Banking

May
18

Blockchain is here to stay

Blockchain, the technology that underpins Bitcoin, is the talk of the town at the moment. The financial services industry can’t get enough of it. The enthusiasm essentially boils down to the technology’s potential to reduce the financial transaction costs while ensuring robust security. While Bitcoin is unlikely to be make traditional currency extinct, blockchain has provided the impetus needed for new and innovative research into how the slow and often expensive centralised financial transaction systems that dominate banking, so what is this blockchain? Put simply, blockchain is a data structure that can be used to create digital ledgers of transactions shared among a distributed network of participating organisations. Financial institutions […]

DETAIL
May
05

Globalisation of FinTech: Are we learning from our neighbours?

Most areas in the fintech space are hotly contested. Anyone watching the fintech space can feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of perspectives that emerge when a new product is launched, an article is written or a tweet is sent. And that is largely because fintech is global.   Fintech companies may operate in their own local markets and compete with, or “disrupt”, local banks, but financial technology as a whole is a global dealing. Any discussion of fintech needs to have this perspective.   This is not just a matter of having the correct frame of reference for discussion and debate, it ensures we find the right way to […]

DETAIL
May
02

Blockchain technology to impact financial services sector

Blockchain technology has the potential to improve client’s end-to-end experience but the legal profession must consider its regulation, according to Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers. Nick Abrahams, APAC head of technology and innovation, told those gathered at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Unlocking the Blockchain event last week that “Blockchain will radically impact the financial services sector”. Mr Abrahams – along with Norton Rose Fulbright consultant Tessa Hoser and senior representatives from ASIC, CBA and the ASX – were part of a panel discussion about blockchain technology and regulation at the event. The session focused on the potential applications of blockchain and distributed ledger technology, and the key legal and regulatory considerations for […]

DETAIL
Apr
20

Banks Struggle to Keep Pace with FinTech Disruption – World Retail Banking Report 2016

FinTech providers are making increasingly significant inroads with customers, yet the vast majority of banks admit they are not adequately prepared to manage this emerging FinTech threat, according to the 2016 World Retail Banking Report (WRBR), released today by Capgemini and Efma. The report found that nearly two-thirds of customers (63 percent) are now using FinTech products or services, and are much more likely to refer friends and family to their FinTech provider (55 percent) than to their bank (38 percent). However, while 96 percent of banking executives agree that the industry is evolving toward a digital banking ecosystem, where Fintech providers play a much bigger role, only 13 percent […]

DETAIL
Apr
19

​Accenture calling for fintech entrants

Fintech startups are being asked to apply for a place in a 12-week program that will see the young companies gain exposure to executives at big global banks. Accenture is taking applicants for its third annual Asia-Pacific FinTech Innovation Lab, a program for entrepreneurs that are developing technologies for the financial services sector. It focuses specifically on new technologies in the areas such as big data, analytics and cognitive computing, security and identity management, risk management and compliance, blockchain technology, and Internet of Things applications. Accenture says investments in Asia-Pacific fintech companies are on the rise, totalling $2.7 billion in Q1, 2016 – representing 51 per cent of the $5.3 […]

DETAIL
Apr
01

Global regulators move closer to regulating fintech

Global regulators have moved closer to regulating the fledgling fintech sector, which includes blockchain technology that supports bitcoin, to ensure the industry’s rapid growth does not pose any risks to the financial system. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which met in Tokyo on Thursday, has agreed on a framework for categorising different components of fintech and assessing their potential risks. The FSB, made up of central bankers, regulators and finance ministry officials from the Group of 20 economies, is looking at fintech partly in response to uncertainty over whether it will “disrupt” traditional banking. Some big investment banks, including Goldman Sachs , are already investing heavily in fintech to avoid […]

DETAIL
Mar
29

Payment solution: corporates embrace virtual credit cards

For some time now, the dominant theme in digital payments for retail customers has been: “build it and they will come”. It’s a different story for corporates, where the rate of mobile payments innovation and adoption has been much slower, apart from some key emerging niches including virtual credit cards. A virtual card is exactly what the name implies: instead of the traditional plastic, a random card number is generated by software provided to the corporate customer. The 16-digit number can be accessed through an app on a mobile device, or directly by the company for a business-to-business purchase online. In most cases the number is used only once, it […]

DETAIL
Feb
10

Fintech adoption tipped to double in 2016

The level of fintech adoption among consumers is set to grow significantly in the next 12 months, new research has revealed. EY’s inaugural FinTech Adoption Index – a survey of 10,131 digitally-active consumers in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US – found that 15.5 per cent had used at least two fintech services (financial services products developed by non-bank, non-insurance, online companies) in the past six months. It also suggested that adoption rates among digitally active consumers could double within the next 12 months. EY Australia’s fintech leader, Anita Kimber, said it is a change that will require traditional financial services companies to revisit their product, […]

DETAIL