Trading Systems Insights

In recent years, the financial services (FS) industry has gone through transformative changes to embrace digitalisation and keep up with customers’ ever evolving expectations when it comes to the online experience. The pandemic only contributed to further accelerating this digital evolution, and driving forward the adoption of new... read more

JPMorgan Chase recently announced it will offer UK consumers “a completely new banking choice” with the launch of its new digital challenger later this year, but consultants are warning that those looking into the market must be clear on the path they are taking. “I’m really sceptical,” says Mark O’Keefe,... read more

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

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

Regulators issued fresh warnings on investing in cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin skyrocketed to a new all-time high last week. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) cautioned consumers about the high risks involved in investing in cryptocurrencies. “Investing in cryptoassets, or investments and lending linked to them,... read more

As the fintech sector grows almost exponentially, so commensurately do the risks. The pandemic has created new threats, mainly through home working, but others have been mounting steadily for years such as Brexit, tougher regulation, cyber attacks and relentless competition in a sector that is by its nature turbulent.   The most immediate... read more

If we’ve learned anything from 2020, apart from how to bake the perfect sourdough loaf, it’s how to do things differently. Not many of us are where we thought we’d be at the beginning of this tumultuous year. Targets have been thrown out of the windows and KPIs ripped up like yesterday’s chip paper. Shopping habits... read more

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, except for the accounting community struggling with the year-end close. Most of the stress and frustration around closing the books is generated by unfit tools and the organisation of the process. Managing period-end close in accounting has several distinct challenges every F&A... read more