While many experts predict the demise of cash as a form of payment, the demand for cash keeps growing around the world. The explanation to this could be primarily in its convenience, cash is accepted everywhere, hard to track and relatively easy to carry in the wallet for the everyday use. Banks struggle to satisfy clients’ appetite for cash by processing huge volumes as fast as possible in their ATMs.

icubic AG makes electronic trading at a leading Russian investment bank more efficient and places value on a full-service mentality. icubic, the software developer for the international financial sector, has equipped a Russian investment bank with a high-performance, complete solution for bond and
CDS trading. The global investment banking traders at the bank have been working with icubic technology since March 2011.

Energy and commodities traders can now execute futures and options orders directly from Thomson Reuters Eikon, helping reduce the need to pay for expensive market data fees across multiple platforms without sacrificing functionality.  The service is provided through City Execution, a third party app developed by OptionsCity Software and now available via App Studio on Thomson Reuters Eikon.  

Qbonds is valantic's high-performance solution for electronic bond trading. Market making, bond pricing, as well as the connection to electronic markets, exchanges and data platforms (e.g. Reuters, Bloomberg, Eurex and MTS) are integrated into one application.

QCash Financial, provider of an automated, cloud-based, omni-channel lending platform for financial institutions, announces that it has joined the Symitar® Vendor Integration Program (VIP), which provides QCash Financial with access to Symitar’s technical resources to interface its products within the Episys® core platform.

DH Corporation,  a leading provider of technology solutions to financial institutions globally, today announced the launch of the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses tool in CreditQuest® Portfolio Manager.

The new ALLL tool will support existing reserve methodologies and the new Current Expected Credit Loss standards. The new CECL standards involve several major changes to the way that financial institutions gather and analyze data and plan for credit losses.

Online equity investing platforms are proving to be a powerful tool for start-ups to raise finance from the public as well as a tax-efficient option for investors, say London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP. 
 

Surge in InsurTech start-ups aimed at improving customer service - new PwC and Startupbootcamp InsurTech report.

Insurance technology (InsurTech) is a burgeoning phenomenon that has the potential to help the insurance industry reconnect with its customers following a period of increasing alienation and disengagement. Not only does InsurTech offer the insurance industry huge commercial potential, it can also help insurers reaffirm their purpose in society - to protect and support policyholders.

Brightfield Strategies announced that workforce strategy innovator and executive Ron Mester has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

“Ron is as intuitive as he is intellectual and we are thrilled to have him aboard. Ron has long been a mentor and confidant,” said Jason Ezratty, Brightfield’s co-founder who will remain its President and Chairman. “We’ve been looking for someone like Ron to serve as our CEO, requiring the right mix of integrity, experience, curiosity, and zeal for talent strategy and data.“