This London startup claims it’s launched the first ever working blockchain platform for financial institutions June 1, 2016 A London startup which boasts the former chairman of Barclays bank on its board has launched a new blockchain platform for financial institutions which it claims is the first of its kind. Several organisations are in the race to build a distributed ledger platform with blockchain technology, which can be used across the industry for processing transactions more quickly and [...]
Monitise is keeping hold of its content business after all May 31, 2016 Monitise has cancelled a potential sale of its content business which includes the MyVoucherCodes website, sending shares diving as much as nine per cent in early trading on Tuesday morning. The firm first revealed talks were taking place in early March for the sale of Markco Media, sending shares soaring more than 40 per cent. It today said those [...]
Santander’s using blockchain right now May 26, 2016 Santander is the latest bank to experiment with blockchain technology, applying it to international payments with the promise of making the process quicker. It claims to be the first bank in the UK to use blockchain in this way, trialling it in an iPhone app used by staff that reduces the time it takes to transfer cash by [...]
Old Street credit-checking startup expands into Germany with Deutsche Bank partnership May 26, 2016 An Old Street fintech startup is moving into Germany in partnership with Deutsche Bank. Ormsby Street’s credit-checking tool, CreditHQ, is used by more than 27,000 small businesses in the UK, the startup said. The tool, which allows small business to check the financial health and credit status of customers or partners, launched in Italy last year. [...]
Ex-Barclays boss Rich Ricci: Fintech will eat banks’ lunch May 26, 2016 Rich Ricci, the former head of Barclays investment banking and right-hand man of Bob Diamond, has warned that fintech startups will snatch market share from established financial institutions and change the landscape of banking. Efforts of big banks to innovate will continue to be thwarted by their archaic technology as they face increasing competition from [...]
We’ve not even scratched the surface of fintech’s true potential – and banks will struggle to keep up May 26, 2016 Fintech innovation has seen rapid growth over the past few years and is producing businesses with scalable products. In turn, senior executives at banks are responding to the challenge these businesses present and have begun to set up their own incubators to capture this rapid innovation. Driving much of this has been the rise of [...]
Here’s why banks have – and can keep – the upper hand over P2P lenders May 26, 2016 I asked a former chief investment officer of a huge bank a couple of years ago which bank would buy up P2P firms first. They replied: “no, which P2P firm will buy a bank?” Deloitte’s report this week on marketplace lending (MPL) suggests they were wrong. It concludes that the success of P2P lenders is [...]
Samsung’s Apple and Android Pay rival will launch in Europe next week May 25, 2016 Samsung is heading into battle with Apple and Google in the war for mobile tap and pay users by focusing on extras such as membership and loyalty schemes as it launches Samsung Pay in Europe for the first time. The Korean smartphone maker is facing stiff competition from Apple Pay which launched last year and Google’s Android Pay [...]
No, P2P lenders aren’t going to topple banks – but we don’t want to May 25, 2016 Peer-to-peer lending was born a decade ago and has offered an alternative and often more accessible route to funding for thousands of small and medium sized businesses. The sector’s popularity has exploded in recent years, leading many, including a newly published report from Deloitte, to assume that platforms now have the established banking sector in [...]
China just joined a major blockchain consortium May 24, 2016 A Chinese insurer is the latest business to join the major R3 blockchain consortium and the first financial institution in the country to become a member alongside the likes of Barclays, HSBC and Goldman Sachs. Ping An, the second largest insurance firm in China, has joined the group, which was formed late last year to work on [...]