Love for London’s fintech and awry Brexit predictions – were two of the discussion points from MoneyConf 2016 in Madrid. More than 1,800 people attended the two-day event at the cool venue of La Nave. Part one of our review of the show looked at wealth management, part two perused biometrics and Santander’s plans, while […]
Deutsche Bank has got the green light from its work council to cut 3,000 full-time jobs. The cuts mainly impact retail and commercial business lines, with separate talks to be held regarding job cuts across other divisions. This development is part of Deutsche Bank’s major initiative to turn its fortunes around, announced last autumn. 9,000 […]
Start-ups should first be focused on domestic markets over global ambitions, was one of the messages amidst the hurly-burly of Madrid-based MoneyConf 2016. More than 1,800 people were on hand for the two-day event held at the pleasant venue of La Nave. Part one of our review of the show was on wealth management, while […]
Customer feedback on biometrics is based on how they feel, rather than trust; was one of the messages from MoneyConf 2016 in Madrid. At the stylish venue, La Nave, more than 1,800 people attended the two-day event. Part one of our review of the show looked at wealth management. In the nicely titled “No shoes, […]
Speed is of the essence if firms want to capitalise on opportunities in wealth management, was one theme from MoneyConf 2016 in Madrid. More than 1,800 attendees were at the compact and colourful venue, La Nave, for the two-day event. In a panel on “The next generation of wealth management”, Kim Fournais, CEO and co-founder […]
Commerzbank says it’s the first major bank in Germany to develop this type of digital financing marketplace. Main Funders is aimed at SMEs. Main Funders enables clients of Commerzbank’s Mittelstandsbank (MSB) business division (which caters for SMEs) to present concrete investment projects to potential investors and secure financing. The financing volumes are between €200,000 and […]
Virgin Money UK, a financial services brainchild of Richard Branson, is understood to be looking for new core and digital channels banking software. Virgin Money’s underlying technology in the UK stems from a number of acquisitions, including a small outsource firm, Intelligent Managed Services (IMS), in 2010, and a larger, well-established bank, Northern Rock, in 2012 (the […]
BMCE Bank International, a UK-based subsidiary of Morocco’s BMCE Group, is live on a new regulatory reporting platform supplied by specialist vendor AxiomSL. The vendor says BMCE Bank International is using its solution to comply with its Bank of England (BOE) statistical reporting requirements (including FSA 047/048, ELS and balance sheet returns). The platform is […]
Simcorp is implementing its flagship investment management system, Simcorp Dimension, at Exane to support its middle and back office ops for listed and OTC derivatives. Paris-based Exane is an independent investment firm that focuses on asset management, derivatives and brokerage in cash equities. Exane has been running a number of disparate systems and decided to […]
The participants are BNP Paribas Securities Services, Caisse des Dépôts, Euroclear, Euronext, S2iEM, Société Générale and Paris Europlace. They have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to study and develop a post-trade blockchain infrastructure for SMEs in Europe. The agreement is open to other interested parties. The aim is “to improve SME’s access to capital […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will cut about 900 tech jobs in the UK, according to a Reuters report. At the end of last year, RBS’s domestic workforce stood at 64,000 people. Since March this year, the bank has cut at least 2,700 jobs in the UK, mainly across its branch network. The latest job […]
Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), the oldest bank in Luxembourg, is embarking on a major tech overhaul. It will replace its legacy software with Temenos’ T24, Banking Technology understands. Founded in 1856, BIL operates in retail, private and corporate banking, treasury and financial markets. The core banking software replacement comes as part of a broader […]
The Bank of England (BoE) will launch its own fintech accelerator to harness innovation for central banking. Fintech firms will be invited to carry out a proof of concept with the BoE. The bank will then act as a reference site for these companies. The BoE says it “will offer firms the chance to demonstrate […]
Berlin-based fintech incubator FinLeap and solarisBank have created the first global banking platform, called Solaris – a Banking-as-a-Platform (BaaP) service. What is it all about and how is it going to make its mark on the fintech industry? Devie Mohan interviews FinLeap’s co-founder, Ramin Niroumand. The solarisBank launch has been in the press quite a […]
Standard Chartered has compiled a report questioning whether blockchain could disrupt the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Target2Securities (T2S) project. T2S aims to standardise European cross-border trade settlement by integrating securities and cash accounts onto a single IT platform. Not only blockchain could play a material role in this project, some analysts suggest, but it could […]
Eurobank Ergasias has signed a ten-year agreement with Accenture to pursue digital transformation of its subsidiaries in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine. Accenture will help build a new platform for the bank, dubbed “Intelligent Infrastructure”. It will be based on Accenture’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering and will support Eurobank’s core functions, such as loans and deposits, […]
Russia’s largest banking group, Sberbank, is undergoing a major technology overhaul. The bank’s senior MD of technology, Mikhail Khasin, did a presentation on the bank’s new business development platform at a recent conference, TAdviser SummIT. The initiative is a “revolutionary transformation” of all systems that currently form Sberbank’s core banking platform. He said the new […]
Two former Merrill Lynch directors, Paul Richards and Giles Hutson, have unveiled a new fintech venture, Insignis Asset Management. Insignis, a cash management company, is set “to revolutionise how clients manage their cash deposits”, the founders say. The Insignis Digital Banking Network will enable clients to deposit cash, starting from £100,000, into a hub account, […]
Private banking software vendor Avaloq is to gain two sites in Austria for its flagship core banking system, Avaloq Banking Suite. These are at the Austrian operations of LGT and Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB). Both banking groups originate from Liechtenstein and both are long-standing users of Avaloq Banking Suite at home and Switzerland. LGT also runs […]
British Bankers Association (BBA) has secured the go-ahead from its members to merge with three other UK-based trade associations: Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), Payments UK and UK Cards Association. The new trade association will be have a broader representation of the financial services industry. Anthony Browne, CEO of BBA, comments that it is only […]
Four of the UK’s biggest high street banks have signed up to launch Zapp’s “Pay by Bank app” mobile payment service. Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Halifax and Lloyds Bank are working with Zapp, VocaLink’s payments innovation team, to deliver the service. David Yates, CEO VocaLink, says the gang of four join a “growing number of […]
Cater Allen, a London-based private bank and a subsidiary of Santander, is undergoing a major technology overhaul. The bank is going to implement a new core banking system, Temenos’ T24, Banking Technology understands. It is now looking to recruit T24 specialists and project managers to help it with system customisation and implementation, and migration from […]
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 […]
A new digital bank for UK businesses and consumers, CivilisedBank, has submitted its banking licence to the regulators, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA). It expects to receive the licence later this year and to open for business in early 2017. Set-up and technology CivilisedBank will not have any branches. It will […]
London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Boat Services have launched Tradecho, a combination of the two companies’ existing and “complimentary” trade reporting services. LSE says by early Q1 2017, Tradecho will provide a single trade reporting venue and “complement” its T+1 MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) and EMIR (European Market Infrastructure Regulation) transaction reporting services, […]
Nets and Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) have joined forces to launch an instant payments solution in Italy. The new offering is set to go live in Q1 next year. It will be based on Nets’ RealTime24/7 platform and will serve the Italian payment service providers (PSPs). “We will provide to the Italian […]
Famous/infamous hacking group Anonymous says it took down the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) website for two hours as part of a protest against world’s banks. According to the Mail on Sunday, the attack was carried out by a group, within the organisation, based in the Philippines. The newspaper says: “Anonymous claims the incident was one […]
Italian payments firm SIA has teamed with Raphaels Bank to develop and launch payment solutions in the UK and across Europe. As part of the agreement, UK-based Raphaels and SIA will offer SEPA payments services to clients through the bank’s “indirect participation” in the SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit schemes. Cristina Astore, head […]
Germany’s largest building society, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, is modernising its core banking operations with SAP. The building society is implementing SAP’s Deposits Management and Loans Management systems. The project has been underway since late 2015. Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall was established in the 1930s. Today, it has 7.5 million customers in Germany and over three million […]
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) says its all-share merger with Deutsche Börse could result in 1,250 job losses. In March, after speculation and a rival bid, both parties reached agreement to create a Europe-based global markets infrastructure group valued at about £21 billion. The merger is expected to be finalised by the end of this […]
UK-based regulatory reporting and risk management software vendor, AxiomSL, has signed the local operations of Union Bank of India for its flagship product, XBRL. XBRL will automate regulatory reporting to the UK’s regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), at Union Bank of India (UK). AxiomSL says the project comes as part of the bank’s compliance with […]
Russian payment platform Qiwi is planning to create a blockchain consortium with the nation’s largest banks as its members. According to Russian publication Izvestia, Qiwi will develop standards for the application of blockchain and it has invited B&N Bank, Alfa Bank and Sberbank to join. Dmitry Kashtanov, head of digital business at B&N Bank, says […]
UK-based HPD Software has launched Aquarius Construction Finance aimed at lenders who fund construction sub-contractors. The company is targeting its module at finance providers who want to enter or expand into the construction sector, which it says is “traditionally a ‘no-go zone’ for commercial lenders”. Kevin Day, COO at HPD Software, says: “The construction sector […]
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 […]
India-based IT heavyweight Tech Mahindra is spending £112 million on Target Group, a UK-based business process outsourcing (BPO) and software vendor. Target focuses on the lending, investment and insurance sectors, claiming around 50 financial institutions in the UK as customers. Among them are Yorkshire Building Society, Shawbrook Bank, Central Trust and Masthaven. It also works […]
Student Loans Company (SLC), a large government-owned lender in the UK, is believed to have halted its IT renovation project as it puts the contract with the supplier under review. SLC embarked on this massive project in early 2014 – awarding the contract to HCL. HCL bid jointly with Deloitte and Misys. HCL would be […]
Swedish bitcoin firm KnCMiner has filed for bankruptcy due to impending taxes and market uncertainty. Sam Cole, CEO at KnCMiner, says 44% of its income goes to energy taxes and there have been doubts about the future of the bitcoin mining market. In an interview with Swedish website Breakit.se, Cole says: “We knew there were […]
Swedbank has restructured its management team and launched a digital banking group. The new “Group Function Digital Banking” will be responsible for digital sales support, development and innovation. The bank is looking for a permanent head of digital banking. Birgitte Bonnesen, president and CEO of Swedbank, says the changes are a “natural step” and meet […]
Visa Europe says three billion contactless transactions were made across Europe on Visa cards and payment-enabled devices in the year to 30 April. This leap nearly triples that of the same period in the previous year. Tristan Kirchner, executive director, product management at Visa Europe, says it’s “extraordinary growth” and it’s due to the work […]
Swiss firm Profidata has acquired the “entire shares” of Abraxas, a German software and service provider for the financial industry. With the deal going ahead, Profidata will get FundLine, used for processing mutual fund orders and calculating trailer commissions; and RiskLine, for consolidation and quality assurance of financial market data, automated checking of market conformity […]
