First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FBNC) the parent company of First Bank, announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which First Bancorp will acquire Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBH) the parent company of Carolina Bank, in a cash and stock transaction with a total current value of approximately $97.3 million, or $19.26 per share.  

Following on from “Person to Person” (P2P) payments, Jiffy - the service developed by SIA to send and receive cash in real time from a smartphone – comes to stores.

The pilot phase of the “Person to Business” (P2B) project has in fact begun in the cities of Milan and Bergamo, allowing customers to pay via app at participating retail outlets authorized by UBI Banca.

Other major Italian banks have expressed interest in offering the service by next autumn.

OT (Oberthur Technologies), a leading global provider of embedded security software products and services, today announced its partnership with STET, the retail payment operator for French and European markets, and Cartes Bancaires CB Group (GIE-CB), the regulatory body for the payment card system to roll out mobile payment services in France.

ASX Limited (ASX) today announced that it has selected US-based firm Digital Asset Holdings, LLC (Digital Asset) to develop solutions for the Australian market utilising Distributed Ledger Technology.

Wirecard and Verifone Partner to Bring Complementary Payment Services and Solutions to Fast-Growing Indonesian Market Agreement combines Wirecard software on Verifone devices PT Prima Vista Solusi, Wirecard subsidiary, to collaborate with Verifone in Indonesia

I’ve made a number of comments about peer to peer (P2P) lending over the last few years which might suggest that I am fundamentally opposed to this type of activity. However, that’s not correct – I am delighted that people are trying to fill the gap left by the banks who seem supremely uninterested in supporting British businesses.

A SILICON Valley veteran has made the move from eBay to Capital One UK.

Aline Baeck has joined the company in the newly-created position of head of design, following roles at Intuit, Causata, and most recently, eBay.

Aline said: “The biggest draw to work for an organisation like this is their clear vision for change and to be a disruptive force in the financial industry. What’s become apparent very quickly is Capital One is operating at the intersection of technology and financial services.

CreditHQ is an online tool developed by Ormsby Street that helps small and medium businesses to evaluate the creditworthiness of their trading partners and manage their own credit reputation. Usually, credit and payment information can be hard to sift through and make sense of, but CreditHQ carries out the data analysis for you and also provides insight based on that analysis to help with the business decision making.

Research released by Intuit QuickBooks, the world’s number one online accounting software, reveals that a majority of self-employed workers will vote in the European referendum this Thursday based on personal choice, rather than what may or may not be best for their businesses.

SimCorp, a leading provider of investment management solutions and services for