Standard Chartered creates fintech investment unit
Standard Chartered said on Wednesday it had established a business unit to invest in financial technology and promote innovation. Dubbed SC Ventures, it will include internal consultants to help the rest of the group solve problems with technology and a team to sponsor and oversee new disruptive technology ventures owned by StanChart. Another part of the new unit will focus on managing the bank’s minority investments in ‘fintech’ and seeking new ones to back. “As new technology continues to play an ever more important role in banking, there is a huge opportunity for us to promote more innovation,” said Michael Gorriz, group chief information officer. StanChart already backs Ripple, a […]
PCF Bank partners with Sandstone Technology to launch a digital origination and servicing platform
PCF Bank has launched a new digital platform to facilitate the origination and servicing of savings deposit products online. The service uses the latest responsive device platform from Sandstone Technology supporting mobile, tablet and traditional PC channels. The launch of deposit products by the bank complements its established consumer motor finance and SME asset finance businesses. The bank obtained its banking licence from the regulator in December 2016. The collaboration with Sandstone was predicated on having a flexible digital platform that can be extended to meet PCF Bank’s future requirements and the digital banking needs of the bank’s ever-demanding client base. The service uses BankFast, Sandstone’s global direct banking platform […]
Bank of America files for 3 new Blockchain patents
Three new patent applications reveal that the Bank of America has been working on using distributed ledger technology (DLT) to validate the veracity of information – and those who handle it. First filed in February 2016, the details of the three applications were made available to the public last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. One case cites a process for using a blockchain to track and validate user identification. For example, the document details how a distributed database system would be able to update a new user’s identification information, and subsequently store and timestamp additional details as time progresses. Data such as “signatures, physical attributes, or locations of the user are identified,” the […]
Temenos a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant
For the 8th consecutive time Temenos recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Retail Core Banking 2017. Temenos, the software specialist for banking and finance, announced that industry analyst firm Gartner, Inc., has positioned Temenos as a Leader for the eighth consecutive time in the 2017 report ‘Magic Quadrant for Global Retail Core Banking’ (GRCB). This report assessed 11 vendors based on the multicurrency products they offer in support of a bank’s financial transaction management in the retail banking market. Temenos is positioned furthest for completeness of vision based on the company’s market understanding, sales strategy, product strategy, vertical/industry strategy, geographic strategy and innovation evidenced through […]
FINTQ expands digital partnerships to become biggest fintech firm in Philippines
FINTQ, the financial technology arm of PLDT and Smart’s Voyager Innovations, on Thursday announced a string of new digital partnerships with banks and non-banking institutions for a variety of financial technology products and services, making it the biggest fintech firm operating in the Philippines today. Among its newly signed partners for Lendr, its pioneering and award-winning digital lending platform, include the Development Bank of the Philippines, EastWest Bank, the Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine Veterans Bank, Cebuana Lhuillier Bank, Insular Bank, Philippine Business Bank, Card Bank Inc., Card SME Bank Inc., Rizal Bank Inc., Radiowealth Finance Company, Asialink Finance Corporation, Filidian Rural Bank, JK Capital, Esquire Financing, Algo Leasing, FINEX, […]
UK fintech start-up Revolut raises $66 million, adds bitcoin
The “global banking alternative” Revolut has raised $66 million in a fund-raising round, the start-up said on Wednesday, in the latest sign that London is so far weathering Brexit to remain a global financial-technology center. Led by Europe- and San Francisco-based venture capital fund Index Ventures, the fund-raising round was one of the biggest ever Series B rounds in Europe. It should provide some comfort to the British capitol as it jostles to hold onto its reputation as Europe’s leading hub for the nascent fintech sector. The investment dwarfs the 19.5 million pounds ($25 million) raised by London-based rival Monzo in its Series B round earlier this year. Revolut, which […]
London fintech Curve closing in on $10M Series A
Curve, the London fintech startup that offers a platform that lets you consolidate all your bank cards into a single Curve card and manage your money, is on the verge of closing $10 million in Series A funding. According to sources, the round, which could be announced as soon as this week, is being led by Connect Ventures, with participation from Santander Ventures, the venture arm of Spain-headquartered bank Santander Group. A number of other investors from the fintech and banking world are also participating, although I haven’t been able to pin down who they are. It is also not clear if this Series A includes an earlier bridge round […]
Fintech startup Tide got a $14 million boost
Banking startup Tide raised $US14 million in one of the largest Series A funding rounds closed by a fintech company this year. Tide, a digital-only banking app aimed at small businesses, has also partnered with online lender iwoca, in a move to allow small companies access to loans of up to £100,000. The funding round was led by specialist fintech investor Anthemis, along with Passion Capital, LocalGlobe and Creandum, the company that backed Spotify. Tide plans to almost double its London team by the end of the year, and develop more features to make online banking for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) more efficient. Some of these features, says […]
