It seems like that cryptocurrencies are the greatest craze of the last decade. When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the concept for the Bitcoin in 2009, many considered it an unrealistic concept. The skepticism that was spread around held many from making their first investment in Bitcoin. Things, however, are much more different now. In 2017, the popularity and value of this cryptocurrency literally skyrocketed.

The blockchain world is currently looking towards the European Commission (EC) as it takes prompt steps to embrace integration and implementation of trusted blockchain ecosystem. European countries such are Slovenia, Malta, Liechtenstein, France, and the Netherlands together with the European Blockchain Hub (EU BC HUB) are showcasing significant examples in the world on blockchain implementation, as well as demonstrating the key role of blockchain in realization of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The past year has been extremely eventful in terms of the digital threats faced by financial institutions: cybercrime groups have used new infiltration techniques, and the geography of attacks has become more extensive.

The CB Alerts portal, developed with Ethoca, allows ecommerce merchants to collaborate with card issuing banks in near-real-time to fight fraud, reduce chargebacks.

CB Alerts: Now Available

Monobank, Ukraine’s first digital-only bank, hit 600,000 customers early this month making it one of the fastest growing challenger banks in Europe. Launched in November 2017 and on track to reach profitability in 2019, the award-winning bank’s success is due to the founding team’s uncompromising focus on providing the best mobile banking experience for customers.

Global payments disruptor PaySend which now has over 350,000 customers across Europe and beyond has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Vietcombank Remittance Company (VCBR), which dominates all inbound money transfers in Vietnam. This partnership will let people from anywhere in the world send money directly to any bank account, NAPAS card, Visa or MasterCard issued in Vietnam. 

SMEs make up the vast majority of businesses across the UK and with many focused on rapid and dynamic expansion, they present mass growth opportunities for commercial banks. However, to really untap this potential and gain trust and creditability with small and medium-sized businesses, banks must begin to adapt their offering specifically for the SME marketplace to complement existing real-time spend programmes. Fortunately, there are several ways in which they can do this.

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, and JD Digits, a leading digital technology company in China with 400 million individual custo

The software solution for transaction routing and management of payment terminals network TransLink.iQ, developed by ASHBURN International, which is part of the Penki Kontinentai Group, received the gold medal of the annual Product of the Year competition. 

The rise of digital identities

The meshing of the physical and digital world will bring significant changes to how we think about our identities. In 2019 we’ll see a global shift towards digital identification systems, driven by banks, mobile operators, OEMs, service providers and governments.