ECB adopts Thomson Reuters Eikon
The European Central Bank has signed a deal together with the central banks of 18 countries to adopt Thomson Reuters’ Eikon desktop for trading and market data.
Worldwide
Paybefore Honors Innovation in Orlando (March 4, 2013)
March 2013 Expanding the Boundaries of PrepaidLeft to right: Lisa Breitengross and Kevin Boglarsky, Discover On March 4, Paybefore celebrated 72 programs in 23 categories, naming for the first time Best-in-Category honorees at the 7th Annual Paybefore Awards Ceremony, which capped off the first day of Prepaid Expo USA in Orlando, Fla. This year—for […]
The problem of plenty: multiple host systems in banks
Globally, there are many banks operating on multiple host systems, the result of cherry picking the best in class systems of the day to meet different needs or occasionally, merger and acquisition. Consequently, they have ended up with a legacy of disparate host or core systems, usually segmented by lines of business, such as deposits, retail loans, corporate loans, and trade finance.
Java in the cloud for financial services
Java is the most ubiquitous programming language out there, but it doesn’t work well in the cloud. One approach to overcoming the problem is featured among the Accenture-sponsored FinTech Innovation Lab London finalists.
Outsourcing: an increasingly risky business?
More stringent restrictions on outsourcing arrangements affecting all suppliers could lead to increased costs across the board for financial services firms.
Cross asset trading to the fore for FPL delegates
While changes to the OTC derivatives world grab the headlines, trading is moving to a cross asset world, largely driven by regulation and standardisation – and after a few years of pain, firms may find that they are better off as a result.
Mixing up the pieces
The introduction of a seven-day account switching service in the autumn is meant to increase competition among UK High Street banks. Will it succeed?
Study reveals customer motives for switching banks
A majority of consumers would prefer portable bank account numbers to make switching between banks easier, according to a new YouGov poll conducted by BT – and the reasons may surprise advocates of Banking 2.0.
Discover Launches Checking, Debit Service with Rewards Lure (Feb. 28, 2013)
Feb. 28, 2013 Discover Financial Services is taking on the likes of online banking specialists Simple and Moven with Discover Cashback Checking, introducing a mainstream debit card, to be processed on its Pulse network. Initially targeting only select Discover credit card customers by invitation, Discover’s new banking service carries no monthly fees or minimum balances […]
MasterCard Inks VimpelCom Deal, Launches NFC Services in Brazil (Feb. 28, 2013)
Feb. 28, 2013 MasterCard Worldwide pushed its global mobile payments strategy forward this week with announcements of diverse initiatives targeting new customers, including a strategic partnership with Amsterdam-based mobile network operator VimpelCom Ltd. to reach unbanked consumers in 18 countries with a “mobile money” service, as well as the card network’s first NFC launch in […]
PayPal Founder’s New App ‘Simplifies’ Mobile Shopping (Feb. 28, 2013)
Feb. 28, 2013 A new startup from PayPal co-founder Max Levchin is aiming to improve the process of making online purchases via mobile device—an improvement he says is a boon to customers and retailers alike. Known as Affirm, the new company is the brainchild of Levchin’s tech incubator Hard, Valuable, Fun and is launching a […]
CO-OP Financial Services to Offer TMG Prepaid Cards (Feb. 28, 2013)
Feb. 28, 2013 As part of a partnership established last year with The Members Group (TMG), a Des Moines, Iowa-based card processing and payment solutions provider, CO-OP Financial Services today announced it will be offering TMG’s reloadable prepaid cards to all of its client credit unions. The TMG reloadable prepaid cards are in addition to […]
AccountNow Reports Major Call Volume Shift with VoltDelta (Feb. 28, 2013)
Feb. 28, 2013 Customer service is in the news for the second time this week as prepaid card provider AccountNow Inc. reported that more than 90 percent of its call volume is now resolved in the automated system rather than via live agent. The increase follows AccountNow’s move to VoltDelta for customer service 18 months […]
Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market (February 2013)
February 2013 By Lori Breitzke, E&S Consulting LLC A proposed settlement agreement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation—filed in 2005 on behalf of approximately 7 million merchants alleging, among other claims, that MasterCard and Visa had separately colluded with banks to eliminate competition and increase interchange (swipe) […]
Wincor Nixdorf predicts mobile cash withdrawal explosion
While most large banks in the UK offer a mobile app, some do not yet offer mobile cash withdrawal as a feature. That is likely to change soon, according to Ian Byrne, banking director UK and Ireland at ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf.
Compliance stretching bank resources says Thomson Reuters
Financial services firms are being forced to become increasingly risk-focused due to the continuing pressure of regulation, according to a new survey by Thomson Reuters.
Data protection: the next Y2K?
Transatlantic friction over data protection isn’t exactly a new problem – the industry has been faced with pending regulations for over a decade, but the conflicting demands of European data privacy and US intelligence gathering legislation are coming together to make the issue a serious problem for banking technologists.
Rawbank revamps internet banking services with Clear2Pay
Kinshasa-based Rawbank has selected Clear2Pay’s e-Banking solution to revamp its online and customer loyalty strategy. Since its launch 10 years ago, Rawbank has become the largest bank by total deposits and total assets in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a network of branches 30+ providing a local service to retail and corporate clients. Rawbank, […]
Ready for retail revival
Today, maximising profit is harder than ever for banks. The large retail banks have been forced to sell off branches and their investment arms are under increasing scrutiny, writes Tim FitzGerald, finance & banking sales manager, Casewise. The need to change – be it adapting to newly-imposed regulatory frameworks, to differentiating yourself from the competition and […]
Bloomberg puts voice recording into cloud with Orange collaboration
Orange Business Services – Trading Solutions has launched a collaboration with Bloomberg Vault that will record voice data in real time, so that brokers can better comply with regulation on record keeping.
SmartStream sets out back-office utility
Financial technology company SmartStream has launched a reconciliation solution designed to provide low-cost back office services.
Early warning for trading failures
Technology companies Verdande and ITRS have developed an early warning system designed to detect trading outages and system failures before they happen.
Mauritius adopts e-payment as PeX turns to BPC-HP
Payment service provider Payment Exchange has moved its Mauritius operation onto BPC Banking Technologies’ HP Integrity NonStop platform, which is designed to make it easier, faster and cheaper to launch new products.
ISO details new electronic signature standard
The International Standards Organisation has finalised details of a new ISO standard that guarantee the long-term authenticity of electronic signatures.
U.S. EMV Migration Forum Sketching Plans for One-City EMV Pilot (Feb. 26, 2013)
Feb. 26, 2013 Payments industry experts eyeing the October 2015 target date for the U.S. migration to EMV card technology are contemplating plans to set up an EMV pilot in a single U.S. city to boost EMV planning and to work out the bugs in chip-card deployment. The concept, hatched by a committee within the […]
paysafecard Launches Online Shopping Account (Feb. 26, 2013)
Feb. 26, 2013 European e-voucher provider paysafecard group has launched a new service it says will simplify the process of Internet shopping for its customers. The Paybefore Award-winning firm’s new system—dubbed “my paysafecard”—enables customers to combine all of their paysafecard e-vouchers into a single account. Instead of having to enter separate 16-digit PINs for each […]
GOP Leaders Talking Tough on Interchange Fee Cap (Feb. 26, 2013)
Feb. 26. 2013 Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) today told attendees at a Credit Union National Association Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., that federal lawmakers may revisit the debit interchange fee cap created by the Durbin Amendment this year, according to CUNA’s News Now. The publication also reports the Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said earlier […]
Prepaid Customer Service Takes Center Stage at Philly Fed Workshop (Feb. 26, 2013)
Feb. 26, 2013 The Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a workshop last week focused on customer service in the prepaid card industry. Susan Herbst-Murphy, a senior industry specialist at the PCC, says the center was eager to learn more about customer service issues in light of the Treasury’s mandate […]
Omani Bank Stung by Travel Card Fraud (Feb. 26, 2013)
Feb. 26, 2013 Oman’s largest bank said a dozen of its prepaid travel cards were compromised outside of the country. Bank Muscat will take an impairment charge of up to 15 million rials (US$39 million) as a result of the unspecified fraud—a figure representing more than 10 percent of the bank’s latest annual earnings. […]
ABN Amro tech failure results in fine
Dutch bank ABN Amro has been fined by Nasdaq OMX Stockholm for a technology failure that led to an erroneous order entering the market.
MasterCard integrates multiplatform e-commerce authentication across devices
MasterCard has announced the roll-out of a new integrated authorisation tool that straddles the card, online and mobile payments areas, while allowing merchants and digital wallet providers to integrate it with their services.
Heightened banking cyber threats require clear focus
As the US Federal Reserve joins a growing list of financial institutions targeted by cyber criminals, reports of an organised campaign to recruit hackers for a large-scale malware attack, dubbed Project Blitzkrieg, has further highlighted the challenge facing the banking sector.
SEPA Uncertainty
Big banks and their large corporate clients are in the final stages of preparation for the SEPA end date of February next year, but what about the smaller clients in the non-euro countries?
Jefferies adopts IPC extranet service
US investment bank Jefferies is to use a financial extranet and data service from IPC Systems, a New Jersey-based technology specialist.
Wagner aims at m-commerce gap
Dan Wagner is pretty sure that he has an idea how the use of mobile devices will play out in the commercial world and how the relationships between banks, merchant acquirers, merchants and customers will change.
Saxo Bank revamps mobile trading app
Saxo Bank has added new features to its trading app SaxoTrader, which works on iPhone and iPad and is designed to make trading more mobile.
Qatar Exchange introduces sponsored access
The Qatar Exchange has introduced sponsored access and market making for the first time, in a move intended to boost liquidity and make it easier for a wider pool of investors to access the market.
Visa Inks Deals with Samsung, Roam for ‘Ready Partner’ Program (Feb. 25, 2013)
Feb. 25, 2013 Aiming to speed up development of mobile payment technologies, Visa Inc. on the eve of this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona announced the Visa Ready Partner Program, a framework it hopes will make it easier for mobile device manufacturers, mobile network operators and various of their technology partners around the world […]
MasterCard Unveils MasterPass for ‘Simple’ Shopping Experience (Feb. 25, 2013)
Feb. 25, 2013 MasterCard Inc. today unveiled MasterPass, a cloud-based service that builds on its PayPass Wallet Services by eliminating the need for consumers to enter card or shipping details with each purchase and adding new tools to enhance online, mobile and in-store shopping. MasterPass will roll out through banks in Canada and Australia beginning […]
PayPal to Enter Crowded European Mobile Card Reader Market (Feb. 25, 2013)
Feb. 25, 2013 PayPal continues its diversification into brick-and-mortar payments with the announcement that it will expand its PayPal Here mobile card reader to Europe, beginning in the U.K. this summer. The European iteration of PayPal Here will differ from the version launched in the U.S. nearly a year ago in some key ways, due […]
