Transformative innovations in technology can drastically drive presence and scale when offering financial services, opening doors to the unbanked and underbanked populations. The tremendous role that digital financial services (DFS) can play for financial inclusion is well welcome around the globe and regulators have continuously sought to unlock this potential by creating evolving enabling environments.

Failings in the way the Cabinet Office established its current cyber security programme mean that the government does not know whether it will meet the programme’s goals and raises questions about its plans to tackle cyber-attacks after 2021, according to today’s report by the National Audit Office (NAO). 

From day-to-day operations, to the very relationship between insurers and policy-holders, it is no exaggeration to say that connected insurance represents the biggest potential for transformation that insurance has witnessed since the invention of the computer. See, for example, the ability of an insurance carrier to react to live data, in real time, and prevent a loss from occurring. From simply mitigating the effects of a loss, they now become partners in risk-prevention.

New research commissioned by global technology services provider Claranet has found that 88 per cent of UK businesses have either adopted a DevOps approach or plan to adopt one in the next couple of years. Despite this, fewer than one in five (19 per cent) are fully confident in their ability to integrate security into this philosophy – also known as DevSecOps.

It is no secret that banks invest hundreds of millions of euros in the development of their technical infrastructure annually. At the same time, the cost of key software solutions often becomes the stopping factor for innovation.

Up and away – iCore now launches iCore Cloud Services, integration in the cloud which lets companies save time and connect cloud-based systems directly to each other.

The rise of cloud-based systems and services make the step to integration in the cloud logical. It’s the next big thing in the system integration market, says Håkan Holm, CTO at iCore Solutions.

• The new agreement will enable UK retailers to accept Alipay payments in-store, and connect with Chinese tourists before they travel to the UK
• Chinese tourists represent an important growth opportunity for British retailers, and are expected to spend more than £1 billion this year
• Alipay users will benefit from a more convenient and familiar in-store payments experience, while merchants will benefit from increased brand awareness and consideration

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today published a white paper that outlines function-based guiding principles for regulators and market participants for the post-trade processing of tokenized securities. The market for trading crypto assets that are security tokens where the post-trade processing uses distributed ledger technology (DLT), has created a need for safety, security and reliability around these transactions to protect market stability.