IT for financial services

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Businesses losing out on early payment discounts due to outdated software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

By

• 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

By

• 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

By

• 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

By

• 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

By

• 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

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 core settlement system with a 'big-bang' migration before the end of 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Forget all the fancy stuff and apply AI to paying invoices, says Previse: Fintech interview part 15

While self driving cars and robotic co-workers take the limelight businesses can benefit from the seemingly more mundane application of machine learning Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech reveals that Brexit induced fall in pound’s value hits migrant workers in UK

Cross border payments Fintech identifies migrant workers in UK losing out because of falling pound Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Making the move to cloud work for you

Getting the best out of a move to the cloud means getting the size right, turning off what you don’t need, smart purchasing and continuously decluttering your new environment Continue Reading

By

• Rahul Gupta , PA Consulting

Action needed as venture capitalists reluctant to invest in fintechs founded by women

Action is needed if fintechs set up by women are to receive the same level of venture capitalist backing as those set up by men Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HSBC to turn off mobile app after it finds life in open banking features

HSBC's exploration of open banking functionality with fintech Bud has identified what customers want Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Legacy systems holding banks back from meeting demand for instant accounts

Banks are struggling to meet customer demand to open accounts instantly because of legacy IT systems and processes Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lloyds Bank outage just the latest of a recurring trend as complexity grows

Lloyds Bank IT outage he latest to hit UK consumers as banking systems wobble under pressure Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Positive discrimination needed to remedy shocking under-investment in fintechs founded by women

Positive discrimination if the lack of investment in fintechs founded by women is to become a thing of the past Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch developer offers businesses nuclear security option for communications

Startup that created the secure platform for communication between world leaders at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands seeks to revolutionise business mail Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Lauri Love takes legal action against NCA for return of seized computers

Lauri Love, a former engineering student who won a battle with the US Department of Justice against extradition to the US to face hacking charges, is suing the UK's intelligence agency, the NCA, for the return of his seized computers Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Challenger bank Monzo applying agile development techniques to business banking product

Monzo is testing out a business banking proposition with 1000 customers as it plans to be an SME finance management hub Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Consequences of failure at banks means they can’t mimic Google too closely

Banks are under pressure to transform digitally but is it fair to set Google as the destination? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lloyds Bank rolls out open banking functionality to mobile app customers

Lloyds Bank customers can now see current accounts from multiple banks through their mobile banking app Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Finastra business expands with fintech disruption: Fintech interview part 14

Finastra is an IT supplier build on very old foundations but fintech disruption has forced it to extend beyond them Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic region primed to pioneer 5G

The Nordic region could pioneer the commercial use of 5G, with Finland and Sweden hotbeds for the technology Continue Reading

By

• Jane Hamrin

InstaReM, from ruined bachelor party to global business: Fintech Interview part 13

Money transfer company InstaRem is an example of something worth remembering after a Bachelor party Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK’s IT and BPO spend plummets because of Brexit uncertainty

UK businesses cut their investment in IT and business process outsourcing last year because of confusion over Brexit, but there was a 68% rise in public sector spending Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Payday lender cuts troubleshooting by 30% with Virtual Instruments

Curo Financial thought storage was slowing down its websites, but found virtual machine and network issues were to blame. To fix this, it’s going proactive on storage performance issues Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Could Atom bank’s deal with Thought Machine be a stepping stone for legacy replacement at BBVA?

Could BBVA follow Lloyds Banking Group onto the Google inspired banking platform from Thought Machine Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: David Germain, CITO, RSA Insurance Group

Insurance giant’s chief information and technology officer wants to refresh the company’s user computing environment, make smart technology investments and take advantage of the latest innovations Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Swiss bank moves away from file with Cloudian object storage

PostFinance opts for Cloudian object storage as it migrates 100 million files away from NetApp and builds S3-compatible archives for Hadoop and Apache Spark Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Massive uptick in cyber attacks targeting Student Loans Company

Cyber criminals used a range of techniques, as well as malware, malicious emails and calls, in attempts to access confidential financial data belonging to students, in massive uptick in attacks in the past year Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

TSB blames IT disaster for huge losses

TSB made a huge loss in its latest financial year because of costs it incurred as a result of an IT disaster Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

ICO to audit Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance

UK privacy watchdog will audit the data protection practices at Leave.EU and Eldon Insurance and has confirmed fines for both companies for unlawful marketing messages Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Clydesdale, Yorkshire and Virgin Money opt for OpenShift digital push

Banking group CYBG uses OpenShift to roll out a common set of services and improve developer productivity Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Cyber insurance uptake growing, but not all firms convinced

The adoption of cyber insurance is expected to grow, but one in three companies still are not sold on the benefits, a survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

AXA recruits AI assistants in back office

Insurance giant is deploying software robots to take over repetitive tasks and free up humans to do more analytical work Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NatWest opens academy to teach staff the power of data

Bank tools up its employees with the data skills required to offer customised products for customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What the fintechs think about open banking’s progress? Part 2 Fluidly

What do fintechs think of the first year of Open Banking and what do they expect over the next 12 months? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Global cyber attack could cost up to $193bn, study shows

A coordinated global cyber attack could have an economic impact of up to $193bn, an insurance industry-backed report claims Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IT leaders grapple with workforce skills gap as they deploy AI and digital technology

Organisations will have to find new ways of reskilling their workforce as they get to grips with artificial intelligence and other digital technologies. CIOs also need to keep their skills updated if they are to succeed Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Tens of billions of pounds of IT spending held back as UK businesses wait for clearer idea of Brexit

Fintech could be losing billions of pounds in potential revenues as banks hold off IT projects until clearer picture of post Brexit business environment emerges Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK IT spending worth £27bn held back due to Brexit uncertainty

UK businesses are putting billions of pounds of IT investments on hold until they know the terms that the UK will leave the EU Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fintech Interview: Part 12 Eucaps

Swedish fintech Eucaps is about to launch as the Spotify of the share trading sector Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Poor practices expose 24 million financial records

Failure to maintain appropriate security controls has again led to the exposure of millions of sensitive data records, this time from the banking world Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lloyds Bank to migrate from IT alphabet spaghetti to Google-like simplicity sounds easy, but…TSB

Lloyds Bank wants to move customers to a Google inspired banking platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lloyds Bank to migrate hundreds of thousands of customers to Google-inspired fintech

Following its announcement that it was exploring the use of a fintech platform, Lloyds Bank has been quick to plan customer migration Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Santander announces latest branch closures as digital channels take over

Bank to close 140 more UK branches as in-branch transactions fall and digital banking accelerates Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Finnish banks to share core banking platform and supplier

Three banks in Finland have hired an IT services supplier to build a shareable core banking platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

US issues emergency directive to halt DNS hijacking

US government agencies have been given 10 days to complete a four-step action plan to stop DNS hijacking attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

IBM mobile cyber range starts European tour in London

IBM’s mobile cyber range is kicking of a tour in London to raise awareness around the need for tried and tested cyber attack responses among organisations in Europe Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Young Dutch cyber criminals get re-education rather than jail time

Young hackers in the Netherlands are being rehabilitated through punishments that educate rather than incarcerate Continue Reading

By

• Tijs Hofmans

Mastercard fined over half a billion euros for unfair payment fees

Mastercard has been heavily fined for having rules on interchange fees which distorted the EU single market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Is Tandem's half a million new customers in a year a measure of success?

How do challenger banks measure success? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Moving beyond network boundaries

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how businesses are adapting to the challenges of perimeterless network security. We examine how digital transformation is bringing increased complications for identity and access management (IAM). And we ask if public cloud providers are becoming a threat to the funding model for open source software. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Are bank innovation hubs just showcasing and should fintechs go direct to business units?

Sending a gift to a manager at a potential customer to attract attention seems old fashioned but it could be for a fintech to get visibility Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Public procurement key to cyber security

Using public procurement as a means of boosting cyber security is the top recommendation for 2019, according to a report based on expert views Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Bahrain plans to create a world-leading tech ecosystem

Bahrain is building a technology ecosystem that will help the country further reduce its economic reliance on the oil and gas industry Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

Siemens connects to world’s largest UCC deployment

German technology powerhouse Siemens AG reveals how it unified communications and collaboration for hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fintech Interview: Part 11 AimBrain

AimBrain is targeting finnacial services companies with its biometric identification management platform, which is being created by a top team of Phds Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Prepare for no-deal Brexit, says ICO

The UK data protection authority is urging businesses to prepare for a no-deal Brexit to ensure there is no interruption in data flows from Europe Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Leading IT: Lessons from the front line

As a CIO, whatever challenges you face in terms of budget, mandates or timetable, you may already have the right people to carry out incredible IT feats. Here are four ways to lead your organisation to unprecedented success Continue Reading

By

• Terry Milholland, TVM Consulting, LLC

Vodafone and IBM prep user clouds for future network tech

Companies expand existing collaboration to enable enterprise customers to prepare for the impact of advanced networking technologies Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

If a fintech could be in Jeremy Corbyn’s shoes what would be its demands for Brexit ?

If you had the parliamentary numbers that Jeremy Corbyn has how would you use them to break the Brexit impasse Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Security Think Tank: Cloud tech helps to protect advanced networks

How can organisations combine software-defined networking, containerisation and encryption to prevent rogue code from running freely across a corporate network? Continue Reading

By

• Greg Temm

UK tech firms favour second referendum as next move in Brexit stalemate

UK tech firms want to remain as close to the EU as possible and believe a second referendum on membership of the trading bloc would be the best way out of the current political stalemate Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Researchers discover new Magecart group

Security researchers have uncovered a sub-group of the Magecart hacking group, highlighting the wider risks of web-based supply chain attacks Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Is BBVA eyeing Atom takeover?

Spanish bank could expand on its significant shift to digital banking if it takes full control of the UK's Atom Bank Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

London didn’t only lose £700m tech investment, its reputation is also being hammered by Brexit

The UK risks losing its position as a leading fintech hub as a result of the suicidal tendencies of some politicians and group masochism within the population Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK financial services regulator to link top banker bonuses to IT performance

FCA head tells Commons Treasury committee: “We expect banks’ policies on variable remuneration to reflect operational resilience. They have to – if they don’t, we will act.” Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA