TruNarrative are proud to announce their latest partnership with the UK’s first bank built exclusively for mobile and tablet, Atom bank plc, to provide an AML transaction monitoring and financial crime customer screening and monitoring solution.

The Durham-based bank offers Fixed Saver accounts, secured business lending for SMEs and residential mortgages. Atom’s commitment to innovation, disruption and providing a safe environment for customers has been core to their growth and ensures they remain a genuine alternative to established banks in the UK.

Atom’s desire to evolve current capabilities and work with TruNarrative represents their focus on innovation and demonstrates an understanding that legacy and traditional services limit their disruptive capability and competitive advantage.

Regulatory changes and the digital nature of contemporary business, combined with fast evolving criminal threats, means regulated entities must be proactive in their adoption of technology and in designing process that will absolutely solve these modern day challenges.

Legacy solutions and processes will not always provide the flexibility, agility and innovation required to cope with these demands. Innovation and rapid implementation are key focuses for the Atom and TruNarrative partnership.

Atom’s overarching criteria for selecting a real-time AML transaction monitoring and a financial crime (adverse media, PEP & Sanctions) customer screening solution, was for a platform which would support future products and safeguard against emerging risks in the market.

The key priorities included:

·       A single solution to avoid decision and operational issues with silos

·       It must be real-time, both in decisions and in ability to make changes

·       It must be able to reduce and manage false positives effectively

·       It must be reliable and prove the ability to scale 

In addition, during the selection process, Atom identified further justification for choosing TruNarrative, including:

•     Clear focus on disrupting the industry and focusing on leveraging technology (aligned with our ethos)

•     Powerful system – layering rules across multiple service providers

•     Good configurability levels, providing the user with clear capability to undertake critical actions without support

•     Provides a clear path to reduce false positive rates

•     Clear track record of financial crime prevention in financial services

“Atom bank represent a fantastic strategic partner for TruNarrative. It’s proof our innovation and accuracy in building next generation financial crime tools is ahead of the game.

We are looking forward to working with them for years to come, protecting their customers and accelerating their growth.”

– John Lord, CEO at TruNarrative

“In selecting a partner for financial crime prevention there were three key focus areas: innovation, configurability and capability.

TruNarrative demonstrated a passion for innovative financial crime prevention methods and are clearly driven by challenging legacy systems and issues in the industry.

They provide excellent levels of configurability and flexibility in their platform, allowing Atom to respond quickly to AML/CTF threats in a controlled way.

It is clear that TruNarrative have already established a track record of improving financial crime prevention capabilities in their platform and their collaborative approach will add real value to our solution “

– Helen Hassen, Head of Financial Crime at Atom bank  

Taking blockchain mainstream, Blockchain Live is back and will be returning to London Olympia on 25^th September as a festival of blockchain education. A one-day event, packed with engaging, thought-provoking and quality content, this year Blockchain Live will be moving away from the traditional exhibition model, in to a ground-breaking festival of content and collaboration.

This festival of education will not only be inclusive for everyone, as well as enable exhibitors and sponsors to network with a more targeted, tailored audience but introduces all new content stages, immersive education features and unique networking concepts.

Unlike a lot of other blockchain events, Blockchain Live does not dilute its content with co-located technology shows, or overly crypto-focused content. Instead Blockchain Live focuses solely on the business potential of blockchain & DLT, encouraging grown-up conversations and debate on the topic of blockchain technology, whilst cutting through the hype and challenging the critics to educate, upskill and drive long-term thinking on the strategic benefit for businesses, governments and society.

The festivalisation of the event will deliver an open plan educational and networking environment, allowing for more hands-on learning, meaningful discussion and face-to-face meetings between attendees, exhibitors and sponsors, driving an honest discussion on the challenges and benefits associated with the technology’s adoption.

Industry experts are now joining the speaker line-up including blockchain expert, author and co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), Don Tapscott and Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Margot James MP. BRI have partnered with Blockchain Live to bring a syllabus of global expertise and business insight to the UK, whilst further-cementing Blockchain Live as a leading authority on blockchain for business.

Don Tapscott, who will be delivering a keynote address on the Headliner’s Stage, said: “Blockchain technology is fundamentally transforming the way business, governments, and individuals interact with one another. Understanding blockchain technology is crucial to succeeding in the next era of digital disruption and Blockchain Live, the festival of education, is paving the way to help businesses move beyond proof of concept to real-world solutions.”

Sponsors, exhibitors and speakers will showcase the many benefits and capabilities of taking blockchain mainstream with five feature stages, hosting market-leading quality content from the forefront of industry and blockchain innovation: Blockchain Live Headliner’s Stage, Tech Connect Stage, Future Finance Stage, GovChain Stage and Crypto Impact Stage.

Blockchain live also introduces four immersive education features including the Developers Den, Blockchain in Action, Training Studio and Solutions Showcase. Furthermore, the event will have several new features including live debates, expert seminars, connections zone and live bar.

With more speakers and exhibitors to be announced in the coming weeks, Blockchain Live are spearheading the conversation on mass blockchain adoption through bringing the whole blockchain ecosystem together under one roof.

James Samuel, Portfolio Director at Blockchain Live said: “Blockchain Live is very excited to be back once again in London - the hub for frontier technologies, enterprise, investors and industry. We have purposely designed this year’s event to centre around a festival of content theme and the team have been exceptionally busy to provide this content in a variety of opportunities. Be it from our sponsors, exhibitors and speakers featuring across our five feature stages or our immersive educational features, it is safe to say Blockchain Live is going to be an action packed networking and content filled experience.

Blockchain Live will take place on Wednesday 25^th September at London Olympia, with doors opening at 9am. More thought leaders and speakers will be announced over the coming weeks in the run up to the event.

Tickets for Blockchain Live 2019 will be available in the coming weeks.

To sponsor Blockchain Live please visit: https://blockchainlive.com/sponsor/

To register your interest and visit Blockchain Live. Register and you will be notified when registration is open.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced (9 May 2019) that the Monetary Authority has granted banking licences under the Banking Ordinance to Ant SME Services (Hong Kong) Limited, Infinium Limited, Insight Fintech HK Limited and Ping An OneConnect Company Limited for them to operate in the form of a virtual bank. The granting of these banking licences takes effect today. According to their business plans, these four newly licenced virtual banks intend to launch their services in around 6 to 9 months.

Mr Norman Chan, Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, “We are pleased to grant four more virtual banking licences today. The HKMA is now working closely with the 8 virtual bank licensees to prepare for the launch of their business operations in accordance with their plans.”

“The launch of virtual banks in Hong Kong, which is a key component of the Smart Banking Initiatives, will certainly facilitate financial innovation, enhanced customer experience and financial inclusion,” he said.

The HKMA will closely monitor the operations of virtual banks after they have commenced business, including customers’ reactions to the new modes of delivery of financial services as well as the impact, if any, of these virtual banks on the banking sector in general. The HKMA expects to be able to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the situation about one year after the first virtual bank has launched its service.

After the granting of the above banking licences, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong increases to 160.

London based FinTech, Flagstone, developer of the UK’s largest cash deposit platform which provides clients with access to over 550 deposit accounts from 30 banks through asingle application, has raised

£11m in growth capital from investors including Kindred Capital, Moneysupermarket Group plc, VentureFounders and a number of private individual investors.

Flagstone was founded in 2013 and has grown rapidly to become the leader in the UK cash deposit platform market having transmitted more than £3bn in deposits since 2015. The business provides individuals, their wealth managers, SME corporates and charities with access to more than 550 deposit accounts, many with market leading or exclusive interest rates, from 30 banks including high street names such as HSBC and Santander as well as a host of challenger banks, enabling clients to increase theirinterest income and manage their risk through diversification and greater use of FSCS protection.

Flagstone is already the exclusive cash deposit platform for clients of St. James’s Place, Quilter Cheviot, Tilney Group and many other leading wealth management firms.

Simon Merchant, Co‐Founder and Co‐Managing Partner of Flagstone, said:

“With £11m of growth capital we are now well‐positioned to expand our business and provide more clients with a simple way to maximise the interest income on their cash andat the same time become an increasingly valuable funding partner to our banks.”

Path Solutions, a global provider of technology solutions, consulting, and outsourcing services to the Islamic finance industry, has signed a partnership agreement with Infrascale, the leader in Hybrid Cloud Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). 

With the partnership in place, Path Solutions will offer Infrascale’s Disaster Recovery solutions to its existing and potential clients. The strategy will bring a strong DRaaS offering and data protection to customers throughout the Middle East.

“The Infrascale and Path Solutions partnership brings together two strong organizations”, says Tom Paone, SVP of Sales at Infrascale. “Expansion in these regions will provide customers with the most advanced disaster recovery solutions available, and we’re committed to bringing our partners solutions that solve their customers’ needs”.

“This is an exciting time for our business”, says Khaled Berjawi - VP Presales & Business Consulting at Path Solutions. “We are eager to see continued growth of Sharia-compliant information technology solutions to our customers and prospects with the most trusted, best-in-class technology”. 

Infrascale Disaster Recovery as a Service is a hybrid cloud-based solution that mitigates downtime caused by hardware or software failure, human error, cyber criminals, or natural disasters.

“Demand for a proper disaster recovery solution has been growing rapidly, and we believe this presents an opportunity to help our customers obtain an affordable, enterprise-grade DRaaS solution without excess cost”, concludes Berjawi.

Payment  leader Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 - ING) has launched LinkPlus, a simple and secure solution for businesses who handle payments over the phone. The solution enables online businesses to send payments through a link or QR code, removing the need to manually process unsecured credit card details or banking information. 

Despite the best efforts of airlines, hotels, retailers or other businesses, customers often book services indirectly over the phone. Security concerns, a lack of available payment options and inconvenient booking systems are just a few of the factors that can deter a customer from purchasing directly. 

LinkPlus addresses these issues by providing an interface to a secure hosted environment, where a card payment can be completed with full PCI-compliance and without any sensitive data being stored on the premises. Businesses who adopt the new system will also benefit from easier navigation through typically complex security procedures and regulations, supported by Ingenico. 

A smooth and intuitive payment process is a vital element in increasing sales conversion rates and boosting customer loyalty. Linkplus also enables businesses to generate FX revenue and protects costs and exposure by giving the flexibility to add a spread on top of the daily base exchange rates. 

“LinkPlus enables businesses to deliver a premium payment experience to their customers,” says Gabriel de Montessus, SVP Global Online (Retail BU) for Ingenico Group. “Call centers and customer service teams can now offer multiple payment methods and currencies with high speed authorization and enhanced security and page design. For many customers, this will be the tipping point that converts them from a browser into a buyer and potentially, a returning customer.” 

Des Pugson, Senior Vice President/Managing Director of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, which piloted the LinkPlus platform, commended the self-service portal for eliminating the need for customers to email or fax their credit card details. This means the hotel group no longer has to manually process unsecured credit card details. 

“Guest experience is our utmost priority. Our guests can now conveniently complete their transactions online with enhanced payment security in a trusted, hosted environment,” adds Des Pugson. “It also enables the handling of no-shows and cancellations more efficiently.” 

Judo Bank, the first SME focused bank operating in Australia, today announced that it has gone live in record time with Temenos T24 Transact, Analytics, Financial Crime Mitigation and Channels – a module of Temenos Infinity – running on Temenos Cloud.

Judo Bank, which last year achieved the second largest pre-revenue fundraising round in Australian start-up history (AUD140m), runs on Temenos Cloud hosted on Microsoft Azure. Judo Bank’s ‘judo strategy’ outmaneuvers the incumbent banks by using the nimbleness of its modern technology to rejuvenate the dying craft of artisan business lending.  Judo Bank has built a system that enables traditional relationship banking backed by modern, legacy-free technology, processes and systems. Lending decisions are based on the performance of the business; not just the value of the available security, or “collateral” that the incumbent banks concentrate on.

The implementation took place in record time due to the speed, elasticity and flexibility offered by the cloud, allowing Judo Bank to focus on supporting businesses across Australia rather than managing IT systems.

Leveraging advanced API-first architecture, Temenos T24 Transact has integrated with Judo’s existing systems via its zero-trust-network and identity management system, allowing third-parties to connect easily and creating an open banking ecosystem.

Temenos assisted Judo in obtaining a full banking license with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) through its Australian Model Bank approach, with preconfigured country-specific functionality, allowing Judo to focus on its business in the knowledge that local regulatory requirements, business best practices and cost-efficient processes were already built-in.

Alex Twigg, Co-Founder and CIO, Judo Bank said: “We selected Temenos as our strategic technology partner to help us with our goal to become the most trusted business bank in Australia. Temenos worked closely with us from the beginning, and with its cloud-native digital front and back office products enabled us to launch fast and with a low risk implementation. This allows us to cut through traditional bureaucracies and the sales-driven and property-secured status quo to transform SME banking in Australia through a focus on close customer relationships.”

Max Chuard, Chief Executive Officer, Temenos, said: “We worked closely with Judo Bank’s agile and passionate team to go live in record time. The pace of regulatory change in Australia combined with transformational cloud-native banking software – Temenos Infinity and Temenos Transact – has made new business models possible, and Judo’s customers are the ultimate winners. We are proud to be partnering with Judo to re-shape the Australian banking landscape.”

Janet Lewis, vice president, Worldwide Financial Services at Microsoft Corp. said: “Through our relationship with Temenos – which was the first banking software company to launch a core banking offering on Microsoft Azure in 2011 – Judo Bank is challenging the conventional SME banking experience. Judo is benefitting from high levels of performance and scalability along with the security, privacy and compliance offered by operating in the cloud.”

Temenos recently reached a major milestone with the launch of Temenos Infinity – a breakthrough digital front office product and Temenos T24 Transact, the next generation in core banking. These new products further demonstrate a commitment to constant innovation with the most advanced cloud-native, cloud-agnostic, API-first technology and design-led thinking.

Fenergo, the leading provider of digital Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for financial institutions, revealed that 20% of C-suite executives in banks say that the maturity of their technology infrastructures is preventing them from investing in new, disruptive technologies including big data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve CLM. 67% are not currently partnered with a fintech/regtech provider to improve operational efficiencies and just 40% of respondents have integrated with an external data or Know Your Customer (KYC) utility provider.

The report also highlights that 33% of those surveyed have not invested in any technology to improve client onboarding despite 99% agreeing that underinvestment in technology directly impacts client onboarding and retention. Only 15% have automated the collection of data and 74% believe data management is overlooked strategically despite it being among the top three most critical business concerns.   

Marc Murphy, CEO, Fenergo, said: “Our report findings tell us that the lack of technology investment and maturing infrastructures are creating barriers to digital transformation. By connecting internal and external systems and technologies through specially designed APIs financial institutions can build powerful customer ecosystems without the need for a complete rip and replace. Underpinned with a centralised client data strategy, financial institutions can achieve a single client view across all jurisdictions, business units and products. The automated flow of client data between front and back office enables frictionless end-to-end client journeys, regulatory certainty and enables financial institutions to ultimately disrupt the disruptors.”

This report is based on the findings of a bespoke piece of research carried out by Fenergo spanning 250 C-suite executives across data, technology and compliance, within commercial, business, investment and corporate banks. Respondents were based in banks of varying sizes across the world.

Click here to read the full report.

Cloud experts Renovite Technologies has strengthened its position in the electronic payments market through the appointment of two senior product managers.

The appointment of Anton Godfrey and David Lock adds over 60-years’ specialist payments experience to Renovite Technologies, who deliver cloud-native payments solutions to banks and financial organisations worldwide.

Mr Godfrey and Mr Lock will fulfil global roles, working closely with development teams across Renovite’s global offices.

Anton Godfrey joins from HSBC where he was the Global Architect for Self Service for over six years. During his tenure, Anton led the evaluation of the future of transaction processing, as well as overseeing RFPs for all major vendors for ATM client and switch processing software. He oversaw the evaluation of associated eco-system products such as data replication, automated testing tools, monitoring, card-issuing and fraud. Anton started his career at Midland Bank in 1988 and was subsequentially part of the team which implemented the first online ATM & Point-of-Sale terminal.

David Lock has over 35-years’ global experience in the payments industry and adds specialised knowledge of cards, EMV and mobile technologies, including back-office and risk management. In recent years, David has also been applying his payments knowledge to Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. His professional experience includes working with ACI Worldwide for over 16-years, Stanchion Payment Solutions, Insider Technologies Ltd, NCR, S1, Hypercom, American Express, and the Cayman National Bank where he was the head of cards.

Commenting on the appointments, Jim Tomaney, chief operating officer at Renovite Technologies, said:

“Anton and David add a wealth of experience to Renovite and significantly strengthen our position in the payments technology market. Competition for talent across financial technology is stiff and it stands as testament to the ground-breaking work we are doing in the payments sector that both of them have chosen to work as part of our team.”

The new product management team, led by vice-president of product management and marketing David Smith, is taking the electronic payments industry head-on. Renovite’s Reno-Cloud product suite enables financial organisations to exploit the benefits of cloud-native technology and is challenging much of today’s existing payments infrastructure, which has led to stagnated innovation in consumer services, particularly in the ATM industry.