Switzerland-based payments technology firm BPC has opened an office in Pakistan to serve the growing financial services market in the Middle East. The office location is Karachi, the country’s largest metropole and financial centre. The BPC team, with global and local staff, covers the need for innovative payments solutions while taking advantage of the rich and growing pool of finance and technology talent available in the country.

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), founded by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) to facilitate the allocation and maintenance of International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs), Classification of Financial Instrument codes (CFIs) and Financial Instrument Short Names (FISNs), for OTC derivatives, has today announced the results from its first consultation of 2019, and the opening of its second consultation aimed to shape the DSB service provision for 2020.

Global eTrade Services (GeTS), a global trade platform company, will launch blockchain-based electronic Certificates of Origin (eCOs) in partnership with Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI).  The service will be made available on GeTS' neutral and trusted Open Trade Blockchain (OTB) platform from 5^th July 2019.

Danske Bank A/S, DNB Bank ASA, Nordea Bank Abp, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ), Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Swedbank AB (publ) are moving forward and have established a joint venture company to develop a platform for handling KYC (Know Your Customer) data. The European Commission has given its approval in accordance with the EU merger control rules.

The FCA considers these products are ill-suited to retail consumers who cannot reliably assess the value and risks of derivatives or ETNs that reference certain cryptoassets (crypto-derivatives). This is due to:

InstaReM, Southeast Asia’s leading digital cross-border money transfer and payments company, has announced the launch of its API-based digital platform that will enable start-ups, fintech companies and enterprises to launch their own branded cards.

From fighting hackers with the latest cybersecurity techniques to programming robots, from learning a construction trade to gaining advanced manufacturing skills – the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is running a number of roadshows this month to inspire people to train for an exciting new career.

The roadshows are for unemployed people and those wanting to get a better job and aim to explain what training courses are on offer in the West Midlands as the WMCA takes control of the region’s £126m adult education budget (AEB).

In Verona today SIA has inaugurated a new specialized center for payment cards, capable of managing every stage of issuing, from conception to distribution, through a monitoring system compliant with the highest standards of security.

The technological excellence center uses state-of-the-art equipment capable of producing an average of 10 million cards per year, with volumes that are scalable even further.

It wasn’t so long ago that bank branches were leaving the high street - some even became wine bars. New research reveals that today’s youth predict a bright future for banks on the high street – although the vast majority (79%) believe that their relationship with banks will be fundamentally different in ten-year’s time.

Nationwide Building Society has become the 35^th deposit taker to join Flagstone’s cash platform in a deal that will open up a number of new savings products to Flagstone clients.

The partnership with Nationwide marks a year of rapid growth for the London-based FinTech firm, which has signed up 11 banks and building societies to its market-leading deposit marketplace in the past 12 months.