nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO), a pioneer in cloud banking and digital transformation solutions for the global financial services industry, today announced that Santander UK has garnered multiple industry awards in recognition of its digitisation efforts in partnership with nCino. With the nCino Bank Operating System, Santander UK has been able to provide its SME, corporate and commercial banking clients with a faster and more transparent onboarding experience, greater efficiencies and quicker lending decisions and fulfilment processes.

Most recently, Santander UK won The Banker’s Innovation in Digital Banking Award for Best FinTech Partnership. Earlier this year, Celent, a global financial services research and advisory firm, named Santander UK the winner of the Model Bank Award for Commercial Lending for delivering its customers a cutting-edge lending experience. The bank worked with nCino and other technology partners to replace 13 legacy systems and over 60 end-user computing systems with a cloud-based ecosystem, completely overhauling its SME, corporate and commercial banking units in a forward-looking transformation project that helps it meet rapidly changing customer expectations.

“The Celent Model Bank Awards recognise how banks are using technology to change the face of banking,” said Patricia Hines, CTP and head of corporate banking at Celent. “These banks should serve as an inspiration to others looking for strong examples of best practice implementations that will have a truly meaningful impact on business results and the industry overall. The entry from Santander UK clearly demonstrated this.”

“We are pleased to be the recipient of these awards for our commercial lending efforts in partnership with nCino,” said Jonathan Holman, head of digital transformation at Santander UK. “With nCino’s digital platform, we’ve been able to streamline processes and decrease some cycle times by more than half as a result of automation, increased transparency in onboarding and lending workflows. This is something that has been particularly important recently as we help our customers navigate the COVID-19 crisis. We’re very proud of the improvements we’ve been able to make to both the employee and customer experience as a result of this project and how it has allowed us to focus on being a great bank for our customers, colleagues and shareholders.”

With nCino, Santander UK has been able to consolidate massive amounts of data and auto-populate fields, leading to a dramatic increase in efficiency in its lending processes. Other benefits to Santander UK of the collaboration include:

• Workflow automation and the elimination of data rekeying, reducing processing and some cycle times by more than 50%;
• Up to 10% increase in front-office capacity to focus on value-add analysis and customer relationships;
• A holistic view of the customer across business units;
• Improved portfolio management;
• Powerful insight into forecasts and risk via the nCino Bank Operating System’s financial spreading functionality, freeing up approximately 14% of credit risk officers’ involvement over the average work week; and
• The extraction of data from financial statements using nCino’s artificial intelligence feature, nIQ, saving the bank both time and money.

“Our heartfelt congratulations go to the entire Santander UK team for receiving these esteemed awards,” said Pullen Daniel, EVP and managing director – international at nCino. “We’re excited to be part of the bank’s digital transformation journey and look forward to continuing to help them meet and exceed customer needs and expectations as the market continues to evolve.” 

New data published today from open banking platform Tink reveals that UK financial institutions are continuing to recognise the competitive advantage of open banking, going beyond compliance and prioritising investments in improving the digital customer experience. 

According to previous research from Tink, UK financial institutions are spending more in open banking than in any other European country. Almost half (47%) of UK financial institutions are spending between €1 million to €49.9 million on open banking, while 33% are spending over €100 million. Tink’s latest report examines this spend and demonstrates that UK financial institutions are prioritising investment in use cases that help to meet customer expectations, as well as complying with regulations. 

Going beyond compliance

Tink’s data shows that the motivation to invest in one use case over another largely depends on both the nature of the business and exposure to regulations. 

The UK has the highest “know your customer”(KYC) focus in Europe, 20% higher than the EU average, with 60% of financial institutions investing in these use cases, that are seen as invaluable to streamlining the compliance and the customer experience process. 

The UK’s second top investment area is financial management services (53%), again, significantly higher than the European average (36%), providing further evidence that UK institutions are going beyond compliance and investing in optimising digital customer experiences. This is followed by digital identity services (47%), one of the legal strong customer authentication requirements set by PDS2 that large organisations with over 1,000 employees primarily focus on. 

Rafael Plantier, UK & Ireland Country Manager at Tink, said: “It’s encouraging to see that many UK financial institutions are continuing to realise the benefits of open banking and investing in use cases that look past compliance. Our latest data shows that most financial institutions in the UK are taking advantage of the accelerated shift to digital banking caused by Coronavirus, prioritising investment in customer-first use cases to facilitate better customer experience.

“To keep pace with the competition, UK institutions must remain nimble and continue to utilise open banking use cases to find ways to bring more value to customers. For example, institutions can invest in improving personal financial management services, or explore cross-industry opportunities between financial services and retail, manufacturing, healthcare and government.

“Executives must also continue to think ahead, identifying areas of the business that need investment by evaluating complexity, impact and urgency for open banking in each industry segment. Most of the time, the areas where challengers are taking market share are the immediate areas to invest in.”

 The full report can be seen here.

Nuapay, powered by Sentenial, today announces it has been chosen by Gala Technology, a payment security solution specialist, to provide Open Banking payments to its partner network and direct merchants across multiple sectors including retail, hospitality, and financial services.

Gala Technology’s multi-award winning SOTpay ‘Pay-by-link’ solution simplifies PCI DSS requirements and protects merchants against the ever-growing risk of fraud by ensuring that the transactions are authenticated, shifting liability and often lowering acquiring processing costs. SOTpay's integration with Nuapay’s Open Banking platform now enables them to process non-card payments.

Nuapay’s FCA-licenced Open Banking payments service enables Gala Technology’s partners and merchants to accept payments via any sales channel of choice, including telephone, web chat, SMS and social media. It can do this without requesting sensitive card data, which ensures SCA compliance and eliminates fraudulent chargebacks.

“The capabilities of Open Banking have become more apparent in 2020 as merchants have been forced to explore alternative contactless, mobile and ecom-friendly payment methods that can be accessed quickly and are lower in processing costs, due to a need to respond to change brought by Covid-19,” shares Nick Raper, Head of UK at Nuapay. “We’re thrilled to be working with Gala Technology, as we  have a shared drive to eradicate payment fraud. This partnership will help to increase widespread adoption of live bank transfer payments as SOTPay gives us an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate Open Banking payments’ usability and benefits to new audiences.”

Nuapay is one of the only PISPs which offers a fully inclusive open banking payment initiation, webhook notification and payment account solution; which quickens checkouts, speed-up access to cash flow, reduces processing costs, and enables full reconciliation and batch settlements of transactions. Gala Technology’s customers now have access to new payment innovation and will be able to perform refunds or make instant payouts.

Steven Jones, Commercial Director at Gala Technology, said: “We chose to work with Nuapay as their complete Account-2-Account payments capabilities and high customer service levels are unparalleled. Looking forward, Nuapay’s presence within the UK and Europe will greatly help us reach new clients and will extend our service offerings to existing clients too. Nuapay’s Open Banking payments solutions help us to provide a better service; in turn, the time, money and resources our customers save will enable them to focus on growing their businesses in a more profitable way.”

Nuapay’s PISP processor has a single connection to all major banks in the UK and a growing number of connections across Europe, ensuring that Gala Technology’s clients’ payments will be supported, no matter where their customers bank.

Wolters Kluwer has been selected by livi bank for its award winning OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting solution to manage the bank’s regulatory reporting obligations. livi is a new virtual bank in Hong Kong and has recently launched its virtual banking app to Hong Kong customers. The bank is backed by Bank of China Hong Kong (Holdings), Jingdong Digits Technology and the Jardine Matheson Group.

OneSumX for Regulatory Reporting combines bank data into a single source of data to ensure consistency, reconciliation and accuracy, and includes Wolters Kluwer’s Regulatory Update Service. This unique service is maintained by Wolters Kluwer experts who actively monitor regulations in 30 countries.

“livi bank offers an easy, rewarding and lifestyle-driven banking experience, delivered through our simple and stylish mobile app. With the goal to foster fintech innovation, promote financial inclusion and enhance customer experiences, livi brings a unique, brand-new and different banking experience to Hong Kong,” said Chris Ng, Senior Manager, Regulatory Reporting of livi bank. “To help ensure we meet all important regulatory reporting obligations, we sought out the services of a company with regulatory reporting prowess and technological expertise. Wolters Kluwer, with its award winning integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions, was an attractive option.”

“We are delighted to be working with livi bank as it commences its operations to provide its innovative banking offering,” commented Rainer Fuchsluger, Managing Director of Wolters Kluwer Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting (FRR) business for APAC. “We look forward to working with the bank, and our growing number of virtual banking clients across the region, as they embark on their banking journey with our OneSumX solution.”

Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance division, is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors.

Wolters Kluwer FRR receives frequent independent recognition of its excellence and innovation, celebrating a record year for award wins in 2019. Risk magazine recently awarded the company its coveted Regulatory Reporting System of The Year Award for the third year running and Wolters Kluwer FRR is the #1 provider in both Regulatory Reporting and Liquidity Risk according to the RiskTech100, as compiled by Chartis Research.

Ideal Prediction (Ideal), the independent trading analysis and data science company for capital markets, has won the FX Markets award for ‘Best Surveillance Provider’ for the second consecutive year.

“We are delighted that FX Markets once again recognized Ideal’s Scope analytics,” said John Crouch, CEO of Ideal Prediction. “Our clients’ feedback and team’s inventions created an essential service that helps evidence adherence to best trading practices, including regulations like Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and standards like the FICC Market Standards Board (FMSB), in addition to the FX Global Code (FXGC).”

He added: “Our clients state that Ideal is the only firm codifying principles-based documents across FICC markets. That translation enables us to create unique, structured analytics.”

Ideal partners with banks and regulators, codifying principles and independently analyzing raw transaction data. Trading firms, ECNs, and technology vendors use the analytics to generate evidence and immediately resolve issues as they arise. Users include managers subject to SM&CR, traders, and first line of defense supervisors - all are keen to mitigate evolving risks. 

Now in its 18^th year, the FX Markets e-FX Awards recognize the dedication, skill and creativity of market participants as they navigate the evolving world of electronic FX trading. Winners are selected by a panel of industry judges and senior editors.

Quorsus, providers of consultancy services to financial institutions, has announced the appointment of former Markit executive, Jeff Gooch as its first non-executive director. In this position, having joined in September, Jeff will provide strategic insight into business planning, financial governance, and management decision making.

Simon Rees-Goddard, Chief Friend Maker and Co-Founder, Quorsus, said: “Despite these strange times, we have seen huge demand for our services in post trade operations and technology expertise since we began operating at the start of the year. Jeff has a wealth of knowledge from his senior management positions at world-renowned, blue chip companies, and we feel privileged that we can tap into his extensive experience and knowledge. His independent and objective perspective will undoubtedly help propel us on our upward trajectory.”

AxiomSL,  the industry’s leading provider of risk and regulatory reporting solutions, today announces that VP Bank, one of the largest banks in Liechtenstein,  has selected AxiomSL’s ControllerView® data integrity and control platform, as a foundation for its risk and regulatory compliance across Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore and Switzerland, - encompassing financial and statistical reporting such as CSSF,  FINMA, AnaCredit for EBA, MAS 610 for Singapore, and CRR2- and BCBS-driven requirements including ICAAP and ILAAP for FMA.
 
The high-performance, fully integrated, data-driven platform will enable VP Bank to manage an array of risk and regulatory mandates on a single platform, with full transparency across all processes from ingestion, calculation, reconciliation, and validation to submission. VP Bank will use the platform strategically to further data harmonization, streamline processes, enhance automation, bolster internal controls, and strengthen risk and regulatory reporting across the enterprise.
 
“Selecting AxiomSL will enhance the value of our investment in regulatory technology, optimize efficiency, and deliver business insights,” stated Robert Kilga, Head of Group Financial Management & Reporting, VP Bank. “With AxiomSL’s single platform, we can ingest data in its native format from multiple sources thus creating synergies between capital, liquidity, and other business functions enterprise-wide,” he continued. “AxiomSL’s system provides intuitive, hands-on transparency into all processes from inception to filing, enhancing our confidence in the data integrity and auditability of our reporting, and enabling us to meet ever-changing regulatory requirements”.
 
“We are thrilled that VP Bank, such a well-respected institution, has joined our esteemed user community in the DACH region and globally,” said Claudia Thurner, EMEA General Manager, AxiomSL. “In these times of global uncertainty, complying with a wide range of regulatory and risk requirements across jurisdictions is more complex, data intensive, and time sensitive than ever. Financial institutions require a reliable technology partner who can provide global coverage while understanding the intricacies of local and regional regulatory demands,” Thurner continued. “Our industry and technical expertise will enable VP Bank to streamline their processes, scale faster, and adapt swiftly and confidently to change. We look forward to a strong and strategic collaboration with VP Bank in support of their vision and growth journey”.
 
With the upcoming Basel IV-driven expansion, financial institutions like VP Bank are faced with the next generation of capital requirements that can easily overwhelm systems if they lack the data transparency, proper methodologies and controls to perform calculations accurately across all risk types. These calculations may have a profound effect on the banks’ portfolio management and even the entire business model.
 
To address these challenges, AxiomSL’s Basel Capital Solution incorporates a flexible data dictionary architecture, seamless calculation updates, full drilldown to data and processes, transparency into model calculations, and dynamic data lineage. In addition, AxiomSL’s regulatory experts provide VP Bank with a highly efficient change-management mechanism that enables them to be current with all Basel-driven changes.

Hakbah, an alternative financial saving platform based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today announced that it has joined Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program. Through the Fast Track program, Hakbah is now able to expand its innovation around alternative financial savings to accelerate financial inclusion, cashless adoption, and launch new services and products for underbanked individuals supported by Visa’s solutions.

As an alternative financial saving company, Hakbah will enable users to create a Savings Group within a few minutes and make the hassle-free experience and digital payment between members.

By joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program, Hakbah now has the ability to access Visa’s growing partner network, and experts who can provide guidance in helping them get up and running in the most efficient way possible. Learn more about Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program at https://Partner.Visa.com.

“We are delighted to strengthen relationship with Visa by joining their Fintech Fast Track program which will allow Hakbah to more easily leverage the reach, capabilities, and security of VisaNet, the world's largest digital payments network. Savings Groups continue to play a significant role in increasing financial inclusion and financial literacy given the global market size reaches USD 500 billion annually. Our mission is to modernizing financial saving via our intelligent platform and mobile application to encourage our clients for more and better saving and spending experience,” said Naif AbuSaida, Founder of Hakbah.

“By joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program, financial platforms like Hakbah gain unprecedented access to Visa experts, technology, and resources,” said Otto Williams, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, Fintech and Ventures, CEMEA at Visa. “Fast Track lets us provide new resources that rapidly growing companies need to scale with efficiency. We’re delighted to welcome Hakbah into our program and look forward to supporting their mission to modernize financial saving habits that will help promote financial inclusion in the MENA region.”

Refinitiv today announced a strategic agreement with Trading Central for the provision of Reuters digital news and Refinitiv analytics capabilities to disruptive news portal, TC Market Buzz. 

TC Market Buzz is a news curation application for Wealth Management firms helping to modernize and differentiate digital investor portals by tackling information overload and focusing on the delivery of a consolidated view of news trends beyond the noise. 

The addition of Reuters news to power TC Market Buzz provides retail traders and investors with the information to make informed decisions. TC Market Buzz will offer flexible combinations of applications and components to help investors access a holistic view of securities’ performance such as fundamental, economic, technical and sentiment analytics. 

Refinitiv’s news and analytics capabilities will be delivered via Refinitiv Knowledge Direct API, a scalable and seamless digital delivery platform that provides access to cross-asset content, news and insights. 

Olly Stevens, SVP Product Director at Gain Capital Group, LLC, said: “Our clients want to see what is being talked about in the market and read the best quality content that is driving those conversations. Combining Refinitiv’s news products with Trading Central’s Market Buzz tool was an obvious solution for us.”

Joe Mrak, Global Head of Wealth Management at Refinitiv, said: “We’re pleased to be able to serve the Wealth Management industry’s need for reliable and consolidated news and analytics. TC Market Buzz’s innovative natural language algorithms cut through all of the news clutter and provide great insight for investors looking to keep abreast of critical market drivers in a digestible and easily accessed format. Our agreement with Trading Central will facilitate that.” 

Jerome Favresse, Managing Director at Trading Central Labs, said: "Through the power of Artificial Intelligence, TC Market Buzz helps traders read less but know more. With the addition of Reuters news via Refinitiv Knowledge Direct API, we will be able to meet the demands of our highly sophisticated global customers, for example surfacing user-relevant and fact-checked stories on buzzing topics, in all the languages we cover”. 

Refinitiv has a rich history of servicing the Wealth Management industry from front to back office. Over the last year, the firm has invested heavily in the business and is committed to bringing the most advanced solutions to the market. The ongoing transformation includes building out the firm’s solutions through strategic acquisitions (Scivantage) and partnerships, including: SigFig, MarketPsych, Appway, StoneCastle and Sberbank to add Digital Advice Technology, MarketPsych Indices, Automated and Customized Advisory and End-Client Workflows, and Enhanced Cash Management Solutions to clearing and self-clearing broker-dealer clients. 

To learn more about Refinitiv Knowledge Direct, visit: https://www.refinitiv.com/en/products/knowledge-direct-api-integration

UK banks achieved the biggest reduction in card fraud losses last year among 18 countries across Europe, according to the updated FICO European Fraud Map. More than half of the countries saw increases in card fraud losses in 2019 according to the report, based on data from Euromonitor International and UK Finance.

“Following a frustrating increase in 2018 — largely caused by an explosion of data compromise ‘bust out’ events — much of Europe has once again turned the tide on fraudsters, achieving a combined 2% overall reduction,” said Toby Carlin, director of fraud consulting in EMEA at FICO. “British consumers should be reassured that the United Kingdom achieved the largest single reduction in fraud at 8%. This is a testament to the anti-fraud activities and investments by UK banks, which reduced fraud losses in 2019 by £52 million – that’s a million pounds every week.”

2019 was a strong year for many European countries in reducing basis point fraud losses (a ratio of fraud losses to card sales), against the backdrop of increased transactional volume and value in 2019. But there were also some worrying increases. Most notably, France and Italy saw the largest value increases, and were together responsible for 71% of the monetary loss increases across the 18 countries studied.

“2020 has been a challenging environment for all, with COVID-19 having significant impacts on the transaction mix and threat,” added Carlin. “This has exposed many frameworks that were already pressured, with fraudsters now attempting to make up for lost time with increased volume and ferocity of their attacks. While our Fraud Map focuses on plastics fraud and, in particular, card-not-present fraud, this is just part of the story. The biggest threat today comes from digital fraud and scams which continue to increase exponentially across all markets.”

FICO partners with the majority of banks in Europe to support their fraud prevention activities, primarily with its FICO® Falcon® Platform, which protects more than 2.6 billion payment cards worldwide. Several UK banks have been the first to trial FICO® Falcon® Compromise Manager, which is designed to flag fraud attacks and data compromise significantly earlier to minimise losses and better protect customers, facilitating even greater collaboration between the banks. FICO was named a Category Leader in the Financial Crime Risk Management Systems: Enterprise Fraud: Market Update and Vendor Landscape, 2019 from Chartis.

For more information visit www.fico.com/europeanfraud.