HSBC has installed free Wi-Fi in 650 of its UK branches, bringing the bank into line with Barclays, which introduced free Wi-Fi in February 2013. Both banks signed deals with BT to provide the connectivity, which is managed by BT as a white label service.
New UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority has made a good start in its first year of life and has helped to contributed to a “sea change” in the way conduct is viewed and treated by financial institutions, according to Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the FCA.
Santander is emerging as the main beneficiary of the battle to attract UK current account holders while NatWest and HSBC are losing ground, according to the monthly TNS Current Account Switching Index data for April.
There is a danger that regulation will push financial services so far down the path of homogeneity that it hinders innovation and hurts customers, warns Robin Fieth, chief executive at the Building Societies Association.
More than half a million UK consumers have switched their current accounts since September, according to new figures released by the UK Payments Council. The figures have been described as positive, but market observers remain cautious over whether or not they can be sustained and whether the UK authorities are doing enough to promote innovation.
UK consumers have doubled the amount of transactions they make on their mobile phones over the last year, according to new figures released by the BBA.
Perseus Telecom has launched what it claims is the first ‘trans-Atlantic’ microwave route between New York and Frankfurt, for use by banks, market makers, proprietary trading firms and other market participants.
The Bank of England has become the first central bank to go live with an implementation of the Market Infrastructure Resiliency Service contingency system it has been piloting with Swift over the past few years.
The mobile payments system planned by the UK Payments Council will be branded Paym. The Council says that it will announce the go-live date next month and final testing is on track.
Despite efforts to create a more transparent OTC derivatives market, market data costs have increased significantly since 2008 and the buy-side has very little to show for it, according to senior financial executives speaking at an event organised by FIX Protocol in London on 6 March.
TSB is increasing the size of its ATM estate by more than 10% as it works to transform its retail banking network in the wake of its de-merger from Lloyds Banking Group last year.
The UK’s Clearing House Automated Payments System turned 30 earlier this year. It wasn’t an anniversary marked with street parties by a grateful nation, but in its quiet way it was a significant moment, for – in common with the whole payments infrastructure – the system is going through a period of change. Phil Kenworthy, […]
The Prudential Regulatory Authority has set out a series of requirements for non-EU banks who want to do business in the UK.
In addition to the regulatory system changes, what would the technological and infrastructure challenges of such a ruling be?
Revelations that Barclays customer data was being sold on the black market to corrupt City traders have caused the bank some embarrassment over the weekend– but the incident raises more questions than it answers, according to observers.
Chinese broker GF Financial Markets has joined the London Stock Exchange, hoping to capitalise on international opportunities – including the dramatic rise of London as a centre of renminbi trading.
European startup accelerator Startupbootcamp is preparing to launch a programme focused on the financial technology industry. Startupbootcamp FinTech, will be make its debut in London with support from banking group Lloyds and the Netherlands’ Rabobank.
UK retail banks lag their international peers in helping their online customers make better financial decisions, according to new research published this week.
January has been a good month for ETFs, with the launch of two new products aimed at making it safer and cheaper to trade – and easier to get the information needed to make trading decisions.
Clear2Pay is expanding its facilities in Scotland with the hire of 29 new staff, at its Dunfermline offices, bringing the headcount there to 50. The expansion is supported by a £250,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise. Kimball Felix, chief of staff at Clear2Pay, said, “In addition to our payments technology, we offer a […]
While many large organisations have already planned and delivered their SEPA compliance, smaller and mid-sized firms have woefully underprepared for the deadline. Banks and payment organisations need to be prepared for a certain amount of confusion and resistance from UK customers who may not understand the reasons for the change, and may be reluctant to put the necessary changes into effect.
UK operator O2 has revealed that its O2 Wallet service, which closed last week, was a casualty of the pace of development in the fast moving mobile payments space.
Tuesday’s landmark deal between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on MiFID II will hurt long-term investors and may paint the regulator into a corner, according to Juan Pablo Urrutia, European general council at broker ITG.
Reforms to the way derivatives trade in the US and Europe are causing a conflict between consumer desire for bespoke solutions and regulatory attempts at standardisation – and the self-inflicted panic as the deadline approaches indicates the cost may be too high, according to a panel of senior capital markets representatives speaking at an event organised by the Futures and Options Association in London on Tuesday.
Seven startup financial services companies have been chosen by the FinTech Innovation Lab London for its annual innovation-focused competition, which is designed to give support and recognition to promising new ideas in financial services.
The London Stock Exchange has introduced a set of changes for its international order book, including a shift to T+2 settlement, a reduction in tick sizes and changed opening hours, ahead of upcoming EU regulations designed to harmonise settlement across Europe.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of UK current account holders would prefer to bank online or via a mobile app than via telephone or in-branch banking (29%), according to a recent survey by YouGov and business process specialist Genpact.
HSBC has lost more customers since the introduction of the UK’s account switching service than any other major retail bank, according to figures published by advisory firm TNS.
Five international banks are to become direct participants in the UK’s CHAPS high-value payments system as part of the Bank of England’s efforts to reduce systemic risk.
Euroclear UK and Ireland is planning to shorten its settlement cycle to T+2 from October next year, bringing its operations into line with clearing in Germany and Russia, which already operate T+2.
Santander, Nationwide and Halifax have gained the most from the UK’s account switching service, while traditional banking names Barclays, HSBC Lloyds & TSB and NatWest have lost out, according to new figures released by advisory firm TNS.
RBS has confirmed that it is to launch V.me by Visa, the digital wallet built by Visa Europe. The decision follows a pilot programme, and will mean that RBS follows in the footsteps of Nationwide Building Society, which has just become the first UK high street brand to roll out the wallet to its customers.
Staff at Metro Bank don’t have sales targets – instead, they are incentivised to enhance the customer experience, says Craig Donaldson, chief executive at Metro Bank. The bank is hoping this approach will pay off as it continues its campaign to win over the UK high street with the launch of a new branch at Cheapside in the heart of London.
BATS Chi-X Europe has begun its pan-European listings business with the start of trading in two exchange-traded funds. The firm’s strategy is to focus on ETFs, where it believes it has found an opportunity to cut away at costs.
A UK technology company has created a banking app that promises to help customers keep track of their finances at a glance, interfacing with the Pebble smartwatch which launched launched in January 2013.
Three independent UK building societies – Ipswich, Loughborough and Dudley – have agreed to use a new software as a service solution from Unisys to handle their mortgage and savings accounts. The deal represents the latest move in a series of steps by the UK’s building society sector to adopt cloud platforms.
LCH.Clearnet’s ForexClear service has cleared its first trades through a partnership with pre-trade risk and post-trade processing company Traiana, which matched and affirmed the FX derivative client trades using its Harmony CCOP Connect service.
Swansea Building Society has just upgraded its lending and saving platform to the latest version of vendor Sopra Banking Software’s mortgage and savings suite – a move that it says will help it to handle its regulatory reporting obligations much more effectively and launch new products quicker when needed.
Deutsche Bank has chosen Kim Hammonds as chief information officer and global co-head of group technology and operations. Hammonds joins on 25 November from Boeing, where she was chief information officer.
Polish IT specialist Comarch has launched a host-to-host banking solution designed to allow corporates to issue bank instructions directly from their enterprise resource planning software.
The UK High Court has ruled against Barclays in a case brought by remittance provider Dahabshiil, granting an injunction preventing the bank from closing Dahabshiil’s account.
