Thank goodness it’s fintech Friday with a global news roundup that takes us from the UK and EU to Russia, India, Pakistan and SE Asia. In the UK, a WorldPay survey says nearly two-thirds of Brits want biometric payments and 69% would pay with a fingerprint. Juniper research finds 46% of US consumers used a contactless payments but usage has grown only 2% – a challenge for Apple’s new Face ID.
EU fintech deposits bank Raisin acquired PBF Solutions to prepare its launch in the UK savings bank market. NatWest says it will be the UK’s first paperless mortgage provider and will save more than 4.4 million sheets of paper yearly. Nordic payments processor Nets will provide a new instant payments platform for Slovenia’s Bankart.
Bankingexchange.com looks at how traditional banks were unable to respond to ING and other innovative, new challenger banks. Fino Payments Bank launched a new mobile payments app in India. Alibaba is in talks to acquire 40% of Pakistan’s Telenor bank for $100 million. A new report from Mercator Advisory Group’s Sarah Grotta says the debit card is under siege by fintech innovators and technologies.
Gemalto reports data breaches are up 164% in the first six months of 2017. Pop-up banks are popping up often and could be part of banking’s new face of customer service. If you thought all the fintech innovations are happening in the UK, EU and US, think again according to an interview with Aleksey Chubar who’s leading a fintech revolution at Russia’s VTB.
Brits give thumbs up to in-store biometrics
Nearly two-thirds of Brits want to be able to use a biometric scan to authorize payments in-store, according to a WorldPay survey. Fingerprints remain the most popular biometric method, with 69% of the 2500 people quizzed by WorldPay saying that they would be open to settling up with a digit. Via finextra.com
Apple’s Big Job: Getting iPhone Users Comfortable With Facial Biometrics
Juniper says contactless-payment users consider fingerprint sensors and voice recognition more appealing—with 74% saying they are likely to use fingerprint authentication and 62% voice recognition. Juniper’s findings come from surveys of 500 smart-phone users in the United States and 500 in the United Kingdom about their attitudes toward mobile banking and contactless payments. Some 46% of the Americans said they use contactless payments, but the overall number of contactless payers grew only 2% in the past year. Via Digitaltransactions.net
Raisin acquires PBF Solutions to enter UK market
European financial deposit marketplace Raisin has made its first acquisition, Manchester-based PBF Solutions, as it prepares to enter the UK savings market. PBF provides customer acquisition, onboarding and marketing services to challenger banks and overseas institutions entering the UK market. The company claims to have helped clients secure over £3.1 billion ($4.2 billion) of retail and business deposits and investments through the acquisition of 150,000 new customers. Via finextra.com
NatWest launches UK’s first paperless mortgage » Banking Technology
Could save over 4.4m sheets of A4 paper a year: NatWest says it is to become the first UK bank to offer a paperless mortgage – as customers can now apply for a completely digital mortgage and share and verify documents online. The new proposition means customers don’t need to send signed paperwork or personal and private information through the post. NatWest says if all the sheets of paper were lined up end-to-end they would stretch from Land’s End to John o’Groats. Via bankingtech.com
Nets bags instant payments deal in Slovenia
Nordic payments processor Nets has been commissioned by Slovenian clearing company Bankart to provide the foundations for a new instant payments platform for the country’s banks. Bankart says the move to real-time payments will enable Slovenian banks to deliver innovative new mobile and online services to customers and keep pace with developments in neighbouring European economies. Via finextra.com
Challenger banks build on niches
ING Direct opened for business online in 2000 with a quirky attitude towards stuffy traditional banking—and the appeal of higher-rate deposit accounts. By the time it was acquired by Capital One in 2012, the previously Dutch-owned online bank had grown past $97 billion in assets. “The large banks had no effective response to it,” said Murrell, who is chief operating officer and senior executive vice-president, consumer banking, at New York’s Amalgamated Bank. Via bankingexchange.com
Fino Payments Bank launches mobile banking app
Fino, which started its banking operations in July with 410 branches and 25,000 access points, aims to make banking easy for millions of under banked people in India. BPay is also an extension of its already existing wallet in the same name that was launched in December 2016. The upgraded BPay app, available on Android at present, allows customers to make bill payments, recharges, fund transfers and buy insurance either through wallet or bank account. Via thepaypers.com
Alibaba in talks to buy big stake in Telenor Bank
It is mandatory for every bank in Pakistan to seek the central bank’s permission for due diligence for stake sale to a third-party. Even if the two parties agree to execute a sale and purchase agreement, the deal remains subject to approval of the central bank and other regulators. Market reports hit that Alipay is acquiring a 40% stake in Telenor Bank at a price of $100 million. Via thepaypers.com
The Debit Card, Long ‘the King of Payments,’ Finds Itself Under Siege, Expert Says
New services like Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Reload, along with older but re-energized products like decoupled debit and credit cards, could shake the dominance of bank-issued debit cards, says Sarah Grotta, author of the report, “The Evolution of Debit Cards.” Grotta is director of the debit advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group, Maynard, Mass. Via digitaltransactions.net
Gemalto: Records Compromised by Data Breaches Rise 164% in Six Months
The outlook for 2017’s second half is grim in light of the massive hack at Atlanta-based credit-reporting agency Equifax Inc., which compromised 143 million credit records and 209,000 payment card numbers. Some 22 of the 2017 breaches compromised 1 million or more records. The single biggest one involved a reported spam operation called River City Media, which failed to back up its database, leading to the unwitting exposure of 1.34 billion email records. Via digitaltransactions.net
Are Tiny Pop-Up Branches Banking’s Brick-and-Mortar Future?
Branches built out of shipping containers that measure 160 square feet could be the next stage in the banking industry’s evolution of retail delivery. Here’s how banks are experimenting with these bite-sized branch designs. Rumors surrounding the death of physical branches have left many banks financial institutions scrambling to find the right mix of delivery channels. Several banks in the U.S. and other countries have been working pop-ups into their branch network strategies. Via thefinancialbrand.com
Interview: Aleksey Chubar, VTB – leading a fintech revolution in Russia
Russia is becoming a hotbed of fintech innovation – not just domestically, but internationally too. For a sector that focuses on finding smarter ways of working and future-proofing financial services, fintech attracts more than its fair share of backward-looking stereotypes. Like that workers in the sector are all under 30 and arrive for meetings on skateboards, wearing jeans and t-shirts, for instance. Via bankingtech.com
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