Wholesale / Commercial Banking Systems Insights

The increased demand for contactless payments during the pandemic meant financial institutions had to pivot quickly to asses market structures and what features and products to prioritise, according to Sajni Shah, co-head of product at Starling Bank. The first quarter of 2020 saw a larger shift towards digital payments in 10 weeks than in the... read more

On April 19, payments platform Stripe launched its Stripe Issuing service in 20 European countries allowing businesses to design, create and manage their own cards. The service is popular among US business customers and will give European business users more control in how and where their money is spent. On April 9, the Inter-American... read more

Consumers today are in the driving seat. Bolstered by the incoming waves of digital natives and growing digital confidence among boomers and Gen X consumers, the banking and commerce landscapes are changing fast – and all organisations need to evolve to remain relevant. Traditional financial institutions are mindful of the need to... read more

Despite asset managers looking to negotiate prices down for specific areas of research after the second Markets in financial infrastructure directive (Mifid II) was implemented, some providers have been prepared to work at a loss for the ability to grow relationships, according to Mike Carrodus, CEO of Substantive Research. “Mifid II... read more

India-based Axis Bank, on March 10, launched Wear ‘N’ Pay, a range of wearable budget-friendly contactless payment devices. The bank partnered with Canada’s Tappy Technologies and France’s Thales to bring customers hands-free payments available exclusively on the Mastercard platform. On March 9, global payments platform... read more

The Bank of England (BoE) reiterated its ambition to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to improve the payment landscape’s resilience, at an Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) conference last month. “There's been a gradual privatisation in recent years and decades in the money that's used for... read more

Over the last 12 months we’ve seen one of the biggest shifts in decades in financial technology – with banks accelerating the transition of their operations to the cloud. The benefits are clear: a cloud-based approach provides easy access to innovation, helps banks deliver more relevant customer experiences, and... read more

Reaction to the long-awaited Kalifa Review of UK Fintech by the fintech community has been broadly positive. But the industry’s attention now turns to the UK government and how it will implement the raft of recommendations made in the report. Published on February 26, on the eve of the Budget, the Kalifa Review sets out five key areas... 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