Euroclear and itBit, a financial services company delivering blockchain services for capital markets, today announced their collaboration to explore opportunities in creating a next generation settlement service for the London gold market.

GMC Software, a leader in customer communications management, announced today that it was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in its report, The Forrester Wave^TM: Customer Commu

Axiom, a leading provider of technology-enabled legal and contracting services, has secured instruction from six global banks, including two bulge bracket houses, to repaper their derivatives trading portfolio in line with new requirements.

Intel and Samsung today announced the formation of the National IoT Strategy Dialogue, an initiative to convene like-minded industry partners and organizations to collaboratively develop strategic recommendations for U.S. policy makers on the Internet of Things (IoT). The initiative, to be managed by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), will convene ITI’s member companies as well as other industry stakeholders.

 First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FBNC) the parent company of First Bank, announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which First Bancorp will acquire Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBH) the parent company of Carolina Bank, in a cash and stock transaction with a total current value of approximately $97.3 million, or $19.26 per share.  

Following on from “Person to Person” (P2P) payments, Jiffy - the service developed by SIA to send and receive cash in real time from a smartphone – comes to stores.

The pilot phase of the “Person to Business” (P2B) project has in fact begun in the cities of Milan and Bergamo, allowing customers to pay via app at participating retail outlets authorized by UBI Banca.

Other major Italian banks have expressed interest in offering the service by next autumn.

OT (Oberthur Technologies), a leading global provider of embedded security software products and services, today announced its partnership with STET, the retail payment operator for French and European markets, and Cartes Bancaires CB Group (GIE-CB), the regulatory body for the payment card system to roll out mobile payment services in France.

ASX Limited (ASX) today announced that it has selected US-based firm Digital Asset Holdings, LLC (Digital Asset) to develop solutions for the Australian market utilising Distributed Ledger Technology.

Wirecard and Verifone Partner to Bring Complementary Payment Services and Solutions to Fast-Growing Indonesian Market Agreement combines Wirecard software on Verifone devices PT Prima Vista Solusi, Wirecard subsidiary, to collaborate with Verifone in Indonesia

I’ve made a number of comments about peer to peer (P2P) lending over the last few years which might suggest that I am fundamentally opposed to this type of activity. However, that’s not correct – I am delighted that people are trying to fill the gap left by the banks who seem supremely uninterested in supporting British businesses.