Last week’s FinovateEurope was full of the broad range of exciting and innovative companies that we have come to expect at the show. Although the 72 companies showcasing their solutions operated right across the fintech landscape, they all sing from a common hymn sheet of improving the customer experience.
Start-up DiPocket has unveiled its new mobile banking app, which is not dependent on third party IT systems but built on its own platform. As well as “challenging” the traditional high street banks with its technology, DiPocket thinks it “has a thing or two to teach other ‘neo-banking’ start-ups”. Fedele Di Maggio, CEO and co-founder […]
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank and its tech partner Monitise have launched a money transfer service via Apple’s iMessage – a first in the republic. Using Isbank’s new mobile banking app, IsCep, users are now able to request and send money through iMessage. As Banking Technology reported in January, IsCep also allows “for the first time” […]
In-app payments are cannibalizing more traditional payments.
Reloadable prepaid cards are a hit with Canadian consumers, with 95 percent of them saying they are satisfied with the products in 2016. That represents an increase of 22 percentage points from 2015, and stands as the highest satisfaction rate for all payment tools, according to the second annual survey from the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization.
PayPal has a new pal—namely its first bot that enables Slack users to move and manage their money in a conversational and casual style. The PayPal bot is available to 5 million Slack users in Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.
BankUP, a new fintech venture based in Kontich, Belgium, looks to tap into the European SME banking market.
BNP Paribas has unveiled a new 2017-2020 business development plan – building the bank of the future. €3 billion will be invested in the programme.
In yet another sign that simplifying checkout for consumers is key to driving e-commerce payments, Amazon on Feb. 7 said that more than 33 million consumers have used its Amazon Payments service since its launch in 2013—and that the volume of payments “nearly doubled” in 2016 compared with the previous year. But don’t count on the e-commerce giant to be content with online payments alone.
Fire Financial Services – now trading as Fire – has launched and is targeting the UK and Irish markets with a digital account. Colm Lyon, founder and CEO at Fire, says: “It has taken some time for us to reach this day – several years of trying and getting it wrong.” Now the business has […]
CaixaBank’s mobile-only bank, imaginBank, has unveiled a chatbot to help millennials find offers and promotions most relevant to them, based on their preferences or location. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the chatbot will be available to users via Facebook Messenger on imaginBank’s Facebook page. Launched in January 2016, imaginBank is a 100% digital and mobile […]
Modern banking is not limited to banks anymore. It’s not only about online or mobile banking, it’s about all the things you would do in your banking system, but now you can do in apps or other solutions provided by third parties, not banks. Payments are one of such functionalities.
Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to the third in a new series of brief reports. Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. This week we welcome the views of guest writer Soumik Roy on India’s latest budget and its implications for e-payments and digital economy.
BankMobile, a mobile-only bank launched by Customers Bancorp two years ago, is expected to be sold this quarter, according to Customers’ president and CEO, Jay Sidhu.
The latest edition of our flagship magazine – Banking Technology – is out now, packed with news, analysis and insights, case studies, research and expert commentary.
SIX Payment Services brings to market PayLife 0100, Austria’s first mobile credit card.
Scotiabank has updated the market on how it has adopted the digital technology so far and how it plans to become a “digital leader” in its five key markets.
Citi’s institutional e-banking platform, CitiDirect BE, will now use MobilePASS which lets corporate users replace their physical login tokens with their personal mobile devices for authentication.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) recently proposed new rules that would require payment card operators to enforce additional security measures, such as passwords or security tokens, for all online transactions over €10, aimed at fraud prevention. This is a clumsy solution to a problem that is already being addressed by far more sophisticated means, argues Nick Wallace, senior policy analyst at Centre for Data Innovation, and policymakers should reject the EBA’s proposal.
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Barclaycard is partnering with VocaLink to enable its merchants to accept mobile payments through the Pay by Bank app. The app, created by VocaLink’s payment innovation team Zapp, will enable shoppers to pay for goods and services on a mobile device, without the need to enter credit or debit card details, according to Paybefore sister publication Banking Technology.
Amid India’s recent boom in m-wallet transaction volume following a government discontinuation of two popular currency notes, the government now is considering developing an insurance framework for mobile wallet and electronic transactions. Government officials from the IT Ministry already have begun discussions with m-wallet providers and insurance companies on how to insure money in the wallet apps, according to The Financial Express.
Barclaycard is partnering with VocaLink to enable its merchants to accept mobile payments through Pay by Bank app. Pay by Bank app, created by VocaLink’s payment innovation team Zapp, will allow shoppers to pay for goods and services on a mobile device, without the need to enter credit or debit card details. Rajiv Garodia, managing […]
Africa is becoming a very interesting fintech innovation hub (in particular South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt). As much as 80% of the continent is unbanked, opening the door to a breadth of opportunities for fintech companies to seize market share.
US-based personal finance firm SoFi (Social Finance) has acquired mobile banking start-up Zenbanx as it looks to stretch out in the world of financial services. SoFi is paying about $100 million in stock for Zenbanx’s technology, according to Bloomberg and “a person familiar with the agreement”. Zenbanx offers a mobile account in the US and […]
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank has launched a new P2P money transfer service, called “social account”, available for the “first time” in the republic. The launch quickly follows on from the release of its new app, IsCep, to allow “for the first time” banking and stock exchange transactions through one application with real-time data. With the […]
California based technology companies Varo Money and Envestnet | Yodlee have teamed up to drive fintech innovation. Varo Money, a mobile-only banking start-up hopes to leverage Envestnet | Yodlee’s data analytics and aggregation platform to provide customers with a more customised mobile banking experience, and better insights into their financial well-being.
Swift Innotribe has partnered with the Russian National Swift Member and User Group (Rosswift) comprising the Bank of Russia, the National Settlement Depository, Sberbank, and Alfa-Bank, to launch its first start-up challenge in the region.
UK-based mobile banking firm Tide has launched with its business account app for SMEs. As Banking Technology reported in July 2016, Tide was gearing up for its launch and said it will offer a “nimble small business current account”, with a swift set-up and no monthly fees. It claims to be among the “world’s first” […]
The rise of the chat bots continues as Cleo, a virtual money assistant described by its creators as the “Siri of personal finance,” has launched on Facebook Messenger for users in the U.K. Developed by the London-based fintech startup of the same name, Cleo is an artificial-intelligence-powered chat bot the companies say will help users manage their finances.
UK-based Advanced Payment Solutions (trading as APS Financial) has launched a new mobile platform as it looks to compete with “neo” mobile banks. New services include the ability to set up a new account via the Cashplus app. Customers can also manage payments and transfers, get “instant access” to their money or arrange overdrafts using […]
Turkey’s largest bank Isbank has unveiled its new app, IsCep, to allow “for the first time” banking and stock exchange transactions through one application with real-time data. The bank says IsCep has been integrated into its Mobil Borsa (mobile stock market) and is also available for all foreign customers in Turkey. Isbank deputy chief executive […]
Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial is splashing out $880 million for money transfer operator MoneyGram International. This is Ant Financial’s first acquisition of a US-listed company.
Pan-African banking conglomerate Ecobank has launched a fintech challenge for start-ups. The event, open to Africa’s entrepreneurs, innovators and developers, provides an opportunity to win $500,000 in funding as well as partner with Ecobank and roll out services across 36 countries.
Add Target to the retailers stepping up their mobile payments game: The retail chain plans to improve at least one of its mobile apps by enabling in-store payments through it. What that means is that consumers could use their smartphones and Target app to pay for purchases inside the chain’s stores instead of relying on Apple Pay, Android Pay or other providers’ digital payment systems.
Austria’s Erste Bank und Sparkassen can now verify new customers’ IDs via video. The functionality has been developed with specialist provider IDnow and introduced just a few weeks following the approval by the country’s Financial Market Authority (FMA).
In an attempt to take its share of the exploding cross-border payments market, which hit about $600 billion last year according to some estimates, Wirecard is launching a new mobile money remittance service in Europe, targeting consumers including unbanked migrants sending funds home.
Not content with simply getting people from points A to B anymore, carmakers recently have been diving into mobile wallets and parking and payment apps, not only through partnerships but through acquisitions. The trend seems likely to gain speed in the coming year but there remain questions about how far automotive firms can go with payments, and what constitutes the best path.
Hellenic Bank, the second largest bank in Cyprus, has chosen the Backbase Omnichannel Banking Platform for its banking systems upgrade. The revamp will start with the public domain landing pages and web content projects, followed by mobile banking. In fact, its mobile banking app was “highly commended” in the Banking Technology Awards 2016. Natasha Kyprianides, […]
A new service launched to mitigate customers’ inconvenience if their payment cards are lost or stolen might lead to greater adoption of mobile wallets and be a model for other banks. ANZ, one of the largest banks in Australia, has introduced a service that automatically uploads replacement card details as virtual cards to customers’ m-wallets, while halting activity on the missing physical cards.
