Published
- 04:00 am
BlockchainOS has entegrated EYC3, EY’s Asia-Pacific data and analytics capability, to support development of the BOScoin cryptocurrency. “EY is very excited to support the BOScoin Platform and sees a very strong potential in blockchain technology for both consumers and businesses,” Gwang Rim Yi, Partner for EYC3 Seoul office.
EY will utilise their expertise in the governance realm, drawing from their wide range of experience it has from working with global enterprises and applying it to the BOScoin platform’s self-evolving governance system.
“Having the support from such a renowned firm provides us with the global reach and will help provide direction to the design of the platform,” CK Park, Chairman of BOScoin.
Most recently BlockchainOS presented the BOScoin platform concept at meetups in Berlin and London, answering questions from the wider community on various interest areas including technical, architecture and design; to applications, operations and governance.
BOScoin is a self-evolving cryptocurrency platform for Trust Contracts. Trust Contracts are self-executing programs on the blockchain similar to smart contracts. BOScoin Trust Contracts provide the foundations for a secure, self-evolving system where non-technical users can also create immutable and shareable contracts on the blockchain.
With US$3 million raised from pre-ICO funding, the official ICO – scheduled to commence in a month’s time – invites the public to participate in the international cryptocurrency platform.
- 07:00 am
Intercontinental Exchange, a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today announced ICE Clear Credit will introduce clearing for additional credit default swaps (CDS) of U.S. and European financial companies.
The introduction of the referenced entities follows the recent enhancements to ICE Clear Credit’s recovery and default management rules and procedures that further strengthen the default management process, offering more protection for market participants. Additionally, ICE Clear Credit’s risk management model provides capital efficiencies with portfolio margining through offsets between index instruments and their underlying constituents, and the ability to hold house and client U.S. dollar cash deposits in Federal Reserve accounts.
“The launch of clearing services for these single names is an important milestone for the global credit market as we continue to build transparency, confidence and robust risk management practices in the CDS market,” said Stan Ivanov, President of ICE Clear Credit. “We have worked closely with market participants and regulators to ensure we offer the appropriate set of cleared financial instruments in the most robust and efficient clearing framework. We will continue to develop new services to offer the most comprehensive suite of cleared CDS instruments globally.”
The growth of single name clearing continues into 2017, with record open interest of over $820 billion in combined ICE Clear Credit and ICE Clear Europe index and single name instruments during March. In addition, record buy-side single name notional volume in March was $68.5 billion, compared to $29 billion in November 2016, the last monthly volume record for single names.
Also for the first quarter of 2017, ICE set volume records in both buy-side single names and sovereign single names cleared. Buy-side single names set a record with $114 billion and sovereign activity saw a record of $188 billion in the first quarter of 2017, compared to previous records of $60 billion and $166 billion respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Launched in 2009, ICE Clear Credit and ICE Clear Europe clear more than 500 single name and index CDS instruments based on corporate and sovereign debt. ICE’s CDS clearing houses have reduced counterparty risk exposure by clearing more than $87 trillion in gross notional value of CDS instruments, with resulting open interest of approximately $1.6 trillion.
- 09:00 am
Ethbits will be raising funds to develop their blockchain based Digital Currency platform in a crowdsale starting 15th April. The existing Ethbits platform is similar to the popular LocalBitcoins product available for Bitcoin.
Ethbits was founded in mid 2016 by Monty Singh. The platform is similar to LocalBitcoins which connects bitcoin buyers and sellers in an over-the-counter trading environment. Users request or offer the cryptocurrency for a fixed amount, and settle trades in person for cash, or online with bank transfers. By August 2016, LocalBitcoins had 1.35 million people from 249 countries and regions using the platform, and trading in excess of US$14 million per week. "LocalBitcoins allows users to buy bitcoins without a bank account, but we are moving into alternative currencies to cater for the growing movement into crypto."
Ethbits Local will launch immediately after a Token Crowd Sale running from April 15th through to May 13th. The platforms token will be used by customers to pay site fees, while a planned integration with the payment cards like mycelium will allow the tokens to be spent around the world. The funds will help Ethbits.com enter the second phase of development, a trading exchange called iTrade. Ethbits iTrade will launch in 2018, covering the top 15 cryptocurrencies. The trading platform revolves around a system known as "copy trading," which enables traders in the financial markets to automatically copy positions opened and managed by a selected investor.
New traders benefit from the expertise and knowledge of experienced market gamers, who can amplify their profits based on their number of followers. "Traders who work in our platform have the opportunity of earning a percentage of their follower's profit and obtain power-ups to gain certain privileges, such as reduced fees," explained Ethbits.com Director, Founder & CEO Pravjit Singh.
While developers get to work, the CEO plans to move headquarters to Gibraltar, with a services office in the UK. Ethbits.com also has agreements to open offices in the UK, France, Spain, China, USA and Australia. A full legal team will be hired to assist with expansion and legal compliance. The end goal is 20 offices across the globe.
"Having easy-to-use, secure cryptocurrency technology that integrates P2P exchange between fiat and cryptocurrency, credit card capability, and cold, secure storage of user funds while providing novice users techniques to improve their skills is the future of safe trading and exchange of assets. Providing users with a return on net profits serves as an additional Enticement," Singh added.
The token used in the crowdfund will enable participants to share the platforms trading fees, which are pooled and distributed on a quarterly basis. The token ($ETB), itself will be available to trade on iTrade platform.
- 08:00 am
Today Diebold Nixdorf, a global leader in driving connected commerce, revealed that its first automated teller machine (ATM) manufacturer ready to support the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system.
"We are not only the first ATM manufacturer readily available to support Windows 10, but have been shipping processors that are Windows 10 compatible since mid-2014," said Ulrich Näher, Diebold Nixdorf senior vice president, systems. "This is a true testament to our company's 'future-proof' development mentality and protecting our customers' investments - that meet the needs of today and anticipate those of tomorrow."
In addition to following the Intel® and Microsoft support guidelines, Diebold Nixdorf's migration to a 64-bit operating system provides customers with the best experience, allowing them to take full advantage of the memory and processor features, such as advanced security. Diebold Nixdorf is the only known manufacturer to invest in this approach, but has done so to proactively prepare financial institutions for a future where 32-bit versions of Windows 10 will not be available. All current applications can continue to run in 32-bit, as needed.
"We have been working diligently with other industry groups to ensure our customers are better prepared and to make this migration as easy as possible," said Alan Kerr, Diebold Nixdorf senior vice president, software. "Ultimately, this is about more than just migrating to the latest operating system—it's about improving and modernizing consumer experiences to advance connected commerce in the financial services industry. The scale and flexibility of our software solutions enable us to serve as a true partner to financial institutions of all sizes as we navigate these changes and drive the future of consumer transactions."
The release of Diebold Nixdorf's Windows 10 supported foundational software packages will provide financial institutions and partners with the most time to test and certify their respective applications prior to the end of support for Windows 7. Migration to Windows 10 will be necessary to complete by Jan. 14, 2020.
- 03:00 am
Today Sapiens International Corporation, a global leader in providing software solutions for the insurance industry, with a growing presence in the financial services sector, announced that its fully owned subsidiary StoneRiver, Inc., a trusted insurance technology partner with solutions across multiple business lines, has announced the addition of a State Compliance Manager module for the eFreedom annual statement system. The State Compliance Manager offers convenience and time-savings as it manages state forms for compliance, with regulatory and statutory reporting standards.
Nearly 80 companies have opted for the State Compliance Manager and benefited from cost-effective, efficient ways of managing steadily increasing regulatory and compliance demands. With the StoneRiver software, insurers:
- Receive details about required filings (number of copies required, etc.)
- Possess a full calendar of all state and NAIC due dates
- Benefit from automatic time monitoring. StoneRiver monitors online state-provided forms and instructions and notifies clients of changes
- Save time and effort by keeping all state filing materials in one place
- Can populate company and statement data from annual and quarterly statements
"StoneRiver is dedicated to accelerating the annual statement preparation process by automating tasks wherever possible to make it easier," said StoneRiver vice president Julie Kramer. "The new State Compliance Manager offers significant help in managing the process more effectively and efficiently."
- 05:00 am
Today Visa Inc., announced that Visa Checkout, the easier way to use a Visa card online, is sustaining tremendous growth, reaching more than 20 million enrolled accounts. Visa Checkout enables millions of consumers to pay in just a few clicks on any device around the web with some of the world’s top merchants.
“Visa Checkout continues to simplify the online checkout process for consumers, while helping merchants increase sales and convert items in the cart to completed purchases,” says Sam Shrauger, senior vice president, digital solutions, Visa Inc. “Reaching 20 million enrolled accounts is a huge achievement and further affirms Visa Checkout’s purpose of bringing the trust and security of your Visa card to the evolving digital world.”
More Merchants Join the Visa Checkout Roster
As consumer adoption of Visa Checkout grows, so too does interest among brand name merchants in joining the platform. Among the merchants who have recently adopted Visa Checkout to improve their online shopping experience in order to increase conversion rates with additional customers include HSN, Alaska Airlines, Avis Budget, Cole Haan, Emirates Airline, FIFA, Marriott, Sam’s Club and Walmart. These new merchants join a growing list of 300,000 merchants, including Best Buy, Starbucks, Papa John’s and StubHub, among others.
“At HSN, we are focused on developing innovative solutions that result in an unparalleled shopping experience,” said Ryan Ross, EVP of Marketing, Digital Commerce and Creative for HSN. “The Visa Checkout integration helped to attract new customers and drive incremental sales across all our platforms as we continue to lead the future of Boundaryless Retail at HSN.”
Continued Expansion of Visa Checkout Around the World
In addition to reaching 20 million enrolled consumers, Visa Checkout is announcing it will continue to expand to new markets in 2017 with planned expansion to Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine. They join Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China1, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States (and territories) as markets that will or currently offer Visa Checkout.
Visa Checkout and Samsung Pay Join Forces to Offer Consumers More Ways to Pay
Given the growing rate of eCommerce and mCommerce, merchants and consumers are looking for ways to further simplify the checkout experience. Last week, Visa and Samsung announced a joint partnership that will allow Samsung Pay users in the U.S. who link their Samsung Pay account with a Visa Checkout account to shop seamlessly at the more than 300,000 merchants that accept Visa Checkout.
This partnership is made possible through Visa Checkout’s open platform and streamlined set of APIs, allowing both consumers and merchants to experience the benefits. Consumers with fingerprint authentication-enabled Samsung devices will be able to click the Visa Checkout/Samsung Pay co-branded button and touch the fingerprint sensor, without entering their username and password. Merchants can continue to use their existing Visa Checkout integration and get the benefit of this partnership.
“We are very excited to be working with Visa to offer simple, fast and secure checkout experiences to millions of Samsung Pay users on their mobile devices or desktop,” said Injong Rhee, CTO of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. ”Our partnership benefits not only Samsung Pay users but also hundreds of thousands of online merchants who are looking for effective ways to increase their checkout conversion rates.”
Tayo Abinusawa
Digital Experience Expert at Kurtosys
A lot has been said about how challenger banks such as Monzo, Atom, Tandem, Zopa and Starling bank are see more
- 09:00 am
Late last year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Inquiry published their Fintech and Sustainable Development report, giving guidance for the Fintech sector. The report’s targets are broad-reaching and ambitious, using a combination of cutting-edge and existing technology, alongside policy changes, to help address a variety of social and environmental problems.
Sweden has now been identified as a country with both the appetite and the resources to set up trials to meet the UNEP’s targets. “The time and place are right to build this pilot. UNEP need a supportive environment to try out their recommendations, which are exactly aligned with Sweden’s values,” says Matt Argent of the Stockholm Fintech Hub, which is kicking off the Green Digital Financial Centre. “Alongside the fintechs, the Hub ecosystem includes incumbent banks, academic and legal communities, working together to build future finance. It’s a perfect environment to launch these recommendations.”
The Stockholm Fintech Hub, freshly opened, sits above Stockholm’s Central Station, in the heart of a city which is home to nearly 200 fintech startups. Some of these fintechs are ethical trading platforms and funds encouraging sustainable investment with transparent, green portfolios, while others are working on new social and business models.
Structural inefficiency in today’s economies and lack of transparency disadvantages individuals and communities, and targeting this asynchronous balance of power is key to many of the recommendations. One such transformational Nordic Startup is hiveonline, which is partnering with the Hub and UNEP to build technical solutions for many of the more ambitious proposals.
hiveonline CEO Sofie Blakstad, says: “We’re calling it “democratising trust” because it takes away the need for trust authorities like credit rating bureaus or banks, so communities can evaluate each other based on facts. We enable communities to provide services or own things in common, like agricultural equipment or a sustainable energy source. Our contracts and trust transparency mean that businesses can team up with other businesses without needing central control, and interact directly with customers.”
Sustainable initiatives like this aren’t new. The island of Samsø in Denmark was the first place to produce more energy through renewables than it consumes, showing the power of the community owning energy sources and making decisions. Greater economic power and transparency in how businesses interact help communities make longer term decisions about things which impact the community, in particular its environment, as Samsø has demonstrated, but addressing this at scale is a challenge.
The UNEP recommendations, supported by fintech, will build community empowerment and education models in communities which might be physically distributed. “Sweden is a world leader in these type of initiatives so it’s a great place to support UNEP in achieving its goals, and we’re super excited to have the opportunity to work on such a transformational project,” says Blakstad.
The project is identifying priority targets for build over the next few months. Blakstad and Argent are also working across international barriers, with Fintech Hubs in the Nordics and elsewhere and the green Fintech community globally, for support in building sustainable financial solutions for the future. They are hoping to bring together sustainable fintechs in a parallel event to SIBOS in October, so if you would like to be involved, please get in touch.
- 03:00 am
Senior executives from BBVA got the chance to meet with some of the USA’s most innovative and forward thinking financial technology businesses this week at the first tech summit hosted by BBVA-backed venture capital firm Propel Venture Partners.
The summit also saw discussions around the challenges and opportunities startups face when working with large corporations like BBVA, and the role venture capital firms can play in securing the high-growth rate these businesses seek to achieve.
Among those attending the first annual Propel Venture Partners CEO Summit were BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila, Global Head of Customer Solutions Derek White, and Global Head of Talent and Culture Ricardo Forcano. BBVA’s Global Head of Strategy and M&A, Javier Rodríquez Soler and Ricardo Gómez Barredo, Global Head of Accounting and Supervisors, added additional seniority to the BBVA attendees.
Among the fintech bosses there were those of DocuSign - a global leader in digital transaction management software, Coinbase, a leading digital platform used to buy, sell and trade Bitcoin and Kasisto - an AI platform that powers virtual assistants and smart bots for mobile, messaging, and wearables. Also represented were Earnest, Civic, Drive Motors, Brave, Guideline Technologies, Hippo, Hixme, Insikt, Personal Capital, Prosper and Taulia.
A key theme of the summit was to examine the trends and technological developments which those who attended are spearheading - and the convergence taking place across technologies ranging from artificial intelligence to blockchain and computer vision to big data analytics.
For example, the fast developments taking place in the world of artificial intelligence that will mean customers will see their money - and more importantly their data - work harder for them with the support of AI-enabled advisors who can track everything from investment opportunities to interest rates and act on people’s behalf to help them meet their life goals.
Apertura Carlos Torres Vila IESE
Carlos Torres Vila: “Technology and innovation are for the ultimate benefit of financial services’ consumers”
Another area seeing fast growth is the insurtech space - with several of the companies explaining how their technology allows for customer-centric, tailored insurance solutions that actively work to protect their clients’ interests. For example, by using big data sources to work out the likelihood of events happening to an individual client’s property, or by using satellite imagery to check on the condition of a person’s house so, for example, the roof replacement element of home insurance is more accurate - driving down costs and improving risk assessments.
It is hoped these and many more developments will end up in the hands of BBVA’s customers and clients in the near future, as the bank continues its push to bring the latest in digital financial technology to businesses and consumers across the world
Addressing the summit, BBVA CEO Carlos Torres Vila, said: “The reason why we are making such a commitment, $250m to start with in Propel, is that we want to change the world ourselves in our own domain - in the banking industry.
“We have a vision to transform the banking industry, and where we see the industry going is that technology is opening up tremendous opportunities to do things differently - not just in the interaction side, and to make it super-easy for people to do things with us, but with areas like open data and how, for example, open data together with AI can allow us to transform the lives of our customers, and the businesses of our clients, and together to create amazing opportunities.
“Investing in Propel Venture Partners, and through them investing in those high-growth businesses here today, allows us to have exposure to the innovation that is coming from outside our industry and with the entrepreneurs that are re-thinking what can be possible, and we want to embrace that innovation - we want to learn - and I think that for us is a really important opportunity.”
Margaret Smith and Jana Smith from Rich Talent Group, with Jay Reinemann. Pierce Larick
Propel partner Jay Reinemann, said: “It was a privilege to have some of the leading fintech businesses in the world with us, alongside our team at Propel and senior management from BBVA. It was a unique opportunity to have all these people in the room to talk through the challenges high-growth businesses have when it comes to working with big global businesses like BBVA, and for them to learn and understand each other better.
“As technologies converge, and as competition moves towards coopetition and mutual gains, this process of sharing, talking and working together becomes ever more important, and ultimately will lead to technologies being delivered faster to consumers and businesses alike.”
- 06:00 am
Today Trov, the advanced technology company revolutionizing insurance for the tech-empowered consumer, reported that it has closed $45 million in Series D funding led by Munich Re / HSB Ventures, bringing its total funding to just over $85 million.
In addition to its investment, Munich Re is expanding its strategic alliance to include underwriting throughout Europe, Asia and South Africa. Additionally, SOMPO is investing in the financing round through SOMPO’s wholly owned subsidiary Sompo Japan Nipponkoa and partnering with Trov to offer its on-demand insurance exclusively throughout Japan. With its global expansion, Trov is becoming one of the world’s leading insurance technology startups, poised to revolutionize the way people protect the things that are important to them.
Scott Walchek, CEO and Founder of Trov, comments: “Trov’s early success in Australia and UK is demonstrating that modern consumers want a new way to protect their things. With the additional capital and extensive partnerships, soon millions of people around the world will be empowered to protect the things that enhance their lives whenever and however they want.
“By expanding our partnership with Munich Re and adding Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, we’re building a stable of exceptional partners who will enable us to launch around the world with greater speed, efficiency, and local know-how. The combined capabilities of key global insurance leaders will streamline our regulatory path and increase our go-to-market effectiveness in each new territory we pursue.”
Andy Rear, CEO of Digital Partners at Munich Re, adds: “Trov’s on-demand protection represents a genuine innovation in insurance for an unserved or under-insured market. Our extensive footprint will surely help power Trov’s rapid expansion to the most active markets around the globe. We’re excited to be taking a deeper role with the industry’s first global insurtech platform.”
Jacqueline LeSage Krause, Managing Director, Munich Re / HSB Ventures, adds: “We are constantly working to find innovation-driven companies to help shape the future of our industry, and we’re excited to be working closely with the team at Trov as they expand their presence in the global insurtech market.”
Koichi Narasaki, Executive Officer overseeing Digital Strategies at Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, adds: “SOMPO Group is transforming itself into the whole service industry of security, safety and wellbeing for a global society. We are thrilled to be partnering with Trov as their exclusive go-to-market partner in Japan. Together, SOMPO and Trov are seeking a user-first approach in one of the world’s leading mobile-consumer markets.”
Today, the Trov app is available for free download on iOS and Android in the UK and Australia. With a simple tap or swipe, Trov users are presented a personalized quote and can instantly turn insurance on (or off) for an individual item, for whatever length of time they need, paying only for the coverage they require. The app is built on Trov's revolutionary cloud-native insurance platform, that features micro-duration policies, algorithmic pricing, integrated billing, and intelligent bot-assisted claims. Users can easily add their possessions (by snapping a photo of an item/receipt, forwarding an electronic receipt or searching the product database).
