BankingTech


Cloud – what is it not good for?

Across the financial services sector, the question is now less about where cloud technology is being used, and more about where it isn’t used. Where do financial institutions draw the line when it comes to deciding whether to keep a process or IT-related service in-house or outsource it to specialists such as Amazon Web Services, SAP and many others?

Forget ‘mobile first’: are we heading for mobile-only banking?

The speed at which the mobile market evolves is staggering. Just as we started to look at mobile first, where banks need to align their services and strategies to cater for mobile before desktop or other traditional channels, the notion of mobile-only is now creeping to the fore.

What next for the ATM?

Given that bank customers are unlikely to increase significantly their usage of ATMs and now that opportunities to deploy large numbers of additional dispensers are limited, what does the future hold for the ATM and where does its next phase of growth lie?

KYC Regulatory Impact: Beyond Compliance

Looked at from a data perspective, many new regulations have overlapping requirements that come back to customer data. Banking Technology joined forces with Markit | Genpact KYC Services and regulatory specialist JWG and recently conducted a survey to look at how firms are approaching the challenges this poses, the survey proved hugely popular with over 200 responses.

Wall Street vendor launches FX smart order router

Lucera Financial Infrastructures has launched LumeFX, a technology platform that aims to help market participants increase their chances of finding a fill by using a smart order router to find FX liquidity.

Uniting entity data – the missed opportunity

In a post-2008 crisis landscape dominated by regulatory reform, compliance is only part of the issue. If firms can address how they manage multiple data sets and deploy a truly enterprise-wide model, they can capitalise on the real opportunity – achieving a competitive advantage.

When Banks Play Games

For the banking sector, which by definition at least is as much economic activity as it is social utility, the relevance of gamification is no longer debatable. Yet recent research shows that just 9% of banks globally have made forays into gamification

Big Data and data management in capital markets

The capital markets industry continues to be amongst the top data driven industries. Electronic trading generates millions of market messages during a given day. With diminishing returns in high-frequency trading, focus has shifted from high-speed trading to looking for patterns in large volumes of market data for financial information and use cases.

BIAN makes global banking architecture push

BIAN – the Bank Industry Architecture Network – has made further progress in its efforts to promote banking system standards internationally with the US First Niagara Bank and Computer Sciences Corporation and Japan’s Nomura joining as members.

Core modernisation: the risks and the rewards

Core banking system replacement projects are notoriously difficult and disaster-prone, but successful legacy migration and systems modernisation can be shown to improve profitability, at least for smaller banks.

May 2014 Back to the drawing board

Regulators want banks to modernise their IT systems to remove risk, but despite evidence that this will also improve profitability, few are making the leap.

Small financial institutions must face the mobile challenge

As contactless and mobile payment methods continue to grow, building societies and other financial institutions need to avoid being complacent about new technology, according to senior delegates speaking at the BSA annual conference in Manchester this week.

The value of SEPA beyond the SEPA-zone

The work corporates are doing to streamline cash management processes should not end with SEPA implementation, says. Indeed, the principles and ideas underpinning SEPA can inform progress even in the most challenging markets.

Barclays takes Harte from Commonwealth

In one of the highest-profile tech hire in recent years, Barclays has poached Commonwealth Bank’s Michael Harte as chief operations and technology officer, filling the gap left by the surprise departure of Shaygan Kheradpir last autumn.

Market pressures force tech rethink on reconciliation

Global regulatory pressure and the shift to real-time processing are causing banks and major financial institutions to rethink how they handle reconciliation, according to a new report by financial research house Aite.

Firms still struggling with SEFs for swaps trading says IPC survey

Trading firms are still struggling with the Dodd-Frank requirement for certain swaps to be traded on registered Swap Execution Facilities. According to a survey conducted by trading communications vendor IPC Systems, 60% of survey respondents said the industry as a whole was behind on meeting the deadlines on SEF trading, though only 39% said their […]

Bitcoin: the indestructible currency?

Despite the high profile media scandals surrounding the demise of the Mt Gox exchange and the Silk Road trading website, Bitcoin is evolving rapidly and will soon present a better, more stable and accountable alternative to the fiat currencies most of us trust and use every day, according to Mark Lamb, chief executive of London-based Bitcoin exchange Coinfloor.

New solutions for optimising cash in the retail industry

Managing cash in stores remains a major challenge for retailers – trapped cash hinders working capital management and is unavailable for investment, debt repayment or business expansion. But new ways are being developed to manage store cash …

Stop selling and start listening, say corporates

Banks don’t really understand the needs of corporates and are often so busy focusing on selling that they forget basic customer requirements, according to speakers at the IPS conference in London this week

EBS rolls out mobile FX app

FX trading service EBS has launched Watch EBS, a new mobile app that is designed to show users the global spot FX market in as close to real time as possible.

Global move towards real-time payment systems

In this supplement we share our experiences of implementing real-time payments systems and take an in-depth look at the success of Faster Payments in the UK. We also examine the challenges and benefits that real-time payments can deliver to banks and consumers as well as the advantages real-time technology can bring to government and businesses to support the wider economy and society as a whole.

Why banks need to branch out into the cloud

Despite the well-known benefits of cloud computing, 75% of banks in Europe are using outdated core banking systems. Why are some banking institutions slower to adopt cloud than others?

CFTC calls for international swaps data sharing deal

Global standards and approaches to regulation need to focus more on removing risk from the financial system rather than on compliance – but to do so international regulators will need to harmonise their efforts and embrace technology to a much greater degree.

Banking in the Digital World

While established banks struggle with their legacy systems, smaller players and new entrants are quickly adopting new technologies – but there are some trends in digital banking that are being slowly adopted by the banking industry as a whole.

Extraterritoriality and volumes make future uncertain for CCPs

The number of central clearing counterparties is likely to rise in the near future as new entrants put Latin America, Africa and Australia on the map for OTC derivatives clearing, but with more regulatory intervention expected and unpredictable customer flows, the new venues face an uncertain future

Why banks need a chief mobility officer

Mobility has risen to such a level of importance that many people believe it deserves its own C-level position to advance and align mobility strategy throughout the enterprise. In no other industry is this more pressing than in banking where financial institutions are increasingly using mobile apps to set themselves apart from their rivals.

ABN Amro launches global FIX trading push

ABN Amro Clearing has launched a new global trading platform for equities and futures which it says can route clients between Asia, Europe and the US using a single FIX connection.

Why Yahoo’s malware attack is hitting banks hard

At the end of last year, Yahoo was hit by a malware attack. It affected over two million clients, mainly in Romania, Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain, putting their personal data at risk. Upon visiting the website between 27 December and 3 January, users received advertisements, some of which were malicious and infected users’ devices without even a click.