Banking

Jan
30

The Emergence of Fintech in Indonesia

Financial technology, or more popularly called ‘fintech’, can be defined as a phenomenon in which technology and financial features go hand in hand in altering the traditional financial institution business models and discovering solution alternatives to customers’ financial experience. Like other businesses, fintechs are established to answer consumers’ needs, challenges and wants. In this case, the emergence of financial technology is no exception. There are at least four main challenges surrounding the potential and necessity of fintech in Indonesia. Firstly, the large amount of unbanked population. It is estimated that only 40% of Indonesia’s 250 million population currently have access to banking services. Secondly, the large amount of underserved small […]

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Jan
09

Cards, ATMs, POS will be redundant by 2020 in India: NITI Aayog

Amid the big push being given to digital transactions post-demonetisation, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said cards, ATMs and POS machines would become redundant in the country by 2020. “….India is in the midst of huge huge disruption in the world of both financial technology and in terms of social innovation (there is) huge huge innovation and this disruption will enable India to leapfrog…,” he said. “…and by 2020 my view is that in the next two-and-a-half years, India will make all its debit cards, credit cards, all ATM machines all POS machines totally irrelevant,” Kant told a session at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, a three-day mega event of […]

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The world is on the brink of having its first ever entirely cashless day

by Sebastian Siemiatkowski – CEO of Klarna How soon will we reach the first cashless day, when all your purchases will be made without a note or coin changing hands? In Sweden, it’s any day now. In 2010, 40 per cent of Swedish retail transactions were made using cash; by 2014 it was down to 20 per cent and it’s still falling. And e-commerce is growing. At Klarna, we make a payment to the retailer immediately – not just online, but in-store too – and customers settle up later, so you can buy anything without using cash. The question is: what’s next? There are three big changes coming in the […]

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Dec
21

As India braces for digital payments future, how secure are banks from cyber attacks?

As the government presses ahead with a cash to less cash to cashless economy, the success of the transition will depend on how the battle between bankers and hackers plays out. Bankers must upgrade and fortify their cyber defences as hackers attempt to pinch funds from banks or steal credit/debit card details of retail customers daily. If suddenly the easiest way to buy anything from soft drinks to cars is to use the mobile wallet, a few clicks of the mouse are all that is required to rob a bank. True, in a country with 98% cash in circulation, electronic payments replacing cash will not be easy and will take […]

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Dec
15

Invapay partner with Australian bank ANZ to deliver payment innovation to clients

UK based Invapay and ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) announce that they are working together to deliver automated payments innovation to their business customers. ANZ’s vision to use technology and innovation to help solve the payment challenges faced by CFO’s has been realised by utilising Invapay’s cloud based automated payment platform. Invapay complements ANZ’s existing corporate product portfolio. In the absence of any development and integration work, the association made good sense and was easy to achieve. Adam Grant, Head of Transaction Banking, ANZ Australia had this to say of the association: “Working with Invapay has enabled ANZ to deliver a proven payables solution which allows our customers […]

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Dec
15

China’s online banks know not to shake things up

In financial services, the label “transformative” often fades to “disappointing”. Would-be disrupters, ranging from peer-to-peer lenders in the west to China’s new online banks, risk co-option by incumbents looking for new sales outlets. A particular challenge for Chinese challengers is that the authorities may prevent them making too many waves. China’s banking regulator has unveiled results to the end of September for the country’s first five officially-sanctioned, privately-owned banks licensed during 2014. The rhetoric is encouraging enough. The authorities praised the newcomers for extending financial services to under-serviced parts of the economy, such as small and medium enterprises. The numbers were not bad, either. Perhaps surprisingly, given their short history, […]

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Barclay’s Antony Jenkins jumps aboard Blockchain bitcoin start-up

One of Europe’s top bankers is joining a bitcoin start-up. Antony Jenkins, the former chief executive of Barclays, has joined the board of Blockchain, a London-based start-up that provides services related to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The company, named after the basic technology that creates the shared network used to move and track bitcoin, raised $US30 million ($40m) in an initial fundraising in 2014. Blockchain software has been used by other bitcoin firms, such as Coinbase, as well as its own app and website service for consumers to buy and sell digital currency. It is also developing tools for using bitcoin’s underlying technology for things such as tracking identity information or […]

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Dec
13

5 enterprise-related things you can do with blockchain technology today

Diamonds. Bitcoin. Pork. If you think you’ve spotted the odd one out, think again: All three are things you can track using blockchain technologies today. Blockchains are distributed, tamper-proof, public ledgers of transactions, brought to public attention by the cryptocurrency bitcoin, which is based on what is still the most widespread blockchain. But blockchains are being used for a whole lot more than making pseudonymous payments outside the traditional banking system. Because blockchains are distributed, an industry or a marketplace can use them without the risk of a single point of failure. And because they can’t be modified, there is no question of whether the record keeper can be trusted. […]

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