The FinTech cloud race is in full swing, but the million-dollar question for many is ‘how cloud-native should we go?’.

The answer is not straightforward. And it’s further complicated by the fact that nearly everyone you talk to has a different idea about what cloud-native means. Some people believe it’s all about containers and cross-platform portability, but that excludes serverless approaches. Others assume any application purpose-built for the cloud is inherently cloud-native. But what if it fails to fully exploit the platform’s functionality?

We are excited to announce that SWIFT and SEPA withdrawals and deposits  have already been implemented and fully functional in the Exscudo  Channels App. The function is available worldwide with the exception of the US and select countries. Thanks to the SEPA and SWIFT support our customers are able to top up their Channels balance by making a bank transfer in Euro, USD or any other fiat currency.

QuantHouse, the leading independent global provider of end-to-end systematic trading solutions including innovative market data services, algo trading platform and infrastructure solutions, today announced that QuantHouse and ARQA Technologies have been awarded ‘Best Alliance or Partnership’ at the 2019 Waters Technology Sell-side Awards.

KKR announced that it has become a founding signatory to the Operating Principles for Impact Management, a new market standard for impact investing introduced by the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. KKR joins 59 other signatories, collectively representing over $350 billion in assets invested for impact, in their commitment to managing their impact investments in accordance with these Principles, which are meant to bring greater transparency, credibility, and discipline to the impact investing market.

Liquidnet, the global institutional investment network, announces that it has launched its EU operations in Dublin. Liquidnet EU Limited (located in Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre), has been authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a MiFID II investment firm and MTF operator. This new entity acts as an agency broker, ensuring Liquidnet continues to provide services to its Member community based in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Sopra Steria is to acquire fellow French core banking vendor SAB as part of a strategy to turn around its underperforming Banking Software division.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, and Discover Financial Services, a leading direct bank and payments services company, announced today that Global Payments is now an acquirer for all cards on the Discover Global Network in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This includes Discover, Diners Club International and affiliate partner cards.

The epidemic of cash machine attacks across the UK is a serious cause for concern with attacks having risen an average of 22% per year since 2014. The attacks, often carried out with heavy machinery, not only damage the ATMs themselves, but cause widespread disruption to the community. Local stores are damaged, and communities are deprived of vital access to basic financial services and cash. If this weren’t bad enough, the people most badly affected are those least able to travel further afield for their cash; the elderly and vulnerable.

PayU, an online payment service provider and Naspers’ fintech arm, today announced the acquisition of Wibmo, a Cupertino, CA-based industry leader in digital payment security and mobile payment technologies. This strategic acquisition combines PayU’s strong merchant network and Wibmo’s leadership in digital transaction security solutions to offer industry-leading payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions in India and other high growth markets.