With 2019 drawing to a close, we take a look back at our most popular news items, videos and community engagement activities over the course of the past year.
Top news stories of 2019
January
Stripe raises $100m at $22.5bn valuation
Stripe has secured another $100 million in funding, this time from Tiger Global Management, boosting the payments firm's valuation to $22.5 billion.
February
Tales from the dark side of the Revolut revolution; CFO resigns
The CFO of Revolut has resigned as the fintech unicorn makes headlines for all the wrong reasons, with allegations arising over serious lapses in money laundering controls and dodgy hiring practices.
March
Russia pushes its Swift alternative
Russian authorities are promoting the international use of an alternative financial messaging system to the global Swift network in order to mitigate the risk of sanctions.
April
Halifax rebrand slammed for copying Monzo and Starling
Days after Halifax's attempt at a rebrand to compete with digital upstarts such as Monzo and Starling, social media users noticed that the bank's new identity may have taken the competition a little too literally.
May
Man dissolves credit card to make contactless ring
There may be no shortage of wearable payment options on the market, but one handy man has decided to opt for something a little more personal, and time consuming: dissolving his credit card and putting the RFID chip in a home-made resin ring.
June
FCA delays introduction of Strong Consumer Authentication rules
Taking its lead from the European Banking Authority, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed a delay to the enforcement of stronger payment security standards to give firms more time to prepare.
July
Santander pips Metro Bank for best savings account
Santander has the most intuitive savings account and ranks fastest for account opening time when compared with nine other leading UK banks, according to Worship’s inaugural Savings Account Audit.
August
UK regulator offers 18-month delay for Strong Customer Authentication rules
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed an 18-month delay to the introduction of Secure Customer Authentication (SCA) rules for e-commerce transactions.
September
American Express taps Open Banking for account-to-account payments
American Express is to move into the account-to-account space, enabling UK consumers to pay for goods and services online and on the go, directly from their bank account.
October
Uber launches financial services division
Ride hailing giant Uber is moving deeper into financial services with the launch of a new division, Uber Money.
November
Deutsche Bank collapse rebuttal sets off Twitter storm
The Deutsche Bank social media team has caused a Twitter storm after moving to deny a story published by conspiracy blog Zero Hedge that it was on the verge of collapse.
December
Deloitte predicts 'Japanification' of banking in 2020s
Leaders of banks need to look beyond banking in anticipation of disruption to their industry in the next decade, according to Deloitte.
Most commented
Robinhood stored user passwords in plain text
ING tests software that turns mobile phones into POS terminals
Ripple accused of making false claims about Swift error rates
Adyen launches open banking-powered payment method
Banks not ready for 'confirmation of payee' service
Videos
The State of Fintech
How Digital ID Verification Can Increase New Account Opening
New venture for Nick Ogden: RTGS.global to fix real-time cross-border payments
Introducing the new challenger bank model
The future of digital banking platforms
Blogs
Open Banking: AISPs and PISPs explained
AI in Financial Services is growing, but there’s a way to go
Digital Banks - Business Models
Open Banking vs. Screen Scraping: looking ahead in 2019
Five financial markets trends in 2019