Banking

Apr 15 2021

Leading UK Fintech Firms Now Working with PwC to Streamline Digital Financial Services with AI, Data Analytics

Ten of the United Kingdom’s leading Fintech companies are now working with Big Four auditing firm PwC in order to showcase how the future of banking will focus on both collaboration and innovation, along with greater personalization.

After 3 years of ongoing development, the 10 Fintechs have managed to contribute to the company’s “Tysl” ecosystem which includes various solutions related to software, automation, AI, data management and analytics.

These solutions aim to make it easier or more convenient for clients to open new bank accounts, obtain specialized financing services, move house and digitally sign official documents.

By leveraging an API-powered approach, which lets software apps communicate with each other, Tysl has enabled these firms to work cooperatively and innovate together with PwC to create a banking tech proposition that helps organizations with significantly enhancing performance across several different measures.

This includes dealing with complex customer or user experience journeys like advanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Know Your Customer (KYC), Credit Decisioning, and in life account and loan servicing across several key areas such as mortgages, savings and corporate lending.

By leveraging Tysl, PwC can effectively develop all-digital solutions through an innovative, affordable, and user-centric online lending platform. This can help the company’s customers with enhancing their customer-facing business operations and improve products and services in order to meet the speed and multi-channel expectations required by companies today.

James Morgan, Lead Partner on Tysl stated:

“Banking is changing, people expect more and require personalised digital interactions. Based on the needs and expectations of tomorrow’s customers, we have developed our Tysl platform. This is helping our clients reach new customers, upsell and grow topline revenue by delivering enhanced capabilities whilst significantly reducing the costs of servicing the client from onboarding to in life servicing.”

The companies or businesses that are now integrated with the Tysl platform include:

Mambu – is a software-as-a-service or SaaS financial services platform supporting innovation in banking, lending, and – a Cloud-native alternative to more traditional core banking systems.

Yoti – is a global identity platform that makes it more seamless and safer for banking clients to prove who they are via ID verification and biometrics

Kompli Global – created a remote due diligence solution that harnesses artificial intelligence and “human expertise” to provide intelligence on organizations and their workers.

DueDil – is an insights provider assisting financial services organizations and insurers with a better understanding of their client base to handle digital or online onboarding, manage compliance, risk, and in-life monitoring.

Just Move In – provides a home setup experience for people moving home that arranges essential services including council tax, insurance, and broadband.

SignNow – is a legally binding eSignature application, allows users to create and complete legally binding electronic signatures on any device.

Codat – connects the tools and services that small businesses need for their operations to their financial service providers and takes care of the “heavy lifting” of those integrations.

Flexys – is a specialist tech firm focused on enhancing the value and performance of debt management and collection systems with a low-code, Cloud-native platform.

Saltedge – develops PSD2-powered solutions that are used by Fintech firms, banking institutions, and other financial institutions across the globe. The company provides connectivity to over 2500 banks across Europe for data aggregation and payment initiation capabilities – through a single API.

Credit Kudos -an open banking credit reference agency that uses real-time financial behavior to “measure creditworthiness” and “affordability” to assist lenders when unwriting consumer and commercial loans.

Lendingmetrics – Auto Decision Platform (ADP) is a decision engine environment that may be applied across “unlimited” brands, products or lending journeys under a single license and offers a comprehensive (no-code) editor, helping non-technical staff to make real-time changes to credit risk logic

Gazeal – enables the seller of a property to provide key details required to meet the estate agent’s Consumer Protection Regulations requirements, and, as a Licensed Provider of the Law Society, all of the requirements of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme. By using Gazeal’s reservation service, it will “almost” completely eliminate abortive transactions.

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Apr 13 2021

Goldman Sachs Opens Office in Birmingham UK

In a significant endorsement of the city, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has opened an office in Birmingham, UK – a community that has been promoting itself as an alternative to super pricey London.

Goldman Sachs stated that Birmingham offers access to a deep talent pool, excellent academic institutions, and a growing technology sector. The easy proximity to London is said to be an advantage as well. Goldman said that engineering will be the first division to build out in Birmingham and they expect to have a headcount of several hundred across a number of divisions over time. Beyond its investment banking business, Goldman also operates its digital bank Marcus in the UK.

In a report from last year, the regional representatives said that Fintechs already employed about 24,000 people in Birmingham.

Neil Rami, Chief Executive of West Midlands Growth Company, the official investment promotion agency that helped to secure the investment, on the significance of the bank’s major new presence among the West Midlands’ Business Professional and Financial Services (BPFS) sector commented on the news:

“Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s most prestigious investment banking institutions, renowned for its laser-focus on recruiting the best and brightest talent and the pre-eminence of its data-driven, customer-centric technologies. We are delighted that Goldman Sachs has chosen Birmingham as the home of its major new presence, where it will harness the region’s entrepreneurial talent to develop its mission-critical digital expertise, creating hundreds of jobs. As the investment banking landscape continues to innovate in the face of rapid Fintech transformation, the West Midlands Growth Company put forward a compelling appraisal of the region’s digital engineering workforce, academic facilities and long-standing influence in the field of banking and finance. The region boasts the largest and most high-value Financial & Professional Services sector outside the capital and is super-charging the UK’s innovative potential through SuperTech; the UK’s first and only dedicated professional services-tech accelerator.”

Rami added that the area is already home to other financial services firms such as HSBC’s UK headquarters and Deutsche Bank. He said that the West Midlands is successfully recasting typically London-centric banking structures, offering a premium but far more cost-effective base for innovative businesses.

“This is just the beginning of a surge in momentum in foreign investment here, with the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Coventry’s City of Culture status opening up new international avenues to strengthen trade and investment flows into the region. We look forward to supporting Goldman Sachs’ long and prosperous journey here in the West Midlands,” said Rami

Richard Gnodde, CEO for Goldman Sachs International, stated:

“Establishing a new office in Birmingham will diversify our UK footprint and give us access to a broad and deep talent pool in the local area. We see tremendous opportunity to enhance our UK presence and continue delivering for our global clients.”

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Apr 11 2021

Barclays Appoints Helen Kelly as Head of Europe Corporate Banking

Barclays recently announced it has appointed Helen Kelly as Head of Corporate Banking, Barclays Europe. According to Barclays, Kelly has more than 30 years of experience in banking with Barclays. She previously was Head of international Corporate Banking – Ireland and Country Manager – Ireland.

Speaking about the appointment, David Farrow, Head of International Corporate Banking at Barclays, stated:

“Helen’s appointment as Head of Corporate Banking for Barclays Europe is an important step forward in our commitment to supporting businesses operating on the continent. Helen has a proven track record in delivering for our colleagues and clients, and will play a key role in continuing to expand our presence in Europe over the years ahead.”

Barclays went on to add that it has continued to develop its digital banking platform in Europe. The platform has already been rolled out in Portugal, France, Spain, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. The banking group added:

“The benefits of the digital platform include streamlined KYC and account opening, digital on-boarding, improved self-help capabilities, and multilingual servicing. By working closely with partners across the Group, including in investment banking, Barclays will build on the momentum generated by this growing European footprint in order to deliver for clients – and to support the bank’s wider growth ambitions through its Barclays Europe entity.”

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Apr 10 2021

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Slumps Below $60,000 Support as Bears Overwhelm Bulls

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction – April 10, 2021
BTC/USD made positive moves above the $60,000 overhead resistance as price reached a high of $61,243. Unfortunately, buyers could not sustain the bullish momentum above the overhead resistance. Today, BTC price has fallen below the $60,000 support. A further downward movement of the coin is likely.

Resistance Levels: $58,000, $59,000, $60,000
Support Levels: $40,000, $39,000, $38,000

Today, BTC price broke the $60,000 overhead resistance as price reached the high of $61,243. In previous price actions, buyers broke the overhead resistance on two other occasions. On March 14, the bulls broke the psychological price level as price rallied to $61,699 high. On April 2, buyers also made concerted efforts to break the resistance but the market reached a high of $60,190. One common feature in the price action is that buyers failed to sustain the bullish momentum above the overhead resistance. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has fallen to $58,450 low and pulled back. The bottom line is that if the bears break the $58,000 support, the market will further decline to $54,000 low. On the other hand, if the $58,000 supports holds, Bitcoin will resume upside momentum.

HSBC Blacklists Microstrategy’s Stock for Investing In Bitcoin
HSBC is an investment banking giant that has classified MicroStrategy as a “virtual currency product.” HSBC has directed users that already own MicroStrategy stock not to buy additional shares. According to reports, buying MicroStrategy stock is no longer possible for HSBC customers on the bank’s online trading platform — HSBC InvestDirect or HIDC. The message from the banking giant includes the following: “HIDC will not participate in facilitating (buy and/or exchange) products relating to virtual currencies, or products related to or referencing to the performance of the virtual currency.” The reason for the blacklisting is that MicroStrategy is a virtual currency product.

Bitcoin has fallen after breaking the overhead resistance. Meanwhile, the upside momentum will resume if the BTC price retraces and finds support above the $58,000 support. Nevertheless, the Fibonacci tool has indicated an upward movement of price. On April 2 uptrend, a retraced candle body tested the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level. This retracement gives the impression that BTC price will rise to level 1.618 Fibonacci extension or the high of $66,425.90.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction: BTC/USD Slumps Below $60,000 Support as Bears Overwhelm Bulls

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Apr 06 2021

Digital Asset Custody Provider Hex Trust Finalizes $6M Round led by QBN Capital

Hong Kong-headquartered crypto-asset custody service provider Hex Trust reveals that it has secured $6 million in capital via a Series A round that was led by QBN Capital.

As part of its latest investment round, Hex Trust also received contributions from Cell Rising, Radiant Tech Ventures, Kenetic Capital, HashKey, MD Labs, Fenbushi Capital, Borderless Capital, Genesis Block Ventures and Henri Arslanian.

Hex Trust’s management noted that the funds raised would allow it to further scale its business operations while being able to recruit new talent to work at its Hong Kong and Singapore offices.

Hex Trust further noted that during 2021, they’ll make plans to expand operations into the European market, where the company has teamed up with SIA, an established provider of banking tech infrastructure.

Hex Trust said the capital secured will also be directed towards making enhancements to its proprietary, bank-grade custody solution, called Hex Safe™. The technology-driven service provides a wide range of custody and treasury management solutions for digital assets, security tokens, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as well.

Alessio Quaglini, CEO and Co-founder at Hex Trust, stated:

“We are past the inflection point, as blockchain has established itself as the next financial markets infrastructure. Financial institutions are quickly making their moves, and the next 12 months will be critical to define the structure of the overall market. Hex Trust is now perfectly positioned to accelerate its growth and play a leading role in this space, enabling digital assets adoption for a broad range of regulated financial institutions. We are thrilled to be accompanied in this journey by such established investors.”

As noted by its management team, Hex Trust claims to be one of Asia’s leading digital asset custodians. The company says it’s “fully licensed, insured, and provides bank-grade custody for digital assets.”

Hex Trust is reportedly led by experienced banking technologists and “award-winning” financial markets. The company has developed a proprietary platform – Hex Safe™ – that “delivers a flexible custody solution for banks, financial institutions, asset managers, exchanges, and corporations to safely, securely, and efficiently operate in the digital asset ecosystem.”

As explained by Hex Trust:

‘”Through Hex Safe™, clients can access liquidity providers, exchanges and lending & staking platforms, enabling seamless access to services while assets are held in our highly-secure and regulated platform. Hex Trust has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.”

As covered in April 2020, Hex Trust became the very first licensed crypto-asset custodian in Hong Kong to integrate its services with R3’s Corda platform.

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