Fintech

Fintech lender adds bank accounts without the bank

1 Feb 2017

SoFi is buying an upstart that offers customers novel multicurrency accounts. Third parties hold the cash, sparing SoFi tough regulation but also fencing off the benefit of cheap deposit funding. Still, it's the closest thing so far to merging Main Street and Silicon Valley.

Jack Ma’s Ant Financial buys an American colony

26 Jan 2017

The $880 mln purchase of remittances firm MoneyGram looks like a counterintuitive bet in a de-globalizing world for the Alibaba founder's financial arm. International payments are a tough business. But MoneyGram gives Ant a U.S. base with tunnels to many developing markets.

China can ignore ill-advised flight to bitcoin

9 Jan 2017

Beijing has cracked down on people converting yuan to dollars, but seems relatively relaxed about them piling into the virtual currency. That's probably because the bitcoin market is tiny, volatile, and dominated by local speculators: an unreliable channel for capital outflows.

Breakdown: Fintech steps towards maturity

21 Dec 2016

Blockchain, robo advice and other technologies once hyped as the most disruptive to finance will take a back seat in 2017. The payments battle will step up a gear. Alternative lenders will hunt for deposits. And resurgent earnings may give U.S. banks a timely war chest.

Lucky unicorn cashes in on India’s money madness

21 Dec 2016

Usage of Paytm, a mobile wallet, has soared among a nationwide cash crunch. The challenge will be to keep up the momentum. India is pushing digital payments hard but a government-backed rival looms. And having Alibaba as a backer could eventually backfire.

Fintech disruption hits a natural ceiling

16 Nov 2016

UK peer-to-peer lender Zopa has applied for a bank licence. In one sense it’s a bet that a digitised banking model can eat established peers’ lunch. In another it’s a recognition that disruption via peer-to-peer can only go so far given banks are also upping their game.

Blockchain for banks will eat its creators

27 Oct 2016

A transaction involving Wells Fargo and a cotton trader has made the payment technology a reality. Meanwhile a consortium-backed platform will soon share its code. Banks act like this is a good thing, but their role as middlemen in markets like corporate bonds and FX is at risk.

Fair winds not enough for Deutsche and Barclays

27 Oct 2016

The European banks gained from Wall Street’s bond trading fervour in the third quarter. But legal costs dragged return on tangible equity down to 2 pct at Deutsche and 3.6 pct at Barclays. The UK lender has fewer troubles than its German peer, but both need good times to last.

China ties can help Hong Kong catch up in fintech

30 Sep 2016

The city is playing catch-up with Singapore in financial technology. But as a gateway to mainland China, Hong Kong has two big advantages: easy access to a huge market, and proximity to tech giants Alibaba and Tencent. Those benefits should help it close the gap.

India lays foundation for a fintech revolution

14 Sep 2016

A new payments platform, tied to biometric identity data, will hasten the move to a cashless economy. The open system sets India's fintech infrastructure apart from China or the U.S. That's great news for consumers and entrepreneurs, less so for big banks and mobile wallet firms.

BBVA bonus cap a helpful check on fintech fever

22 Aug 2016

The Spanish bank has asked European lawmakers to let it pay technologists whatever variable compensation it deems fit. A rule limiting bonuses to twice base salaries makes more sense for traders than coders. But it could prevent BBVA veering from innovation lust into overpaying.

Fintech: bigger and dicier for insurers than banks

13 Jul 2016

Financial technology is highly likely to disrupt the insurance industry, executives told PwC. Preventive cover that use sensors to anticipate damage could benefit society. But many shifts may require intrusive Big Brother-like methods - or questionable changes to risk management.

Fintech’s two big ideas are a decade apart

7 Apr 2016

Blockchains and open-access consumer finance could each conceptually transform banking. But customers will be able to force European lenders to divulge current account data to third parties from 2018, while mainstream adoption of distributed database tech will take far longer.

Banks ponder blockchain’s first-mover disadvantage

16 Dec 2015

Lenders are racing to adopt Bitcoin-style technology to cut their costs. Successfully incorporating so-called distributed ledgers could eventually cut $20 bln from industry costs. But it’s not clear what models will work, and whether free-riding rivals will share the prize.

The Uber or Airbnb of finance will prove elusive

8 Dec 2015

In 2015 more than $15 bln has poured into so-called fintech startups embracing blockchain, peer lending, payments and the like. While each can disrupt an element of the status quo, their scale will be hindered by the deep moat that protects the banking industry: regulation.

BBVA’s UK buy sees digital banks going mainstream

24 Nov 2015

The Spanish lender has bought 29.5 pct of mobile-only UK player Atom Bank. The 45 mln stg outlay is tiny beside Sabadell’s purchase of TSB. But BBVA joins Woodford Investment, Toscafund and Jon Moulton in backing Atom. Digital banks may find a way to carve out a valuable niche.

Review: The virtual bubble of bitcoin

15 May 2015

The digital currency fits well in the inglorious history of finance. Nathaniel Popper tells the story in “Digital Gold”. Bitcoin’s hot idea, limited supply and uncertain value helped spawn a price explosion. After the bust, the underlying technology may still have a future.

Rob Cox: Bitcoin enters age of Goldman and lawyers

30 Apr 2015

For libertarian early adopters, the discovery of the cryptocurrency by Wall Street’s top firm and a bevy of legal eagles is a pivotal moment. Diehards will mourn the lost privacy and edginess of bitcoin. The flipside is the prospect of mainstream financial industry acceptance.

BBVA hedges banking’s demise with bitcoin punt

21 Jan 2015

The Spanish bank’s ventures arm is backing Bitcoin marketplace Coinbase, alongside tech investors and a stock exchange. BBVA has been a pioneer in digital banking, but Bitcoin aims to disintermediate lenders. That suggests BBVA’s outlay is more hedge than long-term investment.

Bitcoin is latest victim of disinflation

16 Jan 2015

The would-be currency is down 33 pct this year. Bitcoin is a collectible like a painting so psychology matters, and that’s against it in the current climate. Free transactions could end too. The tech may have value, but bitcoin will struggle to regain lost confidence.