We’ve not even scratched the surface of fintech’s true potential – and banks will struggle to keep up May 26, 2016 Fintech innovation has seen rapid growth over the past few years and is producing businesses with scalable products. In turn, senior executives at banks are responding to the challenge these businesses present and have begun to set up their own incubators to capture this rapid innovation. Driving much of this has been the rise of [...]
Here’s why banks have – and can keep – the upper hand over P2P lenders May 26, 2016 I asked a former chief investment officer of a huge bank a couple of years ago which bank would buy up P2P firms first. They replied: “no, which P2P firm will buy a bank?” Deloitte’s report this week on marketplace lending (MPL) suggests they were wrong. It concludes that the success of P2P lenders is [...]
Overwatch review: Blizzard’s team-based online shooter opens the genre up to the talentless schmucks May 25, 2016 It’s okay to initially be a bit baffled by Overwatch. It’s an online, team-based first-person shooter, but it’s made by Blizzard, a developer better known for making games where you wave a cursor around and click on dwarves. In truth, anyone who’s ever played the classic Team Fortress 2 or its ilk will find Overwatch [...]
Samsung’s Apple and Android Pay rival will launch in Europe next week May 25, 2016 Samsung is heading into battle with Apple and Google in the war for mobile tap and pay users by focusing on extras such as membership and loyalty schemes as it launches Samsung Pay in Europe for the first time. The Korean smartphone maker is facing stiff competition from Apple Pay which launched last year and Google’s Android Pay [...]
No, P2P lenders aren’t going to topple banks – but we don’t want to May 25, 2016 Peer-to-peer lending was born a decade ago and has offered an alternative and often more accessible route to funding for thousands of small and medium sized businesses. The sector’s popularity has exploded in recent years, leading many, including a newly published report from Deloitte, to assume that platforms now have the established banking sector in [...]
Netflix and Amazon face European quotas under new EU rules aimed at creating a ‘single digital market’ May 25, 2016 The European Commission today unveiled its proposed new rules for video streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon – with the aim of creating a so-called 'single digital market'. However, Netflix claims the new measures will not help achieve this aim. The Commission wants to impose a 20 per cent quota on streaming sites, which [...]
Microsoft is axing jobs in the aftermath of its Nokia sale May 25, 2016 Microsoft has announced it will slash 1,850 jobs as it moves to "streamline" its smartphone hardware business. Earlier this month the Redmond, Washington based software giant announced it would sell the Nokia handset business for a measly $350m (£238m) to FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Taiwanese gadget maker Foxconn. Microsoft acquired it business in 2014 for $7.2bn. Last year the company cut 7,800 jobs [...]
London to Sydney in less than two hours? Scientists are closer to developing hypersonic flight technology May 25, 2016 Could it one day be possible to fly halfway around the world in less than the time it currently takes to get from London to Manchester? Scientists in Australia have suggested it might – as they came one step closer to developing so-called hypersonic technology, which could allow people to travel at speeds of over 5,500mph. [...]
Screen it out: How to stop distractive devices from sapping your productivity May 25, 2016 We live and work in a technologically-driven world, and tech does not come without its challenges. We now receive and process more than double the amount of information per day as we did 20 years ago, and this explosion has profoundly affected our wellbeing. Read more: Employees lose a staggering amount of time to stress – [...]
The world’s 100 most disruptive startups revealed May 25, 2016 Japanese startup Spiber, that makes synthetic spider thread for outdoor apparel products, has been named the world’s most influential company on the Disrupt 100 index which lists “companies shaping our futures”. Last year, Spiber’s thread was used in the The Moon Parka, a special edition coat from outdoor clothing giant The North Face. The list, [...]