Latest long reads: Finextra Research

Stablecoin currency exchanges are impacting traditional FX trading

Ganesh Viswanath-Natraj Assistant Professor at Gillmore Centre, Warwick

Stablecoin currency exchanges are impacting traditional FX trading

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that maintain a peg to traditional fiat currencies like the US dollar or Euro. The most prominent examples by market capitalization are Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), both of which uphold a 1:1 parity with the US dollar. As of July 2024, the total market value of stablecoins has surpassed $160 billion USD. Thes...

15 hours /crypto

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

Hamish Monk Reporter at Finextra

What is embedded finance?

The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the key drivers (open banking the enabler) of global embedded finance adoption. According to Global Market Insights, the embedded finance market shot to $58 billion by 2022, and is estimated to clock-in a 29% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) until 2032 – by which point it could exceed $730 billion. A new ecosys...

13 August 2024 /payments

How US Inflation Reduction Act funds IRS high income taxpayer collections

Scott Hamilton Contributing Editor at Finextra Research

How US Inflation Reduction Act funds IRS high income taxpayer collections

As we continue to explore the potential outcomes of the US presidential election on financial institutions and fintechs, it seemed like a suitable time to take a second look at income taxes, one of the key components of every company’s financial planning and ongoing management. Turns out, a particular piece of two-year old climate change mitigatio...

09 August 2024 /regulation

Allocating green capital to housing: Why energy efficiency needs to be prioritised

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Allocating green capital to housing: Why energy efficiency needs to be prioritised

The climate crisis and cost of living crisis are both well underway and wreaking considerable damage on the livelihoods and fiscal capabilities of the UK public. Financial institutions and the government need to step up green initiatives to make housing more sustainable and more affordable. While these may seem like two different, and even opposin...

08 August 2024 /sustainable

Key considerations for finance startups embarking on joint ventures

Tahmid Majeed Associate Solicitor at SA Law

Key considerations for finance startups embarking on joint ventures

Joint ventures can be a profitable endeavour for startups wanting to break new markets, especially in a challenging global economy. A survey last year of global executives found 58% preferred joint ventures to mergers and acquisitions due to economic uncertainty. A joint venture is two or more parties coming together for a specific business purpos...

07 August 2024 /regulation

Hamish Monk Reporter at Finextra

What is an API?

The world of financial services is increasingly connected. This is thanks to the unsung hero of the digital world: application programming interfaces, or APIs – a millennial innovation opened out to the financial sector through a series of open banking regulations, including the first installment of the Payment Services Directives, in 2007. APIs, ...

05 August 2024 /devops

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

The top payment stories you missed in July

Dominique Dierks Content Manager at Finextra

The top payment stories you missed in July

It was an eventful month in the financial sector. Catch up on six of our most-read news and updates from July 2024. Revolut is finally granted a UK banking license After three years of trying, Revolut has been granted a banking license, with restrictions, by the Financial Conduct Authority. Once the ‘mobilisation stage’ has been completed and the r...

02 August 2024 /payments

US regulators' warnings on bank-fintech partnerships: how they can benefit the industry

Scott Hamilton Contributing Editor at Finextra Research

US regulators' warnings on bank-fintech partnerships: how they can benefit the industry

There’s a right way and a wrong way to build and manage bank-fintech business relationships. Well, make that many ways to do both, as there are several critically important factors and practices that need to be considered (and monitored) in every such relationship, no matter its specific goals and structure. Over the past several weeks, vexing exa...

01 August 2024 /regulation

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

How to onboard a new customer: Streamlining banks' journeys

Hamish Monk Reporter at Finextra

How to onboard a new customer: Streamlining banks' journeys

Customer onboarding describes the process by which banks and financial institutions take uninitiated individuals and give them access to pre-agreed products. The challenges around this journey include bringing numerous segments of the bank together; ensuring communication with the customer is clear and concise; as well as that all compliance boxes...

30 July 2024 /retail

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