Banking-as-a-service, banking-as-a-platform, platform-as-a-service, open banking and open application program interfaces (APIs) are all terms being used by fintech companies who are building innovative products for banks; the long term question is will the banks buy or partner with this technology and in a banking system like the US how wide will adoption need to be for the banking system as a whole to change; recent surveys by Cornerstone Advisors of 300 community banks, regional banks and credit union CEOs shows the current economic environment and presidential election has them very optimistic; when they are making money, they innovate less. Source
N26 is a smartphone only bank that was originally launched in Germany and has big backers like Peter Thiel behind it; Vincent Haupert, a PhD student at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, told the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg how he and two colleagues found N26 security defenses riddled with holes that could have been used to defraud thousands of users; Haupert presented his findings to the bank and they have since stated that the issues found have been addressed. Source
ICICI Bank will integrate Twitter's digital customer care support features through the bank's Twitter account; Twitter business support features to be utilized by ICICI Bank include Twitter's support indicator, message button and links for customer conversations; with the new customer support features, ICICI Bank seeks to make banking more rewarding for its customers. Source
2016 was an influential year for blockchain technology; companies across all industries invested in blockchain development; CoinDesk reflects on the year with 13 top stories on blockchain; among the leading headlines were Hyperledger and R3, consortiums which led development within the industry; central banks explored the use of blockchain with the Bank of England announcing in January plans for testing distributed ledger with its settlement system; IBM took a lead role, both with its blockchain as a service offering and involvement with the Hyperledger Project; digital currencies were also at the forefront of industry activity. Source
Private markets company SharesPost has released its 1st Annual Private Tech Investor Survey which finds private market investors bullish about 2017; private market investors think the correction that has occurred in 2016 has positioned the market for growth in 2017; 49% of survey participants think valuations will increase for private companies in 2017; private market investors are also bullish on initial public offerings for 2017; 65% of survey participants think ten or fewer unicorns will go public in the next 18 months which suggests two IPOs per quarter in 2017, an increase from only three IPOs in 2016. Source
The Hyperledger Project, a fast growing open blockchain initiative, has added eight new members; the newest members are CA Technologies, Factom Foundation, Hashed Health, Koscom, LedgerDomain, Lykke, Sovrin Foundation and Swisscom; the Hyperledger Project now has over 100 members; Hyperledger is hosted by the Linux Foundation and seeks to create standards for distributed ledger technology. Source
Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro enterprises as well as consumers. With the vision "to turn trust into wealth," Ant Financial is dedicated to building an open ecosystem of internet thinking and technologies while working with other financial institutions to support the future financial needs of society. Businesses operated by Ant Financial Services Group include: Alipay for payments, Yu'e Bao for money market services, Ant Fortune for wealth management, Ant Check Later and Ant Micro Loans for financing, Zhima Credit (formerly Sesame Credit) for credit reference, Zhao Cai Bao for online lending and MYBank for small business lending. Source
JPMorgan has invested over $10 million in LevelUp, a startup offering mobile payment services to restaurant customers; JPMorgan plans to integrate LevelUp's mobile app restaurant ordering features with its Chase Pay mobile wallet app in an effort to increase acceptance of Chase Pay at restaurants; JPMorgan's Chase Pay was announced a year ago and competes with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Source
Biometric authentication is becoming increasingly utilized; a few factors could help it become more integrated into mainstream technologies; an American Banker article suggests that devices need to be more compatible, consumers would need to be more accepting, multiple options need to be offered and the recognition needs to be simple; big strides have been made in 2016 however barriers to mainstream use still remain. Source
Former CIO and Group Managing Director at UBS, Oliver Bussmann, provides his insight on financial services technology and why blockchain matters in a CXOTALK interview; Oliver Bussmann was involved in the early discovery of blockchain and says one of its greatest advantages is transaction speed specifically in securities settlement where it can reduce settlement times from two to three days to seconds; Bussmann also says blockchain will be influential for insurance, trade finance, payments and the internet of things; overall he thinks regulation, consumer preferences and new technology are important factors changing the landscape and outlook for the financial services industry in the near term. Source