Innovation


Payments round-up: 2 September 2016

Time flies, so we’ve devised a quick fix. Here’s a round-up of key events in the payments space. In China, Qilong and Shenzhen Qianhai Exce-card Technology (SQEC) have formed a strategic agreement to co-ordinate with banks to issue China Union Pay audio bank cards. The latter make sounds when the buttons on the cards are […]

Yes Siri, payments get pretty

Apple’s developers are previewing new Siri integrations for payments – such as asking it to send a secure payment without ever opening an app. The firm says with the introduction of SiriKit for developers, messaging apps can now tap into the “power” of Siri. Siri can be used to make a quick payment using Square […]

Macquarie unveils new digital banking services

Australia-based Macquarie Group has launched a range of new digital banking functions and is looking for feedback from any early users. The services are underpinned by the DataStax Enterprise (DSE) platform. Features range from search-how-you-speak technology; the ability to tag and track transactions; upload receipts and warranties; set saving and spending goals; and automatically categorise spending through […]

Top fintech stories this week – 2 September 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Tier 1 US bank live with Temenos core and payments software Part of its American dream. Swift reveals more cyber thefts Private letter goes public. PhonePe and Yes Bank unveil India’s “first” UPI-based payments app Unified Payments Interface […]

MDM Bank launches single-tap mobile payments; OpenWay provides tech

One of Russia’s major banking players, MDM Bank, has rolled out a single-tap Mastercard Contactless mobile payments option. The service is underpinned by the WAY4 Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology from OpenWay. MDM Bank’s customers can now pay from their Mastercard account with no need to enter a password or PIN code or even activate […]

Gresham Computing opens UK innovation labs

Gresham Computing has launched its “Innovation Labs” in Bristol, UK as it looks to tap into local talent and drive more software development. CTO Neil Vernon will lead the team of engineers and developers, and says he is a “big believer in the ‘serendipity of collisions’” – which the new space provides. Vernon adds that […]

Defining fintech as an opportunity, not as a threat

“Silicon Valley is coming,” warned Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s boss, in a recent letter to shareholders. It’s a sentiment echoed across much of the banking world at the moment. The idea that fintech is a threat to the financial services sector is bubbling – a 2015 PwC survey found 83% of financial services professionals were […]

Virtual bank accounts: forget what you thought you knew

Virtual bank accounts (VBAs) are a hot topic among the treasury community today. While you may have heard of VBAs before, their usage is rapidly evolving – and their benefits for treasurers continue to grow. Dick Oskam, global head of sales for transaction services at ING Bank, explains what VBAs are all about. In an increasingly […]

Worldpay launches IoT hackathon

Global payments provider Worldpay has teamed up with Consult Hyperion, MongoDB and Visa Europe Collab to host its first internet of things (IoT) hackathon in London in September. The event aims to foster innovation and encourage participants to apply technology to integrating payments. Two themes will flow through the 48-hour hackathon – the “Smart City” […]

Abu Dhabi plans fintech regulation lab

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) is looking for public feedback and comments for its proposed FRSA Regulatory Laboratory (RegLab). The RegLab will provide a “controlled environment to allow the development and testing of innovative fintech solutions”. It will be the “first of its kind” in the Middle East […]

TIAA launches voice biometric authentication

New York-based financial services provider TIAA has launched its new voice biometric authentication. With the voice recognition functionality, TIAA customers can create a “voiceprint” to identify themselves when they call to speak to a representative, transfer funds or check their account balances. TIAA says the technology eliminates the need to “remember yet another password, PIN […]

Who will win the battle for millennials – Zelle or Venmo?

As a Gen Xer, I have always had difficulty relating to the obsessive appeal social media has to millennials. Tweeting and Facebook posting of mundane daily events seemed like over-sharing and just a little narcissistic to me. This is not an intellectual problem of understanding the concepts or technologies, but a kind of generational disparity […]

Dassault Systemes launches KYC/AML challenge for start-ups

French software firm Dassault Systemes is inviting start-ups to apply to its “3D Fintech Challenge” to address anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) issues. As part of its overall 3DExperience Lab initiative, the seven-week programme will identify and help nurture six start-ups that can provide systemic warnings and a 360-degree view of customer/support […]

Top fintech stories this week – 26 August 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Temenos and BACB go public on core banking software project We knew back in February. Al Hilal Bank’s new CIO looks to collaborate with fintechs Let’s talk. Famous five unsettle Bitcoin with utility settlement coin Arrival of a […]

GMEX tech to underpin new swap execution facility, Seed SEF

Chicago-based swap execution facility, Seed SEF, has been granted full registration by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It is underpinned by the GMEX Technologies’ trading and surveillance software. GMEX is also a stakeholder in Seed SEF. SEFs are trading facilities that operate under the CFTC’s regulatory oversight for trading and processing swaps. They […]

Innotribe and Innovate Finance launch global hub federation

Innotribe, Swift’s innovation arm, and membership organisation Innovate Finance have launched a Global FinTech Hubs Federation (GFHF) to help foster innovation. To date, more than 20 countries – including Canada, China, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, and the UK – are participating in the GFHF, with more countries expected to join in the coming months. Lawrence Wintermeyer, […]

Innovation through the Looking Glass for Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has opened its purpose-built fintech innovation lab – known as Looking Glass @ MAS. MAS says the lab will allow it to experiment with financial institutions, start-ups, and technology vendors. In addition, Looking Glass @ MAS will help consultations between start-ups and industry experts in areas such as legal […]

Famous five unsettle Bitcoin with utility settlement coin

BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, ICAP and Santander have joined UBS and Clearmatics to advance their utility settlement coin (USC) concept, and plan tests in a real-market environment. USC is a digital cash model for payments and settlement. It will run on blockchain and be another rival to Bitcoin. The group plan to build on the […]

Top ten lending sites in India – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the lending companies in India? We have put together some nifty stats for India’s top ten online lending sites for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller picture […]

Top ten retail banking sites in India – July 2016

Who is leading the digital way among the retail banks in India? We have put together some nifty stats for India’s top ten online banking sites for the past month (data courtesy of SimilarWeb). We’ll be publishing regular updates on a monthly basis, to track the changes, developments and trends – to bring you a fuller picture of […]

IoT and the banking revolution

It’s no secret that the financial services industry has tended to lag behind when it comes to adopting digital technology. Far from being leaders of innovation, banks are often stifled by lumbering IT systems and an inherent sense of caution when it comes to challenging the status-quo. With growing investment in the internet of things […]

Nordea has every idea for start-ups worldwide

Nordea’s Oslo office will welcome 35 start-ups as the bank prepares to assist the firms in fintech innovation. During the week, the best projects (around 20 teams) will be selected to take part in Nordea’s Accelerator programme, which kicks off in the autumn in Stockholm and Helsinki. In total, over 200 companies applied to the […]

CustomerXPs releases real-time intraday liquidity monitoring solution for UAE banks

Banking analytics vendor CustomerXPs has unveiled its new Clari5 Intraday Liquidity Monitoring Solution. This “real-time, packaged and ready-to-deploy” solution aims to help banks in the UAE to comply with BCBS 248 requirements for intraday liquidity risk management, says CustomerXPs. The deadline for compliance with the BCBS 248 regulations is January 2017. CustomerXPs’ offering promises data […]

Ripple blockchain powers payments for Japanese bank consortium

SBI Ripple Asia has announced that a Japanese consortium of 15 banks in a new network will use Ripple’s blockchain technology for payments and settlement. Using Ripple, customers of the banks will get real-time domestic and cross-border payments, 365 days of the year. Initial participants include Bank of Yokohama and SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SBI […]

Octopus Investments launches Octopus Labs for fintech start-ups

A UK-based investment firm, Octopus Investments, is looking to onboard fintech start-ups for its 12-week accelerator programme with Octopus Labs. “We’re rebuilding financial services,” states Octopus Labs. “The financial services sector is broken. We’re on a mission to rebuild it.” The programme will provide mentoring, office space in central London, plus potential access to Octopus […]

Infographics: real-time payments – the odyssey

Banking Technology, ACI Worldwide and Nets have joined forces to survey the global market about the highs and lows of its current journey towards real-time payments. From individual institutions’ readiness to key market drivers, obstacles and fraud concerns, and everything in between – survey participants from across the globe share their views.

Digital games banks got to play – part 2

Today, most banks want to be digital leaders because that is where the customers are! This has brought in a change in the attitude of many traditional banks. Arun S. Padaki, a seasoned corporate banker, credit risk and business process management consultant, explores what it takes to become a digital leader and who is already […]

SK Telecom and Hana Financial team for mobile platform launch

South Korea’s SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group have formed a joint venture (JV) agreement to develop and launch a mobile financial services platform. The firms say the deal combines SK Telecom’s mobile technologies and big data analytics with Hana Financial Group’s experience in financial products and mobile financial services. Kim Jung-tae, chairman of Hana […]

Top fintech stories this week – 19 August 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! New core banking project for Temenos in Canada Exclusive. Credit union in British Columbia goes for T24. Swift slow on strong security say execs “Took their eye off the ball.” Volksbank pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room An “experimental […]

Lunar Way gets new investor and banking partner, Nykredit

Nykredit, Denmark’s largest mortgage provider, has invested in a minority stake in a new mobile banking service, Lunar Way, and has become its banking partner. In two months’ time Nykredit will replace Københavns Andelskasse (Copenhagen Cooperative Bank), the start-up’s initial banking partner. Mark Dissing Bækgaard, head of marketing and communications at Lunar Way, tells Banking […]

Rakuten blockchain lab to open in Belfast

Rakuten will open its Rakuten Blockchain Lab (RBL) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 22 August to develop applications in the fintech and e-commerce sectors. The establishment of RBL follows the acquisition by Rakuten of the IP assets of Bitnet Technologies, operators of a blockchain-powered digital payments platform. Yasufumi Hirai, group executive vice-president, CIO, CISO and […]

IDFC Bank deploys customer experience and digital banking platforms from Backbase

Digital banking software specialist Backbase is implementing its omnichannel banking platform at IDFC Bank. India-based IDFC Bank will be able to service its customers “through multiple channels synchronously, creating a single multimodal touch point”, according to the vendor. The goal is to “quicken response time and improve efficiencies”. Dr Rajiv Lall, MD and CEO of IDFC Bank, […]

Volksbank eG pioneers NCR Innovation Experience Room

NCR Corporation has introduced “a completely new concept” – NCR Innovation Experience Room – an “experimental playground” for financial institutions to “build digital literacy among employees and customers”. Germany-based Volksbank eG Schwarzwald Baar Hegau has become the first taker. It has introduced an experiential room where customers and employees can discover and experience new technologies. […]

Selling VocaLink to MasterCard will kill innovation in UK payments

The proposed sale of Vocalink to MasterCard, threatens to “kill innovation” in UK payments. This is the damning verdict of AccessPay CEO, Anish Kapoor, who is calling on payments experts to come together to voice their opinions and thoughts, before a final decision is reached. In the time it takes you to read this blog […]

Apple Pay the way for UK’s CYBG banking group

UK-based Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank – which together form CYBG – have introduced Apple Pay to its customers. The payments service is also available to its “B” customers. In May, CYBG unveiled a new digital banking platform, called B, as it gets ready to become a standalone challenger bank. Helen Page, chief marketing officer […]

Payments start-up Cookies launches in Germany

Berlin-based start-up Cookies has launched its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app in Germany. The app is in its beta phase and currently in invite-only mode. Everyone who registered on its website in the past few weeks and months gets a personal invite code, allowing them to use the Cookies App. It says anyone who’s not yet […]

Standard Chartered bringing biometrics to Asia, Africa and Middle East

Standard Chartered is rolling out a suite of fingerprint and voice biometric technologies across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The bank says the launch reaches more than five million clients, and is the “most extensive rollout of fingerprint biometric technology by any international bank and a first in most markets”. It is on a […]

Amazon and Facebook power Mizuho innovation

Mizuho Bank has carried out testing for new banking services through the Facebook bot and Amazon Echo. The tests took place in Silicon Valley, California, in partnership with two other Japanese firms – Information Services International – Dentsu and Nomura Research Institute. The companies are looking to use CUI (conversational user interfaces) to develop platforms […]