AFEX, one of the world's largest non-bank providers of global payment and risk management solutions, has partnered with Ascent Software, to enhance its award-winning straight-through processing pre-payment and post-payment software, Trident Connect.

According to Megan Butler, a Director at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), financial services firms and banks in the UK are not reporting successful cyber-attacks.

It is a known fact that technology and interconnectivity  have let to a vast explosion in the data available to organization’s of today. In recent years, the paradigm is shifting in favour of data-driven decision making versus instinctive judgement calls.

DueDil, the company information platform, announces that it is joining forces with Credit Data Research, market leader in credit behavioural analysis, to boost access to business finance.

The two firms - both participants of the Nesta’s Open Up Challenge – have established a joint initiative to boost the level of information available about private companies and tear down barriers in business lending decisions. 

An overwhelming 95% of retailers believe that payment-over-time solutions are either important or very important to delivering future digital innovation in the retail industry, with 42% saying the latter, according to the latest research from Econocom UK, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions. Furthermore, 99% of all retailers said that a payment-over-time model would make it easier for them to achieve their digital transformation goals.  

Digital Debit Group (DDG), a division of Qondado LLC, announces the release of the Digital Debit® mobile Bitcoin payments app. The company's utilization of the Coinbase API system with the Digital Debit® QR platform delivers the first global off-blockchain P2P mobile payments ecosystem for the growing Bitcoin user base and provides the added benefit of tokenized QR transaction codes for real-time, account-to-account transactions. 

1. Payment Services Directive (PSD2) Finally Goes Live

“It has has been a long road to PSD2, given that it was approved in November 2015 by the Council of the European Union. However, it will finally be coming into force in January 2018 and that means that banks must open up their customer data to third parties on request - whether these third parties are their direct competitors, challenger banks or nascent fintech startups.”

I have read quite a lot on Open Banking over the last couple of years, what it means to the industry, the players and more importantly the consumer. The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is required to be implemented in the UK by 13 January 2018.

This will definitely change the banking experience, bringing with it more competition and innovation in the sector, and a host of benefits for the consumer.

As of today, retail clients in Germany can use Prospery, a new digital platform that provides a comprehensive view of their current and potential assets, actively manages their investments and offers remote personal coaching at a fixed fee. 

The world is now closer and more connected than ever. Yet we still have a desire for the physical—items that you can hold and call your own.