Retail Banking Systems Insights

Politicians in Europe are still concerned over potential risks the Libra Association’s cryptocurrency could bring to markets. “As regulators we have to take care that there is no regulatory arbitrage and everyone plays by the same rules,” said European Parliament member Markus Ferber, in an email. “That is why we need a... read more

Real-time cross-border payments are growing in presence and show no signs of stopping. A growth that will affect, not only the corporates’ treasury but also the banks’ own treasury operations. The time has come to learn how to effectively manage this change. What’s driving this change? In spite of the increase in popularity for... read more

In 1987, the then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher telephoned Canadian property developer Paul Reichman asking him to develop London’s derelict docklands into a glittering new financial centre. The urban myth is that Reichman, who already boasted similar successes in New York and elsewhere, looked at a small-scale map of London and deduced... read more

Innovation in alternatives to cash must become a priority, according to John Glen, economic secretary to the UK government's treasury. “I completely embrace the opportunities that exist in other [payment] sources. I am not trying to hold onto cash, what I am trying to do is to say that the recognition that we feel in government,... read more

Adoption of real-time payments has been picking up recently, according to a recent report by FIS, but not without barriers. Research by the payments giant suggests retailers and fintechs are embracing open payment initiatives, with firms such as Amazon, Facebook, Alipay, Tencent (WeChat), Baidu and Google expanding their presence in real-time... read more

US-based Ripple is ramping up its instant liquidity capabilities in a bid to stand out in the increasingly competitive cross-border payments sphere, and has been on an acquisition spree to build back end capabilities.  “We’ve been ramping up our efforts around On-Demand Liquidity,” says Amir Sarhangi, vice president of... read more

Modernising retail banks’ infrastructure is so time consuming and expensive that many will look to migrate customers to new digital subsidiaries, according to Tim Hooley, chief technologist, EMEA Financial Services at Red Hat. “If you have monolithic software you cannot be innovative,” said Hooley, who was... read more

SMEs are no longer just traditional outlets manufacturing goods and then selling them on local markets. With constant technological progress and stiff competition, many new start-ups expand their business activity and go global. They grow in wealth, number and significance: according to Accenture, only in the UK SMEs constitute 99.9 percent of... read more

Banking as an industry is changing, with innovative tech-savvy businesses both entering the market and emerging from what were traditional financial services organisations. In Europe, the second payments services directive (PSD2) has created a wave of opportunity for banks to offer a range of new products and services – but the rules are... read more