The Winter Edition of Financial IT is here, bringing you a comprehensive exploration of the trends, innovations, and challenges shaping the financial technology landscape as we step into 2025. This issue is packed with thought-provoking articles, expert opinions, and actionable insights from global industry leaders.

Highlights from the edition:

David Gummer - Chief Product Officer, Redgate: “The Year Ahead: Predictions for 2025”

As we leave 2024 behind, the financial industry is poised for a profound technological transformation, with artificial intelligence set to transform industry practices. From risk management and regulatory compliance to predictive analytics and cybersecurity, AI promises to bring a new era of transparency, efficiency and innovation to the finance ecosystem. What will be the major trends shaping the FinTech landscape in 2025? Which technologies will redefine our relationship with financial institutions?

Pipe, a fintech company partnering with software platforms to deliver embedded financial solutions for SMBs, today announced the appointments of Claurelle Rakipovic as Chief Product Officer (CPO), Nate Wiger as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Amy Loh as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and Jon Lear as Global Head of Growth to lead Pipe’s next phase of technology innovation and growth.

Returns are a significant expense for retail businesses, costing UK merchants an estimated £60 billion annually. As eCommerce adoption has increased over recent years, return rates have risen accordingly, especially during the seasonal shopping period. 

Cohesity, a leader in AI-powered data security, announced today it is a recipient of a 2024 Geography and Global AWS Partner Award, recognizing leaders around the globe that are playing key roles in helping their customers drive innovation and build solutions on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Cohesity has been named as Global Storage Partner of the Year, a recognition in the AWS Storage Competency.

As we approach 2025, software point of sale (SoftPoS) technology, with its ability to turn any NFC-enabled device into a contactless payment terminal, stands poised to redefine how businesses accept payments. With projected transaction values skyrocketing, the financial sector must confront a critical question: can legacy systems keep up with this unprecedented shift?

We are pivoting towards a new global market economy following several key elections this year, and sustainability is increasingly becoming an opportunity rather than a risk for organisations to manage. And this is a shift which is going to be absorbed by banking and financial institutions, too. 

Citi today announced the successful separation of its institutional banking business in Mexico from its consumer, small, and middle market businesses. With this separation complete, effective December 1, Citi will now operate two separate financial groups in Mexico: Grupo Financiero Citi México and Grupo Financiero Banamex. The separation into these financial groups marks a significant step in the execution of its strategic plan to simplify the firm.

TD Bank is joining Mastercard’s global Priceless Planet Coalition initiative to support a local Canadian project, helping restore trees in British Columbia. For each eligible MBNA (a division of TD Bank) credit cardholder who switch from paper to e-statements starting on October 24, 2024 until January 15, 2025, TD Bank will make a donation in support of the Priceless Planet Coalition to help restore trees in the Thompson Watershed of British Columbia, an area deeply impacted by recent wildfires, up to a total of 30,000 trees.

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) has successfully acquired AIG’s global personal travel insurance and assistance business, including Travel Guard, for USD 600 million, plus a potential earn-out payment. The transaction makes Zurich one of the largest travel insurers globally.