Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 22 May 2018
Horizon Software expands its footprint in Indonesia
Horizon Software, a provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology, announced its intention to expand into the growing Indonesian market during 2018.
With the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is hugely significant for the development of the region’s financial sector. Horizon has been working closely with a number of institutions in Indonesia’s capital markets and exchange traded funds (ETFs) for some time.
“In recent years Horizon has collaborated with exchanges and leading institutions to help educate and develop the trading environment and we see great opportunities in the rapidly-growing Indonesian market. We are committed to providing sophisticated electronic trading solutions for developing economies and we are confident that our market making, execution and order management technology will continue to be seen as the fast-track for trading development,” said Ekaluck Chaiyaporn, Horizon’s ASEAN Sales Director.
According to EY’s Global ETF Report in 2017 entitled ‘Reshaping around the investor’, “Exchange Traded Funds are uniquely placed to benefit from the shift to passive and will reach $7.6t globally by the end of 2020. This growth will be underpinned by growing knowledge of ETFs and their uses, adoption by a widening investor base and these funds’ key attributes of low cost, transparency and liquidity. Indonesia has followed this global trend of significant ETF growth. Moreover, The Indonesian economy expanded by 5.19 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2017, following a 5.06 percent growth in the previous period, beating market expectations of 5.12 percent.”
Liverpool gets first bitcoin ATM
Alphavend, the UK Digital Currency ATM operator has teamed up with Herman Vapes and just installed the City of Liverpool’s first ever Bitcoin ATM in Herman Vapes Cases Street.
This will be the first Bitcoin ATM in Liverpool, and will meet the needs of the growing numbers of crypto currency enthusiasts in the city.
Herman Vapes is open seven days a week, offering customers the convenience of purchasing Bitcoin, right in the centre of Liverpool. The sore is just a few yards from Liverpool Central Station, and a few minutes walk from Liverpool Lime St.
The locations full address is 15 Cases St, L1 1HW and the opening hours are 10.00am – 5.30pm Monday to Saturday and 12.00pm – 4.00pm on Sundays
Customers who haven’t experienced buying Bitcoin before, now have the ease of simply downloading a free Bitcoin wallet on their mobile phone from an App Store, and purchasing Bitcoin with cash at the terminal.
Alphavend is rolling out more and more machines around the UK in the coming months, as it seeks to keep pace with the growing interest and demand for the most mainstream and trusted of the crypto currencies. Demand for Bitcoin has never been higher, as the number of people either investing or using Bitcoin as a cost-effective way of sending money around the world, keeps on growing.
Contis enables Google Pay
Contis, a provider of end-to-end alternative banking, payments and processing solutions in the UK and Europe, announces it is working with Google Pay to offer more people, more innovative ways to pay.
Google Pay is the fast, simple way to pay in millions of places – online and in stores. It brings together everything consumers need at the checkout and makes it easy for them to keep track of purchases and redeem loyalty points.
Contis has integrated Google Pay into its award-winning, end-to-end platform which processes payments in real-time and will be offered across its entire proposition:
• Canvas: a white label solution that provides companies with a configurable end-to-end banking and payment platform.
• Freedom: a consumer current account, providing full current account services including sort code, account number, debit card, direct debits, standing orders and Faster Payments.
• Engage: Contis’ proposition for Credit Unions – currently available through over 150 Credit Unions nationwide.
Transactive Systems gains FCA e-money licence; partners with ClearBank for Faster Payments
Transactive Systems, the international instant payments provider has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Institution to issue e-money and provide payment services in the UK and across the EU.
Transactive has an existing and separate e-money license with the central bank of the Republic of Lithuania, the Bank of Lithuania.
The authorisation demonstrates that Transactive Systems’ e-money operations have safeguards in-line with other regulated financial institutions including the complete segregation of client funds, where customer balances are kept in separate bank accounts. Transactive Systems’ sponsor for the Faster Payment Service is clearing bank, ClearBank.
Noyan Nihat, Chief Executive of Transactive Systems, said: “Businesses have been crying out for faster, simpler and better value payment options. The old banks’ monopoly on payment services has been broken, and we are delighted to have worked with the UK’s first new clearing bank in 250 years, ClearBank to make this possible in the UK.”
