IT for financial services

École Hôtelière de Lausanne puts Amelia the robot at its core

When Switzerland-based hospitality school EHL began to automate processes, it was met with staff inertia, but that all changed after its benefits became clear Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Identity custodians needed in digital era

Digital identity systems will fail if they do not take humans into account, warns identity innovator, suggesting that a ‘digital guardian’ could help overcome most of these challenges Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GozNym bust underlines cyber crime threat

A criminal network using GozNym malware has been shut down in an international law enforcement operation, but others are still operating, underlining the need for vigilance, warns a security expert Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fujitsu sets out to restore trust in technology

Trust in technology, how to recapture it, and how to ensure AI doesn’t overstep its bounds were the big messages on the opening day of Fujitsu Forum in Tokyo Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Nationwide invests in behavioural AI startup

Nationwide invests in a startup developing AI that can work out how it should change the way it communicates with different people. Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK pensions trust launches £1.5bn tender for digital services delivery

The National Employment Savings Trust wants its new supplier to build innovations such as data analytics to services provided via digital channels Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Public sector outsourcing spend plummets

Private sector outsourcing dominated spending in the UK during the first quarter of 2019 Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Electronic ID in the Nordics – a model for other countries?

Use of electronic identity schemes in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark is far ahead of other countries – but why? Continue Reading

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• Alex Cruickshank

Debugging bug bounty programmes

Bug bounty programmes have recently become a popular method of vulnerability management, but poor programme management can lead to development teams becoming overwhelmed and bugs being missed Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

Striving to be a good bank at Tandem Bank: Fintech Interview 21

Tandem Bank is using the latest technology to help people manage their finances and half a million have already taken up its offer Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Reducing poverty through fintech at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Kosta Peric swapped a life innovating for banks to work on increasing financial inclusion in the developing world Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch businesses not yet implementing NIS Directive

Little urgency to comply with the Network and Information Systems Security Act, which seeks to protect the Netherlands’ vital infrastructure and digital services from cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Interview: Data takes centre stage at Lloyd’s of London

The 330-year-old insurance market is evolving its data efforts as part of a far-reaching modernisation strategy, focusing on artificial intelligence and driving employee data literacy Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Deutsche Börse harnesses Microsoft cloud

German stock exchange signs deal with Microsoft that will not only benefit the exchange, but other organisations in the sector that are considering cloud migration Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech Tink gets UK expansion rolling with NatWest deal

Swedish fintech Tink gets its UK expansion going with NatWest deal Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Open banking take-up in the Netherlands less than expected because government promoted GDPR so well

The Dutch government promoted GDPR so much to the public that take up of open banking has been low Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Azimo safeguards its EU passporting rights with Dutch licence

Azimo makes Dutch office operational with licence and gaurantees itself the right to operate across EU after Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Swedish government tells citizens to hoard cash in case of cyber attack

Civil Contingencies Agency says cash is needed in case of emergencies such as technology failures and cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Co-operative Bank creates over 100 IT jobs in Manchester

The Co-operative Bank is looking for talent to support its digital strategy and previous banking and IT experience is not a necessity Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Firms urged to embrace positive security trends to win cyber war

Modern cyber security challenges overshadow the information security successes of the past, but several positive trends are emerging as defenders come to grips with new threats, says Deloitte Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microservices introduce hidden security complexity, analyst warns

Microservice architecture – an approach to application development in which applications are built as a suite of modular services – simplifies development but complicates security, says KuppingerCole Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Banks changing APIs at short notice highlights a failing of open banking standard

Why are the high street banks changing APIs so regularly and at such short notice? Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest owned fintech reaches £50m mark for SME lending

NatWest owned SME lending platform Esme Loans has lent more than £50m to UK SMEs over two years. Esme cuts the time it takes to apply for a loan to 10 minutes for SMEs, offering SMEs loans of up to ... Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Middle East Interview: Bahrain fintech drive gathers speed

Bahrain wants to be a launchpad into the wider region for financial technology firms looking to scale Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Danish financial services regulator launches sandbox initiative

FT Lab offers fintech startups a platform to test out their products in a secure environment Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Get more proactive on cyber security, says ex Europol chief

Business needs to get more proactive, collaborative, resilient and analytical to manage cyber risks posed by cyber criminals down to acceptable levels, says former Europol chief Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Chancellor Hammond regrets uncertainty of the elephant in the room in speech to the fintechs

Chancellor of the Exchequer addresses fintechs on day two of Innovate Finance Summit 2019 Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nearly half of UK IT pros report serious data breaches

Integration of security systems and employee training recognised as key ways to reduce the growing severity of data breaches Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fix the basics first, then worry about AI, advise experts

The freedom of the internet is at risk, with the cyber arms race and the industrialisation of hacking are set to continue as attackers move up the value chain to target trust mechanisms, threat experts predict Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Danske Bank and IBM bring AI to banking IT

Artificial intelligence partnership is designed to reduce the risk of major IT outages and keep the bank’s customers happy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Cruickshank

Bank of England governor speaks as maiden UK Fintech Week begins

The UK's first Fintech Week kicks off with Innovate Finance Global Summit Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mobile phones and health: is 5G being rolled out too fast?

European countries are rolling out 5G mobile communications at breakneck speed as they seek to gain a competitive edge over the US and Asia. But some scientists have raised questions about the effects of 5G mobile phone radiation on public health and are calling for a precautionary approach Continue Reading

By

• Crina Boros
• Investigate Europe
• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Challenger bank Tandem migrates to AWS in one weekend

Customer migration to Amazon Web Services demonstrates challenger banks’ agility in moving quickly to the latest technology Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

WannaCry hero pleads guilty, urges others to stay on ‘good side’

Briton hailed as WannaCry hero finally pleads guilty to charges of writing and distributing malware, but urges security researchers to stay away from the “dark side” Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

APAC set for blockchain boom

Led by China, spending on blockchain technology in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan will surpass $2bn by 2022 Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Middle East CIOs optimistic as budgets increase and digital transformations expand

Cyber security and risk management will see the biggest increase in spending, but digital transformation of businesses is a major driver of investment, survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Third of people would allow tech platform to automatically move mortgage

Almost a third of people have such confidence in fin tech that they would allow a digtal platform to automatically move their mortgage to a better deal. Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest eases business payments with biometric authentication on mobile

NatWest is making it easier and safer for businesses to make payments of any size via a mobile app using biometric authentication technology Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Seven steps to manage risk of catastrophic cyber attack

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Singapore firms streamline operations, fend off disruption with cloud

Certis and financial institutions are among those in the city state that are turning to cloud services to gain a competitive edge Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Consumers will ditch bank if online experience falls short

Would you ditch your bank or building society if its digital services didn't match up to Google? Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Google Cloud CEO outlines plans to take firm even deeper into the enterprise

CEO Thomas Kurian used inaugural Google Cloud Next keynote to detail how infrastructure investments, supplier partnerships and simplified processes will be key to its plans to conquer even more of the enterprise market Continue Reading

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• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Digital doppelgangers for sale to defeat anti-fraud tech

Security researchers have uncovered an online market selling digital identities to help cyber criminals to defeat anti-fraud technologies, as financial cyber crime becomes a bigger threat than ever before Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Brexit turn off increases IT salaries in UK fintech as overseas experts become harder to attract

The fintech industry in the UK is growing fast but it could face difficulties attracting the right IT talent as a result of the Brexit turnoff Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: How to reduce the impact of a potential cyber extinction event

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

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• Andy Jones, Information Security Forum (ISF)

Is fintech making it too easy to mis-buy financial products?

Is fin tech making it too easy for people to mis-buy financial products? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Social inclusion unit aims to expand diversity in IT conversation

New unit at startup hub wants to explore how technology can be applied to address the barriers many people face in participating in society Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

National Savings and Investments makes £300m extension to Atos deal

UK government-owned savings bank adds three years to IT services contract with French supplier Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Goldex is bringing Amazon-like usability to gold trading: Fintech interview part 19

An encounter between seasoned trading executive and archaic gold trading processes ignited Goldex Technologies Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Researchers uncover US-based malware distribution centre

More than a dozen US-based web servers are operating as the malware equivalent of an Amazon fulfilment centre to target businesses, security researchers have found Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Post Office to appeal judgment from first Horizon trial

The Post Office will appeal against some of the judgments from the first trial concerning the Horizon computer system used by subpostmasters Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fresh approach needed to reap cloud security benefits

Transitioning to cloud-based services offers businesses an opportunity to improve security capabilities, but only if they adopt a proactive cloud-native approach, says Palo Alto Networks cloud security expert Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

SuiteWorld 2019: Using technology to close the financial gender gap

The CFO from non-profit organisation Kiva explains how the organisation is using distributed ledger technology to close the financial inclusion gender gap Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Most business decision-makers and knowledge workers happy to work alongside robots

Fears that automation will remove jobs for knowledge workers are reducing as opportunities emerge to upskill and eradicate mundane work Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Goliath vs Goliath and the complexities of 5G intellectual property

Is Apple the good guy or the bad guy? It has violated patents and had its wrist slapped by the courts (bad), yet its products are still available for adoring fans to buy (good) Continue Reading

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• Pio Suh, IP Com

Four in 10 leading banks failing on email fraud protection

Top UK traditional and challenger banks risk exposing customers to email fraud, a study reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attacks increasingly exploiting supply chain weaknesses

Cyber attacks are increasingly characterised by supply chain attacks, counter incident response and lateral movement, research reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Thales completes acquisition of Gemalto

Multi-billion-euro acquisition gives Thales a global leadership position in digital identity and security Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fidor founder leaves as parent bank plots future

The founder of digital challenger bank Fidor leaves company as traditional banking parent company tries to sell business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintechs taking large chunk of SME lending sector

Alternative lending platforms targeting the SME sector have managed to get their message across to their customer base Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Major shake-up of TSB IT after core banking system migration disaster

TSB has restructured its IT team to give its internal team control of its core banking system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Encryption adoption driven by new tech and compliance

The adoption of encryption is at its highest level yet, driven by the need to protect data generated by new digital initiatives, but still less than half of organisations are applying it consistently across the enterprise Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses losing out on early payment discounts due to outdated software

Chief financial officers need to upgrade their accounting software to benefit from discounts available for paying suppliers early Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Azimo is stripping high streets and denting the universe: Fintech interview part 18

Cross border money transfer fintech Azimo is disrupting the high street Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Add Apple credit card to list of things you can do on your iPhone

Apple has announced a fintech service which will enable customers to turn their mobile phone into a credit card. From the summer customers in the US will have access to the Apple Card. There is an ... Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Artificial intelligence making major inroads into Russian banking

Russian banks are identifying use cases for artificial intelligence, but the gradual adoption of the technology will require access to a deeper skills pool if it is to accelerate Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

NatWest launches female-focused crowdfunding programme

Consumer bank NatWest is backing female entrepreneurs through a crowdfunding programme Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Firms urged to protect against spear phishing

Spear phishing attacks are sophisticated, targeted, costly and increasing in popularity among cyber attackers, a report warns Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NatWest launches business virtual account platform

Features supported by a new system enable corporate customers to manage and segregate money, and are part of a wider digital transformation plan to enhance customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Bank of England’s large IT spend partly due to use of manual processes and legacy systems

The Bank of England admits there is room for improvement when it comes to IT efficiency Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Hear from some of the women shaping UK fintech

Find out what needs to done to increase diversity in fintech from some of the women shaping the industry Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nationwide uses natural language processing to discover what annoys customers

SAS has run a proof of concept at building society Nationwide, using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to determine how to improve customer correspondence Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

NatWest launches biometric card pilot

NatWest Bank is set to trial biometrics-based cards with 200 customers to verify contactless payment transactions over £30 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

ICO data raises doubts over UK firms’ ability to manage breaches

Most ICO data breach reports late and incomplete prior to full GDPR implementation, FoI request data reveals, raising doubts about breach prevention, detection and response capabilities Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Equifax defends against scathing Senate report

Equifax chief says firm did take cyber security seriously in a response to a scathing Senate report on the credit rating agency’s 2017 data breach, which experts say highlights failings around open source software Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO head still in top three of DataIQ data leader list

The UK’s information commissioner remains in the top three data leaders after claiming top spot in 2018 in the DataIQ 100 list of most influential data leaders, but GDPR is not the only focus in the industry Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Machine identities for sale on dark web, business warned

Academics and security professionals are warning businesses that certificates used to establish trust and privacy on the internet are being weaponised and sold to cyber criminals bundled with other services Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post Office trial

The second trial in a court battle between the Post Office and the people who run branches analyses alleged bugs in the computer system they use Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest fintech loan platform partners Microsoft for data warehouse and AI chatbot

NatWest fintech loans platform tapping Microsoft data warehouse expertise to support its rapid decision making Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bank of England to migrate from core system with a one-off big bang

The Bank of England will migrate from its current 23-year-old core settlement system with a big bang migration before the end of 2025 in an effort to modernise its way of working Continue Reading

Innovate Finance launches initiative to get teens into fintech

Innovate Finance wants to establish a long term pipeline of fintech talent Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Santander latest bank to tap Google experience

Spanish banking giant is tapping IT skills from Google through its latest senior tech appointment Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest launches its baseline open banking feature

NatWest is the latest bank to offer its baseline open banking service Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber awareness of UK boards found wanting

Boards of many of the UK’s biggest firms must do more to be cyber aware, according to a government report. Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Danske Bank builds on machine learning to predict IT failures

Danish bank is using artificial intelligence to help it prevent IT outages that could damage its reputation with customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Yoyo on its way up: Fintech interview part 17

Fintech Yoyo is on its upward trajectory as mobile phones take centre stage in people's lives Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What are the CDN options for enterprises?

We look at how content delivery networks can give your organisation’s web presence a literal edge Continue Reading

By

• Rene Millman

IBM deal to drive Nordea’s IT-led transformation

Nordea is expanding its relationship with IBM through a deal that will give it access to the skills and resources required to keep pace with the digital revolution in banking Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

BBC reveals high frequency of UK banking outages from data mandated by the FCA

BBC analysis of IT outages at UK banks, evident in data mandated by the Financial Conduct Authority since August 2018, reveals them to occur at least once a month at each current account provider Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Substantive reform to education needed to address the skills gap blighting fintechs

TrueLayer talks about the deeper causes of fintech skills shortages beyond Brexit uncertainty Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch companies lack knowledge of IoT’s benefits

Many organisations in the Netherlands are missing out on the benefits of the internet of things because they lack awareness of its potential Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Brexit self-harm means London no longer the Holy Land for all fintech talent

Fintechs in London and the UK will face increased challenges finding the right staff as Brexit makes other European hubs even more attractive Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fidor bank future clearer next month as split from BCPE nears

Digital challenger bank Fidor is close to splitting from BCPE, with clarity expected next month Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic tech is increasing diversity but more needs to be done

The shortage of women in the boardroom is a problem in the Nordics, like other regions, but work in its tech sector means the future could be more promising Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Sweden’s central bank to test digital currency

 Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Sweden to test e-krona and plans cashless society

Sweden’s vision of a cashless society has gained traction after the Riksbank (central bank) rolled out plans to test a digital currency, the e-krona. Also read how the Nordic region’s longer-established companies are playing a forceful role to advance digital transformation, and how Finland’s IT sector has rebounded strongly after Microsoft’s takeover of Nokia’s mobile phones and smart devices business units in 2014. Continue Reading

Astrophysics and music production skills give Bud a different approach: Fintech interview part 16

Fintech Bud is using a diverse range of skills to help banks like HSBC understand and create customer services based on open banking rules Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Estonia redoubles efforts to attract global IT talent

IT professionals from all over the world are being lured to Estonia through a government recruitment campaign Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Upgraded Bank of England system that gives more fintechs the same rights as banks, due in 2025

While fintechs get their platforms up and running in months the Bank of England’s core system replacement will take best part of a decade. Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA