The recent Competition and Markets Authority report set out a vision of how technology can be used to inject competition to the £16 billion personal current account and small banking market. Challenger banks criticised the report, stating it focuses on the needs of the larger players who dominate the field, and not highlight other measures to increase competition and choice for customers.

Global digital solutions provider Syntel believe that customers should be at the heart of any digital business strategy.

Consistent with the World Economic Forum’s mission of applying a multistakeholderapproach to address issues of global impact, creating this report involved extensive outreach and dialogue with the Financial Services Community, Innovation Community, Technology Community, academia and the public sector. The dialogue included numerous interviews and interactive sessions to discuss the insights and opportunities for collaborative action.

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) today announced it has extended its payments agreement with Swisscard AECS GmbH to continue processing the company’s consumer credit and commercial card portfolios on the TS2® platform, as well as to provide other payment services.

 Rakuten, Inc. (TSE: 4755) today announced the opening of the Rakuten Blockchain Lab (R.B.L.) in Belfast, UK, planned for August 22, 2016. R.B.L. will be a dedicated research and development organization within Rakuten, focused on blockchain technology and its potential applications in the fintech and e-commerce sectors.

First Data, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, announced today that Ivo Distelbrink will join the company to lead its business in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Reporting to Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano, Distelbrink will be based in Singapore and will also serve on First Data’s Management Committee.

Numerix, the leading provider of cross-asset analytics for derivatives valuations and risk management today announces the successful implementation of its Numerix Oneview Risk solution at the first Thai bank with the highest market capitalization, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). SCB sought to integrate Credit Valuation Adjustment (CVA) into their risk management practices.

On October 15^th, Treasurers investing in prime (i.e. non-government) money market funds will face the consequences of the SEC’s 2a-7 reform on money market funds. The most talked about impact of this legislated reform is the introduction of a floating net asset value for these prime funds. In fact, in the 2016 AFP Liquidity Survey respondees were not only talking about it, but suggesting they would abandon prime funds for the perceived safety and liquidity of government funds or bank products.