The pre-Budget hype around pensions tax relief that turned into pre-Budget warnings not to expect anything radical made for an interesting couple of weeks. I won’t dwell on the already dissected detail; I’m more interested in the direction of travel and what it means for investors.

Full-service payment processing specialist, Quatrro Processing Services (Quatrro) has sealed a five-year business alliance to manage Forex Prepaid Card Processing with DCB Bank, a new generation private sector bank. Under the aegis of this alliance, Quatrro will drive DCB TravelSmart, the bank's Multi-Currency Forex Prepaid Card, by providing end-to-end technology and operations support.

Global data center solutions provider CyrusOne, Inc. has closed the previously announced acquisition of a suburban Chicago data center in Aurora, Ill., from 

APQC, the benchmarking, best practices, process, and performance management authority, has launched its cloud-based business process tool, MosaiQ™. Designed to simplify business process management for organizations of all sizes, MosaiQ enables users to measure, manage, and learn about their organization’s business processes and to quickly create, and even export, custom frameworks that scale and mature as their business evolves.

Orc Group Holding AB (under name change to, and hereafter referred to as Itiviti Group Holding AB) announced the completion of the combination with CameronTec Intressenter Top Holding AB. Orc and CameronTec on 2 February 2016 announced the establishment of the new combined company Itiviti. With the purpose of simplifying and aligning the structure and organization of the new Group, the legal structures are merged through the incorporation of CameronTec Intressenter Top Holding AB under Itiviti Group Holding AB.

The strategic partnership between fintech industry’s innovative KYC compliance service provider, iSignthis and the leading blockchain payments provider, Coinify ApS, delivers service commencement of a new global product connecting blockchain payments, KYC identity & credit cards.

Niu Solutions, the leading provider of IT consultancy and infrastructure services, today announced that it has been certified to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Niu Solutions was certified after the company completed and passed a rigorous process, which affirms Niu Solutions’ dedication to customer security and compliance.

Diebold unveils one of its newest mobile-driven banking concepts, along with an industry-leading security application from Cryptera, at Money 20/20 Europe.

A new report from GreySpark Partners explores the digital transformation that the wholesale investment banking business model is facing, and which resembles a real industrial revolution for the sector. The report “Digital Transformation of Investment Banking” examines the influence of regulations, buyside institutions, the competitive landscape and technology innovation in driving this revolution, which ultimately will cause banks to become more reliable manufacturers of financial products and services, adopting leaner and more efficient business models.

Auka to launch mobile payments in the UK and accross Europe.