Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 20 September 2018
Moneycorp expands US presence
moneycorp completed its integration of Commonwealth FX, the US based corporate international payments business it acquired in January 2018, uniting it with its existing US business on a single integrated, global payments platform.
The digital platform provides SME and midcap clients with access to a network of 17 international banks and advanced back-to-back hedging abilities usually restricted to larger corporates. moneycorp’s 4500 US clients will begin to be transferred to the brand’s international payments platform which collectively serves 14,000 businesses worldwide.
David Herrick will lead the business as CEO in the US, strengthening moneycorp’s market presence as an industry leading corporate and personal international payments business with six offices and 80 employees in the US.
The US investment is an integral part of moneycorp’s international expansion strategy, which has also seen successful operations set up in Brazil, Hong Kong and Dubai in the last 18 months.
QuantHouse and Enyx introduce FPGA-accelerated market data as a service
QuantHouse, an independent global provider of end-to-end systematic trading solutions including innovative market data services, algo trading platform and infrastructure solutions, welcomed Enyx to the qh API ecosystem.
The addition of Enyx, the premier provider of low-latency, FPGA-based market data and order execution systems, provides trading firms with immediate access to a high performance, FPGA accelerated end-to-end market data service.
Arthur Tricoire, Managing Director, APAC, QuantHouse, said, “The wider adoption of automated trading in APAC is driving a growing appetite among quant teams for innovative trading solutions. Working with Enyx, and with an initial roll out with the HKEX Securities and Derivatives segments, we are providing the combined benefits of hardware acceleration using FPGA-enabled feed handlers with software optimised distribution and managed services. We look forward to expanding this solution to our wider community in response to demand for continuously improved determinism and lower latencies.”
EMVCo adds 14 new associates from across industries to accelerate payment technology innovation
Global technical body EMVCo has welcomed fourteen new organisations to its Associates Programme to increase cross-industry collaboration in the development of EMV Specifications. The newest Associates have joined since December 2017.
Joining as Technical Associates, Everi, Netcetera, Tencent and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions can provide input to, and receive feedback on, detailed technical and operational issues connected to the EMV Specifications, and related testing and security evaluation processes.
Bank of America, European Card Payment Association (ECPA), Financial Software & Systems (FSS) and STET have joined as Business Associates. Participation at this level is available to organisations with a business responsibility for an EMV transaction. Business Associates can provide input to strategic and business topics related to the use of the EMV Specifications.
Combining both technical and business participation are AsiaPay, Bankalararası Kart Merkezi A.S. (BKM), Citi, Expedia Group, Google, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. In addition to the fourteen new Associates, re-joining Associates include Australian Payments Network, Panasonic Mobile Communications and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.
Westpac first to enable voice payments through Siri
In an Australian banking first, Westpac customers will soon be able to make payments using voice technology.
The launch of Siri for Westpac is an extension of Westpac’s mobile banking app for iPhone’s, enabling customers to link their Westpac account to make a payment and check their account balance through Siri.
In the coming days, customers will be able to make payments to any payee set up in their Westpac mobile app or online banking from their Westpac transaction account linked to Siri, for example:
Customer question: “Hey Siri, pay John Citizen $20 for dinner”
Siri’s response: “Here is your Westpac payment of $20 to John Citizen. Do you want to send it?”
To authenticate payments, customers will be prompted to input their fingerprint or face ID before the money is transferred to the payee. Through Siri’s voice command, customers will also be able to check up to three Westpac account balances that are Quick Balance enabled in their mobile banking app.
