Barclays and MuleSoft, a platform provider for building application networks, have teamed up to host a digital banking hackathon. The hackathon will take place at Barclays Technology Centre Radbroke in Cheshire (UK) on 20-21 July. The event aims to foster innovation and harness technology to build a range of new financial services solutions. Peter Josse, […]
Apple Pay is now available in France – with Visa debit and credit cardholders from Banque Populaire et Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE group) getting immediate access. Apple Pay can be used to touch and pay wherever Visa contactless payment is accepted. Visa says France already has over 400,000 merchant locations live with contactless payment today (19 […]
Financial systems vendor Infosys has reported a fall in profit for Q1 2016 due to slower than expected project ramp-ups on deals it had won in previous quarters. For the quarter ended 30 June 2016, net profit was $511 million – a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline of 4.1%, but a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 7.4%. Operating […]
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
Samsung Electronics will roll out Samsung Pay in Brazil tomorrow (19 July), the first market in South America to introduce its mobile payment service. The service will launch with “major issuers” including Banco do Brasil, Brasil Pré-Pagos, Caixa, Porto Seguro and Santander. Additionally, Samsung says it is working with other bank partners including Banrisul, Bradesco, […]
Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched in April by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), will go live by the end of this month with 15 participating banks. UPI offers instant, online bank payments, and is seen as a major change to the Indian financial sector. It enables banks to provide real-time payments through QR […]
Japanese operator group Softbank has successfully bid £24.3 billion to buy UK mobile chip designer ARM in a bid to position itself at the centre of the IoT revolution, reports Scott Bicheno at Telecoms.com. The bid represents a 43% premium to the ARM share price at close of trading on Friday last week and the […]
BMO Bank of Montreal has introduced a new service that allows customers to open an account using their smartphone, without having to go to a branch or download an app. The bank says this “first-of-its-kind account opening capability” allows customers to search, select and open a new account with BMO “in minutes”. Niti Badarinath, head […]
FIS and Payment Alliance International (PAI) have teamed up to offer cardless cash services across the US. The partnership connects mobile solution FIS Cardless Cash to PAI – the nation’s “largest”, privately-held provider of ATM processing and maintenance services. FIS says the deal will “ultimately” expand to 70,000 ATMs in the PAI ATM network. Anthony […]
Brazilian online bank Neon has launched – offering accounts only accessed through a smartphone. The bank, founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Pedro Conrade, is targeting the millennial crowd and its goal is to reach 100,000 active customers in its first year of operation. Neon says it will be the first bank in Brazil to use biometric […]
Russia-based Tochka Bank of the Otkritie Financial Group has launched the world’s “first” Facebook bot for a range of financial services. The bot will allow the bank’s clients to check their accounts, find nearby ATMs using geolocation, call the bank, contact customer support and make payments via Facebook messenger. Elena Budnik, chair of Otkritie Bank’s […]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put together an inter-regulatory working group (WG) to study the entire gamut of regulatory issues relating to fintech and digital banking in India. The move is designed to help facilitate their development and is the latest in a long list of technological advances in the country. Aside from […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Swift seeks stronger network security Strikes back after hacks. IBM to open blockchain innovation centre in Singapore Big Blue stays true to blockchain. Starling Bank gets UK banking licence Aims to launch to customers by January 2017. Unibank […]
Ghana-based Unibank has completed a major upgrade from Temenos’ T24 R8 core banking system to R15. The bank is the first in Africa to be up and running with this version of Temenos’ flagship product, Banking Technology understands. Unibank is a mid-sized universal bank in Ghana, with assets of around $430 million. The project was […]
According to new research from Visa, consumers across Europe are interested in using biometrics when making a payment – especially when integrated with other security measures. About 73% of the 14,000 European consumers surveyed see two-factor authentication, where a biometric is used in conjunction with a payment device, as a secure way to confirm an […]
TIM, the single brand of Telecom Italia Group, has teamed with SIA (through its subsidiary TSP), to make POS MultiPay terminals operative in over 2,200 stores in its sales network across Italy. The aim is to extend the methods of e-payment for its offers; and SIA says TIM’s prepaid mobile phone customers will be able, […]
Australia and New Zealand-based banking group, ANZ, is the first bank to launch Android Pay in Australia. ANZ chief executive officer Shayne Elliott says: “Being the first major bank in Australia able to offer Android Pay is another important milestone for ANZ.” Google senior director product management Pali Bhat adds: “Using Android Pay is more […]
New challenger bank Starling has received its UK banking licence and adopted Faster Payments. Starling Bank says the licence comes with unspecified “restrictions” from the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The bank aims to launch to customers by January 2017. Anne Boden, CEO, Starling Bank, says: “For the past year, our team […]
Standard Bank in South Africa has launched its existing banking app to four additional African markets. The app is now available in Uganda, Namibia, Ghana and Botswana; with plans to roll it out to Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe by the end of 2016. The latest development is part of its drive to “enhance its […]
Oklahoma-based Encentus Federal Credit Union has chosen Fiserv’s Portico core account processing platform for digital banking and lending services. The credit union is migrating from its current providers to Fiserv; and Misty Potter, president and CEO, Encentus, says Fiserv “will empower our credit union with the progressive and innovative technology to drive a more rewarding […]
Samsung Electronics is bringing Samsung Pay to Puerto Rico. Samsung Pay will support eligible credit cards from Banco Popular, Puerto Rico’s largest bank, and will be available on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Claro networks in Puerto Rico. The firm says Samsung Pay is the “only” mobile wallet that allows users to pay with their compatible […]
EMVCo, the global payment specification body, and the FIDO Alliance, an industry consortium developing open, interoperable authentication standards, are to collaborate and review how FIDO can support EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) payment use cases. A “key aim” of the initiative is to investigate mobile payments using on-device authenticators, such as biometrics, as they seek […]
Russia’s largest banking group, Sberbank, is to launch mobile banking via a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). According to Russian business daily Vedomosti, the bank has created a new subsidiary, SB-Telecom, which will act as the MVNO. The development is at the early stage as the new firm hasn’t received any licences yet from Roskomnadzor […]
Britain’s Speaking Clock, which will celebrate its 80th birthday on Sunday, July 24, was a real fascination for me as a child. Who was this person on the other end of the phone who was always available, any time of day, who could tell me the time down to the exact second? Did they ever […]
South Korea’s banking sector is getting a shake up with two digital-only banks applying for regulatory approval in the second half of this year. According to Financial Services Commission (FSC) chairman Yim Jong-yong; K Bank, led by KT Corporation (formerly Korea Telecom), and Kakao Bank, led by internet company Kakao; plan to apply for approval […]
Payment provider Worldline and Luxembourg-based start-up SnapSwap have signed a partnership agreement for the latter’s mobile payment application Gloneta. Gloneta combines a mobile messenger (chat) with cross-currency transactions using blockchain. Worldline says it will “provide” secure card payments services to the new app Gloneta. Denis Kiselev, founder and CEO of SnapSwap, says: “Worldline’s expertise in […]
Brazil’s Banco Bradesco is planning to start trials for a blockchain-based digital wallet service, as it looks to streamline operations and reduce costs. The service is being developed by Brazilian start-up eWally, discovered via Bradesco’s own innovation programme InovaBRA. Marcelo Frontini, MD at Scopus IT and part of Bradesco’s innovation department, says trials should start […]
Ewan MacLeod is heading to Nordea as co-head of its newly created “Group Digital” unit and is on the lookout for fintech companies, services and ideas to introduce to Nordea. MacLeod will be one of two chief digital officers at the Nordic banking group. The other one is Poul Raaholt, previously head of group IT […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Brexit: keep calm and carry on We assemble a panel of fintech and law specialists to discuss – with cool heads – the challenges and opportunities. Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up A round-up of key developments to save you […]
One million Visa cardholders in Switzerland now have access to the newly launched Apple Pay. Wirecard is now providing its clients with Apple Pay support too (see below for details). Cornèrcard and Bonuscard.ch customers will be able to use Apple Pay, which can be used at any of the over 100,000 contactless point-of-sale terminals in […]
Finnish fintech start-up Holvi has launched a debit card, Holvi Business MasterCard. It is available to customers in Germany, Austria and Finland. This follows on from the launch of a mobile banking app for iOS and Android last summer. Holvi, which was founded in 2011, provides entrepreneurs and SMEs with a range of financial and […]
ING and Belgian bank KBC have joined forces to launch a new, integrated mobile payments and loyalty platform in Belgium. This will combine ING’s payment app Payconiq with loyalty platforms Qustomer and KBC’s CityLife. Rik Vandenberghe, CEO ING Belgium, says the customer feedback it received about Payconiq and Qustomer “strengthens our conviction that as a […]
Banks in Singapore are working together on a new service that will allow users to make payments using Twitter usernames or Facebook IDs. According to the FT, a pilot is due to take place in the first quarter of 2017. Rather than entering an account number and sort code, users will be able to make […]
UniCredit Bank, MasterCard and platform provider GoSwiff have launched mobile payments for Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari insurance agents in Romania. The partnership will enable Allianz-Tiriac agents to start accepting card payments with mobile point of sale (mPOS) for the insurance policies issued by the company. The firms say Allianz-Tiriac becomes the “first insurance company in Romania” to […]
APS Bank in Malta completes its major technology overhaul. The project has been successfully completed on time and on budget, states the bank’s management. The new platform is the ICBS system supplied by a Lebanese banking software vendor BML Istisharat. The solution is delivered on a hosted basis. This is the first project for BML […]
Spanish biometrics firm FacePhi has signed a new contract with Mexico’s Banco Inbursa to implement its face recognition technology on mobile banking apps and web platforms. This is the company’s ninth contract in total. FacePhi says Banco Inbursa becomes the first financial institution in Mexico offering facial recognition authentication to its clients, “just by taking […]
The financial institutions have adjusted their service and relationship models by integrating digital interaction and communication tools for private banking customers, writes Alberto Cuccu, chief product officer at Objectway. In Italy, the digitisation of banking services has for many years been focused primarily on propositions aimed at retail customers (such as payment services or home […]
Just a couple of months following the appointment of the new CIO at Harrods Bank, its chief executive – Peter Ball – leaves. Ball has moved to specialist lender Together, to head its retail division. Together has been ramping up its leadership team – over the last three months alone it has added Colin Kersley, […]
As first reported by Banking Technology in early May, Phoebus Software has gained a new customer – UK challenger bank Atom. The five-year deal will see Phoebus’ lending software supporting Atom’s secured business lending and account servicing for Atom’s residential lending. The new platform will be used by the bank’s team to originate loans for […]
JP Morgan has launched In-Residence, a new programme for fintech start-ups to use its facilities, systems and expertise. The company says it is inviting start-ups to sit “side by side” with its businesses to develop innovations that could “revolutionise” the sector. Sanoke Viswanathan, chief administrative officer of JP Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank, says this […]
