Latest long reads: Finextra Research

Low-touch trading: Why personal service still matters

Dominic Lowres Head Electronic Trading at Investec

Low-touch trading: Why personal service still matters

The past decade has seen a steady shift towards automated trading, propelled by ongoing technological innovations and relentless cost pressures. While this trend will undoubtedly continue, an overly narrow focus on costs risks diverting attention from the real needs of clients. The winners in the future of trading technology will be those who succ...

11 March 2025 /wealth

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is APP reimbursement?

In October 2024, the Authorised Push Payment (APP) victim reimbursement scheme came into effect, under rules from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The scheme means that Payment service providers (PSPs) are obliged to reimburse victims of APP fraud, up to £85,000 – and PSR asks that the value of reimbursement be split 50/50 between the sending...

11 March 2025 /crime

Cash accessibility in the digital age: A human right or a dying relic?

Dimitrios Salampasis Assoc. Professor, Emerging Technologies & FinTech at Swinburne University of Technology

Cash accessibility in the digital age: A human right or a dying relic?

From paper to pixels: How cash went from king to question mark Technological breakthroughs and advancements across the spectrum of the digital economy have been challenging the inherent nature and core purpose of money, putting pressure towards reconsidering the issuance of physical money, the impetus of financial transactions and the role of phys...

07 March 2025 /inclusion

How partnerships are transforming payments and fintech

Olivia Murphy Managing Associate at Linklaters

How partnerships are transforming payments and fintech

Strategic partnerships are on the rise in the payments and fintech space. In recent weeks we have seen traditional banks team up with technology and fintech companies to bring buy now pay later (BNPL) offerings to the market. Partnerships themselves are not a new phenomenon in the payments sphere. For years banks providing merchant services have te...

06 March 2025 /regulation

What’s up with all the payments outages?

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

What’s up with all the payments outages?

The beauty of online banking is that it’s – for the most part – instant. If your friend owes you money, they can transfer it to your account immediately. If you forgot to pay your bills, log online and you can pay them right then and there. Even on payday, the money should go directly to your account. However, payments outages have become more and...

05 March 2025 /payments

What’s happening at the SEC? Examining signs of Trump’s regulatory roll-back for crypto

Dominique Dierks Senior Content Manager at Finextra

What’s happening at the SEC? Examining signs of Trump’s regulatory roll-back for crypto

Over the last weeks, a series of events and announcements have shaken up the crypto market in the US. From SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) case dismissals to the creation of a US Crypto Reserve, the Trump administration has quickly signalled a 180 turn on the handling of cryptocurrencies. Even before his inauguration, President Trump w...

04 March 2025 /regulation

How much is too much – or too little - regulation? Banks and their depositors may soon find out

Scott Hamilton Contributing Editor at Finextra Research

How much is too much – or too little - regulation? Banks and their depositors may soon find out

In a new report published on 27 February, NPR shared a warning that the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)’s proposed dismantling at the behest of the Trump administration could be particularly perilous for the US banking system and its customers. NPR noted the rapid job-cutting actions and attacks from the White House and its allies ...

04 March 2025 /regulation

UK government delays AI Bill, but now is the time to regulate unchecked AI

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

UK government delays AI Bill, but now is the time to regulate unchecked AI

Despite the welcome publication of the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan last month, the latest rumours around Westminster are that Ministers have delayed plans for an AI Bill as the UK government seeks to align itself with the U.S. administration on the technology. There is, self-evidently, a more than pressing need for cross-sector, AI-s...

03 March 2025 /ai

The top payments stories you missed in February 2025

Dominique Dierks Senior Content Manager at Finextra

The top payments stories you missed in February 2025

Catch up on our most viewed payments stories from February 2025. UK Government mulls abolishment of Payment Systems Regulator Our most read news story from February was the announcement that the UK government is considering scrapping the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and folding it into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). As it currently stan...

28 February 2025 /payments

Embedded finance: The future of seamless financial services

Thomas Easterby Head of FinTech at HSBC Innovation Banking

Embedded finance: The future of seamless financial services

Embedded finance can be defined as the integration of financial services, such as payments, lending, insurance, or banking, directly into non-financial products and platforms. Over the past decade business models in this category have proliferated, fundamentally changing how consumers and businesses interact with money, and providing fintech and f...

27 February 2025 /payments

Back to that paper: Why cash isn’t going anywhere in the near future

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Back to that paper: Why cash isn’t going anywhere in the near future

We are currently living in a whirlwind era of digital payments, online transactions, and e-wallets – yet for many, cash is still king. What does cash mean for financial inclusion? Globally, cash is still the most widely-used payment method, and remains the preferred choice for many, particularly those residing in isolated communities, the elderly, ...

26 February 2025 /inclusion

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

Understanding the G20 targets

At a November 2020 summit, a coalition of the world’s largest economies, the Group of Twenty (G20), tabled a roadmap aimed at enhancing international retail, wholesale and remittance transactions. By 2021, working with the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the G20 issued a set of qualitative targets – across access, cost, speed, and transparency – ...

25 February 2025 /payments

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