HSBC is to cut 850 information technology jobs in the UK today (16 May), the first stage of its restructuring plan that will see 8,000 British jobs terminated by the end of 2017. The employees are based in London, Sheffield, Leeds and Birmingham and all the jobs will disappear by the end of this year, […]
With so many new banks trying to muscle into the UK banking sector, spurred on by the reduced barriers to entry and calls for competition, Banking Technology wonders: will this boom be followed by a bust? In the meantime, make hay whilst the sun shines! Here is our guide to who’s who in the UK […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to cut around 200 more jobs at its UK retail bank, according to sources close to the development. The latest round of job cuts follows the announcement last month that 600 jobs were to go in the UK. Rob MacGregor, national officer at the Unite trade union, says: […]
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 […]
Barclays is providing £1 million in funding to UK-based AccessPay to support its growth and further develop their relationship. Access Systems (trading as AccessPay) provides a cloud-based connectivity layer between a business’s finance systems, their banks and “all of the major” UK and international payment networks such as BACS, Swift, SEPA, Faster Payments and Direct […]
UK-based Metro Bank will roll out Glory Global Solutions’ Vertera 6G teller cash recyclers (TCRs) across the bank’s new locations as well as replace older technology in existing outlets. Metro Bank will set up a number of new branches in the course of 2016 and 2017. The bank, which opened for business in 2010, currently has […]
Coventry Building Society is working with a credit risk analytics firm, Jaywing, to meet the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 modelling requirements. The UK-based building society has recruited Jaywing ahead of the 1 January 2018 deadline to meet the new guidelines. Initial work is already underway, says Jaywing, and a prototype model for one […]
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 […]
UK-based financial services vendor Perception is building a new comprehensive platform for credit unions, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), loan companies and start-up banks. The solution aims to cover loans, savings, mortgages and current account business lines, front-to-back office. Be different, make a difference Perception has identified the gap in the market that it feels […]
First Global Trust Bank (FGTB) is a new name on the UK banking scene. The bank has recently been granted an “authorisation with restriction” licence to take deposits by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The London-based company was originally set up under the name of Llamabrook in 2011. It became FGTB in March this year […]
UK challenger bank, Atom Bank, has added another solution to its burgeoning IT architecture. This is a lending system from domestic specialist provider Phoebus Software, Banking Technology understands. The bank has just launched, but is yet to launch a fully-fledged mobile app. The app is yet to be available on Android. Meanwhile, the iOS app […]
London-based Persia International Bank is replacing its legacy trade finance system, supplied by Surecomp. The new system is Eximbills, provided by Surecomp’s rival, China Systems. Surecomp’s product, IBSNet, has been running at the bank’s London and Dubai locations for over 15 years. It is integrated with the bank’s long-standing core banking platform, Misys’ Bankmaster. It […]
The new core banking platform, Aurius, supplied by UK-based fintech vendor Sword Apak, has ousted Misys’ Bankmaster at Julian Hodge Bank. Aurius is now fully live at this privately-owned bank in Cardiff, Banking Technology understands. The implementation started in spring 2014 and was initially expected to last 12 months. However, in reality the project took twice as […]
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. […]
Lloyds Commercial Finance (LCF) has implemented 3i Infotech‘s Kastle Onboarding Solution, a credit approval application. The software has been rolled out at LCF’s 12 regional centres across the UK as it looks to “maintain and grow its market share” in the commercial finance segment. India-based 3i Infotech calls the deal a “breakthrough win” in the […]
VocaLink, the payment systems provider, has signed a five-year deal to provide “exclusive” processing for the LINK ATM network. The deal is the UK’s largest ever ATM processing deal and is expected to deliver over 16 billion transactions. Under the five-year contract with LINK Scheme and its 38 members, VocaLink will provide ATM switching and […]
UK-based Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank – which together form CYBG – have launched a new digital banking platform, as CYBG gets ready to become a standalone challenger bank. The new platform is called “B” and CYBG teamed up with proposition design consultancy Market Gravity to design and launch the new service. Debbie Crosbie, COO […]
C Hoare & Co, Britain’s oldest bank (and the fourth oldest in the world), is modernising its front-end operations with Backbase, a specialist provider of omnichannel banking software. London-based C Hoare was founded in 1672 by Sir Richard Hoare and remains family-owned and run today. It focuses on private banking and investment management. It employs around […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is likely to miss the set deadline to spin off its Williams & Glyn’s (W&G) subsidiary – and the technology issues are to blame. W&G has been dormant for a few decades (RBS absorbed it in the mid-1980s). It was originally set to be revived and re-launched in 2015 by […]
UK-based Liontrust Asset Management has gone live on Eze Software Group’s OMS (order management system) and portfolio accounting solutions, implementing a front-to-back office workflow to replace its in-house systems. Eze Software Group says its investment software suite was chosen after a “rigorous and lengthy” selection process involving a number of unnamed vendors. Liontrust, which has […]
UK-based CRM solutions provider Wealth Dynamix has launched WDX ONE, a cloud-based framework for wealth and investment managers. WDX ONE is targeted at small to mid-market firms, and Wealth Dynamix says it cuts implementation costs by over 60%. Groupe Financiere Hottinger (GFH), a London-based portfolio management and financial advisory service, is one of the first […]
UK-based challenger bank Mondo is on a recruitment drive to find senior executives. Mondo, which positions itself as a “mobile first” bank, will be offering a contactless debit card paired with a mobile banking app to its customers. As part of this ambition to end the “tyranny of legacy banks” it is advertising for two […]
Bank of Ireland, one of Ireland’s “big four” banking players, is looking to modernise its legacy software, Banking Technology understands. The bank’s current set-up is outsourced to Accenture, which manages its group technology and change division. The deal was signed in 2014, and around 200 staff transferred to Accenture from Bank of Ireland as a […]
MasterCard is in “exclusive” talks with VocaLink over a £1 billion-acquisition, according to Sky News. Sky News says it has learned that 13 banks, which are shareholders in VocaLink, have “approved a period of exclusivity within which MasterCard can negotiate a takeover of the company”. Out of those banks, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and […]
Lloyds Banking Group is to cut 625 jobs – as it continues another wave of its 9,000 job reductions announced a few years ago. Lloyds says there will be a net reduction of 430 roles once the 195 new jobs it will be creating are taken into account. News of the planned redundancies was greeted […]
Masthaven Finance, a UK-based specialist mortgage lender, has joined the “challenger banks” rush and secured a banking licence. It plans to open for business this summer. The new bank will offer mortgages and savings products to retail customers who struggle to get service from mainstream banks and lenders. These products will include specialist mortgages and […]
Paris-based Sopra Steria has been selected by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to deliver a new digital regulatory market data processing platform in an “exclusive” six-year contract. The new platform will support the FCA’s on-going regulation of firms, as well as encompassing new requirements under the forthcoming Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). […]
UK-based payments firm Moni has gone into receivership. Moni says its business and assets are being marketed for sale; and joint administrators have been appointed. If people have queries or are “owed money”, Moni is directing them to an advisory service. The firm did offer a mobile payment app for iOS and Android – similar […]
Financial institutions are still nervous about APIs and security when the word “open” is discussed, was one theme from the Swift Business Forum London 2016. More than 1,300 delegates were packed into Tobacco Dock, London for the sixth edition of the one-day event. Yesterday morning’s sessions (20 April) were a mixed bag – “blockchain is […]
UK-based specialist financing company, Private & Commercial Finance Group (PCFG), has concluded its software selection, Banking Technology understands. The company applied for a banking licence in 2013/14 and was known to be in system selection mode in mid-2014. The selection process was run by consultancy firm Sofgen. Banking Technology understands that it has now finalised […]
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is cutting almost 600 jobs in its UK retail bank. British and Irish trade union Unite has reacted to the news. RBS will axe about 200 positions across London and the south east of England, with 400 jobs to go in the Midlands, east and the north of the country, […]
The challengers aiming to take on the traditional high street banks are themselves facing an enormous obstacle if they are to disrupt the banking market significantly, observes Zehra Chudry, organiser of the “Challengers versus Legacy Banks” debate at PayExpo Europe 2016. This hurdle is building consumer trust. Not only must they offer powerfully attractive alternatives and improvements, they must also convince consumers […]
There’s no doubt about it, fintech is a force to be reckoned with, and the UK has positioned itself convincingly as the global capital. Speaking at an event only last month, Economic Secretary, Harriett Baldwin, commented on how fintech is “helping normal people in their daily lives” by giving them extra choices when it comes […]
Cardiff-based Principality Building Society is a step closer to selecting a new core processing system, Banking Technology understands. Principality’s current provider is Unisys Financial Services System (UFSS). It is understood that the building society has considered an upgrade of UFSS but decided against it. It is now evaluating offerings from a number of system suppliers. […]
Nick Kerigan, managing director of future payments at Barclaycard, lends his expert view on the changing consumer payment landscape and maps the journey to contactless card payments and beyond. Kerigan leads the team that looks at payment and competitor intelligence, and is responsible for driving innovation across Barclaycard. Last year was a milestone in UK […]
Santander and Kabbage are piloting an online tool to give UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) access to same day funding. Announced today (4 April) at Money 20/20 in Copenhagen, SMEs can get access to new working capital of between £500 and £100,000 via an online process. At a media briefing, Sigga Sigurdardottir, chief […]
FIS and Vocalink’s PayPort have become the first to gain accreditation to supply access to Faster Payments through its New Access Model. Both have been awarded the new certificate of technical accreditation “trust mark”, after passing all the required technical tests covering the origination and receipt of payments by a direct participant of Faster Payments. […]
There is a lot of activity going on in the UK’s credit union space, as the participants realise they have no choice but to modernise. So who is doing what? Which technology providers are set to gain and who might be a loser? London Mutual Credit Union and TCS Financial Solutions London Mutual credit union […]
Google is bringing Android Pay to the UK market – with Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society the first to support it. This latest move follows Android Pay’s launch in the US in September 2015, and it should be available in the UK “in the […]
Since the introduction of the Faster Payments Service (FPS) the best part of a decade ago the UK has been rather proud of its payments system – industry body Payments UK uses the phrase “world class payments” in its development plans, and successive politicians have trumpeted the country’s prowess in this field, much as their […]
