RBS-backed digital banking startup Loot enters administration May 22, 2019 Loot, the digital current account for students, has called in administrators after it was unable to secure funding following the collapse of a potential sale to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS owned a 25 per cent stake in the fintech firm through Natwest’s digital bank Bo, which is currently under development and invested [...]
Banking unicorn N26 rapped by German regulator in money laundering probe May 22, 2019 Digital banking startup N26 has been ordered by the German banking regulator to step up its anti-money laundering policies, after a probe found the fintech firm was deficient in several areas. Bafin said today it has issued an order against N26 to "take appropriate internal safety measures" in order to comply with rules on customer due [...]
EE and Vodafone ditch Huawei devices from summer 5G rollout May 22, 2019 EE and Vodafone have both blocked Huawei handsets from their 5G launches this summer, the telcos confirmed today, as the fallout from US accusations of spying turned radioactive. Read more: EE will be the first UK provider to offer 5G later this month They had announced the launch of Huawei’s Mate 20 X 5G smartphone when [...]
Apple vows to be more open about iPhone performance after consumer law concerns May 22, 2019 Apple has pledged to be more transparent about the battery health and performance of its iPhones, the competition watchdog said today. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the US tech firm has vowed to be “clearer and more upfront” with iPhone users following concerns it might be breaching consumer law. Read more: Former Apple [...]
Chip designer Arm suspends business with Huawei after US trade ban May 22, 2019 British chip designer Arm will suspend business with Huawei to comply with new US trade restrictions, the BBC reported, citing internal company documents. In a memo sent to staff, Arm reportedly told employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with the troubled Chinese tech firm and its subsidiaries. Read more: EE [...]
Employers want to use wearable tech to track the health, sleep, fitness and productivity of the office May 22, 2019 If you've woken up and checked your watch for last night’s sleep data, you’re not alone. In the UK, more than five million wearables (such as Fitbits and step counters) are now part of individuals’ everyday lives – 1.96m were sold in 2017 alone. So it’s only natural for employers to be interested in the power of [...]
EE will beat Vodafone to become first UK provider to launch 5G – without Huawei devices May 22, 2019 EE will be the first UK network to introduce 5G, it confirmed today, as it is set to roll out the new technology to cities from 30 May. Read more: Nokia could benefit from Huawei saga, says chief executive It means the provider will beat Vodafone’s launch date of 3 July. EE will switch on [...]
Transferwise becomes Europe’s most valuable fintech at $3.5bn valuation May 22, 2019 Money transfer service Transferwise today announced the completion of a $292m (£230m) share sale, making it Europe’s most valuable fintech company at $3.5bn. Read more: UK named world's top fintech hub as startups rake in £4.5bn Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Baillie Gifford expanded their holdings in Transferwise, while investment was also provided from funds [...]
Malevolent superintelligence? That’s science fiction, not reality May 22, 2019 In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL 9000 was an all-knowing robot that decided to destroy a spacecraft and its crew. Naturally enough, the crew didn’t care for this. The film was an important crossover moment from science fiction to science fact. Many who saw HAL came to believe that there are indeed such computers [...]
Will Amazon’s Deliveroo stake improve its luck in the UK? May 21, 2019 Online retail giant Amazon has made a large investment in food courier Deliveroo, taking a stake in the startup’s latest £450m fundraising round. Amazon has attempted to enter the food delivery market before with Amazon Restaurants UK, which was shut down last year. Amazon also runs Prime Pantry, a service allowing Prime members to order [...]