From today, the registration for Santander’s hackathon: Building Banking Your Way, is open for applicants. The event will take place in Shoreditch, London, over two days in March. The activity aims to offer all start-ups, students, tech enthusiasts and creative minds in the FinTech industry, the opportunity to develop innovative software solutions that will help people and businesses prosper.

Participants will access a sandbox of emulated data to bring their ideas to life and will choose one of four core challenge tracks to build a solution around:

The Tech Partnership and Lloyds Banking Group have announced they are leading a consultation that will improve the way that the UK measures the Basic Digital Skills required for adults to thrive in a digital world. The final framework created will be used to shape the Government’s Digital Skills Entitlement programme, which will make training in basic digital skills free for adults in the UK lacking relevant qualifications. 

EMVCo, the global technical body that manages the EMV® Specifications, has announced its tenth annual EMV User Meeting will be held in San Diego, USA on 20-21 June, 2018. The two-day event, which takes place at Marriott San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, provides a forum for payment industry stakeholders to gain insight into EMVCo’s mission, structure and current technical activities, as well as directly engage with the technical body’s subject matter experts. 

Keychoice, the insurance distribution business owned by SSP, has partnered with Plum Underwriting to enable its broking community to meet the needs of policyholders with non-standard homes.

The partnership makes it easier for Keychoice members to process non-standard risks that they might otherwise have not been able to place. This includes houses that are built from non-standard materials, affected by subsidence or flooding, or unoccupied for extended periods, as well as cases where the owner has criminal convictions, has been declared bankrupt or has an adverse claims history.

Signicat, the first and largest identity assurance provider in the world, has secured phase two funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, the framework for funding research and innovation. The funding will be used to further develop Signicat’s IDAaaS (Identity Assurance as a Service) toolbox for use across Europe—helping to create a single digital identity market for Europe, one of the European Commission’s priorities for the latter half of the decade.

Temenos, the software specialist for banking and finance, today announces that Finabank, the fourth largest commercial bank in Suriname, has signed for Temenos T24 Core Banking, Channels, Business Intelligence and Financial Crime Mitigation. This combination will help propel Finabank’s efforts in business, retail and platinum banking, as part of Finabank’s objective to lead the financial services industry in Suriname. 

Biometric smart cards are emerging as the next innovation in payment cards.

According to ABI Research the payment card is here to stay and fingerprint authentication within the card is the next natural evolution to retain convenience while increasing security.

So, let’s take a look at the potential and status of the technology to understand why 2018 is set to be the turning point for on-card biometrics.

Integral, the financial technology partner trusted by leading banks, brokers, and investment managers to design, deliver and grow their FX businesses, announced today that it has received a U.S. patent, number 9,836,789, titled “Method and System for Generating and Operating Hybrid Markets and User Defined Marketplaces.”

SupplyOn, the Global Supply Chain Collaboration Platform, has chosen CloudTrade’s patented PDF to e-invoice technology to boost e-invoicing adoption among its customers. 

SupplyOn is the leading supply chain collaboration platform for the global manufacturing sector. Its best of breed online platform enables users to manage business processes with suppliers and service providers across continents in a structured, transparent and secure manner.

Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in providing mobility solutions, received nomination in two categories at the prestigious Global Mobile Awards 2018. The nominations were received in the categories “Best Mobile Innovation for Payment” and “Best Mobile Innovation for Women in Emerging Markets”. The winners will be announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress scheduled for February 26 - March 1 in Barcelona.