Latest Innovation News: Finextra Research

Visa Europe opens innovation hub in Israel

Fresh from the launch of Visa Europe Collab in London earlier this month, the card scheme has exported the idea to Israel with the opening of an innovation hub in Tel Aviv.

26 May 2015

News/Innovation

Future Money Nordics welcomes US Ambassador Oreck as keynote speaker

Bruce Oreck, the US Ambassador to Finland, is to be the keynote speaker at Finextra's up-and-coming Future Money Nordics event in Helsinki.

22 May 2015

News/Innovation

Overstock buys stake in ATS for digital securities push

Online retailer Overstock has stepped up its plans to issue "digital securities" through the acquisition of a 25% stake in alternative trading system (ATS) PRO Securities, according to Wired.

20 May 2015

News/Innovation

Cryex turns to Cinnober for digital currency trading platform

Swedish digital currency marketplace Cryex has selected Cinnober to supply a hosted version of its trading, clearing and surveillance platform, in a further sign of the collision between virtual currencies and traditional exchange dealing technology.

19 May 2015

News/Innovation

Ripple scores $28 million funding round

Digital currency outfit Ripple Labs has closed a $28 million Series A funding round that includes IDG Capital Partners and the venture arms of CME Group and global data storage company Seagate Technology.

19 May 2015

News/Innovation

Metro Bank to offer consumer loans via Zopa

UK challenger bank Metro Bank is to lend funds to consumers via the online marketplace operated by P2P pioneer Zopa.

19 May 2015

News/Innovation

'Social network for credit' Vouch raises $6 million

Vouch, a US-based startup that advances credit to customers on the basis of their social connections, has raised $6 million in Series A funding.

15 May 2015

News/Innovation

Retail banks face extinction in digital world - Oracle research

Retail banks could be on the brink of extinction, claims a new report from Oracle which says that three quarters lack suitable technology to complete the path to a digital world, leaving them vulnerable to new fintech competitors.

14 May 2015

News/Innovation

Fujitsu handset uses iris scanning for mobile payments authentication

Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo and handset maker Fujitsu have unveiled a smartphone that authenticates users for mobile payments by scanning their irises.

13 May 2015

News/Innovation

Moven and Accenture team up to sell digital tools to banks

Tech giant Accenture has formed an alliance with neo-bank Moven to develop and sell digital tools to financial services firms around the world.

13 May 2015

News/Innovation

Hadoop adoption ‘anaemic’ says Gartner

Gartner’s 2015 Hadoop adoption study has found that only 18% of respondents plan to invest in the big data boosting technology over the next two years. Merv Adrian, research vice president at Gartner, called the figures “anaemic”.

13 May 2015

News/Innovation

Live: EBAday 2015, day two

Payments professionals from across Europe are gathering in Amsterdam this week for EBAday 2015, hosted by the Euro Banking Association and Finextra. We're liveblogging events here.

13 May 2015

News/Innovation

Banks rethinking business models as PSD2 looms - Finextra research

Europe's banks are engaged in a do-or-die effort to prepare for the 2016 introduction of new payments regulations that are expected to usher in a wave of fresh competition and innovation across the sector, according to research conducted by Finextra

12 May 2015

News/Innovation

BBVA opens doors to fintech startup competition

Spanish banking giant BBVA is inviting fintech startups from around the world to enter its Open Talent competition for the chance to win EUR30,000 and high-level networking opportunities.

12 May 2015

News/Innovation

Nasdaq OMX embraces the blockchain

Exchange operator Nasdaq OMX is set to start using blockchain technology for the issuance, transfer and management of private company securities.

11 May 2015

News/Innovation

Japanese bank hires robot suits to help staffers lift heavy cash

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) has come up with a high-tech answer to a low-tech problem: fitting out elderly employees with robotic suits to help them lift heavy stacks of cash.

08 May 2015

News/Innovation

Swedish startup preps institutional digital currency marketplace and clearing house

A startup with $10 million in funding behind it has applied to Sweden's financial watchdog to become a regulated institutional foreign exchange and digital currency marketplace and clearing house.

07 May 2015

News/Innovation

Goldman eyes digital banking opportunity

Goldman Sachs has hired former Discover card services executive Harit Telwar to head up a new digital banking unit, taking its cue from the swathes of fintech startups that are using technology-led services to penetrate one-time banking strongholds in lending to customers and small businesses.

05 May 2015

News/Innovation

Future Money roundup: Big banks have their day in the sun

Some of the world's biggest banks took to the stage at the second annual Finextra Future Money conference to show their innovation chops and dispel the notion that the industry is reaching a point of peak disruption.

22 April 2015

News/Innovation

Yes Bank partners Twitter to text tweets

India's Yes Bank has teamed up with Twitter on a service that lets customers place missed calls in order to receive tweets via text messages.

08 April 2015