint or facial recognition. Devices will recognise the user, “rather than having to remember an assortment […]
Ummah Finance to become first UK-based mobile Islamic bank
Ummah Finance aims to be “the first UK born Islamic bank solely set up and operating from London”, with a fully digital proposition.
Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait swaps Misys’ Equation core banking system for Infosys Finacle
Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) has gone live with a new core banking system at its two branches in the UAE. The new platform is Finacle, supplied by Infosys’ product subsidiary EdgeVerve.
Savings get real with Starling Bank and Moneybox
UK challenger bank Starling has teamed up with Moneybox to give its customers access to a suite of saving and investing tools. Starling says it is the first digital challenger to join the list of banks supported by the Moneybox app for its “round ups” feature. The service will be available to Starling customers at […]
More banks get mobile with Android Pay
Like an astute player of the Risk board game, Android Pay’s global expansion plans continue apace as it is working with several banks to let their customers add cards to its service from a mobile banking app. The latest banks include Bank of America, Bank of New Zealand, Discover, mBank and USAA. They follow on […]
Quash the queue with WoraPay’s Masterpass coup
We all love food and drink, and mobile service WoraPay has got in-sync and integrated Masterpass, the digital payment service from Mastercard. WoraPay’s service allows customers to buy food and drink, and pay in advance with their mobile. This means customers can order their morning coffee or tea (or whisky if you have a crappy […]
Fintech outside London – part 1
There is no smoke without fire. The “big smoke”, as London is colloquially known, has been creating a fire of innovation in the financial technology space for years, but there are other UK fintech centres in the Southwest; Cardiff; Manchester/Leeds; and Edinburgh/Glasgow that create their own heat.
Coca-Cola Credit Union in front-to-back office tech revamp
Coca-Cola Credit Union in the US state of Georgia is modernising its online and mobile banking with Bankjoy, and its back office tech with Corelation.
PayPal’s TIO Offer Wins Shareholder Approval
PayPal’s bid to acquire Vancouver-based bill payment specialist TIO Networks has been approved by TIO shareholders, who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the proposed sale at a special meeting this week.
TSB turns to First Data for bank portfolio services
First Data has been appointed by Sabis, the IT arm of Spanish banking group Sabadell, to provide processing and acquiring services across its subsidiary TSB. First Data will migrate TSB’s credit and debit card portfolio onto its FirstVision platform. Additionally, First Data will power TSB’s digital payments and provide merchant acquiring services for money and […]
Contactless payments ramp up in 2017
Following the announcement WhatsApp will enter into the mobile payments arena, new estimates from Juniper Research claims Apple Pay contactless users will nearly double over 2017.
FIS sheds Ambit Private Banking core software business
FIS has sold its Swiss core banking software business, Ambit Private Banking, which it inherited with the acquisition of Sungard, to New Access Banking Software.
US fintech regulation: a divided picture at the federal level
Addressing the views of the Department of Treasury, the CFPB, and the SEC on the regulation of the fintech industry in the US.
Central Bank of Iceland chooses SIA for payments overhaul
The Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) has chosen Italian firm SIA to implement and support a new real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) and new instant payment platform. These technology infrastructures developed by SIA, are planned to go live in 2018, and will replace CBI’s current mainframe-based real-time solutions for high and low-value payment systems, which […]
Urban FT taps Sunrise Banks for prepaid partnership
White-label digital banking services provider Urban FT is joining forces with Sunrise Banks.
Payments: how the West will be copying the East
Payments industry practitioners in the European Union are understandably obsessed with the implications of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). This was evident at the recent European Payments Summit, held in the Netherlands, where PSD2 dominated many of the discussions.
DeVere delves deeper into fintech space with e-money app launch
Financial consultancy firm DeVere Group has launched an app-only e-money service as it pushes deeper into the banking and fintech sector. As Banking Technology reported last month, the group took advantage of Lithuania’s ambitions to attract fintech firms and set up a new office in the capital Vilnius. This was preceded by the unveiling of […]
Alawwal Bank’s next stop is a coffee shop
Across the world, branches are disappearing or even getting smaller, but Alawwal Bank, with the help of financial services IT consultancy Synechron, has opened a new digital branch in Saudi Arabia in the form of a coffee shop. The Ibda café is located in the Nakheel mall in Riyadh. The bank says customers can open […]
Starling Bank developer portal goes live
UK challenger bank Starling has unveiled its developer portal to enable third parties to access customer data and build on top of its platform using APIs. As Banking Technology previously reported, Starling launched its mobile app and is welcoming the first customers through its digital doors to join a beta testing programme. It also recently […]
Executive Profile: Walt Granville, Digiliti Money
From his current role as senior vice president of mobile innovations at Digiliti Money (formerly Cachet Financial Solutions), Walt Granville has the perfect vantage point to see the transformative power of mobile for prepaid programs. Find out more from the former pro runner, including which apps are on his must-list, where he sees prepaid in five years and the trend he’s watching most in 2017.
Tackling cybercrime: why the industry must unite
Cyberattacks have been dominating newspaper headlines for some time now. Whether it’s losing access to PayPal, a distributed denial of service attack on Lloyds Group, or Tesco Bank customers losing £2.5 million to hackers, the threat of a cyberattack in 2017 is so great that it’s not a case of if, but when one occurs.
Naqoda unveils “new, fast and flexible” core banking system
Fintech vendor Naqoda has launched its new development, Naqoda Core Banking Platform, which is “set to compete with new start-ups and legacy vendors alike”.
O-Bank goes digital in preparation for IPO
O-Bank (formerly Industrial Bank of Taiwan), is keen to transform itself into “a nimble and digitally-focused boutique lender” as it gears on for an IPO.
Top fintech stories this week – 7 April 2017
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Banks spellbound by innovation? Lessons learnt from digitalisation
Dr Andreas Dombret, member of the executive board of Deutsche Bundesbank, ponders why fintech innovation is such a hot topic now, of all times, what exactly innovation in banking means, and whether banks are even capable of being innovative.
WeChat Wants to Grow Payments in U.S. and Europe
WeChat is on the move again. The China-based social messaging and mobile wallet platform plans to expand its presence in Europe and the U.S., efforts that could bring it better relationships with advertisers, brands and payment providers.
Western Union App Integrates Apple Pay
Facing increased competition from mobile P2P services, money transfer giant Western Union has made a move to bolster its own mobile offerings. U.S.-based users of Western Union’s mobile app now can use Apple Pay to send money from within the app domestically, or to more than 200 countries and territories.
UniCredit and SIA bring Alipay to Italy
The agreement between Alipay and UniCredit has now entered the operational stage. Technological infrastructure for this has been provided by SIA.
Cachet, Rebar and Central Bank of Kansas City bring mobile prepaid programmes to community banks
Cachet Financial Solutions is working with Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) to bring mobile-optimised prepaid programmes to community banks. The two companies have also teamed with Rebar Interactive to provide Select Mobile Money-Express, a platform that includes a Mastercard-branded prepaid card.
WhatsApp set to join the Indian mobile money revolution
Facebook-owned WhatsApp is reportedly looking to get into mobile payments and has picked India as the best place to start.
Deutsche Bank launches new mobile payment app
Deutsche Bank has launched a new mobile payment app for Android devices.
R3, HQLAX and five banks build collateral lending solution on blockchain
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) consortium R3, together with five of its members and financial resource management specialist HQLAX have built a collateral lending solution for liquidity transfers. The solution is based on R3’s flagship platform, Corda, and is “an operating model for a digital collateral receipt (DCR) lending marketplace”.
OP Financial Group enlists Token to develop new payment solutions
OP Financial Group has partnered with Token, a Silicon Valley-based crypto-payment software provider. Token says the agreement will enable the Finnish bank “to innovate in the European open banking market and generate new revenue streams via future payment solutions”.
