Finextra Research: Latest financial technology news, analysis, jobs and features.

02 Sep, 2010

RBS to axe 3500 tech and support jobs Royal Bank of Scotland is to axe 3500 back office support and technology jobs and close 12 offices across the UK in a move branded as a "horror story" by finance unions.

02 Sep, 2010

Logica wins IT services deal with Finland's Luottokunta Logica has won a four-year contract to take over the IT operations and infrastructure services of Finnish card payment group Luottokunta

02 Sep, 2010

Futures body takes on CFTC over data gathering proposals The Futures Industry Association has slammed regulatory proposals to gather more account information from market participants as "premature" and overly burdensome for the industry.

02 Sep, 2010

TCS grows UK life and pensions BPO business with Usil acquisition Diligenta, a unit of Indian outsourcer Tata Consultancy Services, has acquired the business of Unisys Insurance Service Limited (Usil), bagging £250 million in mandates from The Phoenix group and Old Mutual International in the process.

02 Sep, 2010

Heartland pays $5 million settlement to Discover over data breach Heartland Payment Systems has agreed to pay up to $5 million to Discover Financial Services in relation to the data breach that hit the processor in 2008, marking its final settlement with all leading card brands over the intrusion.

02 Sep, 2010

BankSimple raises $3.1 million in early funding US banking startup BankSimple has closed on a first funding round and set its sights on a 'friends and family' beta launch by late October.

01 Sep, 2010

First Data ships TransArmor eftpos protection unit First Data is forecasting 100,000 unit sales by year-end of its new card protection system FirstArmor, which begins shipping to merchants today.

01 Sep, 2010

Nyse Euronext acquires quarterly magazine, Corporate Boardroom Member Nyse Euronext has moved into publishing with the acquisition of quarterly magazine Corporate Board Member.

01 Sep, 2010

Facebook to sell virtual currency gift cards at US retail stores Social media giant facebook is to offer gift cards loaded with Credits at retail stores across the US, beginning with the Target supermarket chain.

31 Aug, 2010

Icap to launch MTF for interest rate swaps Inter-dealer broker Icap is to launch an electronic market for trading Euro interest rate swaps, with support from market makers Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.

31 Aug, 2010

Bloomberg to shed light on dark pool order flow Bloomberg Tradebook is seeking to address buy side wariness of dark pools and thwart high frequency gaming by showing traders where their orders are being filled in real time.

31 Aug, 2010

Atos Origin eyes Indian payments market with Venture Infotek acquisition Atos Origin has acquired Indian payments processor Venture Infotek, as it bids to expand its interests in one of the world's fastest-growing payments markets.

31 Aug, 2010

LCH.Clearnet slashes fees as post-trade competition heats up LCH.Clearnet has moved to slash its fees and eliminate charges for high volume equity traders as it responds to the twin threats of growing competition and customer defections.

31 Aug, 2010

CBA upgrade hits eftpos and ATM transactions Commonwealth Bank of Australia has apologised to customers after scheduled system and security upgrades to its NetBank online service disrupted its nationwide payment network.

27 Aug, 2010

Drunken mortgage worker accused of shooting company server An American mortgage firm staffer has been arrested after allegedly getting drunk and shooting the company's computer server.

27 Aug, 2010

Citi launches digital assault on Australian market US giant Citi is bidding to carve itself a niche in the Australian market by rolling out a slew of digital services. Separately, it has also become the first bank in China to open a branch in Shanghai's metro system.

27 Aug, 2010

No brass in pocket: Barclays' busker goes contactless In its latest marketing gimmick, Barclays has employed the services of a cashless busker who only accepts contactless payments, asking people to tap their cards against his guitar to donate to charity.

26 Aug, 2010

RBS to axe 400 Direct Line jobs - BBC The Royal Bank of Scotland's Direct Line insurance unit will today tell around 400 staff at its Glasgow offices that their jobs are being axed, according to the BBC.

26 Aug, 2010

Yorkshire Building Society censured over stolen unencrypted laptop The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has found Yorkshire Building Society in breach of the Data Protection Act after an unencrypted laptop containing customer data was stolen.

26 Aug, 2010

ING Direct guerilla marketing stunt makes a splash ING Direct has taken a novel approach to marketing its new Canadian online chequing account, employing a group of dancers in bright orange bathing suites to perform a synchronised swimming routine in a Toronto fountain.