Pelican, a new mobile trading app that combines premium trading technology with state of the art social functionality, has officially launched today after a successful beta testing period.

 Almost three-quarters (71 percent) of European retailers and financial institutions plan to increase spending on payments technology in the next 18 to 24 months in the face of increasing competitive pressure and a feeling of being ‘under siege.’

Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) is revolutionising the POS terminal industry. Taxi drivers, plumbers and hairdressers can now accept payments on the move, armed with their smartphones. And larger merchants are also benefitting from a cost-effective, wireless and flexible alternative to the traditional POS infrastructure. Because of this, the market is poised to grow by 400% over the next four years, 46% of all POS terminals in 2019 are expected to be mPOS and the market will be worth an estimated $43 billion by 2018.

Partech Ventures confirms its support of Lendix, the French number one in lending platforms, as CNP Assurances, MatMut and ZenCap AM join as new investors.

Canada joins a growing list of countries that have adopted ISO 20022, an important first step in the modernization of Canada’s payment system.

ISO 20022 is a global standard for electronic payment messages that will help businesses and financial institutions facilitate the move away from paper by creating the ability to exchange more information – like invoices - with electronic payments. ISO 20022 also helps to streamline cross-border payments by using a common global “language” for payments data.

Exaxe, the award winning, SaaS provider to the insurance industry, has been named in the Insurance CIO Outlook’s Top 10 Policy Administration Solution Providers list of 2016.

To help CIOs and CFOs find the right insurance policy administration solution provider for their enterprise, Insurance CIO Outlook commissioned a team of prominent CEOs, CIOs, and VCs along with Insurance CIO Outlook’s editorial board to evaluate the best players in the space. Exaxe was selected for its ability to develop innovative technologies combined with outstanding customer service and talent base.

Misys today announced it is launching Misys FinCloud, a new range of Cloud solutions and global Cloud environment offering Misys clients the highest standards of security, performance and operating excellence in Cloud operations in the financial services industry.

 Nexuslab, the Swiss blockchain startup programme powered by Startupbootcamp, has announced a partnership with Rabobank. The Dutch bank joins Nexuslab to support the first round of its programme geared towards early-stage European blockchain ventures. The collaboration adds leading financial industry expertise to the programme and further strengthens its international footprint.