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.

 ParFX, the wholesale electronic trading platform, today expanded the number of currencies offered on its platform with the addition of the Hungarian forint (HUF). 

In recent years, the Hungarian forint has become increasingly popular among the global FX trading community, with approximately 90% of Hungarian forint trades executed outside of Hungary’s domestic borders. According to the Bank for International Settlements, it is one of the 25 most actively traded currencies in the world.¹ 

SWIFT announces today that the Innotribe Startup Challenge for Africa is open for applications. For the second year running, the Innotribe Startup Challenge for Africa will be part of SWIFT’s African Regional Conference (ARC) held in Mauritius from 17-19 May.