Expertus and Ripple, today announced that they have launched a Pilot Program for Financial Institutions that want to test the capabilities of blockchain and Ripple distributed financial technology.

The Pilot Program offers financial institutions a lean way to test blockchain technology with minimal business process disruption and integration effort. The solution can be integrated into the bank’s existing payments infrastructure without the need for any changes.

After a two-year investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published provisional recommendations to improve retail banking in the UK. It’s a sector that requires remedial attention, but once again a golden opportunity to radically transform the existing market has been shunned in favour of a less far-reaching set of target outcomes. It mirrors the same timid way the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) balked at proposing wide-ranging structural and non-structural reforms to the wider banking sector back in 2011. But could we really have expected more?

 NICE Actimize, business and the largest and broadest provider of a single financial crime, risk and compliance software platform for the financial services industry, and Mphasis, a leading IT services provider with specialized expertise in the governance, risk and compliance sector, have announced that they have joined together in a certified delivery partnership.

Advicent, the financial technology firm that brought the industry Profiles™, NaviPlan®, Figlo®, and Advisor Briefcase®, introduces the Narrator® product suite featuring Narrator® Clients, Narrator® Advisor, and Narrator® Connect. Narrator Clients and Narrator Advisor work hand-in-hand and are linked in terms of an advisor’s purchase and implementation. Narrator® Connect is designed to provide utility to third-party partners that want to customize features, applications, or tools to meet their company-specific needs.

Vonage Holdings, a leading provider of cloud communications services for businesses, has completed the acquisition of privately-held Nexmo, Inc. ("Nexmo"), a global leader in the Communications Platform as a Service ("CPaaS") segment of the Cloud Communications market. This acquisition accelerates Vonage's growth strategy, deepens its technology capabilities and elevates its leadership position in Cloud Communications.

The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) and Reconnaissance International have today announced a new partnership to jointly organise a series of established and brand new events dedicated to the ATM and cash management markets and to innovation across self‐service and the cash cycle.