Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 25 December 2017
BBVA Switzerland debuts digital signatures
BBVA in Switzerland has just become the first private financial institution in the country to offer its clients the digital signature service, which facilitates the management and signing of documents and provides an improved user experience.
“The digital signature is a key step forward for private banking clients in Switzerland and clearly reinforces our strategy, which is based on three pillars: relationship model, value proposition and having the best technology,” explained Alfonso Gómez, CEO of BBVA in Switzerland.
Increased regulation in the financial sector has led to a significant rise in the volume of documentation managed by financial institutions for their clients. The digital signature makes it possible to comply with existing regulations quickly and efficiently, and with a minimum of errors, through a system that guides the client through the document. The result is a savings in the time and resource costs of processing documents.
Sainsbury’s Bank launches new online international money transfer platform
New research from Sainsbury’s Bank reveals that almost eight million UK adults have sent an average of £5,236 abroad in the last two years.
The findings are to support the Bank’s launch of a new online international money transfer service enabling customers to transfer larger amounts of money abroad.
The international money transfer service, provided by moneycorp, is now available online at www.sainsburysbank.co.uk. It will allow customers to send money overseas as a one-off or recurring payment, either online or over the telephone. Customers can transact up to the value of £100,000 online, larger payments are initiated over the telephone. The service is fee-free with Nectar card holders receiving preferential exchange rates in addition.
The research revealed that one in six (15 per cent) UK adults has sent an international payment in the last two years, rising to 21 per cent for those aged 18-24. With around 1.2million2 people born in the UK now living in other EU countries, it’s no surprise that sending money to family members living abroad came out as the main reason – 43 per cent of those that have transferred funds since 2015 did it for this reason.
Symitar says hello to Alexa
Jack Henry & Associates, a provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry.
Voice-enabled financial transactions are now available for Episys credit unions, providing members with convenient, personalized service.
Its Symitar division introduced voice-enabled financial transactions to Amazon Alexa through its Episys Financial Innovations Voice Experience (FIVE) solution.
Symitar Episys credit unions can now offer conversational access to accounts for a more immersive transaction experience. Members can simply speak to Alexa to conduct a wide variety of transactions such as: check account balances, transfer funds, make payments, get loan payoff amounts, cancel payment cards, and more. To make communication easy, FIVE enables members to assign a nickname to specific accounts, allowing them to initiate transactions through spoken statements such as “Transfer $50 from Savings to Checking.” Members can also receive text receipts for transactions through Twilio, a cloud communications company. FIVE is secured by a single sign-on and uses layers of security to protect members.
Tinkoff Bank adds Stories feature to mobile app
Tinkoff Bank has become the first bank anywhere in the world to introduce a Stories feature to its mobile app, bringing new content to the almost 1 million people who use the bank’s award-winning app on a daily basis.
While similar visually to the Stories that are a familiar feature of social media apps, Tinkoff Stories differs from its Instagram and Snapchat counterparts in that the bank rather than its users will provide the content, making it a valuable marketing and educational tool and giving Tinkoff Bank another channel to reach its more than 6 million customers.
Maxim Yevdokimov, Vice President of Mobile at Tinkoff Bank, said: “Stories is a great way for us to bring a range of content to our users, both to make them aware of new products as we introduce them and functionality of the app that they might not be aware of, and to provide informative content from currency rates to tips on managing their personal finances. All of this is part of our constant drive to innovate and create new features that our customers will love.”
