As regulators become increasingly concerned with consumer protection, new frameworks such as The Payments Services Directive 2 (PSD2) are forcing the existing payments players to re-think how they operate in a market that is opening up rapidly to new forms of competition. With the emergence of new digital payment methods, such as Apple Pay, combined with the growing number of Fintech-led account aggregator businesses, this regulation which is in the final negotiation stages is going to cause disruption and pave the way for even greater change.

Swissquote, Switzerland's online bank, just added new currency pairs and Forward CFDs to its already bountiful offer of trading products.

The addition of the US Dollar vs Offshore Chinese Yuan pair is a logical step in the bank's affirmed strategy to develop its Asian business from its Hong Kong offices. Since Beijing has allowed the yuan to trade more freely, the currency has also become greatly sought after by traders looking to venture off the beaten paths.

ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, announces that Mansour Bank for Investment, an Iraq-based bank and its partner, Qatar National Bank (owns 51%), has selected its global awards winning flagship ICS BANKS® to replace its core banking and IT systems.

LogNet Billing, a provider of Modern Billing solutions for service providers worldwide, has released MaxBill 5, version 5 of its MaxBill solution.

Netherlands-based Rabobank went successfully live this month with the eXimius portfolio management system from Objectway, a provider of software and services to the EMEA investment management industry.

RSRCHXchange today announced that the number of research providers available on the RSRCHX platform, the online marketplace for institutional research, has doubled since its launch in late September. With over 100 providers on board, RSRCHX offers a rapidly growing number of buy side asset management firms access to a wide range of institutional research content.

Indian banking Compliance, Risk & Analytics leader Fintellix today announced the inauguration of its Singapore regional office. The development aligns with the company's intent to enable Singapore's discerning banks to 'future-proof' their regulatory compliance with an agile and scalable banking data platform. Fintellix's modern and expansive office is located at Axa Tower (8 Shenton Way) in Singapore's central business district which is in close proximity to several prominent banks.

Today, BIMobject announced a collaboration with IBM that will see the two companies working together to create a more complete cloud solution for manufacturers' product information. The collaboration will support both product and building lifecycles. 

BIMobject and IBM have received requests from several common clients, asking for deeper integration, improved scalability for managing product information and support for digital assets with cloud-based services. 

Profile Software, an international financial solutions provider, announced today that Wasatah Capital, a Saudi Arabia based investment company, selected the IMSplus Asset Management solution to effectively manage the full range of their fund and discretionary portfolio management operations.

Established in 2007, Wasatah Capital is a closed joint stock investment company regulated by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and authorized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

Sage today unveils Sage Payments – a revolutionary payments service that enables customers to manage and make domestic and international payments straight from their Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Payroll software.