Asia


Bank of Punjab automates Islamic treasury; implements new RTGS system

Pakistan-based Bank of Punjab (BOP) has extended its partnership with local software vendor Autosoft Dynamics. Autosoft will implement its new real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system, AutoRTGS, at the bank and will also extend the coverage of the Adams treasury system to support Islamic banking. BOP is already a user of Adams for conventional banking operations. […]

ABA Bank looks for new digital banking platform

Cambodia-based ABA Bank is looking for a new omnichannel banking solution and has issued a request for proposal (RFP). Interested parties should be able to offer “an integrated, multichannel platform” that supports internet and mobile banking for retail and corporate business lines. Current set-up At present, ABA Bank has two separate portals for corporate and […]

Paytm partners with Wipro for new payments bank

India-based Paytm has teamed with IT services integrator Wipro for its new payments bank, as it gets ready for an August launch. Wipro will be implementing the new core banking system, and Banking Technology understands that Infosys, Oracle FSS and TCS Financial Solutions were in the running to provide their core banking solutions to Paytm. […]

Turkey launches new card payment system, TROY

Turkey has introduced its own card payment system, called TROY, and the nation is setting its sights on becoming a cashless society by 2023. Speaking at the launch, Dr Soner Canko, general manager of the Interbank Card Center (BKM) in Turkey, said: “Many countries around the world, from Canada and Italy to South Korea and […]

Japan Exchange Group chooses Cinnober for risk monitoring

Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a financial services corporation, has selected Cinnober for risk monitoring. This will include the entire Japanese market of equities, bonds, futures, options, credit default swap (CDS) and interest rate swap (IRS). This latest deal follows JPX recently building a real-time clearing solution for its listed derivatives market with the help of […]

Kbank in $142m-a-year digital banking drive

Kasikornbank (Kbank), one of the largest banks in Thailand, says it is to spend THB 5 billion ($142 million) per year in a digital banking transformation project. Kbank, the country’s fourth-largest lender by assets (THB 2.5 trillion/$71 billion), says it has the largest share of the digital banking market with 38%. It is now looking […]

Kyrgyzstan’s national bank invites bids for system implementation

The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan is inviting bids for the implementation of a new informational-analytical system (IAS). The submission deadline is 17 June 2016 and the bank says it has received a credit/grant from the International Development Association toward the cost of the financial sector development project. The project is conducted under the auspices of […]

TCS’s revenues and net profits increase in FY 2016

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) full year (FY) 2016 revenues and net profit rose – boosted by growth in its banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) operations. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD, TCS, says its core portfolio “performed strongly in a seasonally weak 4th quarter driven by strong volumes led by growth in BFSI, retail and […]

Reserve Bank of India to fund urban cooperative banks’ tech upgrades

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank and regulator, has set up a scheme to provide financial assistance to urban cooperative banks (UCBs) for the implementation of core banking solutions. In its First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement-2016-17, the RBI will offer assistance and technology support through the Institute for Development and Research […]

Infosys FY 2016 revenue and profits rise

Financial systems vendor Infosys has revealed its revenue for the full year (FY) 2016 of $9.5 billion, an increase of 9.1% in US dollar terms; and 13.3% in constant currency terms. Q4 revenue was $2.4 billion – a rise of 1.6% quarter on quarter in US dollar terms, or 1.9% in constant currency terms. For […]

FSS to provide UPI solutions for six Indian banks

India-based payments firm Financial Software and Systems (FSS) will provide Unified Payment Interface (UPI) solutions for six unnamed Indian banks. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently launched UPI, which offers instant, online bank payments. The move is seen as a major change to the Indian financial sector. FSS says UPI enables the banks […]

Bank of Ceylon upgrades front-to-back office systems with Fiserv

Bank of Ceylon, the largest bank in Sri Lanka, has continued its long-term relationship with Fiserv, and upgraded to the recent versions of Signature (retail core banking) and Teller (a front-end teller system). The bank has also chosen Fiserv’s Communicator to provide integration between Signature and third-party solutions. Luxaman Perera, head of IT, Bank of […]

BPC’s SmartVista powers Afghanistan’s national payment system

BPC Banking Technologies has teamed with Da Afghanistan Bank to launch a SmartVista-powered national payment system in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Payments Systems (APS), a consortium of financial institutions funded by Da Afghanistan Bank (the nation’s central bank) through the World Bank, aims to develop the retail banking market in the troubled nation by providing electronic and […]

NIB Bank “first” to upgrade to latest Temenos T24 core banking system

Pakistan-based NIB Bank is the first to upgrade to the latest release of Temenos’ T24 core banking system – making a big leap from R7 to R15. National Data Consultants (NDC), Temenos’ regional partner and integrator, worked on the project. Ammara Masood, president and CEO at NDC, says the bank is the “first client” to […]

Soneri Bank selects Temenos’ T24 core banking system

Pakistan-based Soneri Bank has chosen Temenos’ T24 core banking system to replace FIS Allprofits. National Data Consultants (NDC), Temenos’ regional partner and integrator, will deliver the project. Soneri Bank president and CEO Mohammad Aftab Manzoor, says: “With this technological transformation and our mission to provide innovative and efficient financial solutions, we aim to uplift our […]

Infrasoft’s core banking system scores with Indian co-operatives

Tamil Nadu State Federation of Urban Cooperative Banks (Tancubfed) has selected Infrasoft Technologies’ core banking system, OmniEnterprise. Tancubfed will implement OmniEnterprise and other e-banking services in 128 co-operative banks in Tamil Nadu, a southeast Indian state. Rajesh Mirjankar, new CEO and MD of Infrasoft, says OmniEnterprise will support the entire business operations of the bank […]

Swift India goes live

Swift India Domestic Services (Swift India) has gone live as the nation seeks to improve its digital economy. Swift India is a joint venture created by Swift, the global banking co-operative, and nine partner banks to “address domestic market needs” of the Indian financial services industry. After receiving formal approval from the Reserve Bank of […]

Yes Bank teams with Ultracash Technologies for sound-based payments

India-based Yes Bank is partnering with Ultracash Technologies to launch payments processing through sound waves. The bank, the fifth largest in the Indian private sector, says the collaboration will let Ultracash issue Yes Bank-sponsored mobile wallets and use its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) payments platform for the processing of instant proximity transactions. Ritesh Pai, senior […]

ICICI Bank launches mobile banking app competition with Visa

India’s ICICI Bank has launched an ‘ICICI Appathon’ as it looks for innovations in mobile banking apps. The bank wants participants in India to create new APIs in five different categories – retail banking, corporate banking, treasury, ‘ICICI Group’ (such as insurance and securities), and ‘Partner APIs’. The latter comprises Visa and National Payments Corporation […]

India’s Post Bank gets March 2017 green light

India’s Post Bank is to begin processing payments in March 2017, according to the government’s communications minister. The move is part of long-standing plans to use India’s Post Office network to spread financial inclusion in the world’s largest democratic nation.

Turkey listings advance LSE’s derivatives ambitions

The London Stock Exchange says that the launch of Turkish derivatives on its derivatives market represents part of the long-cherished goal of growing its derivatives business around the world. It also represents the exchange’s ‘open access’ policy.

Indian bank launches WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter mobile payments

India’s Axis Bank has released a mobile payments service called Ping Pay, which allows customers to send money to each other using Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, email or phone number. The bank says the service will help it to reach young consumers and smartphone users.

TEB expands mobile banking to include live chats

Türk Ekonomi Bankası, one of the private sector commercial banks in Turkey, and a strategic partner of BNP Paribas, has launched an enhanced digital banking service featuring the ability to hold live chat sessions with bank staff.

Deutsche Börse extends cooperation with Bombay exchange

Deutsche Börse, Eurex and the Bombay Stock Exchange have further extended their strategic cooperation offering connectivity services. Participants of BSE will be able to use Deutsche Börse’s resilient low latency N7 network services to connect to BSE back-ends in India through the Deutsche Börse access points in Hong Kong and Singapore.

ICICI Bank India launches Twitter banking

India’s ICICI Bank has launched a new banking service for Twitter, ICICIbankpay, which allows customers to transfer money to anyone in the country who has a Twitter account. Customers can also check their account balance, view the last three transactions and recharge prepaid mobile. The service follows the bank’s earlier moves into social media, which included launching a Facebook banking app in September 2013, and is aimed partly at broadening access to financial services.

London Stock Exchange to begin trading Turkish derivatives

The London Stock Exchange is to begin trading Turkish futures and options, following a deal with Borsa Istanbul. The agreement will help to open up the Turkish market to more investors; it will also help to deepen the LSE’s derivatives market, which it has been trying to build up in recent years.

“Mobile is the future” says Garanti Bank

Banks are pioneering advanced technologies in Turkey, giving the country a headstart over many of its European counterparts. In Istanbul, Garanti Bank explained how it pays for its customers to get mobile internet access – and how it is using social media to attract and keep customers.

BATS Chi-X Europe brings competition to Turkey

European trading venue BATS Chi-X Europe is set to expand into Turkey, starting on 3 November. The move is the first time a competitor has entered the Turkish market to take on Borsa Istanbul. It is also BATS’ first new market since it took over Chi-X in 2011 – and the company’s first venture into an emerging market.

Aktif Bank Turkey targets cross-border payments

Turkey’s largest investment bank Aktif has begun using international payment services from specialist Earthport, in a move the bank says will help its corporate and retail customers to get a better deal on their cross-border payments.

Ukraine, Turkey and Russia crises pose banking challenge

Political turbulence in the Ukraine, Russia and Turkey this year produced disagreement between senior financial industry executives at a FIX Trading Community conference in London yesterday, with some arguing that politics should not be allowed to detract from the longer-term rise of non-western economies and others arguing the opposite.

Monitise targets Turkish mobile money

Mobile money firm Monitise has acquired Pozitron Yazilim, an Istanbul-based mobile technology specialist, in a £24 million all-shares deal that highlights the growing demand for mobile financial services in the eastern Mediterranean’s largest market.

Türkiye Finans rolls out remote management to 145 branches

Turkish bank Türkiye Finans Katılım Bankası is collaborating with US infrastructure company Opengear to roll out remote management technology for its bank branch network, which it says will help to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Indian post office plans banking expansion

India’s state-run post office the Department of Posts is planning to launch core banking services in the Indian capital city Delhi, as part of a major drive to become a banking services provider in the country.

Garanti Bank rolls out Turkcell mobile wallet

Turkey’s Garanti Bank and mobile operator Turkcell have partnered with Visa Europe in a deal aimed at bringing the Turkcell mobile wallet to more consumers in Turkey.

Don’t underestimate Turkey says HSBC

Most people have no idea how good Turkish wine is, according to Martin Spurling, chief executive of HSBC Turkey. With over 1.5 million acres of land devoted to vines, it is a little-known fact that the Mediterranean country is the world’s fourth producer of grapes. The same can be said for Turkey’s ambitious plans to develop Istanbul as a major international financial centre.