Insights

Using data and analytics to scrape social media sites to combat the influence Reddit pages like r/wallstreetbets have had over markets in recent weeks is pointless, according to Toscafund Asset Management’s chief economist, Dr Savvas Savouri. Reports have suggested that hedge funds will now start scraping data from Reddit forums, using... read more

To say that 2020 has been eventful would be an understatement. No one could have predicted how these past 12 months would pan out and how big an impact the pandemic would have on the global economy and the banking sector specifically. As such, several new banking trends have emerged as lenders attempt to safely navigate the challenges posed by... read more

Forty-one percent of authorised push payment (APP) scams have been reimbursed since the introduction of the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) but “there is more to do”, according to the Lending Standards Board (LSB). The self-regulatory body published its review into the voluntary code following an industry wide consultation... read more

This month, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) fined Capital One $390m for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and failing to comply with regulations – but the firm claims it is committed to tackling money laundering. “Capital One takes its anti-money laundering obligations very seriously,” said a spokesperson... read more

Unreliable payment rails still pose a challenge for third party providers, according to Luke Massie, CEO of VibePay. Problems with the technical infrastructure of open banking is experienced “most weeks”, says Massie. The instability of the APIs creates friction, impacting negatively on consumers’ payment process. “If... read more

Each year, we ask the market to vote for those fintechs they believe stand out from the competition – those who have gone the extra mile in terms of development and servicing their clients. As well as sector specific categories, we ask the market to suggest those organisations that have demonstrated business attributes that have set them... read more

2020 will go down in history as a tumultuous year. We are in a defining period of time, challenging human ingenuity, perseverance, and priorities. Adapting to change can be painful and uneasy and it takes time to realise the opportunities for improvement it presents.   Businesses are compelled to face the reality of change and deal with it... read more

With much of Europe and other global jurisdictions returning to yet another lockdown, we can be reasonably confident that markets will cope well this time around. The second lockdown coincided with the traditional end of the budgeting season and led to many firms shifting their priorities towards working from home and remote trading. This lockdown... read more

In the beginning, digital challengers presented themselves as a kind of anti-bank proposition. This initially served them well, especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis - which eroded peoples’ confidence in high street lenders so severely that ten years on two thirds of Brits still do not trust banks, according to a YouGov poll. ... read more

It's with great pleasure that we announce the 2020 bobsguide Awards. Given the levels of fluidity in markets and the increased rate of innovation required of the fintech community last year, the judges delayed many of the assessments as late as possible. Here, we have a comprehensive list of those organisations that... read more