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

Shop Direct to spend £50 million on personalised financial services

UK online retailer Shop Direct is to spend £50 million with IBM to develop personalised financial services for its four million customers.

13 January 2016

News/Non-bank competitors

Zopa targets £500m valuation

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Zopa is reportedly planning another round of fund raising that could see its valuation exceed £500 million, making it one of the UK's highest valued fintech start-up.

11 December 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

MasterCard makes first bitcoin investment

MasterCard has finally dipped a toe in the crypto-currency pool, joining a host of other big name investors backing new bitcoin incubator Digital Currency Group (DCG).

28 October 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Deutsche Bank to replace IT systems - FT

New Deutsche Bank boss John Cryan is set to promise investors that replacing the bank's troublesome technology systems will be a top priority, according to the Financial Times.

27 October 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Bank boards have little or no technology experience says study

A survey by Accenture has found that almost half of the world's biggest banks have no directors with any technology experience on their board.

27 October 2015

Company update/Non-bank competitors

Oakam launches its first smartphone app

Oakam, a UK-based lender providing financial services to people who find it difficult to borrow from banks, today announced its new smartphone app is available to download from the App Store.

28 August 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Survey shows commercial lenders under threat from non-bank players

Digitally enabled insurgents are placing bank-based lenders under increasing pressure and pose "a significant threat to every part of the commercial lending business" says a survey conducted by Misys.

26 August 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

P2P lenders target UK market ahead of new regulation

The UK could be swamped by P2P lenders after it emerged that more than 100 companies have sought regulatory authorisation while almost 200 are already operating via interim permission from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

11 August 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Banks lag manufacturers and telcos in race to build innovation centres

The financial services sector is trailing rival industries in the race to set up innovation centres in technology hubs such as Silicon Valley, according to a report issued by consultants CapGemini and Altimeter Group.

24 July 2015

Company update/Non-bank competitors

CM Telecom moves into mobile payments

Mobile service provider CM Telecom moves into mobile payments and has founded CM Payments, a new Payment Service Provider (PSP) that will operate internationally.

29 June 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

TransferWise breaks £500 million per month milestone

London-based money transfer startup TransferWise says it is now processing £500 million a month on its platform, saving customers some £22 million in fees compared to equivalent bank rates.

08 June 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Renault enters UK banking market

The financing arm of French car manufacturer Renault is to enter the UK banking market with the launch of an easy-access savings account.

08 June 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Women in FinTech: Deanna Oppenheimer, founder of CameoWorks

In our continuing series, in association with the Breaking Banks radio show, looking at accomplished and interesting women working and changing the FinTech sector, Liz Lumley sits down with Deanna Oppenheimer – Founder of CameoWorks and former head of Barclays Retail and Business Banking.

29 May 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Droplet raises £0.5m on CrowdCube

Droplet, a UK mobile payments start-up that is targeting debit and credit card transactions, has closed its final seed investment round on CrowdCube today, having raised 115% of its target. The company secured £574,650 from 328 investors.

12 May 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

P2P lender Assetz Capital raises more than £3 million on Seedrs

Assetz Capital, a British peer-to-peer lending platform exceeded its fundraising target of £2 million by raising funds from 731 investors through specialty crowdfunding platform Seedrs.

20 April 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

M&S launches first self-service branch; rolls out instore 'banking pods'

The banking offshoot of UK retailer Marks & Spencer has opened its first self-service branch at its head office in central London.

16 April 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

RateSetter gets £20m investment

Peer-to-peer lender RateSetter has secured a £20 million investment from veteran banker Ken Costa, along with Woodford Investment Management and Artemis.

30 March 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Finextra Future Money returns for 2015

Created as the premier event bringing both the most innovative minds in banking together with the exploding FinTech community, Finextra Future Money returns to London on April 21 and 22 for an exciting two day event.

16 February 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Finovate Europe 2015 - Day 2 Roundup

The second and final day of Finovate Europe saw 32 startups take the stage to try and impress a packed crowd of fintech VCs, journalists, bankers and experts. PFM, mobile payments and wealth management all made an appearance, often to a critical audience - while other firms attempted to push the boundaries of fintech, causing a huge buzz within Old Billingsgate and on social media.

11 February 2015

News/Non-bank competitors

Finovate Europe 2015 - Day 1 roundup

Crowdfunding, bitcoin, identity and security, and, of course, personal finance management dominated the first day of Finovate Europe in London. Finextra watched the demos, followed the tweets and spoke to the players. Here's what caught our eye.

10 February 2015