Apple Pay to be launched in Taiwan Wednesday
Apple Pay, a mobile payment and digital wallet service provided by Apple Inc., will become available in Taiwan from Wednesday, local banks that are part of the initial launch of the service confirmed Tuesday. After Apply Pay becomes available, consumers in Taiwan will be able to use their iPhones and Apple Watches to make payments when they make purchases at physical stores, on apps and on websites, according to information on the website of the U.S. consumer electronics giant. It said shoppers will simply need to place a finger on the Touch ID sensor and hold the iPhone within an inch of the contactless reader to make a purchase. When […]
Alphavend installs second bitcoin ATM in London
Bitcoin ATM specialist, AlphaVend is pleased to announce the installation of its second London ATM, (the third nationally) strategically situated between Euston and Kings Cross underground stations. The UK’s largest independent high street provider of foreign exchange services will play host to the ATM which is located at the No1 Currency store, 128 Euston Road. Customers can buy the digital currency from the ATM, as well as all availing of the 50+ foreign currencies offered over the counter by No1 Currency. The location of the Euston Road store, which is open 7 days a week, provides a unique business opportunity with annual footfall estimated to be in excess of 6million […]
Incumbents should now be scared of four biggest digital challenger banks
While the disruption of financial services has been going on for a number of years now, the capital banked by four of the most advanced digital challenger banks is hugely significant. Rewind only ten years ago, and if you asked someone on the street to open up their wallet (in a non-threatening way) there’s a pretty good chance it would be filled exclusively with cards from the major high street banks. Back then there was choice, but little to differentiate where you banked your savings, held a credit card or conducted business affairs. We accepted, like we do with energy suppliers, that our banking provider could pretty much dictate terms […]
Fintech startup Quantexa raises $3.3Mn to support international expansion
Quantexa Limited, a FinTech startup, has managed to rake in $3.3 million in a Series A round led by Albion Ventures and HSBC. The company, based in London, uses big data analytics to go head to head against complex financial crime. Its Entity Resolution and Network Analytics software makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to gather information from disparate data sets and create insights. Its applications include the following features: – Protection against financial losses and reputational damage with data analytics and entity and network based techniques. – Creation of an integrated, networked view of customers across disparate data sources, in order to support all areas of your […]
Fintech helps Chinese SMEs get loans
Small businesses and individuals in China have long found it hard to get loans, as the country’s government-controlled banks prefer to lend to state-owned enterprises. In particular, those living in poorer and less developed areas may not have easy access to a bank. But financial technology, which includes internet banking and has made banking services accessible as long as one has a mobile phone, has become a game changer, said panelists at a discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia. The annual forum in Hainan, south China, touted as China’s answer to the Asian counterpart to the World Economic Forum in Davos, runs from Thursday to Sunday. Mr Li Dongrong, […]
Global fintech regulators promise ‘not to stifle innovation’
Regulators from across the globe have admitted that laws and regulation governing fintech have not moved in sync with technological advancements and steps must be taken to avoid tendencies to “jump in” and “imagine the worst”. Speaking at the ASIC Annual Forum last week on the future of financial regulation, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and member of the Financial Stability Board, Ravi Menon addressed the issue of how regulators must respond to fintech moving forward. “Often when it comes to the risk assessment of fintech there is a tendency to have a fear of the unknown or a tendency to imagine the worst. A degree of […]
The impact of Blockchain on Trade Finance and Cybersecurity
Companies in today’s ‘digital first’ ecosystem are being forced to continuously innovate in order to stay at the forefront and remain competitive in their industry, particularly in the financial services and financial technology space. Blockchain technology is already starting to reinvent the infrastructure for global finance; anything that facilitates the frictionless flow of money. Yet blockchain is frequently associated with fraudulent ponzi schemes and trading scams. Blockchain technology sits on a consensus-driven distributed ledger that facilitates and keeps a record of all historic transactions, without the need of a third party – a concept which could revolutionise global trade, and challenge the existence and purpose of intermediaries such as commercial […]
Skandiabanken makes robo-advisory push with stake in Quantfolio
Norwegian digital bank Skandiabanken has acquired a 39.9% stake in local AI and machine learning outfit Quantfolio as part of a push into the provision of robo advisory services for customers of its private savings division. “We believe the next fintech revolution will take place in the digital savings and asset management market, and we wish to strengthen our position in this market with this move,” says Christoffer Hernæs CDO Skandiabanken. “The acquisition of the shares is the first step towards providing our customers with simple and automated saving advice tailor made for each individual, through a user-friendly robo-advisory service.” Quantfolio operates an algorithmic engine to explore historical market data […]
