The increasingly mobile-centric lifestyle of many Europeans can largely be attributed to the increase and success of mobile channel initiatives focused on providing cheaper, more convenient services. Although still playing catch up to Western Europe, mobile subscribers in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region are increasingly reliant on their mobile devices and smartphone adoption is increasing.

NanoSpeed, the provider of ultra-fast FPGA solutions to the trading community, has announced today the world’s fastest FPGA for trading with the launch of Nano-Gateway, a trading gateway. The new FPGA halves the latency of NanoSpeed’s first trading gateway, Nano-TG (launched in 2013) which was already the fastest on the market by a significant margin.

Denmark is leading the way to a cashless society by planning to scrap obligatory cash payments – and now two out of three smartphone users will be able to enjoy an entirely new way to shop as Danske Bank’s market leading MobilePay app introduces the transformative “buy anywhere” capabilities of acclaimed mobile commerce platform PowaTag.

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.

eFront, a leading software provider of financial solutions for managing alternative investments, has announced that responsAbility Investments AG, a global leader in development investments, has chosen eFront’s FrontPM portfolio monitoring solution. FrontPM streamlines and automates the collecting of portfolio company data. For responsAbility, the eFront solution will allow the firm to grow efficiently while providing exceptional management for businesses and other assets in developing economies.

Almost two-thirds of senior treasury and finance professionals in the US and Latin America region said they feel more confident about their own business’s prospects in the next year. 62% answered 'yes' to the question 'Compared to last year, do you feel more confident about your business’s prospects in the next year?' A similar percentage – 61% – also said they feel more confident about the US's prospects in the year ahead.

The popularity of online food delivery services such as ‘Just Eat’ has Brits turning off their ovens and turning on their internet browsers in record numbers. 

According to Worldpay, takeaway only businesses have also seen online sales leap by 22% in the past year, as ordering online becomes the default option for hungry Brits.

 ABN AMRO Clearing will offer clearing services for the EURO STOXX 50® Variance Futures on Eurex. This future on the EURO STOXX 50® Index volatility is the onexchange complement to OTC variance swaps. These innovative contracts replicate the payoff profile of OTC variance swaps. The new contract offers exposure to the difference between implied versus realized volatility. It allows users to expand their equity portfolio hedging strategies. This hedging can now take place in a centralised order book, which gives greater price transparency. 

The eBay Foundation and Village Capital are running a three-month fintech accelerator for startups developing alternative technologies for serving low-income households and individuals.