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

BBVA ups its Game with Foursquare check-ins; Gartner plays down gamification hype

Spanish bank BBVA is to use social networking site Foursquare to enable online interaction across its physical branch network and encourage more customers to participate in its gamification efforts through the BBVA Game portfolio.

28 November 2012

News/Innovation

MasterCard and Absa launch dual debit-credit card with built-in display

South Africa's Absa and MasterCard have unveiled a dual contactless debit and credit card which also includes a display screen for passcodes that secure online payments.

28 November 2012

News/Innovation

New York to host FinTech Startup Weekend

New York is to host its first ever FinTech Startup Weekend in early December, pairing developers with vendor APIs, entrepreneurs and business and marketing executives in a 48-hour race to create innovative financial applications.

19 November 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

First Data on mobile payments - What’s next for mobile payments?

Janusz Diemko, Wolfgang Heinrich and Roger Bracken all of First Data discuss how mobile is evolving in various global markets as well as the challenges and issues many financial institutions face when managing the mobile channel.

19 November 2012

News/Innovation

PayPal goes after Oz and Amsterdam high streets

In its latest incursions into the high-street, PayPal has begun testing two different mobile-based payments systems, one in Australia and another in Amsterdam.

15 November 2012

News/Innovation

BillGuard, Plastyc and Simple agree to share customer data with CFPB

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has convinced innovative finance start-ups BillGuard, Plastyc and Simple to share their anonymised customer data to help identify behaviours and trends.

15 November 2012

News/Innovation

Retail banks increase innovation spending despite tough economy

Despite a tough economic climate, the vast majority of retail banks around the world are still increasing their spending on innovation, with online and mobile services seen as priorities, according to a survey from Infosys and Efma.

13 November 2012

News/Innovation

Bloomberg, king of the proprietary desktop, launches App Portal

Bloomberg has launched an App Portal that gives its 315,000 desktop terminal subscribers access to applications created by third party developers.

13 November 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

Bloomberg launches App Portal

Claudio Storelli, global business manager, Application Portal at Bloomberg discusses allowing third party developers into the Bloomberg Community.

13 November 2012

News/Innovation

UBank gathers transaction data for spending comparison site

NAB unit UBank has launched a site that pulls together anonymous transaction data to identify trends and allow visitors to compare their spending with that of their fellow Aussies.

09 November 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

OpenGamma tries its luck in the innovator, start-up challenge at Innotribe

Kirk Wylie, CEO of OpenGamma discusses the Innotribe start-up challenge at this year's Sibos and the growth of OpenGamma over the past three years.

09 November 2012

News/Innovation

La Caixa FinAppsParty doles out prizes

An application that uses mobile geopositioning to locate la Caixa customer retailers and to share information about them via social networks has won the EUR10,000 prize for the best widget created during the Spanish bank's second annual FinAppsParty.

07 November 2012

News/Innovation

Finextra TV: iZettle launches in the UK

Swedish start-up iZettle, which provides technology that turns mobile phones into payment terminals, has teamed up with wireless operator EE to launch in the UK.

07 November 2012

News/Innovation

Allianz invites start-up pitches for innovation pilots

German banacasurer Allianz is inviting early stage start-up companies to pitch applications for pilot projects in big data, social media, mobile and sponsorship.

06 November 2012

News/Innovation

Discover trials Natural Security biometric payments

Discover Financial Services is working with French outfit Natural Security to pilot a system which combines biometrics and contactless cards to enable customers to pay with their fingertips.

05 November 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

Payments innovation across the globe

A.P. Hota, managing director and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India, Alice Zanza, senior payments specialist the World Bank, Ian Hooper payments lead for Asia Pacific at Accenture and David Yates, CEO of Vocalink discuss innovation in payments across the globe.

05 November 2012

News/Innovation

AmEx offers Halo 4 players real world rewards

American Express has set its sights on the gaming community, teaming up with Microsoft to enable cardholders to earn real-world rewards for completing tasks in the upcoming Halo 4 game.

02 November 2012

News/Innovation

PlayMoolah and Gust triumph in Innotribe challenge

PlayMoolah, an online platform for teaching children financial management through the use of gamification techniques, has emerged as the winner of the Innotribe Startup Challenge at Sibos in Japan.

01 November 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

Challenges and innovation in Africa

Maurice Cleaves, managing director and global head of cash management at Barclays, discusses corporate treasury challenges in Africa and the impact of mobile innovation.

31 October 2012

Finextra TV/Innovation

Innotribe unveils the Digital Asset Grid

Peter Vander Auwera of Innotribe at Swift explains the business case for the eagerly anticipated Digital Asset Grid - which is being positioned as a global Swift network for secure bank data.

31 October 2012