London cyber security startup Callsign, used by Lloyds and Deutsche Bank, has raised a huge $35m series A led by Accel and PTB Ventures July 27, 2017 A security startup focused on digital identity which helps keep Lloyds and Deutsche Bank protected has raised a huge round of funding from venture capital investors. London-based Callsign has landed $35m in a series A round of funding led by Spotify backer Accel and PTB Ventures a New York-based early-stage investment firm specialising in digital [...]
Tapping third-party app stores to improve downloads July 25, 2017 | City Talk Generally speaking, app developers, like brands in a supermarket, are in a battle for two scarce resources: consumer attention and shelf space. Lab Cave, a mobile games company headquartered in Madrid, is looking beyond distribution on the “digital shelves” of the Apple App Store and Google Play. It’s part of a bid to cash in [...]
Aviva and Founders Factory are betting on these five fintech startups for artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual reality expertise July 24, 2017 Aviva is betting on virtual reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain when it comes to technology. The insurer has unveiled the first five startups to benefit from a multi-million pound investment into new technology with startup accelerator and incubator Founders Factory. And the two have also created their own startup together, OnCare, aiming to take the [...]
Barclays bPay, a £20 contactless pay wristband, given away for free in latest sign bank’s wearable has flopped July 19, 2017 Barclays has started giving away a contactless payments device normally costing £20 in the latest signal that its technology efforts have failed to take off. The bank is offering the bPay wearable band or key fob, used to pay for things with just a swipe, for free in a push to get them into people's [...]
Open Banking’s a step closer with these 20 fintech startups, but the clock is ticking on the CMA’s deadline July 19, 2017 The UK’s progress toward making banking more open has taken another step forward after 20 fintechs were chosen to test out a new way of sharing banking information for the benefit customers. A call for startups was put out as part of the competition watchdog’s ambitious plans to disrupt the big four banks’ hold on [...]
Blue Raspberry review: A powerful, portable and pricey microphone for on-the-go recording July 12, 2017 Blue, as well as being a boyband and a state of mind, is the California-based company behind the world’s most popular USB microphones. The company’s products brought studio-quality hardware to the consumer-grade market at a time when USB mics were little more than call centre headsets. The Snowball mic alone helped to kickstart home [...]
The UK’s digital economy is among the best in the world, according to this new study July 12, 2017 The UK has one of the best digital economies of any country in the world, ahead of the US and the rest of Western Europe, and is considered part of a small number of "digital elite" that are "both highly digitally evolved and advancing quickly." That's according to a major new study of 60 countries [...]
Revealed: Monzo’s annual report and the 6 things we learned about the digital challenger bank July 5, 2017 Monzo has released its annual report, revealing how the fintech business is doing. Here's what we learned… 1. It's u-turning on lending Monzo told City A.M. last year that it would be concentrating solely on the current account, with no plans to expand into traditional banking products. Clearly, things have changed. It will now start [...]
Solving the distribution dilemma with appScatter June 28, 2017 | City Talk App developers face great difficulties in getting their work noticed. In the crowded confines of the two primary app stores, newly-launched apps are easily lost, and the discovery dilemma is not quickly overcome, if at all. In the face of such a challenge, many app developers will resort to all manner of quick-fix gimmicks, or [...]
How regulation and market priorities drive fintech focus globally June 28, 2017 | City Talk The interest in fintech worldwide shows no signs of abating, as illustrated by the strong attendance at each stop on our recent CFA Institute speaker tour throughout Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. But even more interesting is the regional variation in what 'fintech' means to local entrepreneurs. Talking to investors, company founders, [...]