UK looks to strengthen FinTech ties with India
A UK envoy that includes politicians, central bank officials, and prominent FinTech executives are in India to discuss trade relations that will deepen industry ties between the two nations as the UK prepares for the separation from the European Union. A UK-delegation led by Chancellor Philip Hammond that includes Her Majesty’s Treasury FinTech envoy Eileen Burbidge and Bank of England governor Mark Carney along with a number of leaders from banking and financial technology firms are currently in India as a part of a two-day visit as a part of the 9th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD). Hosted by Arun Jaitley, India’s finance minister, the trade envoy will see […]
Europe wants to hear more ideas about Fintech
Europe wants to learn more about fintech and how to develop it. That’s why the European Commission’s Task Force on Financial Technology will seek feedback on fintech from consumers and companies involved in the sector. The effort involves an online survey whose findings will help the commission “create an enabling environment where innovative financial service solutions take off at a brisk pace all over the EU, while ensuring financial stability, financial integrity and safety for consumers, firms and investors alike,” the commission said. The commission’s task force also plans to work with companies on such projects as better ways to confirm the identities of financial customers, and to potentially revise […]
Peer-to-peer lending bosses split on whether to become a bank
UK’s largest peer-to-peer/marketplace lender CEOs outline two very different visions of the future. Funding Circle and Zopa don’t disagree on much. But when it comes to whether or not to launch a bank, CEOs Samir Desai and Jaidev Janardana have reached a divergence point. Both delivered keynote speeches at last week’s AltFi Europe Summit. Desai’s – which was entitled: “To be or not to be a bank” – left the audience in little doubt as to Funding Circle’s intentions. “We at Funding Circle have no plans to launch a bank,” said Desai. He went on to identify the three types of bank collaboration that have sprung up across the marketplace […]
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 […]
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 […]
Funding Circle close further funding round, valued at $1 billion
Investor interest in the peer-to-peer lending industry shows no sign of slowing; British site Funding Circle have just closed another round of funding, taking their total raise to $380 million. Funding Circle recently closed another round of venture capital funding to the tune of $100 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. The new round was led by DST Global, BlackRock, and Temasek, a fund backed by the Singaporean government. Since its conception in 2010, Funding Circle have become ones of the world’s leading marketplaces exclusively focused on small businesses. The platform has raised approximately £300 million in equity capital, lending more than £2.5 billion to 25,000 businesses in the […]
