Níamh Curran - Community Author: Finextra Research

How MiCA is already being embraced by financial services

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

How MiCA is already being embraced by financial services

Banking Circle has launched the first EU Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) compliant stablecoin, among the first cryptocurrency-related assets to be launched under the new regulation. MiCA doesn’t come into full effect until the end of this year, 30 December. Banking Circle has taken a plunge into the no-so-unknown in releasing this product – MiCA ha...

29 August 2024 /regulation

Deepfakes: The role banks play in fraud education

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Deepfakes: The role banks play in fraud education

Last week, Santander released deepfake images of their head of fraud risk management Chris Ainsley and ‘finfluencer’ Mr Money Jar, Timi Merriman-Johnson, to raise awareness of scam potential of this technology. Deepfake scams are a growing threat for financial services, although they are not necessarily a threat which many banks are deeply conce...

13 August 2024 /crime

Fintech Sentiment: EU AI Act comes into effect

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Fintech Sentiment: EU AI Act comes into effect

The EU AI Act officially became law yesterday, the world’s first AI legislation and marking the end of a process which began back in April of 2021. We have already produced a guide on how to prepare for the AI regulation, and background on what the Act was proposing. Now that the AI Act is in law, here’s a look at how some fintechs are responding...

02 August 2024 /ai

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Consumer Duty one year on

Today is Consumer Duty’s birthday! It is one year since the implementation of rules for open products and services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), whose jurisdiction the legislation comes under, have taken this one year anniversary Consumer Duty as an opportunity to announce they will be attempting to relieve some of the burden financial fi...

31 July 2024 /regulation

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

How to pick a 3-D Secure provider

Amid increasing ecommerce sales, changing consumer expectations, and regulatory shifts, payments issuers and processors need to continually evolve to decrease risks from card not present (CNP) transactions and customer authentication process. As the number of online payments grows, organisations are at increased risk of loss as a result of CNP frau...

10 July 2024 /security

UK election 2024: What each party’s manifesto outlines for fintech

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

UK election 2024: What each party’s manifesto outlines for fintech

The countdown to the UK General Election is nearly up, with polling taking place this Thursday 4th July. With this in mind we decided to take another look at how each of the major parties’ manifestos addressed some of the key issues in fintech. Innovation Conservatives and Lib Dems have pledged to increase public spending on R&D. Tories said t...

02 July 2024 /regulation

Will generative AI make banking jobs more efficient or replace them?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Will generative AI make banking jobs more efficient or replace them?

Generative AI is now becoming a reality within banking. McKinsey found more than 50% of banks in US and Europe are adopting “more centralised” generative AI in their organisation. The debate, or rather big neon pink elephant in the room, is whether generative AI advances will improve efficiency or replace jobs. This is emphasised by a recent stu...

27 June 2024 /ai

Why variable recurring payments is the next step in growing European open banking

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Why variable recurring payments is the next step in growing European open banking

Open banking in Europe is maturing. PSD2 legislation has driven this development across Europe, with the Financial Data Access (FiDA) and PSD3 now on the horizon, this may be the year we start to see the full potential of open banking and even open finance. This is an excerpt from the Future of Digital Banking in Europe 2024 report. There promis...

06 June 2024 /payments

Digital Pension Dashboards and why we need them

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Digital Pension Dashboards and why we need them

The National Audit Office (NAO), recently released a report attributing the delays in the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) to lack of digital skills and incapacity. This is a serious drawback to the progress in digital pensions. However, it does answer some of the questions those reliant on the programme have been asking for the past year. It le...

29 May 2024 /regulation

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What are NFC payments?

Apple is being sued by the US Department of Justice for an alleged monopoly on smartphones, with NFC technology playing a large part in the argument. Apple tap-to-pay uses NFC technology to enable its payments, but as it stands in the US, no other digital wallet can be used on their mobile devices. It’s important to look at what NFC payments are an...

28 March 2024 /payments

Generative AI and AI outlook 2024: Customer journeys, fraud and legislation

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Generative AI and AI outlook 2024: Customer journeys, fraud and legislation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI saw an immense boom in 2023, with some calling it the technology’s breakout year. What was once viewed as something of science fiction is coming closer to reality, with the abilities of the software developing at pace. Yet how is the technology going to progress throughout the year in the financial tec...

14 March 2024 /payments

Anne Boden on supporting female fintech founders

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Anne Boden on supporting female fintech founders

For International Women’s Day (IWD) this year, we spoke to a woman who is the poster child of female success in the fintech world, Anne Boden. In June of last year, Boden stepped down as CEO of Starling after founding the challenger bank 10 years prior. Yet Boden has been busy recently. Last week she launched her third book, Female Founders’ Playbo...

08 March 2024 /inclusion

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