Brexit, General Election 2017: It’s time for entrepreneurs to get involved in the policy debate April 26, 2017 Some people love politics – the cut and thrust, cheering and jeering, pavement pounding and leafleting in support of their tribe. Others, not so much. For the haters and agnostics, recent months and years have been a trying time. Brexit and Trump are more than enough politics for most of us; now we have a [...]
Will payday lender Wonga’s reputation pay a price for its customer data breach? April 26, 2017 Over the last few years a number of high-profile brands have seen their customers’ data compromised – as the result of a deliberate hack or because of inadequate security procedures. The latest brand to suffer is Wonga. Earlier this month the payday loan provider suffered a data breach and warned that up to a quarter [...]
Global banking watchdog will pause for thought before introducing more regulations April 25, 2017 Global banking regulators will pause for two years and take stock of their post-crisis reforms, allowing the sector a chance to catch its breath before any new initiatives are pursued. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) this evening outlined its strategic priorities for 2017-18. They fell into sections: finalising existing plans and “assessing whether [...]
Flying cars? The 7 companies working on the technology in real-life that you need to know: Uber, Larry Page, Lillium and more April 25, 2017 Forget driverless cars, it’s all about flying cars now. Autonomous vehicles may not even have officially hit the roads yet, but already experts are working on far more ambitious plans. Get ready for take off: here are the seven companies working on creating actual, real-life, Jetsons-style flying cars. Uber Apparently disrupting taxis and food delivery, [...]
Nest, the government’s workplace pension scheme, won’t break even until 2026 April 25, 2017 A spotlight was shone on the snowballing costs of the government’s workplace pension scheme today, after a senior civil servant warned it will not break even until almost two decades after it was formed. In a letter to Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier, Robert Devereux, the permanent secretary to the Department for Work and [...]
Andrew Tyrie, chair of parliament’s powerful Treasury watchdog, is standing down as an MP April 25, 2017 Tory MP Andrew Tyrie, who has led cross-party scrutiny of the Treasury since 2010, has decided to stand down at the General Election. Tyrie has led the Treasury Select Committee in a raft of high-profile inquiries into government work, becoming a respected critic of both chancellor Philip Hammond and his predecessor George Osborne. In his [...]
Digital challenger Starling Bank’s partnered with Vocalink-backed Pay by Bank app for mobile payment technology April 25, 2017 Digital challenger bank Starling has partnered with Pay by Bank app, Vocalink’s mobile payment technology, to let users more easily make purchases online. Formerly known as Zapp and created by the UK’s biggest banks before Vocalink was sold to Mastercard, Pay by Bank app’s technology is already being used in services such as Barclays’ Pingit [...]
New stamp duty rules on buy-to-let homes are causing landlords to sell up in droves April 25, 2017 Letting agents have warned harsh new rules targeted at buy-to-let homes are driving landlords out of the market. Figures published today by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) showed the number of landlords selling up rose to four per letting agent branch in March, from three in February. Last year the government introduced new [...]
Automation and AI are going to make many jobs redundant: Here’s how to stop a robot taking your job April 25, 2017 The power of technology to create upheaval in the global job market has never been felt more acutely. The accompanying anxiety that increasingly intelligent machines will eliminate jobs across practically every sector continues to fuel conversations among employees that the future is uncertain. The move towards smart cities and smart workforces is already in motion: [...]
Babylon Health raises £50m to perfect its AI doctor April 25, 2017 British tech firm Babylon Health has raised $60m (£46.82m) in its mission to create the perfect AI doctor. Its app, which is used by 800,000 people, allows patients to text symptoms to artificial intelligence software and receive advice. The technology is currently being trialled by the NHS in London as an alternative to the non-emergency [...]