Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative businesses, enterprises and their investors, has today announced Erin Platts as Head of EMEA and President of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK Branch.

Platts’ appointment was approved by the FCA today. She replaces Phil Cox, who has taken the Chief Operating Officer role with the parent company, SVB Financial Group, at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Simon Bumfrey will take over Platt’s previous role, Head of Relationship Banking, Europe. 

DoshEx, the South African Digital Asset Exchange, and global blockchain-based payment pioneer Pundi X, today announced a strategic partnership to bring cryptocurrency  to high street retailers and local consumers.

In a first for South Africa’s retail market, XPOS, the Pundi X blockchain-based point-of-sale devices and XPASS cards for cryptocurrency transactions are to be deployed at selected sites across South Africa in a co-branded roll-out with DoshEx.

CABIM Ltd, the parent company of Crown Agents Bank has announced that it is acquiring the enterprise business and payment gateway product of Segovia, a US venture-backed technology company focused on frontier market payments. The acquisition will allow Crown Agents Bank to extend its payment network, include mobile money, and integrate Segovia’s modern payments infrastructure with Crown Agents Bank’s extensive FX capabilities - thus offering a uniquely scalable, flexible, and efficient payment solution for global businesses paying into frontier and developing markets.

PPRO, a cross-border payment specialist, has officially been granted an e-money licence by the Ministry of Finance in Luxembourg, securing its long term future in Europe The new local entity ‘PPRO SA’  (société anonyme) has been authorised to conduct financial services across the EU under the supervision of the national financial services regulator, the CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier).

The Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) announce 4^th April 2019 as the ‘go-live’ date for the new initiative to start linking International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs) and Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) for the global financial industry.

Klarna, a leading global payments provider, today announced the launch of its global authentication platform — an aggregator with multiple global and local authentication solutions. The platform allows multinational businesses, including merchants and other banks, to provide a simple, secure and personalised customer authentication experience irrespective of market, through a one-time integration.

CBA has seen contactless payment transactions linked to a debit or credit Mastercard almost triple, since the introduction of Apple Pay earlier this year.

An advice gap exists in the UK – and it’s leaving savers stumbling into poor financial decisions, without the right advice. The gap started in the wake of the 2013 retail distribution review (RDR), which resulted in advisers making their charges transparent for consumers – and putting people with low wealth off seeking advice.

The addition of biometric features further enhances the security of strong customer security, which is of crucial importance in a world that is becoming more and more digital. This multi-factor authentication solution allows financial institutions to comply with the Regulatory Technical Standards of PSD2. The updated solution, with biometric technology is also FIDO (Fast Identity Online) compliant.