Níamh Curran - Community Author: Finextra Research

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: What banks need to know

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act: What banks need to know

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) received royal assent last week and affects the way financial institutions manage economic crime. The bill is part of the UK Government’s wider economic crime plan, which was detailed earlier this year by MP Suella Braverman. The bill aims to limit the “dirty” money coming into the UK marke...

02 November 2023 /regulation

Deepfake fraud: the rising threat in financial crime

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Deepfake fraud: the rising threat in financial crime

As it’s Halloween, spooky season is the perfect time to highlight one of the scariest, and arguably creepiest growing developments in financial crime, the deepfake. Deepfakes have dominated national headlines for a while now, often for especially unsavoury reasons, and for their political usage. They have now become a tangible issue within the fi...

31 October 2023 /crime /ai

Future of Fintech in Latin America 2023: Data penetration has room for improvement

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Future of Fintech in Latin America 2023: Data penetration has room for improvement

This is an excerpt from The Future of Fintech in Latin America 2023 report. Latin American is one of the biggest growth markets for fintech. According to the IMF, digital payments across Latin America grew from $89 billion in 2017 to $215 billion in 2021; the number of digital payment services exceeded 300 million in 2021; and alternative finance ...

19 October 2023 /devops

How can we accelerate the delivery of clean and affordable energy?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

How can we accelerate the delivery of clean and affordable energy?

This is an excerpt from 'The Future of ESGTech 2024' report. Our global economy has been “driven and shaped by oil, gas, and coal” for over 100 years. Fossil fuels powered the industrial revolution and formed the global financial ecosystem into what it is, but this has to change. Over 80% of the world's energy consumption comes from fossil fuels, w...

11 October 2023 /sustainable

Why do we need quantum-resistant encryption?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Why do we need quantum-resistant encryption?

This next edition of our Quantum Series, which highlights the key issues in the developing world of quantum computing, focuses in on quantum-proof encryption. Earlier this year, the White House released a memorandum which laid out a goal for government departments to adopt quantum-resistant encryption to mitigate risks associated with the technol...

29 September 2023 /devops

How to balance surging cyber threats with a tsunami of compliance costs

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

How to balance surging cyber threats with a tsunami of compliance costs

Every year, consumers and businesses alike suffer significant losses as a result of fraud and cybercrime, a large amount of this stemming from criminals taking advantage of an increasingly digital world. This is an extract from The Future of the Global Financial Ecosystem 2024 report, in association with Sibos. Digital fraud rose dramatically in 2...

19 September 2023 /Sibos

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Fintok: Should your financial brand be on TikTok?

TikTok is projected to have over 955 million active users by 2025. It is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, especially with younger demographics. However, TikTok is often perceived to be quite an unserious platform, mostly used for a few seconds of dancing or comedy, but this is not the case. TikTok is an infective app....

15 September 2023 /retail

Future of Fintech in the Middle East 2023: Access to increased data can enhance customer experience

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Future of Fintech in the Middle East 2023: Access to increased data can enhance customer experience

This is an excerpt from The Future of Fintech in the Middle East 2023 report. Data plays an important role for the growth of fintech in any region. It can help financial services participants understand their customers’ needs and is used to protect users from bad actors. Access to better data can also improve customer interactions because of incre...

29 August 2023 /devops

Future of Fintech in Africa 2023: Data penetration could be improved with better infrastructure

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Future of Fintech in Africa 2023: Data penetration could be improved with better infrastructure

This is an excerpt from The Future of Fintech in Africa 2023 report. Africa is maturing as a fintech market. McKinsey predicts that the financial services market in Africa could grow at 10% per annum through 2025 reaching $230 billion in revenues, excluding South Africa. The diagram shows that African fintech growth exceeds that of the global benc...

14 August 2023 /devops

Consumer Duty: It's just the beginning of the process

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Consumer Duty: It's just the beginning of the process

Consumer Duty finally came into full force this week, with the FCA publishing a 14-point plan to boost cash savings interest rates. The aims of Consumer Duty are clear: a higher standard for customer protection across financial services. The FCA laid out that customers should expect: helpful and accessible customer support, so it's as easy to sor...

02 August 2023 /regulation

Pride in fintech isn’t just about rainbows in June

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Pride in fintech isn’t just about rainbows in June

As Pride month comes to an end, it is evident that the fintech community needs to look at the role it has in amplifying LGBTQIA+ voices in the industry and making sure companies are embracing all the talent on offer. Deloitte and Workplace Pride conducted a study which included responses from over 5,000 LGBTQ+ people across 13 different co...

30 June 2023 /people

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The rise of banking-as-a-service

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) has become one of the major trends rising within payments. Gartner predicts that BaaS will be mainstream before the end of 2024 and this trend has sat at the top of the Gartner Hype Cycle from September 2022. This is an excerpt from Future of Payments 2023. BaaS is when banks open their APIs to allow digital banks and o...

22 June 2023 /payments

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