Níamh Curran - Community Author: Finextra Research

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What are NFC payments?

Apple is being sued by the US Department of Justice for an alleged monopoly on smartphones, with NFC technology playing a large part in the argument. Apple tap-to-pay uses NFC technology to enable its payments, but as it stands in the US, no other digital wallet can be used on their mobile devices. It’s important to look at what NFC payments are an...

28 March 2024 /payments

Generative AI and AI outlook 2024: Customer journeys, fraud and legislation

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Generative AI and AI outlook 2024: Customer journeys, fraud and legislation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI saw an immense boom in 2023, with some calling it the technology’s breakout year. What was once viewed as something of science fiction is coming closer to reality, with the abilities of the software developing at pace. Yet how is the technology going to progress throughout the year in the financial tec...

14 March 2024 /payments

Anne Boden on supporting female fintech founders

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Anne Boden on supporting female fintech founders

For International Women’s Day (IWD) this year, we spoke to a woman who is the poster child of female success in the fintech world, Anne Boden. In June of last year, Boden stepped down as CEO of Starling after founding the challenger bank 10 years prior. Yet Boden has been busy recently. Last week she launched her third book, Female Founders’ Playbo...

08 March 2024 /inclusion

The Spring Budget: How does it impact fintech?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The Spring Budget: How does it impact fintech?

Jeremy Hunt, UK chancellor of the exchequer, presented his Spring Budget to a raucous House of Commons earlier today. It has been speculated this is the last budget this government will present, with the potential of a UK General Election looming. From a fintech perspective, Hunt said the UK is on track to become the world’s next Silicon Valley. Th...

06 March 2024 /regulation

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What’s happening at Temenos?

Temenos shares dropped on 15th February after Hindenburg Research published a report with damning allegations which claimed the company had major accounting irregularities and failed products. Temenos has refuted the allegations made in the report, stating that the claims are inaccurate and false. Here is a recap on the players involved in this sto...

27 February 2024 /retail

The FinCrime outlook 2024: Money mules, AI, and new PSR rules

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The FinCrime outlook 2024: Money mules, AI, and new PSR rules

Financial crime is on the rise every year, as criminals hone their tools with new technologies and find more ways to circumvent controls. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, users should be aware of the threats they pose. So what kind of developments might we expect from the coming year, and what have we learned from the mistakes made in 2...

22 February 2024 /crime

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is Faster Payments?

TCS emerged as a leading contender earlier this week to take over the running of the UK’s Faster Payments Service, according to Sky News. This would mean they take over from the previous operator Vocalink, owned by Mastercard. My colleague Dom previously covered what instant payments are, but here I’m going to look at the UK Faster Payments schem...

08 February 2024 /payments

Labour’s Financial Services Review: Everything fintechs need to know

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Labour’s Financial Services Review: Everything fintechs need to know

The UK’s Labour Party published its Financial Services Review this week and highlighted fintech as the future of financial services in the UK. The Review has been released ahead of a potential election later this year. The foreword of the report said: “We believe a strong financial services sector will drive investment in jobs and new industries....

01 February 2024 /regulation

What is the SEPA Payment Account Access Scheme?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is the SEPA Payment Account Access Scheme?

Truelayer became the first participant in the SEPA Payment Account Access Scheme (SPAA), building on open banking initiatives. The SPAA programme goes beyond PSD2 compliance and creates further opportunities in open banking. Yet not much has been discussed on what this scheme’s intentions are and what impact It might have on the open banking mark...

18 January 2024 /devops

What is an ETF? All you need to know after the US SEC approves Bitcoin spot ETFs

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is an ETF? All you need to know after the US SEC approves Bitcoin spot ETFs

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced its approval of 11 bitcoin spot ETFs, allowing for trading to begin as early as today. There has been a lot of buzz and build-up to this outcome, not least because the SEC’s X account was reportedly hacked resulting in their determination being tweeted a day early. For many, this is the...

11 January 2024 /crypto

Are stablecoins the next opportunity in payments?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Are stablecoins the next opportunity in payments?

In 2023, we have seen stablecoins - cryptocurrency designed to have a relatively stable price, typically by being pegged to a commodity or fiat currency – being embraced by some of the biggest payment players like Visa and PayPal. Despite being less than a decade old, more than 11 trillion in stablecoins were settled on-chain in 2022, accountin...

09 January 2024 /crypto

Who benefits from cutting interchange fees?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Who benefits from cutting interchange fees?

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has recommended a cap on cross-border interchange fees after its market review into the fees. This is not the only interchange fees story to hit the headlines this week. Earlier this week, the Canadian government came to an agreement with Visa and Mastercard to lower their interchange fees. From next Autumn, sm...

14 December 2023 /payments

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