Barclays is teaming up with blockchain startups Chainalysis and Wave as the bank’s bitcoin experiment expands October 15, 2015 Barclays has signed contracts with two blockchain startups in what the bank is calling a “game-changer”. This is one of the first times a major bank has opened up for such a cooperation with blockchain clients, as many bitcoin companies have had difficulties gaining access to banking services. Barclays chief design and innovation officer Derek [...]
Blockchain platform Setl hits one billion daily transactions – 1,000 times faster than Bitcoin’s blockchain October 13, 2015 Blockchain platform Setl claims to be capable of processing one billion transactions per day – matching every electronic payment made globally. Scaling up to this extent makes blockchain an even more attractive rival to traditional financial systems, as the booming fintech sector is increasingly seen not just as a viable but a cheaper alternative. The company [...]
Boris Johnson is heading on a trade trip to Japan to promote fintech and life science investment… and the Rugby World Cup October 11, 2015 The London mayor Boris Johnson is heading east to promote investment in the capital's fintech and life sciences sectors on a new trade trip to Japan. The out-going mayor is seeking to tie up new deals between the countries in tech innovation and life sciences, as well as retail, in a bid to increase the £950m pumped into the capital [...]
London needs help if it is to spawn more tech unicorns October 8, 2015 Russ Shaw’s piece in this section today rightly highlights London as a great place to be as far as retail technology is concerned – some of the most exciting startups in this space are emerging from the capital. Other sectors, such as fintech, are booming too. However, London doesn’t yet have a great track record when [...]
Adventure capital: Investors pump £1bn into London’s tech sector in 2015 October 8, 2015 Investors have pumped a record £1bn into London’s thriving tech sector this year as the capital’s digital economy rockets, with experts predicting that the capital could soon be on course to challenge Silicon Valley. Data from London & Partners, the mayor’s investment company, shows that London’s technology companies have raked in three-quarters of the [...]
The next fintech? Why London can make unicorns a retail reality October 8, 2015 The future unicorns of the UK lie in London’s retail technology sector. This is according to a fifth of Tech London Advocates, in a study of the future growth drivers of London’s technology industry. The truth is, London already leads the world in terms of expertise and knowledge around retail technology. Retail technology is a sector [...]
London’s economic growth in 2015 far outstrips the rest of the country, RBS figures show October 7, 2015 London's economy is outstripping the rest of the country, growing 3.3 per cent year on year, compared with a national average of 2.5 per cent, according to RBS’ regional growth figures out today. London’s economic growth was boosted by its burgeoning professional, scientific and technical services industries. The City and the West End, unsurprisingly, were [...]
UK fintech needs more than just London: Manchester and Northern Powerhouse cities are the next hubs September 30, 2015 By some accounts the UK already leads the world in fintech – technology for the financial services sector. Much of this stems from the fact that London has always been one of the world’s leading financial centres, is home to 300 of the world’s banks and counts more than 130,000 knowledge workers in its financial [...]
Canary Wharf takes over from Tech City and Silicon Roundabout as London’s hottest Fintech spot September 28, 2015 Much has been made of Silicon Roundabout and Tech City's abilities to crank out tech "unicorns" – but there's a new neighbourhood in techland, and it's muscled in on the areas' fintech sectors. Yep – according to property giant CBRE, Canary Wharf is the new epicentre of London fintech, with 13 of the capital's 140 [...]
London fintech: Insurance tech is here, but it needs to catch up with the world of data science September 28, 2015 Rob Moffat’s recent column on the necessity for the insurance industry to catch up with tech was a welcome call to arms. It throws down the gauntlet to what can be a regressive industry, and plots a course for the future. What he may not have realised, though, is that much of the work he [...]