Metro Bank, Deloitte and Setl are testing a blockchain-based contactless card November 15, 2016 Metro Bank, Deloitte and blockchain startup Setl have created a card for making simple contactless payments such as buying a morning coffee, using the distributed ledger technology (DLT) in a trial that's understood to be the first of its kind. The card has been tested by 100 people as part of the City watchdog's fintech sandbox [...]
Nutmeg raises £30m in latest funding round, the largest of its kind for fintech since Brexit vote November 14, 2016 Nutmeg announced today it has drummed up £30m in its latest round of funding, the largest raise in the fintech sector since the Brexit vote. The fintech pioneer will use the money from the funding round, which was lead by Hong Kong based independent financial advisory firm Convoy, to expand its product offering and rapidly grow [...]
The new bridge to China heralds the start of a golden age for UK fintech November 11, 2016 Over the past few years I’ve witnessed first-hand the UK’s fintech sector emerge as the world’s dominant hub – over traditional technology centres such as Silicon Valley, New York, Israel, Singapore, and Hong Kong. There is no question that more technology innovation and value creation in financial services comes from the UK than anywhere else [...]
Fintech brokerage startup set up by footballer Ryan Bertrand announces £1m seed funding November 10, 2016 It’s a big week for England footballer Ryan Bertrand. Not only will he be fighting for his place in the Scotland match on Friday, his brokerage startup is also announcing it has raised £1m in seed funding. Pacific & Orient Berhad, a Malaysian-listed company with a UK subsidiary, led the funding round, supplemented by angel [...]
The Bank of England has revealed the startups in its fintech accelerator November 9, 2016 The Bank of England has lifted the lid on its groundbreaking fintech accelerator which launched back in June. Speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon on Wednesday, the central bank's chief operating officer Charlotte Hogg said it had been focused on three key areas: "data analytics, information security, and some work exploring distributed ledgers." "Just over [...]
Meet the 18 companies joining the FCA’s regulatory sandbox November 7, 2016 The UK's foward-thinking financial regulator has chosen 18 companies to participate in its so-called regulatory sandbox, where they will be able to test out new technologies without breaching rules. Launched over the summer, the sandbox is designed to foster fintech innovation while remaining under the supervisory eye of the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. Read more: [...]
IG Group boss joins fintech startup board November 7, 2016 A top boss at spreadbetter IG Group has joined the board of a startup opening up high level investments to individual private investors. Ian Peacock, head of UK and Ireland at the FTSE 250 firm, will join the advisory board of CoInvestor, an alternative investment platform which lets investors put their cash into assets usually reserved for institutional investors. The six [...]
Tandem is go: Another digital challenger bank has opened its doors November 4, 2016 Tandem, one of a handful of the UK’s digital challenger banks hoping to give the big four a run for their money is opening its doors for business, City A.M. can exclusively reveal. The Tandem mobile banking app will begin rolling out from today to those who have already signed up, with ambitious plans to make [...]
Mobile pay is still waiting for its “Uber moment” (even among millennials) November 3, 2016 Despite our addiction to smartphones, using them to pay for a new winter coat or that morning coffee has yet to become commonplace – even among tech obsessed digital natives, aka millennials. Just a quarter of those aged between 18 and 35 are using mobile pay and only two per cent are using Apple Pay, the [...]
Facebook data and privacy rules sink Admiral’s insurtech plans November 2, 2016 Facebook has sunk plans by Admiral to offer a reduced car insurance premium based on users posts on the social network. It turns out the insurance firm has fallen foul of Facebook's terms of use, which stipulate that data from Facebook can't be used for assessing eligibility. That's exactly what Admiral wanted to do, using posts [...]