Banking

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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Nov
21

Central banks look to the future of money with blockchain technology trial

At last week’s fintech festival in Singapore, two announcements illustrate the speed at which the world of digital currencies is moving and how the future of money is set to be reshaped by the forces of technology. First, the Monetary Authority of Singapore – which organised the event attended by 11,000 delegates from 50 countries – said it would trial its own digital currency for interbank payments using blockchain technology. Second, consulting firm PwC unveiled a new platform, called Vulcan Digital Asset Services, to provide banks and governments with confidence to explore cryptocurrencies after they were sent scurrying from bitcoin when it became apparent it was funding part of the […]

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Nov
04

Banks team up with their FinTech competitors

These are challenging times for the incumbent heavyweights of the financial services sector. Beset by regulatory, governance, technological, capital, and investment issues, they are increasingly facing competition for business from a whole host of new players, primarily from ‘FinTechs’. Growth of marketplace lending In the case of online lenders, this trend began in the UK in the mid-2000s when Zopa, the world’s first digital and now Europe’s largest peer-to-peer (now called marketplace) provider, launched, quickly followed by the likes of Prosper, Lending Club, and OnDeck in the US. Eleven years on, Zopa has lent around 1.8 billion pounds to more than 150,000 borrowers funded by 63,000 investors of whom 53,000 […]

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Nov
01

Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined

We’ve entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs. No firm is immune from the coming disruption and every company must have a strategy to harness the powerful advantages of the new financial technology (“fintech”) revolution. The battle already underway will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes: […]

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Aug
24

Banks to develop new digital cash unit for settlement

Four of the world’s biggest banks have teamed up to develop a new form of digital cash they believe will become an industry standard to clear and settle financial trades using blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin. UBS, the Swiss bank, pioneered the “utility settlement coin” and has now joined forces with Deutsche Bank, Santander and BNY Mellon – as well as the broker ICAP – to pitch the idea to central banks, aiming for its commercial launch by early 2018. The move is the first example of a group of leading banks coming together to co-operate on a specific blockchain technology to harness the power of decentralised computer networks and […]

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Jun
29

Which fintech innovations are really adding value to customers?

Financial services, of all sectors, has seen some of the most significant technology innovations in recent years. Banks and insurance companies have been very keen to leverage technology in such a way that is mutually beneficial to both vendor and consumer, and now even superannuation is getting involved in the technology revolution. While there is a lot of innovation happening for the sake of it, not all of it is useful for the end user. It sounds simple, but what we learned as we developed our automated SMSF solution is a lesson that a lot of other financial services apps seem to forget at times; good design principles that keep […]

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Jun
24

Fintech to invest $1b into blockchain this year

Financial and technology firms are expected to invest more than $US1 billion to bring blockchain technology to capital markets in 2016. That’s according to a new survey from Greenwich Associates, where a majority of participants said blockchain has the potential to change markets within the next five years. The 134 interviewees, including executives at banks, exchanges, asset managers and blockchain technology companies, said the main obstacle hindering the technology’s widespread use was a “vested interest” in legacy systems. “The financial sector will continue to put its weight behind blockchain this year,” Richard Johnson, vice president for Greenwich’s Market Structure and Technology group, said in the report. “Blockchain is beginning to […]

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Jun
16

Fintech investment surges in Q1 but does that mean the Kodak moment nears for banks?

There was a resurgence of activity in the financial technology (fintech) universe in the first quarter of the year after signs of potential rapid deflation at the end of 2015. According to KPMG’s latest The Pulse of Fintech report, the March quarter saw funding to the fintech sector rebound with total investment in fintech companies hitting US$5.7 billion. Globally, Venture Capital-backed fintech companies drew $US4.9 billion in funding, rising from just $US1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015. The report identified larger deals, concentrated in Asia, played a major role in the rebound with 13 $US50 million+ rounds to VC-backed fintech companies, a slight rise from 10 such deals in […]

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