UK is contactless capital of world due to the Tube as payment limit to hit £30 July 5, 2015 Over one billion contactless Visa card payments were made in Europe alone in the last 12 months, double the previous year, in transactions worth a total of €12.6bn (£8.9bn). The UK is leading the trend, with 49.6m contactless Visa cards in circulation, an increase of 37 per cent from March 2014. Britain has [...]
UK start-ups beat the US for diversity as founders are five times more likely to be female July 3, 2015 The UK's tech hub may have fewer "unicorns" than its American counterpart – but at least we're doing better at one thing. Start-up founders in the UK are five times more likely to be female compared to the US, a new study from startup accelerator Wayra shows. They’re also ten times more likely to have a minority [...]
Optimal Payments share price rockets on optimism over Skrill takeover July 3, 2015 Shares in online payments provider Optimal Payments rocketed by more than 11 per cent this morning, after it told investors the long-awaited reverse takeover of rival Skrill would be complete by the end of the month. Read more: Optimal Payments aims for the main market after Skrill buyout In a trading update issued to the London [...]
Reddit moderators close AMA and other popular subreddits after dismissal of key employee July 3, 2015 Reddit, the self-styled “front page of the internet” is in chaos that has left many of its most popular communities locked down. A growing number of subreddits, with millions of subscribers, have been left inaccessible as the communities’ moderators protest against the administration’s alleged abrupt dismissal of a key employee. Late last night, news broke [...]
Barclays cheque scanning tech leaves other banks in the past July 2, 2015 Barclays customers are ahead of the curve when it comes to financial technology, as the bank’s secure cheque-scanning service was made available to all smartphone customers yesterday. Cheque imaging, which iPhone-owning Barclays clients have been able to use since last year, allows anyone using their banking app to pay a cheque into an account [...]
UK tech sector receives record funding, and it’s largely thanks to London FinTech July 2, 2015 UK technology startups received a record amount of funding in the first six months of the year, according to figures from London & Partners. Read more: It's official – London's the capital of European tech Between January and June, the sector managed to attract almost £900m in venture capital investment, which compares to a [...]
Are smartphones making us dumb? Digital amnesia stops us remembering vital information because we use our devices to store memories July 2, 2015 Easy access to information at the touch of our fingertips is making it harder for us to remember things and creating digital amnesia. Storing numbers and other vital information like pin numbers as well as treasured photos on smartphones is acting like an external hard drive for our memories, resulting in the majority of us being [...]
Is Facebook looking to join the music streaming party? July 2, 2015 Is Facebook looking to join the music streaming party? The company has been in talks with Sony Music, Warner and Universal to discuss a serious foray into music, but exactly what form it will take remains unclear. Read more: You can now sign up for Facebook messenger without having a Facebook account According to the Verge, [...]
Grant Thornton makes multimillion-pound investment in London tech startup Geniac July 2, 2015 Grant Thornton has made a multimillion-pound investment in a startup which manages services such as HR and compliance for small businesses. The advisory firm has splashed £22m on London-based Geniac, its first investment in a tech startup. "The Geniac proposition to fast growing small businesses is exciting," said Grant Thornton’s head of audit Mark Cardiff. “When you’re [...]
The world’s first ever 3D-printed office is being built in Dubai July 1, 2015 Dubai is planning to create the world's first ever 3D-printed office, in the hope that it will pave the way for cheaper construction in the future. The single storey building, which will be located in the city's centre, is a joint project between the Gulf state and a number of companies, including WinSun, a [...]