Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Twitter shuts down Ribbon in-stream payments feature

Within hours of launching, a Twitter in-stream payments service from start-up Ribbon has been killed off by the micro-blogging site.

11 April 2013

News/Innovation

MT. Gox blames surge of interest for bitcoin price drop

The massive fall in the value of Bitcoin yesterday was not due to a DDoS attack, but to a rash of new traders overwhelming systems as they rushed to get a slice of the virtual currency pie, insists exchange MT. Gox.

11 April 2013

News/Innovation

BNP Paribas preps digital bank - Les Echos

BNP Paribas is planning to open a new online bank this year as it seeks to cut costs by shifting customers away from expensive branch-based services, according to local reports.

10 April 2013

News/Innovation

Coinsetter raises $500k for bitcoin FX trading platform

New York-based start-up Coinsetter has raised $500,000 in seed funding as it prepares to launch its forex trading platform for bitcoin.

10 April 2013

News/Innovation

Mozilla working on embedded Web payments API for desktop and phones

Mozilla is to introduce an experimental Web API designed to make online payments on the desktop and mobile as easy as the checkout button for merchants.

05 April 2013

News/Innovation

ANZ claims one million goMoney app users

ANZ says that more than a million Aussies are now using its goMoney mobile-to-mobile payments app, transferring around A$2.5 billion a month.

05 April 2013

News/Innovation

Bloomberg adds real-time tweet stream to market data desktop

Bloomberg is to integrate real-time Twitter feeds into its market data terminal. The announcement follows this week's decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to allow companies to use social media for corporate disclosures.

04 April 2013

News/Innovation

BofA rolls out video teller ATMs

As it accelerates its branch closure programme, Bank of America is preparing to introduce ATMs that let customers talk to tellers through real-time video technology.

04 April 2013

News/Innovation

Bitcoin resumes upward curve following market disruptions

Bitcoin values have resumed their upward momentum after a DDoS attack on Japanese exchange Mt. Gox and depository hack at Instawallet briefly stalled the digital currency's climb on Wednesday.

04 April 2013

News/Innovation

Bank of the West app lets users check balances without login

Bank of the West has revamped its mobile app to let customers check their balances with just the slide of a finger, without logging into their accounts.

03 April 2013

News/Innovation

SEC greenlights use of social media for company news

Publicly-listed US companies can share market-moving information on Facebook and Twitter, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled.

03 April 2013

News/Innovation

EBAday to set the agenda for the European payments industry

Europe's leading futurist, Dr Patrick Dixon, is to give the keynote presentation at EBAday 2013, the pre-eminent annual event for the European payments industry, which will run for two full days from 21-22 May at the Estrel Convention Center, Berlin.

28 March 2013

News/Innovation

UK govt preps full, utility-style, payments regulator

The UK government is preparing to bring in a utility-style regulator for retail payment systems, putting an end to the current practice of industry self-policing.

26 March 2013

News/Innovation

RBS launches in-app 'Mobile Chat' for customer service on the go

NatWest and RBS have added a mobile text-based chat facility to their business banking apps, giving customers access to customer service agents while on the move.

26 March 2013

News/Innovation

Barclays takes the crown at Digital Wallet Foundry

A seven man team from Barclays Bank, using tools from FreedomPay and their own Pingit mobile payments app, emerged with top honours at Microsoft's week long Digital Wallet Foundry hack-a-thon in London.

22 March 2013

News/Innovation

Man bids to sell house for bitcoins

A Canadian man who is selling his bungalow is offering potential buyers a discount if they pay in bitcoins.

21 March 2013

News/Innovation

From Facebook to voice recognition and biometrics, ING Direct plans mobile future

ING Direct Canada is exploring the use of Facebook, spoken commands and voice biometrics for its next generation of mobile banking initiatives.

21 March 2013

News/Innovation

Chirpify lets users pay with Facebook comments

Chirpify has brought its in-stream commerce system to Facebook, enabling users to transfer money to each other by commenting on news feeds.

20 March 2013

News/Innovation

BNP Paribas Fortis and Belgacom prep Belgian mobile wallet

BNP Paribas Fortis and Belgacom have outlined plans for a mobile wallet they say will bring in-app commerce to Belgium's merchants and consumers.

20 March 2013

News/Innovation

EBay shares slide as MasterCard threatens PayPal with new fees

Shares in eBay fell to a 2013 low yesterday amidst concerns that the online auction house's PayPal unit could be hit by MasterCard's plan to introduce a new 'digital wallet' fee.

19 March 2013