London tops fintech index for second straight year
For the second year in a row, London has topped the European Digital City Index (EDCi), a composite index designed by innovation foundation Nesta and the European Digital Forum, according to City AM. The EDCi 2016, published on Friday, ranks European cities by how well they support digital entrepreneurship, and how attractive they are to fintech founders and companies. It is based on 10 core metrics, including skills, access to capital, business environment, digital infrastructure, mentoring, market, and entrepreneurial culture. Here are the results of this year’s index: London still leads. The British capital ranked first out of 60 featured cities both for startups and for “scale-ups,” or young companies […]
Swedish fintech Klarna buys German startup Cookies after bankruptcy
Swedish payment service provider Klarna has agreed to take on the team behind the insolvent Berlin fintech startup Cookies. The Cookies app, founded by former N26 employees Garry Krugljakow and Lamine Cheloufi, aimed to simplify mobile money transfers and was once one of the most hyped up-and-coming German fintech companies. However, management in-fighting led Krugljakow to withhold his consent for raising needed outside funds. Cheloufi expressed his frustration in a blog post: “A distorted relationship is no justification for blocking financing that would ensure the survival of a company and the jobs of the people working there.” To read more, please click on the link below…. Source: Swedish fintech […]
German Finance Ministry Publishes Report on Fintech
The German Federal Ministry of Finance or Bundesministerium der Finanzen, has published a report on the emerging Fintech sector. The document, authored by Prof. Dr. Gregor Dorfleitner and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Lars Hornuf(with the assistance of Matthias Schmitt & Martina Weber), quantifies the emergence of disruptive finance in Germany. The document, correlated data from 2007 to 2015 while preparing a forecast for future market development. Regarding the findings, the document stated; There are a total of 433 Fintech companies with a business activity in Germany. Of these, 346 had active business activity with the remaining 87 companies being inactive or out of business. The authors were challenged to create a “general […]
Coinbase fights IRS efforts to obtain customer records
The largest Bitcoin exchange in the US is resisting the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to obtain records on customers who traded in the virtual currency over a three-year period. The IRS on Friday filed a request in San Francisco federal court for a so-called “John Doe” summons to compel Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to identify all users in the US who conducted transactions between 2012 and 2015. The “John Doe” summons allows the IRS to obtain information about a group of taxpayers, even when the agency doesn’t know their identities. Bitcoin, which made a name for itself by allowing for anonymous transactions, has gone through its fair share of ups and […]
Using a credit card rewards app for 4 months made a huge difference in how I view my spending
I’m not great with money. It’s not like I’m a big spender. I don’t really splurge and my payments are timely. But I’m pretty clueless and careless when it comes to personal finance — especially things like credit card rewards programs. I recently tried out Birch, a free service based in Gainesville, Florida that’s meant to help people make sense of perplexing credit card reward programs. “I had a really terrible experience finding a good resource when trying to make sense of credit cards and their reward programs. I felt that a lot of the blog and credit card sites were just sets of confusing tables and lacked any sort […]
Capgemini launches global fintech initiative
Consulting and technology giant Capgemini has launched a global initiative that will fast-track fintech engagements with its financial services clients around the world. Capgemini’s fintech initiative will bring together its domain and integration expertise to scan, select, and evolve innovation for its clients, through an intense curation and collaboration process. The project extends beyond the traditional incubator concept to encompass connection, curation, incubation and investment stages, Capgemini said. It also aims to address one of the biggest challenges in integrating external innovation by bridging gaps in adoption, including tech integration, data management, process changes, and compliance and regulatory requirements. “Be it generating exceptional customer experience or improving operational efficiencies, fintech […]
London retailers will soon be taking payments using blockchain
Fintech company SETL has developed the card with global auditing firm Deloitte. Customers of the UK’s Metro Bank will soon be able to use a payments card that utilises blockchain technology. The card, which is being developed by Deloitte and fintech company SETL, is intended for the retail sector, the aim being to reduce the cost of processing merchant payments compared to credit and debit cards. The service could launch as soon as early 2017. SETL CEO Peter Randall said the card will update the balances of both the retailer and the customer in real-time. “What this allows people to do is to effectively make a payment from their account […]
Singapore tests blockchain digital currency system for banks
Singapore will launch a new electronic payment system using blockchain, the technology behind the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, the city-state’s central bank chief said Wednesday. The Singapore stock exchange and eight banks will take part in the pilot project, which includes payment between banks, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) chief executive Ravi Menon at the Singapore Fintech Festival. Blockchain technology debuted in 2009 as a public ledger for the digital currency bitcoin, but its potential for securely tracking transactions has meant it is being eyed for other uses. The pilot project aims to integrate the service into the mainstream as the Southeast Asian country seeks to become a regional hub for […]
