2018 has seen the once futuristic biometric smartcard go from talk to trial. From the U.S.A. to France, Lebanon to Japan, momentum is gathering, as the benefits of fingerprint sensors look set to revolutionize contactless payments worldwide. 

But in a sea of trial updates and product launches, it can be difficult to get to grips with what exactly a biometric smartcard is, how it works and, crucially, when we all might get one from our banks.

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SysGroup PLC (‘SysGroup’), the award-winning managed IT services and cloud hosting provider, has today announced another period of significant growth with revenue up 47.3 per cent to £5.8m for the six months ending 30th September 2018.

Recurring managed IT services represented 77.8 per cent of the Group’s total revenue during the period, underpinning the ongoing success of its growth strategy and investment in people.

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Nordea is today, together with the United Nations and 27 other banks from around the world, launching the Principles for Responsible Banking at a UN round table summit in Paris. The principles aim to align the financial sector with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Tech Bureau Europe has unveiled an online shop for the exclusive series of crypto-design watches by Chronoswiss. The shop boasts a user-friendly design that tells the story of each of the five available crypto-design timepieces. The purchasing process is secure and straightforward.

As the finance industry’s focus on stamping out illegal or inappropriate trader behaviour has increased, so has their communications surveillance. In order to avoid the expense and potential reputational damage that come with incidents of market manipulation and fraud, compliance teams now have to scour through trader chats for any signs of nefarious behaviour. This will often go hand in hand with surveillance systems which flag any suspicious language to the compliance department for investigation.

Paybase CEO Anna Tsyupko has been announced as a speaker of the MoneyLive Summit 2018, starting on 26th November in London. The event is Europe’s biggest retail banking event, with hundreds of attendees representing dozens of financial services. 

Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that it has won the "Prize of the Geneva Economy 2018”. The Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (CCIG) created this award in 2012 with the aim to promote and enhance the Geneva economic network and to recognize companies whose reputation and influence have helped promote a positive and dynamic image of Geneva. 

New York and London: We are pleased to announce that OpenFin won the Editor’s choice award for ‘FinTech of the Year’ at the Leaders in Trading Awards 2018 held at the Savoy Hotel, in London on Thursday, 22nd November.