Gazprom Neft has confirmed the digital transformation of its business as a priority area of focus, with the creation of a new “Digital Transformation Directorate”, to be headed by Andrei Belevtsev as Chief Digital Officer (CDO1 ).

The key objective of the Digital Transformation Directorate will be to create a single and inclusive system covering the company’s full digital strategy, directed at game-changing improvements to the operational efficiency of all business processes, as well as the development of the company’s own “smart services”.

 iProov, a leading provider of biometric facial verification technology, today announced it has become the first British – and indeed overseas – company to be awarded acontract from the US Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP).

The contract has been awarded to iProov to help US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) improve the passenger entry operation process. 

Today from FICO® World, analytics software firm FICO showcased the latest enhancements to FICO® Decision Management Suite (DMS) which leverages artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), advanced analytics, optimisation and decisioning to deliver better, more predictive business outcomes. New capabilities include:

Accuity, the leading provider of financial crime compliance, payments and counterparty know-your-customer (KYC) solutions, announced today that it has been recognised by Chartis Research as a category leader in theRiskTech Quadrant^® for watchlist monitoring solutions. The watchlist monitoring solutions category features in Chartis’ 2017 Financial Crime Risk Management update report.

The SmartStream Reference Data Utility (RDU), today announced the joining of Eric Bigelsen as Senior Vice President, Sales for the Americas. In his role, Eric will be leading the sales and business development efforts for The SmartStream Reference Data Utility (RDU) initiative for banks, broker/dealers, asset managers, hedge funds and trading companies.

Online lender Spotcap today opened the Fintech Fellowship to applicants. The programme offers an £8k award to a postgraduate student studying a fintech related course at a UK university. Applications will be open for four months and close on the 1  August 2018.

Vantiv, now Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP) announced today at ETA TRANSACT (Booth #410) it is adding the handheld PAX A920 to its line of SmartPay Series™ terminals. These devices feature a single software platform providing a common user experience for merchants. SmartPay terminals also use a flexible Android-based operating system with pre-loaded business application bundles specifically designed to best meet a merchant’s needs.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (the ‘OBIE’), the body created by the UK’s largest personal and small business current account providers to create a better way to move, manage and make more of your money, announces that regulated companies are now able to offer new Open Banking services to consumers and businesses.
Since launch on 13 January 2018, the OBIE has operated a ‘Managed Roll Out’ programme designed to prove that this critical new piece of UK financial infrastructure is ready for customers. *1

Avoka, the global leader in customer acquisition journeys in banking, today unveiled the findings of its 2018 State of Digital Sales in Banking Report. The report, now in its third year, compares the digital account opening capabilities of 50 of the largest banks in North America, Europe, and Australia, measuring both the breadth of their offerings and the quality of their customer experience.

InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, has announced FCI Advisors as the latest wealth manager to adopt its digital platform. FCI will use InvestCloud to digitize services and engagement for its high-net-worth and institutional clients.

FCI Advisors has been using InvestCloud’s document storage apps since 2014. The wealth manager has now added new functionality from InvestCloud to give clients the ability to interact with their wealth in more ways online. It allows them to monitor allocations, securities and transactions, and to review performance.