The global adoption of smartphones and mobile internet paved the way for a  universal mobile payment ecosystem coexisting alongside established ‘offline’ technologies such as  physical credit cards. According to a report by GSMA, the number of registered mobile payment accounts  grew by 12.7 percent globally to 1.21 billion accounts in 2020, and exceeding, for the first time, a daily  transaction volume of over USD 2bn. The report expects the USD 3bn mark to be surpassed by 2022.

Ian McKenna, founder of AdviserSoftware.com and the Financial Technology Research Centre, comments on M&G’s appointment of Ignition Wealth to develop a new hybrid advice proposition: “This morning‘s announcement about M&G committing to a hybrid digital advice proposition is a significant win, not just for the two organisations, but for the whole digital advice, advice tech and fintech sector. M&G are the company that used to be known as Prudential, one of the most emblematic brands in UK personal finance.

Online shopping has exploded in the past decade. In 2015, e-commerce accounted for 7.4 per cent of global retail sales. In 2020, this had grown to 18 per cent with projections of a rise to 21.8 per cent by 2024. This is good news for businesses, as online platforms are allowing them to reach new customers and drive more sales.

Analysts of the European P2P investment  platform Robo.cash claim that more than 60% of all visits on selected Nordic P2P lending websites are local. At the same time, most of the developed Western European countries show an equal distribution of domestic and foreign demand.

Three quarters (76%) of compliance professionals in the accounting sector expect to see more anti-money laundering (AML) regulation as a result of the UK’s exit from the European Union, according to new research released today by LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, the global data and analytics provider.

Highlights

Neobank Zopa has outlined its approach to defining the future of work. With some organisations declaring an end to office-based working and others retrenching to the ‘known’ model by asking staff to return, Zopa is applying a test and learn approach for the rest of 2021. The neobank which has around 450 staff, has announced its trial to staff in order to work collaboratively with them to define ways of working in the post-Covid future.

Avaloq has won the prestigious Transaction Processing Solution category at The Ninth Annual WealthBriefing European Awards 2021. The firm was also highly recommended in the Innovative Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) category.