An interplay of factors – competition from non-traditional players, constant margin pressure and the ongoing shift to digital consumerism and omni-channel commerce -- is having a significant impact on the merchant acquiring business. Merchants, increasingly, are partnering with acquirers, who can manage the complete payment process and better navigate the omni-channel payment landscape. Established acquirers need to engage with merchants in innovative ways. Effective service management is now the key to sustain growth and capture new opportunities.

Copytrack, the blockchain powered copyright registry and enforcement platform is preparing the enter the second round of the crowdsale as the highly successful token presale comes to an end. The Copytrack ICO is set to go live on January 10, 2018.  

The SWIFT Institute launches third annual student challenge focusing on data protection. 

Cardano Foundation, IOHK and Emurgo, the three partners behind leading blockchain Cardano, today announce that ADA, Cardano’s cryptocurrency, is now tradeable on BitMEX, the cryptocurrency leveraged trading platform.

 Finastra today announced the appointment of Pedro Porfirio to lead global field and customer engagement with capital markets customers and prospects. Based in London, Pedro will drive the growth of the company’s entire capital markets business line spanning treasury, capital markets, and investment management.

The 5th Edition of the 3 day International Trade fair and conference on banking technology, equipment and services, IBEX India concluded successfully on the 21st of January 2017. The 3 day event witnessed strong industry attendance & played host to 3552 bankers and banking industry professionals, a 60% increase over its previous edition in 2015. IBEX India 2017 held at the MMRDA Grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex from 19 to 21 January, was inaugurated by Mr. Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, DMD & CIO of State Bank of India. 

ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, today announced an extended partnership with Klarna, leveraging ACI’s UP eCommerce Payments solution. This will enable online businesses in 10 major markets, including the U.S.

Banks and law firms have one thing in common these days – cyber fraudsters see their emails as the perfect way to get at clients and supply chain partners.  

Take, for example, the attack on a London law firm before Christmas in which criminals sent out 1,600 highly convincing decoy emails to the company’s clients, asking them to click on an “urgent” attachment. The hackers were intent on fraud and had gained access to the server of the London firm Anthony Gold Solicitors so they could send out malicious email attachments in an attempt to uncover clients’ log-in details.

By the time the next edition of Financial IT is published, in early 2018, the revised Payments Services Directive (PSD2) and enhanced Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) will be in force across the European Union (EU). By the end of May 2018, banks that are operating in the EU will also have to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Dash, the top digital currency for payments, today announced a partnership with Bitnovo, the Spanish cryptocurrency payment platform, allowing consumers to purchase Dash in over 10,000 retailers throughout Spain.