Latest Innovation News: Finextra Research

Bank economists warn of disruptive threat from mobile and crowdfunding

Banks that fail to invest in mobile technology and crowdfunding platforms risk being swept away by a wave of disruptive innovation warn economists at US bank BBVA Compass.

04 July 2013

News/Innovation

MasterCard Canada plans app developer challenge

MasterCard is inviting Canadian coders to participate in a two-day developer challenge, building payments-related apps for cash prizes.

04 July 2013

Finextra TV/Innovation

Bitcoin businesses need 'adult' supervision

Shakil Khan, angel investor and founder of Coindesk told Finextra that there are three types of bitcoin enthusiasts: the anarchist, the idealist and the capitalist. Khan says that the environment is still too immature for big venture capital but that once bitcoin businesses evolve past their nascent stage, most companies will be a combination of 'idealists' and 'capitalists' and that they will also need the "adult supervision" of seasoned business players to hit the big time.

04 July 2013

Finextra TV/Innovation

Zapp set for 2014 launch

Peter Keenan, CEO of Zapp lays out the plans and goals of the new mobile payments start-up.

04 July 2013

News/Innovation

Anarchists, idealists and capitalists struggle for bitcoin's soul

Anarcho-libertarians were thin on the ground at the Bitcoin London event yesterday, as the suits took over Level 39 in Canary Wharf to talk about building businesses, attracting venture capital investment and dealing with financial regulations.

03 July 2013

News/Innovation

Investment management outfit SigFig raises $15m

SigFig, a US start-up which helps users track and manage their investments, has raised $15 million in a funding round led by Union Square Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures.

03 July 2013

News/Innovation

Winklevoss twins to float $20 million bitcoin fund

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, most famous for their legal tangles with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have revealed plans to float a bitcoin trust.

02 July 2013

News/Innovation

Monitise and Telefónica form mobile money partnership

Monitise has scored a five year deal with Telefónica, making it the telco giant's preferred mobile money technology partner.

01 July 2013

News/Innovation

B2B payments platform Licuos triumphs at Innotribe Startup Disrupt

Business-to-business payments platform Licuos has beaten off competition from more than 40 rivals to win the first edition of the Innotribe Startup Disrupt competition.

01 July 2013

News/Innovation

College start-up Clinkle raises $25m for payments app

Mobile payments start-up Clinkle has raised $25 million in a seed funding round joined by some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, including PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Intuit.

28 June 2013

News/Innovation

MasterCard aims to Simplify Commerce for smaller merchants

MasterCard is rolling out a series of APIs and software development kits designed to make it easier for small businesses to accept e-commerce and mobile payments.

27 June 2013

News/Innovation

PayPal takes one small step towards payments in space

Facing increasing competition here on earth, PayPal is planning to boldly go where no electronic payments service has gone before, Space.

27 June 2013

News/Innovation

Akbank adds video chat to online banking site

Turkey's Akbank has introduced a video chat service to its online banking site, connecting customers with remote call centre agents direct from their PCs.

27 June 2013

Finextra TV/Innovation

Should banks innovate the branch?

Independent retail banking consultant, David Cavell, speaks to Finextra about the similarities between banks and retailers and the future of branch banking.

27 June 2013

News/Innovation

MasterCard and EBC unveil Egyptian mobile payments gateway

MasterCard has teamed up with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and telco Etisalat to launch what it claims is the first ever Arabic mobile money service.

25 June 2013

News/Innovation

Unicredit experiments with self-service branches

Unicredit is looking into the concept of staff-free, self-service branches, says the Italian bank's head of multichannel, Federico Sforza.

25 June 2013

News/Innovation

VocaLink unveils Zapp m-payments service for banks and retailers

VocaLink has formed a new company, called Zapp, to build a service that will let Brits link their bank accounts to their mobile phone numbers and make real-time payments through their handsets.

24 June 2013

Finextra TV/Innovation

What can banks learn from IKEA?

Stefan Kainz, head of retail innovation, strategy and planning at BAWAG P.S.K, speaks to Finextra about the similarities between selling a mortgage and selling a kitchen.

24 June 2013

News/Innovation

Binary option brokers bring in bitcoin trading

Binary options brokers SetOption and TradeRush have begun offering trading in bitcoin, giving speculators the chance to take advantage of the virtual currency's volatility.

21 June 2013

News/Innovation

Icap invests in portfolio reporting and data analytics firm EFM

Interdealer broker Icap has made a strategic investment in Enso Financial Management (EFM), an early-stage provider of portfolio reporting and data analytics services to hedge funds and asset managers.

20 June 2013