Top 5 developments in the European FinTech ecosystem (October 2020)
By Megha Bhattacharya
In Europe, regulatory tailwinds have helped transform the continent into a hotbed of FinTech activity. Open Banking and PSD2 have enabled the rise of challenger banks and middleware data players, and have also been leading to market consolidation. The development of FinTech supports the growth of niche markets in Europe, such as the ever-developing alternative finance, crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, as well as automated loans, robo-advisors and automated investment management.
Check out the top 5 developments in the European FinTech ecosystem from October 2020 –
- Core Banking
Pan-European banking service provider Monese recently announced that it will be implementing Thought Machine’s core banking platform Vault. Monese stated that it will be migrating its existing customer base onto the core banking provider’s platform in a bid to boost its core technology platform and banking infrastructure.
Thought Machine’s Vault offers cloud technology foundation required to deliver enhanced customer experiences. Vault’s product building toolkit- Smart Contracts enables banks and FinTechs to develop new products along with improvements in onboarding and customer experience. It is a next-generation platform which does not contain any legacy or pre-cloud technology. It has been built from the ground up around APIs using a microservices architecture.
Similarly, IT services and software engineering solutions provider, GFT, this month, announced a global strategic partnership with Thought Machine. The collaboration was signed after an AWS-based integration project featuring the FinTech’s core banking platform, Vault. GFT was responsible for developing a complete bank on top of the Vault core engine. The project was delivered for a global tier-one bank, which is currently in a production environment. The bank now aims to boost customer onboarding and product delivery to customers.
- Payments
The month of October saw Italian PayTech Nexi and SIA sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in a bid to integrate the two groups through the merger by incorporation of SIA into Nexi.
European payments provider, Contis also recently announced a partnership with UK FinTech Ordo. The partnership simplifies loading accounts for Contis’ end-customers along with loan repayments, fund transfers between contacts, and even splitting bills between friends. The collaboration with Ordo brings additional choice and functionality for businesses and their customers.
TransferGo and Visa’s partnership aims to bring real-time international money transfers to consumers’ bank cards. It will enable customers to send and receive funds through Visa’s real-time push payments platform, Visa Direct. Consumers using TransferGo to send or receive funds will benefit from the speed and security of the Visa network when sending or receiving money overseas. By using this solution, customers can send payments directly to a card without having to navigate online banking or find the International Banking Account Number (IBAN).
- Wealth Management
FinecoBank, in October, announced the expansion of its investment offerings with a suite of funds from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, thus enabling the Bank’s clients to access a variety of investment strategies.
Bloomberg also recently announced that UK-based Charles Taylor Investment Management has adopted its Asset & Investment Manager (AIM) and PORT Enterprise solutions. AIM is expected to cater to Charles Taylor’s order management system and offer data consistency, execution and end-to-end workflows. Bloomberg’s Portfolio and Risk Analytics solution – PORT Enterprise will provide risk and attribution models along with detailed portfolio analytics.
TrueLayer this month said that investment platform Trading 212 has implemented its platform to deliver an improved investment and user experience. The implementation begins with the data API delivering the rapid identification and verification of a user’s primary bank and connecting it to the Trading 212 app.
- Lending
Global payments provider, Klarna officially launched in Italy this week with the release of Pay in 3 solution. Italian customers will now be able to use Klarna’s new shopping solution with H&M, Michael Kors and with several other well-known merchants to follow in future.
The Pay in 3 solution will allow Italian shoppers to purchase their goods from their favourite online stores and spread the cost of their purchase over three instalments, charged every 30 days. The service comprises of no interest or fees if the users pay on time. The FinTech has also introduced the Klarna app for allowing users to keep track and manage payments.
PayPal, in October announced the launch of PayPal Pay in 3 in a bid to enable UK businesses of all sizes to offer buy now, pay later payments without taking on additional risk or additional fees. The new service will allow businesses to offer their customers the option of making purchases between £45 and £2,000 by paying over three, interest-free payments and automatic re-payments each month.
- Financial Fraud
FinTech Bottomline recently signed a partnership with Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, during SIBOS 2020. The collaboration is expected to add key data to the FinTech’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing monitoring and screening capabilities, thus helping it to identify and stop illicit transactions. Dow Jones’s risk data will be implemented within Bottomline’s cyber fraud and risk management platform.
Rabobank’s spin-off SurePay, this week announced another successful implementation of its UK Confirmation of Payee solution for UK-based Atom bank. The FinTech is responsible for checking over 95% of all Dutch payments with the IBAN-Name Check and its Confirmation of Payee solution checks 25% of all online payments in the UK.
SurePay’s Confirmation of Payee solution has been designed to comply with all relevant UK rules and regulations. The service enables payers to verify that the payee’s name and sort code match so they can prevent transferring money to the wrong person or business, whether by intent (payment fraud) or unintentionally (misdirected payments).
READ MORE: UK Financial Services Technology Market Report by IBS Intelligence
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