With 2023 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 2023
January
Universal Digital Payments Network launched at Davos
A Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN) for stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) was launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The network aims to provide interoperability between these digital currencies.
February
Klarna reports $1 billion loss
Swedish buy now, pay later giant Klarna continues to bleed red ink, posting a $1 billion loss for 2022, 47% up from a $680 million loss in 2021.
March
FCA takes aim at payment firms over 'unacceptable' risks
The Financial Conduct Authority has written to nearly 300 payment companies warning that it will shut them down if they do not take prompt action to address "unacceptable" risks to consumers and financial system integrity.
April
JPMorgan Chase boss Dimon hails 'groundbreaking' AI
JPMorgan Chase has more than 300 AI use cases in production, CEO Jamie Dimon has revealed, calling the technology "extraordinary and groundbreaking".
May
Revolut UK chief told customer he would be waiting for him with a shotgun
Revolut is investigating complaints that its former UK head accidentally texted an irate customer to say he would be waiting for him 'in the garden with my shotgun'.
June
Banks are becoming "museums of technology" says ex-Barclays boss
Ex-Barclays boss Antony Jenkins has decried banks as "museums of technology" who have failed to properly embrace true digital transformation and are consequently shedding huge numbers of customers to more nimble tech-first rivals.
July
Apple's Tap to Pay arrives in the UK with Revolut and Natwest first out of the gate
Revolut has rolled out Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone for business and freelance customers in the UK, coinciding with the UK launch of the technology by NatWest.
August
More banks pay multi-million dollar penalties over WhatsApp use
Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas are among the latest banks to be hit with multi-million dollar penalties by US regulators over employee use of unofficial communication tools like WhatsApp and iMessage.
September
Revolut launches Swift challenger RevTag
Revolut Business has launched its instant and free payments ecosystem ‘RevTag’, which aims to challenge Swift in cross-border payments.
October
Elon Musk wants X to replace users' bank accounts within a year
Elon Musk wants X to manage users' "entire financial life" so that they "won't need a bank account" by the end of next year.
November
HSBC becomes first bank in the world to offer tokenised gold
HSBC has unveiled a platform that uses distributed ledger technology to tokenise the ownership of institutional clients’ physical gold held in the bank’s London vault.
December
Monzo Wrapped prompts outpouring of shame and anger
Monzo's end-of-year Wrapped campaign informing customers of how they've spent their money this year has prompted an outpouring of hand-wringing shame and anger on social media.
Most commented
UK's cashless transition under the microscope as Payments Choice Alliance pushes back
RTGS and Chaps back online after six-hour outage
Accelerating the use of Instant Payments
In the Blink of an Eye: How the Digital Age Intensifies the Risk of Bank Runs
Mastercard and Visa to face another card interchange class action suit
Top videos
Digitalisation's impact on banks in 2023
The future of cloud migration and "platformification," embedded finance, and the growth of CBDCs are explored in this episode of our PREDICT 2023 series by Gareth Wilson, Executive Vice President, Head of UK Banking and Capital Markets, Capgemini.
HSBC & Finastra: The Changing Cross-Border Payments Landscape
In the first episode of this 4-part FinextraTV series, Mark Evans, Global head of Cross Border and Cross Currency Payments, HSBC & Roy Marsh, Global Payments Director at Finastra, discuss the main drivers of change in the area of Cross-Border payments, what's driving the need and demand for faster cross-border payments, and what efforts are underway now to enable them. We learn about the barriers and frictions to cross-border payments up to this point, what the response should be to improve efficiency & transparency, and how partner collaboration can help to compete in this rapidly changing market.
Customer attitudes towards digital bank services
Dean Clark, Chief Technology Officer, GFT, and Alex Selwood, Partnerships Director, GFT, reflect on the wave of digital transformation retail banks are undergoing and the tools they’re using to adapt to changing customer needs.
What payment trends we can expect in 2023?
In this episode of FinextraTV's PREDICT 2023 Series, Dalbir Sahota, Senior Director Product Management, Bankers Almanac® at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, shares his forecast for cross-border payments and APIs.
Finastra: Keeping up with Instant Payments
In the third episode of this 4-part FinextraTV series, Barry Rodrigues, EVP Payments Business Unit at Finastra, explores key trends in the payments landscape and their impact on customers. Focusing on instant payments, he addresses what the disruption caused by new players in cross-border payments means for traditional Financial Institutions, how banks can adopt and support the introduction of new services and regulations by major markets, and strategies for helping FIs adapt to the evolving landscape.