FIS has published its third annual report, Flavors of Fast, which shows via infographics the growth in the number of real-time payment initatives and usage volumes. Warren Gardiner, VP strategy enterprise payments, FIS, says: “Context is everything: speed without context is just faster; creating context without open data mining is merely an improvement. Speed, context […]
Penta Bank is a new digital banking player in Germany working towards a spring 2017 launch. Penta’s initial target market will be German and French SMEs. “Our target businesses are funded start-ups and SMEs that are cashless,” says Luka Ivicev, Penta’s head of product. Penta has been in the making since February this year. Usability […]
US-based Swirlds has launched its hashgraph distributed consensus platform, an alternative to blockchain, and free for public download and use by developers. Swirlds says it has “emerged from stealth” with the launch and says its hashgraph “goes beyond blockchain”. Dr. Leemon Baird, founder and CEO of Swirlds, says: “Current stock markets are fair in matching […]
Former Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins has set up a fintech firm called 10X Future Technologies. Jenkins, who was sacked by Barclays in summer 2015 for failing to transform the bank quickly enough, has appointed himself as the sole director of 10X Future Technologies. He has refused to comment on what he plans to do with […]
Volante Technologies has launched a new solution – as part of its VolPay Foundation payments platform – for integration with Ripple’s distributed ledger technology. Volante’s software has been Ripple-ready since last autumn, says the vendor, and following “close engagement with Ripple” it has now brought to market an “integration solution wholly designed to simplify the […]
Emirates NBD is planning to launch the UAE’s “first” digital bank targeted at millennials. The new bank is part of its three-year AED 500 million ($136 million) strategy to improve its processes, products and services. Shayne Nelson, group CEO of Emirates NBD, says this “digital transformation plan” is its “commitment to the future”. The bank’s […]
Nymbus, a US-based core banking software vendor, has acquired fellow supplier R. C. Olmstead (RCO), to gain a foothold in the Midwest credit union market. RCO comes with 46 customers, all in the low-tier segment. These include Wilkes-Barre City Employees CU, Dover-Phila FCU, McDonald Community FCU, Toledo Metro FCU and Yorkville Community FCU. RCO has […]
“Youth is wasted on the young,” so said George Bernard Shaw. Only recently I read that this wasn’t exactly the quote he gave. To the question of what is the most beautiful thing, the Irishman responded: “Youth is the most beautiful thing in this world—and what a pity that it has to be wasted on […]
National Australia Bank (NAB) and telco firm Telstra have partnered for an SME digital marketplace called Proquo. Proquo will offer more than two million Australian small businesses an online platform to network, trade or swap services with each other. Leigh O’Neill, NAB executive general manager micro and small business, says: “Small business is the backbone […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! ECB goes to tender for new treasury management system After many years it’s time for a change. Microsoft unveils blockchain-based identity system Inspired by the United Nations’ ID2020 Summit on Identity. Student Loans Company puts IT contract with […]
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
ING Belgium has acquired the rights to rebrand Finnish fintech start-up Zervant’s invoicing software across Europe. The software will be marketed as ING invoice solutions and will be sold via its own channels to SMEs and entrepreneurs. During the first phase, ING Belgium will have the rights to sell the tool in Belgium, with a […]
PayPal has filed a US patent application for a modular payment module that accepts Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The application names Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin; and sets out the physical characteristics of the module. It says: “The module includes a chassis which has a modular device connector. A payment database in the chassis stores […]
Intel has teamed with The Floor, a fintech hub located at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, to create its own fintech innovation centre in Israel. This is Intel’s first move into the fintech sector as it looks to capitalise on the demand for bitcoin and blockchain solutions in banking and finance. It may also be […]
Financial industry has reached the point of no return: new start-ups and technologies are disrupting the traditional world of banking. All the things that were either unavailable, limited, expensive or poorly designed, now can be accessible from the third parties, which are not even close to banks. Small fintech companies are doing the job the […]
South African banking heavyweight Absa has launched ChatBanking, the “first” service in Africa offering day-to-day banking from a Twitter account. As part of the “initial offering”, ChatBanking provides “actual and available” balance on a transactional account; ability to buy airtime or data for a cellphone registered to their account; and get a mini-statement showing most […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Swift hacks sees 12 more banks under attack A fast moving chain of events. High five for Apple Pay in Singapore Big banks onboard include OCBC and Standard Chartered. NYSE launches new trading tech platform, NYSE Pillar The […]
Santander says it is the “first” UK bank to introduce blockchain for international payments through a new app. It is currently being rolled out as a staff pilot, with the intention to expand the technology “at a later date”. Sigga Sigurdardottir, head of customer and innovation at Santander, says: “The need for finance has evolved […]
BBVA is partnering with Red Hat to speed up innovation and digital banking growth. The agreement, which turns Red Hat into a “priority partner” for BBVA, is part of a series of alliances that BBVA is aiming to forge. Earlier this year, it signed an alliance with Cisco, also allowing it to become a “priority” […]
Deloitte is pioneering an integration project combining Ripple’s protocol and Temenos’ core banking software for direct bank-to-bank settlements in real time. Deloitte says the overall objective of the Ripple integration is to enable financial institutions to send payments, either in local or foreign currency, in real time without relying on intermediary banking relationships. Ripple offers […]
Art Gillis, a seasoned banking technology consultant (working in the computer industry since 1958 – and listed as a top 25 tech consultant by the American Banker) and author, pulls no punches in this opinion piece. Digital technology evangelists, read it at your peril. This is Part 2 of Art’s article. Click here to read […]
UK-based start-up Kerv and its payments ring won the Innovation Jam at the Temenos Community Forum (TCF) 2016, held at the Palau De Congressos, in Barcelona from 17-19 May. About 1,200 delegates were at the event and part 1 of our review looked at Temenos’ ambitions in the US. The event enables customers, potential customers, […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Android Pay now in the UK; Australia and Singapore are next Coming to a country near you… possibly. Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank stops attempted fraud through Swift system Stop! In the name of the law. Sydney Stock Exchange […]
UK-based RISE Financial Technologies claims to be “the first technology firm to launch the second generation of blockchain for the post-trade sector”. The solution is now undergoing testing with a number f banks, custodians and CSDs. The results will be published in H2 2016. RISE develops multi-asset class, multi-currency distributed financial ledger technology for the […]
Unisys, Sandstone Technology and Payment Card Technologies (PCT) are bringing to market a new digital banking solution. The solution, called USP, will consist of the “best of breed” products from each vendor, all “seamlessly” integrated. USP is aimed at new market entrants and established players. The participating vendors describe it as “cost-effective”. It will support […]
Android Pay is now available in the UK, and more countries are on the way. Banking Technology first reported on this initiative in March this year. UK consumers can now pay for goods and services with their Android smartphones. Retailers like Boots, Waitrose and Starbucks are already onboard, and so is Transport for London (underground, […]
Capital One UK is inviting fintech start-ups to join its newly launched Capital One Growth Labs – “an accelerator programme for early-stage start-up and high-growth companies”. The initiative is supported by technology investor L Marks. The aim, states Chris Owen, programme leader, is to discover and partner with the new fintech talent and “and unlock the truly […]
Russia’s banking giant, Sberbank, has unveiled a new digital product, Sberbank Messenger – a communication platform for users to interact with friends and colleagues as well as with services providers, shops and businesses. It can be a person-to-person communication or by using artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The solution will be in beta testing later this […]
Art Gillis, a seasoned banking technology consultant (working in the computer industry since 1958 – and listed as a top 25 tech consultant by the American Banker) and author, pulls no punches in this opinion piece. Digital technology evangelists, read it at your peril. The past 50 years I have known only three bank CEOs who […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Perception brings to market new core platform UK credit unions, lenders and start-up banks take note. ING adds some zing to start-up ring It’s working with 45 start-ups on banking innovation. Punjab National Bank to modernise enterprise data […]
Many will be surprised by where the biggest transformations in fintech actually come from in the next few years. A true disruption probably won’t stem from a tech start-up that gets hot and rides the wave to a new normal in banking. No, it’ll actually be those old card-issuing behemoths, Visa and MasterCard, which will […]
Telefónica Germany, in association with Fidor Bank, will be launching its mobile banking offering, “O2 Banking”, in Germany in late summer 2016. Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank, says the collaboration offers “the best of two digital worlds”. Namely, banking services via a mobile app and additional services from an O2 mobile contract. Fidor says […]
The fear of missing out (FOMO) forever clashes with the fear of failure (FOF) when it comes to innovating in banks. Lee Cameron, CEO of Monitise, explores the FOMO versus FOF conflict and how to resolve it. FOMO is commonly cited as being characteristic of the Instagram-driven millennial generation, but how does this relate to […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is powering its new Open Experience centre with Red Hat technologies, including the Red Hat Mobile Application Platform and OpenShift Enterprise, Red Hat’s web-scale container application platform. Open Experience was launched by RBS in February at its HQ in Edinburgh (UK) to pursue “innovative new technologies for the bank and […]
IBM and SK Holdings C&C, a South Korean IT services company, are planning to bring IBM’s Watson cognitive technology language services to South Korean banking. The alliance, which includes training Watson to understand Korean, is designed to “dramatically accelerate” the adoption of cognitive computing throughout the region, giving South Korea-based developers a set of localised […]
Dutch bank ING has revealed it’s working with 45 fintech start-ups on banking innovation, such as money management, payments, lending and mobile on-boarding. Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING Group, says of the 45 fintech firms, these include seven start-ups working on their proof-of-concept through the ING Fintech Village initiative in Belgium, and four through the […]
San-Francisco based RocketSpace, with the support of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), plans to open a campus in London, designed specifically for “high-growth” tech start-ups. The campus, located near Angel tube station, will initially hold up to 1,500 members at its opening in early 2017. Duncan Logan, RocketSpace’s founder and CEO, says: “Creating a physical […]
With news on blockchain and bitcoin appearing thick and fast, here’s a round-up of key events to save you time. The Swift Institute has published new research on the practical application of blockchain (or mutual distributed ledger) in securities markets. The paper, “The Impact and Potential of Blockchain on the Securities Transaction Lifecycle”, is based […]
Deloitte UK’s blockchain team has launched a “smart identity” prototype at the Consensus blockchain conference in New York. The solution will allow users to create a universal digital identity powered by blockchain. It is at the proof of concept stage and Deloitte wants to work with other businesses (in all sectors) to develop it further. […]
Barclays Africa is piloting a chatbot within the coming few weeks, making it the “first bank” to do so in Africa. The chatbots will use artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate “intelligent conversation” through written or spoken text. Yasaman Hadjibashi, chief data officer at Barclays Africa, says the chatbot is a way to be “more relevant” […]
