This is our seventy-first edition of the industry update in 2018. This edition captures the most recent press cuttings, funding and industry news.
- Heavyweight Grab, a ride-hailing and mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia partnered with Maybank, Malaysia’s largest bank (total assets of $164.1B and market capitalization of $20.7b). Through this partnership Grab intends to expand their cashless payments platform to better serve developing markets….
- Australian-based challenger bank, Volt, selected Temenos’s T24 core banking and analytics. Steve Weston, CEO of Volt bank, commented “as the first digital bank in Australia, we are using technology to challenge the way banking is done. Temenos’ Cloud will allow us to launch quickly and at the same time meet Australian regulations.” Banks are embracing cloud-centric core banking systems which can easily meet regulatory requirements.
- Pakistan-based Finca Microfinance bank selected Autosoft Dynamics for their core banking system. Mudassar Aqil, CEO of Finca Microfinance bank, claimed “this system upgrade will allow Finca’s operations to become extremely nimble, and will serve as the backbone for complete automation of our branch banking services.” Banks are choosing flexible core banking solutions to reduce operational processes.
- According to a recent report by Signicat, one of the leading providers of electronic identity and electronic signature solutions in Europe, states “retail banks now lose 52% of potential customers at the onboarding stage, an increase of 35% in the last two years.” Retail banks are lacking the capability of implementing innovative IT solutions that meet the ever-evolving needs of customers.
- Lending Express, an AI-powered platform for business loans, received $2.7m in Seed Round funding. The round was led by Entrée Capital.
Recent Headlines – General Industry Landscape
| Headline | Date | Source | Link |
| Over half of potential retail bank customers drop during the onboarding process | 24MAY’2018 | IBSIntelligence | Link |
| Payments community calls on Open Banking to do more to enable access for FinTechs | 23MAY’2018 | Global Banking&Finance Review | Link |
| Why China’s Payment Apps Give U.S. Bankers Nightmares | 23MAY’2018 | Bloomberg | Link |
| Reality check: Will crypto firms score a banking charter? | 23MAY’2018 | American Banker | Link |
| Fintechs and Digital-Only Alternatives Face a Consumer Backlash | 22MAY’2018 | The Financial Brand | Link |
| Banking industry insists the branch isn’t dead, AI is no big deal, Open Banking not a problem | 21MAY’2018 | IBSIntelligence | Link |
| The Economist: Banks Must Become More Agile, Adapt to the Digital Banking Age | 21MAY’2018 | CrowdfundInsider | Link |
| Cloud scalability seduces the financial sector – but there are challenges | 21MAY’2018 | Payments Cards&Mobile | Link |
| Digital banking transformation creating new systemic risks | 21MAY’2018 | Finextra | Link |
| First wave of neobanks resets for new offensive | 21MAY’2018 | American Banker | Link |
| The many ways banks are using blockchain | 21MAY’2018 | American Banker | Link |
| The Architect’s Guide to Digital Banking | 21MAY’2018 | Finextra | Link |
| Banks Adopt Military-Style Tactics to Fight Cybercrime | 20MAY’2018 | Tearsheet | Link |
| Digital transactions in Europe bombarded with a 30% increase in cyberattacks | 18MAY’2018 | Payments Cards&Mobile | Link |
Recent Headlines – Company News and Announcements
| Headline | Company | Date | Source | Link |
| Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka Drives Growth with Deployment of Core Banking Platform from Fiserv | Fiserv | 24MAY’2018 | Company Press Release | Link |
| Touché, OCBC to launch ‘highly secure’ fingerprint-based credit card payments | Touché | 23MAY’2018 | The Straits Times | Link |
| Finca picks Autosoft’s core banking system for Pakistan | Autosoft Dynamics | 23MAY’2018 | Banking Technology | Link |
| Grab brings its digital wallet to Malaysia through tie-up with the country’s largest bank | Grab | 22MAY’2018 | Tech in Asia | Link |
| AI Powered Online Lending Marketplace Lending Express Receives $2.7 Million Seed Round | Lending Marketplace | 22MAY’2018 | CrowdfundInsider | Link |
| Temenos tapped up by Australian challenger volt bank | Volt Bank | 22MAY’2018 | IBSIntelligence | Link |
| The surprising company beating Apple and Google in mobile payments | Starbucks | 22MAY’2018 | QUARTZ | Link |
| Castlight Financial assists HSBC UK to deliver bank’s first open banking loan | Castlight Financial | 21MAY’2018 | SBNN | Link |
| Visa UK’s former chief executive Marc O’Brien joins world’s first crypto bank | Crypterium | 20MAY’2018 | City A.M. | Link |
| PayPal acquires iZettle for $2.2 billion | PayPal/iZettle | 18MAY’2018 | Payments Cards&Mobile | Link |
| Opening a new bank account as easy as taking a selfie | First National Bank | 18MAY’2018 | iAfrikan | Link |
| Sageworks, one of the country’s first Fintech companies, is acquired by Accel-KKR | Sageworks | 18MAY’2018 | PR Newswire | Link |
| Major German bank completes blockchain pilot with SAP and R3 | SAP/R3 | 17MAY’2018 | IBSIntelligence | Link |
| Neo-Banking Startup Open Raises Pre-Series A Funding from Unicorn India Ventures, Others | Open | 17MAY’2018 | IndianWeb | Link |