To industry pundits and casual observers, it came as a shock this week when Apple projected that growth for its iPhone sales would hit the slowest pace since 2007, the year of the iconic phone’s release. At the same time came the first forecasted decline in Apple’s revenue in the last 13 years. Currency fluctuation and the cooling of China’s economy notwithstanding, Apple’s predicament is a reflection of tough times across the board in the mobile phone industry. 

 Santander InnoVentures, the $100 million fintech venture capital fund of Santander Group, in partnership with Onevest, a leader in the startup ecosystem operating CoFoundersLab and 1000 Angels, today announced Cambridge Blockchain as the winner of itsDistributed Ledger (DL) Challenge. Massachusetts based Cambridge Blockchain was among five finalists, selected from more than 100 applications, to pitch directly to the judging panel at the Challenge final in New York on 27^th January.

Compass Plus, an international provider of retail banking and electronic payments software to processors and financial institutions, has announced that its processing centre has been recognised as fully compliant with PCI DSS version 3.1.

Magpie, the business that aims to help people successfully navigate the increasingly complex digital world, today announced that it has secured deals with two of China’s biggest banks to roll out its Smart Wallet services.

The deals are part of a programme intended to extend Magpie’s services across the two banks and their respective customers. Both will initially have access to Smart Wallet – one of Magpie’s apps - with the option to add on further Magpie products and roll out availability to a larger number of the bank’s customers.

 Horizon Software has announced that Sylvain Thieullent has been appointed the new CEO, while Jean-Marc Delfarguiel, the founder of Horizon, becomes the company’s President. Horizon is the leading provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology to the world’s exchanges, banks, brokers and fund managers.

Total exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets hit an all-time high of $2.2 trillion in 2015, driven by the continued growth in popularity of passive investment vehicles, according to quarterly data released today by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) via its 

FINCAD, the leading provider of valuation and risk analytics for multi-asset, multi-currency portfolios, today announced that it has added several key enhancements to F3, its powerful object-oriented valuation and risk platform. These enhancements benefit buy-side firms searching for alpha in a low-yield environment and pursuing multi-asset, multi-currency strategies.

 ICBC Standard Bank Plc (“ICBC Standard” or “the Bank”) announces the appointment of Jinny Yan as Chief China Economist, located in London and reporting to Guido Haller, Head of FICE Markets.  

Visa today announced the launch of Visa Checkout, a quick and easy payment service that enables Singaporean consumers to pay for goods online, on any device, in just a few clicks. This new service addresses the frustration experienced by many online shoppers by reducing the number of steps required to complete a purchase online.

 The SWIFT Institute announces the launch of a new competition targeted at university students. The SWIFT Institute Challenge 2016 asks students to address a real world challenge being faced by remittance senders, receivers and their banks, and is open to any UK-based recognised university, or centre of learning, with an interest in banking.