SWIFT announces today it has successfully completed the first phase of the global payments innovation (gpi) initiative pilot, clearing the way for the go-live of the service in early 2017.

During the pilot, 15 global banks representing more than 30 percent of cross-border payments successfully tested the design and core functions of the gpi, while in parallel, ten additional global banks started to prepare for the service’s launch.

Over the past two years an unprecedented $25bn has been pumped into the global fintech market and it looks like this is just the beginning. According to a recent Accenture report, Q1 2016 saw a 67 per cent year-on-year increase in global fintech investment. That’s a $5.3bn injection of funds over just three short months.[1]

The concept of instant payments is well-known throughout the financial industry. Counterparties wish to settle transactions in as close to real-time as possible and the exchanging of payments data is critical to ensure the completion of the deal. Despite the universal appeal of instant payments, it has been difficult to achieve on a global scale, owning to dispirited regulatory regimes, compliance processes and time zones.

For the longest time, banks have been at the centre of the financial universe; central to businesses, economic growth, innovation and much more. However, recent developments in financial technology prompts the inevitable question - are banks position as the predominant player in the financial industry currently at risk?

CLS Group (CLS), a leading provider of risk management and operational services for the global foreign exchange (FX) market, has announced its intent to release a payment netting service, CLS Netting, for buy-side and sell-side institutions’ FX trades that are settled outside the CLS settlement service.

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, has been awarded a major contract by BankA​xept, the national payment scheme of Norway, to enable all local banks to interconnect through a single credentials management hub for streamlined and secure management of mobile payments services.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today announced that J.P. Morgan has been approved as a clearing member for ICE Clear Singapore, effective immediately.

Contego, the multi-source identity verification and risk-scoring platform, today has been appointed by Kuflink, the peer-to-peer lending platform, where loans are secured against UK based property, to carry out checks on individuals to help ensure compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulation.

As the P2P and property markets are experiencing ever greater regulatory scrutiny, implementing effective fraud mitigation and risk management is crucial for Kuflink in a highly competitive market. For Kuflink, complying with AML regulation is a top priority.