IT for financial services

The demise of Lehman Brothers sparked Inbotiqa’s flame: Fintech interview 29

Following its demise former IT workers at Lehman Brothers used the experience they gained at the bank to create a tech start up Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IR35 private sector preparation: What the banks’ take on the reforms means for IT contractors

With six months until IR35 tax avoidance reforms are extended to the private sector, a number of financial services firms are thinning out their contractor workforce – is that the way to ensure compliance? Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Zopa continues in its mission to apply a Netflix user experience to banking

Zopa has made a credit scoring tool available as it continues to expand the portfolio of products it offers beyond loans. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Digital and innovation apprentices to start NatWest programme

NatWest is kicking off a tech apprentice programme, with its digital innovation hub set to play a key role Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

French and German banks end talks on challenger bank sale

After months of negotiations, BPCE's proposed sale of Fidor Bank to OLB has fallen through Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why would a bank that made billions of pounds’ profit cut thousands of staff?

HSBC is the latest bank to make thousands of staff cuts as even profitable businesses need to reshape themselves for the challenges that digital transformation brings Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

GoCardless gives 95% of its staff business intelligence at their fingertips

Fintech payments company GoCardless is enabling staff to carry out business intelligence queries themselves Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Middle East: Saudi banks trial biometrics in ATMs

Biometric and blockchain technologies are being used in tandem to provide ID verification at Saudi Arabian cash machines. Also read about the first government organisation in Bahrain to migrate to Amazon Web Services, and an interview with Yasmeen Al Sharaf, head of fintech and innovation unit, Central Bank of Bahrain. Continue Reading

Interview: Yasmeen Al Sharaf, head of fintech and innovation unit, Central Bank of Bahrain

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Saudi banks trial blockchain-based identity technology at ATMs

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Sweden’s SEB explores core banking in the cloud

Swedish Bank is the latest organisation to agree to start using a Google-inspired, cloud-native core banking platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Deutsche Bank to set up innovation division to drive digital transformation

More details about Deutsche Bank’s new technology division in internal company email Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UKtech50 2019 – help us find the most influential people in UK technology

Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK technology reaches its 10th anniversary – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

NatWest bank uses artificial intelligence to predict the future

NatWest is using artificial intelligence to help it paint a more accurate picture of future trends Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IR35 reforms: Lloyds Bank contractors to get deadline on future employment status

Lloyds Banking Group is the latest large firm set to end engagement of IT contractors through personal service companies due to impending IR35 tax reforms Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

From university lab to mainstream Mambu provides cloud ERP system for banks: Fintech interview 28

Mambu started as a university project and is today offering cloud based banking services across the world. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IR35 reforms will prompt Barclays to re-engage contractors on PAYE terms, 'leaked email' suggests

Barclays is understood to have notified line managers via email on 30 September 2019 of its plans to phase out use of limited company contractors, ahead of the IR35 private sector reforms coming into force in April 2020 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Interview: James Smith, director of digital, Nationwide Building Society

James Smith says heading up the digital unit at Nationwide Building Society is the best job in the business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ABN Amro investigation lends weight to anti-money laundering collaboration by Dutch banks

Dutch authorities are investigating ABN Amro for possible failures to monitor and report potential money laundering activity Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

SIBOS audience applauds Boris Johnson’s loss in the Supreme Court

SIBOS audience welcomes UK governments defeat in Supreme Court with a round of applause Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic payment collaboration will ease cross-border payments

P27 and Mastercard to bring seamless cross-border payments across Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Enterprises can hire software robots at the push of a button

IPsoft is beta testing a marketplace where businesses can look at what software robots are available and interview them about their suitability to take roles Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

EBA outsourcing guidelines: What banks, fintechs and cloud providers need to know

The regulatory landscape for financial services and outsourcing will undergo a refresh this month with new guidance from the European Banking Authority. We look at what banks, fintechs and cloud firms need to do Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CTO interview: Paul Clark, Tandem Bank

Tandem Bank’s chief technology officer had a close encounter with legacy banking when he left his previous job to pursue a career in fintech Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Direct Line built an insurtech it can tweak a thousand times a day

Insurance group Direct Line has added a new business to its portfolio, designed to let it act as a sandbox for its digital journey Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Emotet phishing botnet returns from summer vacation

The Emotet phishing trojan-turned-botnet is back in action after a three-and-a-half month break, say threat researchers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fintech Bud cuts 20% of workforce

Fintech Bud is cutting support staff as it focuses on engineering open banking software capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Travelex launches fintech platform for B2B customers

Travelex has launched a digital platform that enables businesses to use its services via application programming interfaces Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The five software testing techniques every software developer should know about

Five simple testing techniques that will help developers test their software systematically, thoroughly and quickly Continue Reading

By

• Brian Hambling

Ecuador citizens’ data breach holds lessons for enterprises

What caused the mass breach of Ecuadorian citizens’ data, and what can businesses learn from it? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 30

The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast team returns from its brief summer hiatus to discuss HPE’s hardware refresh processes, the financial services industry’s changing relationship with cloud and a charity that is helping people with chronic illnesses find work in tech Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

PSD2 security deadline extension is not a reason for further can kicking

The extension of a compliance deadline for PSD2 should not be a signal for banks to reduce preperations Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gartner Catalyst: Prepare for web giants crushing your industry

Companies like Amazon and Alibaba are taking a bigger chunk of the customer journey, but they are also spreading across industry sectors Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Ditch hoodies and hackers to encourage diverse security recruitment

The cyber security industry needs to address a systemic image problem if it is to succeed in recruiting more diverse teams Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

When AIs go to war: Autonomous cyber weapons ‘inevitable’

CISOs must start thinking about how to engage with intelligent, adaptive, non-human attackers, says Trend Micro’s Rik Ferguson Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Dutch banks to work together in fight against money laundering

Dutch banks are sharing expertise and resources to help reduce money laundering through their accounts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech lender increases loan limit as customer demand accelerates

Small business lender Esme Loans has increased its loan limit to quarter of a million pounds as businesses are drawn to its simple and fast digital platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Industry opposition to no-deal Brexit hardens, says TechUK

A survey of TechUK members has found that 71% believe a no-deal Brexit at the end of October will negatively affect them in spite of their preparations Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Less than quarter of fintechs prepared for no-deal Brexit

A survey reveals that less than a quarter of UK fintech companies have their businesses prepared for the UK's exit from the EU Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mirai descendants dominate IoT threat environment

Attacks leveraging compromised IoT devices are growing in size, scale and frequency, report security experts at F-Secure and Trend Micro, with Mirai-related botnets a major source of trouble Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Bloomberg will move historic trading data to cloud in support of clients’ machine-learning ambitions

Bloomberg’s CIO for enterprise, Tony McManus, says its clients’ changing attitude to using cloud is changing the way the firm makes its real-time trading data available to the financial services community Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Fintech Fluidly combines Google’s cloud and AI tech to ease SME cashflow management woes

London-based fintech Fluidly explains how its recent all-in move to the Google Cloud is supporting its continued growth, and delivers new features to customers faster Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

GDPR non-compliance worse than feared

Over half of UK businesses do not yet appear to be fully GDPR-compliant, and many have de-prioritised their compliance efforts Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Brexit disrupts FCA exploration into data use in wholesale banking

The extra work for banks due to Brexit preparations has caused a delay to FCA work on the use of data in the wholesale banking sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Inside NatWest Ventures

NatWest Ventures is helping NatWest bank to remain relevant to its SME businesses customer community through digital innovation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

BT gears up to take on rogue drones

BT’s Enterprise unit is offering customers an anti-drone security solution to protect their physical sites from intrusion Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Social engineering a factor in virtually all cyber attacks, report claims

Almost every single cyber attack will, at some stage, require a human to be tricked into doing something, according to research by Proofpoint Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Loyal Dutch IT professionals not being rewarded enough, survey shows

Companies warned they could lose loyal IT staff because salary rises do not match those on offer from rival employers Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Tandem Bank steps up its artificial intelligence training with appointment

Tandem Bank names seasoned artificial intelligence expert to drive its journey to personalise banking Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Businesses need to keep investing in tech and hope to avoid a no-deal Brexit

A no-deal Brexit could have serious consequences for the UK tech sector and skills base, making it more difficult to recruit technology specialists and hire freelancers Continue Reading

By

• Albert Ellis, Harvey Nash Group

Danish MobilePay app moves away from mainframe

Danske Bank’s popular mobile payment app moves from mainframe to open source DataStax Enterprise built on Apache Cassandra Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Nationwide Building Society harnesses low-code platform

Software development platform makes it quicker to build apps Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CISOs think cloud safer, but security fears remain

The majority of information security leaders think cloud is now safer than on-premise, but security fears remain, with recently breached and highly regulated organisations most concerned, poll reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Allied Irish Banks selects cloud platform for digital transformation

Bank is streamlining its operations through a cloud platform from nCino Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Risk mitigation is key to blockchain becoming mainstream

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

By

• Mike Yeomans, Information Security Forum

UK organisations join quantum comms pilot

Four UK companies are taking part in a pilot project to build the most secure communication infrastructure in Europe Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TSB works with Silicon Valley tech firm to help SME customers take card payments

UK bank will offer its small business customers card-processing and point-of-sale technology by partnering with a fintech set up by Twitter CEO Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Blockchain – balance risk and opportunity for smart security

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

By

• RV Raghu, ISACA

CIO interview: Simon McNamara, chief administrative officer, RBS Group

Brought in after a catastrophic IT failure that affected 6.5 million customers, the IT chief at Royal Bank of Scotland Group says the bank is now a leader in innovation. Continue Reading

UK gets first millionaire ethical hacker

Six months after the first millionaire ethical hacker was announced, five more have been recognised, including a Briton, who have collectively discovered nearly 5,000 vulnerabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Don’t upset the Apple Card

Apple has reiterated its searing contempt for the hoi polloi that uses its products by releasing a physical credit card you’re not supposed to put in your wallet. The titanium card is, in Apple’s ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Most UK firms ignore security in tech investments

Less than a quarter of UK firms prioritise security when investing in new technology, despite the threat of cyber attacks and data protection regulations, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ransomware has evolved into a serious enterprise threat

Ransomware has seen a resurgence since the start of 2019, with cyber criminals changing code and tactics to target enterprises and local authorities for higher ransom payments, McAfee researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Employees, MSPs and developers top third-party risks

Employees, managed service providers and developers are the top sources of third-party risks in terms of data security, a survey reveals, highlighting the value of workplace monitoring Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IR35 reforms: HMRC defends off-payroll rules guidance against "woeful" IPSE jibes

HMRC promises there are more preparatory materials in the pipeline to help the private sector prepare for the April 2020 IR35 rules, after IPSE brands its current guidance "woeful" Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

A helping hand from the Nordics in the eye of the GDPR storm

Nordic IT companies are well suited to supporting enterprises in their data protection projects, even though openness is more natural to them Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

UK businesses at risk due to PSD2 security standard myths re-emerging

UK businesses could put themselves at risk because of myths surrounding the PSD2 security standard Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Nordics: Copenhagen woos tech startups

Copenhagen offers all the advantages startups need to get off the ground and many are setting up with the intention of staying there for the long haul. Also read how shipping giant Maersk is employing a cloud-first strategy to disrupt competition and build innovation, and why three Finnish banks are sharing a core IT platform. Continue Reading

UK banks outage caused by problem at US payment service provider

UK consumers were unable to access some banking services due to a hardware failure at a US payments provider Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Still work to be done securing Open Banking as PSD2 deadline looms

Banks and retailers have work to do to ensure that open banking and PSD2 don't open doors for fraudsters Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

PSD2 creates more potential entry points for fraudsters

PSD2 widens the target for fraudsters preying on consumers through social engineering and other non technical attacks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Buyers think SD-WAN is too expensive and complicated

Building and maintaining an SD-WAN is perceived as a complicated endeavour, and the industry’s messages are not getting through, says a new report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Restaurant group pays staff almost £1m early through fintech app

Wagestream app enables Casual Dining Group employees to receive salary payments in advance for a small fee Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Even fintech startups battling to meet cyber security challenges

A study shows that most fintech startups, like most banks, are failing to address vulnerabilities in the web and mobile applications, underlining the scale of the challenge Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK financial account takeovers up, report warns

Commercial cyber criminal services are helping to drive up the number of account takeovers, a fraud report for the first half of the year shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

First government organisation in Bahrain migrates to Amazon Web Services

Sovereign wealth fund’s internal IT team handled migration process, which has slashed the organisation’s technology operational costs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London Stock Exchange glitch delays trading

The London Stock Exchange suffered a 90-minute technical outage which prevented early trading in major stocks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

European fintech investment continues to grow as global investment falls

European countries are continuing to see significant growth in financial technology investment as total global investment decreases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Most UK financial firms hit by cyber attack in the past year

The majority of UK financial companies are failing to prevent cyber security incidents, mainly because of employees failing to follow security policies and a lack of security budget, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK finance regulator gives extra time for companies to meet payment security rules

Financial Conduct Authority gives companies under its watch an extra 18 months to meet an EU payments security standard Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What 5G applications will transform your business?

The UK’s mobile network operators have started work on their 5G roll-outs, but what applications are most likely to gain enterprise traction for the new standard? Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

Breach cost $53m in Q2, says Desjardins

Credit union cooperative Desjardins reveals that a data breach in June cost the company $53m in the second quarter, but that could be just the start, warn industry commentators Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Financial services and cloud: Delivering digital transformation in a highly regulated industry

The financial services community has gone from being one of the least likely sectors to adopt cloud to becoming one of its keenest users, as regulator attitudes to using the technology have become more accommodating Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

F-Secure warns of F5 Big IP-related security issue

F-Secure has discovered security issues relating to an F5 device that it says could potentially turn hundreds of thousands of load balancers into beachheads for cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Ransomware a continued threat to business, report warns

Businesses are increasingly becoming the most popular targets for ransomware, which remains a top cyber threat around the world, especially in the US, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Dutch academic hunts the personality behind the hacker

Rutger Leukfeldt, senior researcher on cyber crime at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement, is working to help organisations understand the personalities behind criminal hackers. Also in this issue, read about research that shows over half of Dutch organisations admit their knowledge of blockchain is substandard. We also feature an article about ABN Amro’s work with researchers to explore how quantum computing can be used to secure online banking. Continue Reading

Shared files in the cloud are a top ransomware target

Vectra 2019 Spotlight report shows recent ransomware attacks cast a wider net to ensnare cloud, datacentre and enterprise infrastructures Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

African bank foils suspected North Korean cyber attack

An African bank is among the financial institutions to be targeted by North Korea’s multi-billion dollar cyber theft campaign to support its weapons programmes Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CIO interview: Simon McNamara, chief administrative officer, RBS Group

Brought in after a catastrophic IT failure that affected 6.5 million customers, the IT chief at Royal Bank of Scotland Group says the bank is now a leader in innovation Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Nordic banks move into wearable payment technology

Payment by watch or watch strap is now an option for customers of two banks in Sweden Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Nationwide plans 750 tech roles at new digital hub in London

Building society is setting up its first major tech presence in London to help it access deep skills pool Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London Stock Exchange agrees to acquire Refinitiv for £22bn

The London Stock Exchange has agreed to a multi-billion pound takeover of data giant Refinitiv Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cisco pays $8.6m after whistleblower discloses security flaws in video surveillance system

James Glenn, a video surveillance expert working for a Cisco reseller in Denmark, alerted Cisco to security faults and stands to gain a share of a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US government Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Financial services top cyber attack target

Financial services are among the most attractive targets for cyber attackers, security researchers reveal, with phishing and credential stuffing among the top threats Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, links Middle East to AWS's global network and will help to accelerate digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Deutsche Bank’s public contraction marks a major breakthrough for fintech startups

German bank is cutting costs overall but is investing more in the latest digital technology as fintechs chip away at banking business Continue Reading

Digital takes the racing line in Formula One

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the CIO of Formula One racing team Haas F1 to find out how technology is helping to compete with better-funded rivals. We examine the latest best practice advice on disaster planning. And we look at what the troubles at Deutsche Bank tell us about the rise of fintech startups. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

London Stock Exchange eyes £22bn acquisition of Refinitiv to expand data capabilities

The London Stock Exchange is looking at a huge tech acquisition to provide customers access to a wealth of data services built using the latest technologies Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Former AWS engineer arrested for Capital One data breach

Capital One announces data breach affecting more than 100 million customers as US federal authorities arrest a Seattle woman formerly employed by Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Visa card vulnerabilities enable contactless limit bypass

Security researchers have discovered vulnerabilities on Visa cards that could be exploited to bypass contactless payment limits and result in huge losses Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst