General News

October 24, 2023 @ 7:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK law firms have cited macroeconomic volatility as their greatest concern, but this has not impacted growth ambitions, with 100% and 93% of Top 100 firms expecting to increase revenue and profits respectively in the next year (by an average of 9.3% for revenue and… Read More

October 23, 2023 @ 10:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The scale of Christmas / holiday spending cutbacks due to the cost of living is highlighted in new research from KPMG UK – which shows consumer intention “to cut back on buying gifts, groceries and socializing.” Over 2600 UK consumers were surveyed for KPMG –… Read More

October 23, 2023 @ 10:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nucleus Financial Platforms, one of the UK’s independent adviser platform groups, explains the impact of today’s inflation figures “on triple lock calculations for state pensions from April 2024 and calls for a sensible discussion around the future of the triple lock and the state pension… Read More

October 23, 2023 @ 9:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

It’s been several years since financial services upstarts reimagined buy now pay later (BNPL) as a point-of-sale (POS) payment method. Since then, this once-obscure way of transacting has “been placed front and center at the checkout by merchants worldwide, and 28% of U.S. consumers now… Read More

October 23, 2023 @ 1:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Moonfare has appointed Dr. Lorenz Jüngling, currently managing director, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer, “as Co-CEO, alongside Moonfare founder, chairman and current CEO Dr. Steffen Pauls. Jüngling, a Ph.D. material scientist and physicist by training, currently oversees Moonfare’s R&D, finance, operations and compliance… Read More

October 23, 2023 @ 11:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The vast majority of SME finance professionals expect the Government to miss its target of halving inflation by the end of the year, iwoca’s Q2 2023 SME Expert Index finds. The new research, carried out with over one hundred SME finance brokers “who collectively submitted… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 3:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jonny Fry has been selected to lead ClearBank‘s digital asset strategy, according to the digital bank. ClearBank is a fully licensed bank that also offers its tech stack to other financial services firms. Fry was previously CEO of TeamBlockchain and publisher of Digital Bytes. The… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 1:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The 2023 AFP Real-time Payments Survey, conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), found that corporates plan “to drastically increase their use of real-time payments in the next five years to benefit from lower transaction costs, improved transparency into the payment process, increased efficiency,… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 1:13 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Secure Identity Alliance (SIA) this week announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to assist developing countries in implementing, strengthening or expanding their digital identity systems. The agencies said they are committed to promoting open… Read More

October 22, 2023 @ 5:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has acquired ON Service GROUP, a provider of business process services, specialized in insurance operations. Terms of the transaction were “not disclosed.” Acquiring ON Service GROUP enhances Accenture’s capabilities “in insurance operations, expanding the range of services available to clients in Germany… Read More

October 20, 2023 @ 1:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MX Technologies, Inc., an Open Finance service provider, announced it has named Jane Barratt as its Chief Advocacy Officer and Head of Global Public Policy. She brings more than 25 years of experience working “with financial institutions, technology and Fortune 500 companies, policymakers, and regulators,… Read More

October 20, 2023 @ 1:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

FinCEN has issued a statement on funding of the terrorist Hamas group following the atrocities the group perpetrated in Israel. FinCEN urged financial services firms to be vigilant in any activity that may be used to fund Hamas. This is inclusive of virtual asset service… Read More

October 19, 2023 @ 9:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BankTech Ventures, a strategic investment fund focused on enhancing community banks, announced today its continued commitment to community banks’ more vibrant futures with a total investment of $13.5 million in six fintech companies in the second half of 2023. BankTech has invested over $40 million… Read More

October 19, 2023 @ 4:26 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently connected with Justin Orgel from Marigold, a global MarTech that works with over 40,000 brands and organizations worldwide to help them identify and create strong relationships with their customers. The company offers industry-tailored MarTech and loyalty solutions that support the entire customer lifecycle… Read More

October 19, 2023 @ 10:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Supply chain risks have been identified as an increasingly important issue within the cyber insurance market in a new report published by the International Underwriting Association (IUA). A whitepaper, jointly researched with cyber risk analytics firm CyberCube, urges underwriters to carefully review client business continuity… Read More

October 19, 2023 @ 8:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The most common scams this year have been revealed – “with more than seven in 10 adults targeted by scams in the last 12 months, being hit on average three times each week – over 150 times a year.” Scams through digital platforms, social media… Read More

October 18, 2023 @ 9:54 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

UBS (NYSE:UBS) is partnering with the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation (GESDA), CERN, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Swiss higher-education institutions ETH Zurich and EPFL to create the Open Quantum Institute (OQI), which is being launched today in Geneva. Through science… Read More

October 18, 2023 @ 7:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

AU10TIX, a global technology firm focused on identity verification and management, today released its Q2 2023 Global Identity Fraud Report. Drawing insights from millions of transactions processed in 249 countries from April to June 2023, the report “identifies emerging regional and industry-specific patterns of ID… Read More

October 18, 2023 @ 7:25 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US division of crypto exchange Binance has reportedly suspended withdrawals of dollars by its customers from the digital asset platform (as per the firm’s updated terms shared on Monday). In June of this year, Binance.US decided to halt US dollar deposits, following the US… Read More

October 17, 2023 @ 10:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US startup ecosystem witnessed a considerable decline in venture capital (VC) funding activity “during the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2023.” A total of 5,448 VC funding deals “with disclosed value worth of $89.3 billion were announced in the US during the period.” This… Read More