Published
- 05:00 am
Greater Boston’s public transportation agency, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (“MBTA”), is automating its treasury management function using Reval, the leading Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for treasury and risk management. The agency will leverage Reval’s cloud-based system to centralize the management of cash and liquidity, payments, and investments and debt.
“We want to move away from spreadsheets to a single system that aggregates all of our information in one place,” says Paul Brandley, Treasurer at the MBTA. “With Reval, we found the platform we needed, but also the right partner to help us smoothly transition from manual processes to automated, straight-through processing of our treasury functions.” MBTA will be creating a centralized, straight-through process to better manage and forecast cash on hand, track investments and debt, and initiate payments, automatically.
“MBTA is setting the standard for other municipal agencies who want to get out from under the mundane, manual tasks that steal precious time away from treasury teams,” says Jason Torgler, Senior Vice President, Reval, in North America. “We’re happy to count MBTA as the newest member of Reval’s community of users.”
- 02:00 am
Atom bank is offering customers the chance to lock into a 5 year fixed rate mortgage at the same rates as their current 2 year products. This revolutionary move of aligning rates across short and longer term fixed rate mortgages will enable customers to fix one of their most significant monthly outgoings at a lower rate for longer.
Details of the new products are:
Rate decreases across all 5 year LTV (loan to value) bands to match our 2 year rates:
- 60% LTV with £900 fee: 1.29%
- 60% LTV without fee: 1.64%
- 75% LTV with £900 fee:1.34%
- 75% LTV without fee: 1.74%
- 80% LTV with £900 fee:1.49%
- 80% LTV without fee: 1.89%
- 85% LTV with £900 fee: 1.59%
- 85% LTV without fee:1.99%
- 90% LTV with £900 fee:1.99%
- 90% LTV without fee: 2.44%
For a limited time from Wednesday 12th April, all new mortgage customers will be able to apply for a 5 year mortgage at the 2 year rate, via one of the bank's selected partners who offer independent mortgage advice.
Customers who want to take advantage of this offer can go to www.atombank.co.uk/contact and click on ‘Download list of brokers’ to request a list of brokers who are able to discuss an Atom bank mortgage.
Director of Retail Mortgages, Maria Harris, said: “This move is entirely unprecedented; it’s important for us to make this available to customers now. We are in a position where we can help people improve their financial situation for the long term by reducing the amount they have to pay on their mortgage.
“Moving your mortgage to a better rate can be one of the most significant savings that a customer can make. Since the financial crisis, many people have stayed on their lender’s SVR (standard variable rate), but there’s a big difference between the average SVR and the rates we’re offering, so being able to lock the rate in for 5 years gives certainty around their mortgage payments, while the Brexit negotiations are worked through and we see the impact on inflation, along with any Bank of England base rate increases which may come along.
“We remain fully committed to only providing mortgage products after a customer has received proper independent financial advice, ensuring they get the right mortgage for them – and that is not always just about the rate. Customers should speak to a mortgage intermediary to discuss their mortgage options.”
Unlike a traditional bank, Atom bank gives customers the ability to track their mortgage application through every stage of the process, using the Atom bank App. To accept their terms and conditions and to service their mortgage, the customer needs to download the Atom bank App from the Apple or Android Play stores and have an individual email address and mobile phone number.
Atom bank’s suite of products now includes:
● Residential Mortgages, available via a panel of intermediaries
● Fixed Saver accounts, available in 1, 2, 3 and 5 Year term options
● Secured Business Lending (SME) via selected intermediaries
- 09:00 am
Tieto and Swedish digital security company Verisec have entered into an agreement to collaborate on e-identification for the public sector. Under the deal, Tieto will facilitate the integration of a new e-identification solution from Verisec and the different systems and services that are used by Swedish authorities, municipalities and county councils. The aim is to create a mobile, secure and user-friendly e-identification which makes day-to-day life easier for both citizens and public service employees.
Tieto is one of the leading software and IT service suppliers in the Nordic region with customers in both the private and public sectors. Several Swedish state agencies, all of the country’s county councils and a total of 275 municipalities already have Tieto systems and services either integrated in their IT environment or in their IT management operations. The ability to digitally identify users is an integral part of an IT environment, but all too often, many different solutions are deployed, which can be costly, restrictive and/or limit user-friendliness. The collaboration between Tieto and Verisec will result in the log-in and identification processes being simplified and improve the user experience and security.
“We consider e-identification to be a critical and a crucial piece of the puzzle in order to successfully digitalize the public sector. By having an e-identification that is cost-efficient and accessible to everyone, great new opportunities are created to develop new citizen services. With Tieto being a leading driver in the digitalization of Sweden, we place great value on the opportunity to create a new type of e-identification together with Verisec and our ecosystem of customers and partners,” says Mats Brandt, head of Public Sector at Tieto Sweden.
“In our effort to create an e-identification for everyone, Tieto is an important partner in order to offer the relevant services related to directing users to the ecosystem of identities that we will create. A market player like Tieto gives us the prerequisites to reach large user groups and thereby make the new e-identification a key factor in Sweden’s continued digitalization process,” says Johan Henriksson, CEO at Verisec.
- 03:00 am
A London-based start-up claims it is the first shariah-compliant fintech to be given regulatory approval in the UK. Yielders, an equity-based crowdfunding platform for UK property investment, was given the green light by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in early April.
The move has been interpreted as an attempt by the UK government to bolster London's fintech credentials in the wake of Brexit-tinged uncertainty and to establish the UK as the primary centre for Islamic finance outside of the Middle East. The UK's efforts to woo fintechs and banks from the Islamic finance market have been further underlined by the Bank of England's recent development of a liquidity tool for shariah-compliant banks.
Yielders founder and director Irfan Khan told Reuters that, following two years of discussion with the FCA and the Department for International Trade, "there's certainly movement in the UK to try to promote Islamic fintech and for fintech firms in the UK to show the route forward for a lot of the Middle Eastern market".
Yielders also conferred with the UK's Islamic Finance Council in order to prove that its platform and services were in accordance with shariah law. These conditions include a prohibition on charging interest or anything that could be considered gambling and have consequently made many Islamic finance firms uncompetitive in Western markets.
But this may yet usher in a wave of shariah-focused fintechs that seek to mitigate this uncompetitive foundation through the removal of back-office costs.
- 04:00 am
Today Starling Bank revealed its much anticipated Developer Portal and took the next step on its roadmap to building out its Marketplace Platform.
Debuting for the launch of Innovate Finance 2017, Starling Bank’s Developer Portal enables third-parties to securely access customer data (with their permission, of course) and build on top of the Starling Platform using the mobile-only bank’s APIs (Application Programming Interface).
As the first UK licenced bank to launch a public API in keeping with the ambitions of PSD2 and the Open Banking initiative, the APIs enable external developers to create products and services that work together with Starling’s banking app.
Whilst integrations with money apps and technology platforms are expected in the first instance – such as money advice chatbots or spending analytics – in the future, the capabilities will extend for lifestyle, retail and wellness products that could integrate with other apps, wearables or even the Internet of Things. Products and tools integrated with Starling Bank’s APIs will have the opportunity to sit in the Marketplace where users can easily access these additional services.
Megan Caywood, Starling’s Chief Platform Officer, said: “Starling is committed to ensuring that everyone around the world has the opportunity for a healthy financial life. There are two key steps to enabling this. The first is empowerment through data. We believe that customers own their own data and should be able to use it to their benefit, rather than have it used in cross-selling or upselling situations. A second important step is enabling innovation so that the best products in market are available and accessible for everyone – whether that’s a Lifetime ISA from a traditional provider or a new fintech. This means people have real visibility over what products are out there, and consequently, much greater choice in finding the product that is right for them.”
- 01:00 am
FSS, the fintech and payments leader has introduced FSS Aadhaar Pay, to support the digital payment initiatives of the Government. It is a 12-digit unique identification number issued by the Indian government to every individual resident of India.
A comprehensive biometric enabled merchant payment acceptance system, FSS Aadhaar Pay allows merchants to accept customer payments through their Aadhaar linked bank accounts without the need for a physical payment instrument. FSS Aadhaar Pay is a highly secure solution supported with biometric data encryption, SSL Keys to prevent identity thefts and frauds.
As part of the Digital India initiative, the Aadhaar Pay platform will be soon be formally launched by the Honorable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, to make banking accessible to the larger populace. As part of this initiative, nearly 500,000 merchants are expected to be on-boarded in the coming weeks by the Banks.
A bank friendly solution, FSS Aadhaar Pay will support this Government initiative and assist Banks to quickly onboard the Merchants with minimum time and effort. In addition to providing seamless and instant merchant onboarding the solution also offers faster refunds initiation and settlement. It runs on Google’s Android platform and works on 2G enabled basic smartphone empowering the Bank to launch the digital initiative at a lower CAPEX and scale it quickly.
The solution can be easily integrated to the Bank’s existing Financial Inclusion (FI) Gateway. FSS also offers Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems, one of the largest FI Gateways in the country on a hosted services model.
A merchant friendly solution, it leverages the UIDAI India Stack APIs to authenticate payments, supports the merchant to accept payments using mobile channel and additionally other channels like biometric enabled POS and micro ATMs. FSS Aadhaar Pay cuts down both implementation and operational costs considerably for the merchants and allows them to generate digital invoices and offer loyalty and reward benefits to their customers.
A customer friendly solution, FSS Aadhaar Pay allows the customer to pay without the hassle of carrying a physical payment instrument or managing multiple PINs, by just using their Aadhaar number and biometric as authentication that provides added payment security. The solution will be further expanded to support UPI, Bharat QR Code, Digital Wallet and mVISA in future, to make it easy for the customer to choose any mode of payment.
Commenting on the launch Mr. Suresh Rajagopalan, President Software Products, FSS, said, “The initiatives taken by our Government to drive cashless payments can be successful only if the technology is made available and affordable to every citizen even at the farthest corner of the country.
- 07:00 am
Today Innovate Finance member Naqoda, financial software solutions and services provider, announced the release of its core banking software. Naqoda’s software will allow existing banks, challenger banks, retail entrants and others to quickly deliver an omnichannel banking experience to their customers and efficiently organise their day-to-day operations.
Following the successful implementation of its Tax Engine solution at banks in Germany, Naqoda is now ready to release its ‘fast, flexible and fluid’ solution for core banking operations. Naqoda’s Core Banking Platform is set to compete with new start-ups and legacy vendors alike but unlike the legacy vendors, Naqoda believes it can offer something unique and versatile.
Founder and Managing Director Erik Bogaerts commented: “I have worked in IT and the financial industry for over 20 years now and it never fails to amaze me that banking is still stuck in the last century. “But what choice do banks have? Implementing legacy software is not going to give you the competitive edge to face today’s wave of digital disruption.”
Banks are using technology dating as far back as the 1970’s yet millennials are demanding banking services at the touch of a button on their smartphones. Naqoda’s latest software will allow banks to meet the demands of this fast paced generation.
Cloud enabled and ready for Open Banking and PSD2, Naqoda’s Core Banking Platform easily integrates with 3rd party systems for features such as accounting, payments and regulatory reporting. Its low-code framework and integrated tool set means it’s easy to extend and adapt the software to user’s needs with minimal or no programming.
Erik explained: “Naqoda Core Banking Platform has been built using the latest technology and has been designed to meet ever changing requirements for years to come. Flexibility is not something you build on top of your systems, it has to be in the core.”
- 04:00 am
Growth Street is glad to annunce that the following appointments have been done. Specifically, April Nardulli was appointed as General Counsel and Chris Weller was assigned a position of Commercial Director.
April’s previous experience within London’s financial technology industry, most recently at RateSetter, should accelerate Growth Street’s ability to expand on its initial product offering to its customers.
April commented: “Growth Street have done a fantastic job of developing a clear focused set of products and putting in place a solid foundation for the business to build on. I am delighted to be joining such an enthusiastic, dedicated and passionate team at this exciting time of growth and expansion.”
Chris brings a host of experience to this role, having previously held similar positions in various high growth companies, including Aldermore Bank and most recently at Geniac.
Chris commented: “Having spent a large part of my career supporting growth businesses, I am delighted to be joining such a strong team at such an exciting time in Growth Street’s development. We are focused on extending the availability of products to a wider audience of British businesses and I'm very excited about the plans we have across Growth Street to help us with this goal.”
2016 was a stellar year for Growth Street, which saw it reach several important milestones, including gaining Appointed Representative status, welcoming over 500 investors to its marketplace following a successful launch in November 2016, and building on its significant business borrower growth. To date, the company has matched over £54m on its innovative lending exchange.
- 06:00 am
Today Torstone Technology, the leading provider of post-trade securities and derivatives processing, unveils that MainFirst, the independent German headquartered European financial services firm, specialising in equity brokerage, capital markets and asset management, has completed the migration to Torstone’s middle and back office platform, Inferno.
Inferno is Torstone’s award-winning core post-trade processing platform, a multi-asset, multi-entity system, covering trade capture, confirmation, settlement, accounting and reconciliation. It provides a fully integrated, feature-rich user experience for middle and back office staff, increasing straight through processing (STP) and reducing manual effort.
MainFirst chose to implement Torstone’s Inferno in August 2016, following a successful pilot project which demonstrated that Inferno could meet the broker’s functional requirements, which included German specific confirmations and transaction reporting, as well as connectivity to Deutsche Boerse. MainFirst went live on Inferno in March 2017, migrating all post-trade processing away from the incumbent third party system.
Commenting on the project, Michael Lange, Partner, Head of Operations, MainFirst said: “Inferno provides us with a flexible, scalable solution that enables us to effectively grow our business and respond to evolving market and regulatory requirements. The integrated nature of the system has helped to streamline our back office operations process, as we can now operate through a single, unified user interface.”
Jonny Speers, Global Head of Sales, Torstone said: “We were delighted that MainFirst chose Torstone, and are very pleased with the positive feedback that we’ve received from them following the implementation. MainFirst is our first client in Germany, so the project included a number of market specific enhancements, in addition to the standard configuration and deployment of the system. The combined team of Torstone and MainFirst worked very well together, ensuring an on-time, on-budget delivery.”
Brian Collings, CEO, Torstone, added: “This project is another great example of Torstone's ability to enter a new market and quickly bridge the gap to provide a fully featured, value-add solution, demonstrating the dynamic nature of the platform. Furthermore, our flexible approach to infrastructure and hosting meant that we have been able to meet MainFirst’s regulatory requirements in a post-Brexit scenario, by hosting the system locally in Frankfurt. The modular nature of our platform means that MainFirst can extend the system as needed, as new regulatory requirements enter into force.”
- 08:00 am
Today Fiserv, Inc., a global leader in providing financial services technology solutions, revealed that Fulton Financial Corporation, a bank holding company headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has signed a long-term agreement to renew its relationship with Fiserv.
“Technology will play a key role in the future of our business, and we look to Fiserv to provide technical solutions that will help us meet our strategic goals and objectives,” said Angela Sargent, senior executive vice president, CIO, Fulton Financial Corporation. “We recognize Fiserv as a critical partner in enabling us to achieve our business needs. One of the top strategic goals of Fulton Financial Corporation is to create new efficiencies that streamline processes and translate into a better experience for its employees and customers.
“Fiserv works closely with Fulton Financial Corporation to understand and support the organization’s vision, and to help deliver the experience its customers expect,” said Byron Vielehr, group president, Depository Institution Services, Fiserv. “Our focus goes beyond delivering innovative technology to providing a high level of partnership and expert services to make people’s financial lives easier, faster and more secure.”
Fulton Financial has licensed a number of Fiserv solutions, including the Signature core account processing platform, Weiland Account Analysis™ for commercial account analysis and billing, CheckFree RXP for electronic bill pay, Popmoney for person-to-person payments, EnAct™ for relationship sales management, Aperio™ for account opening and customer/account servicing, card services and more.
