Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Should we stop trying to make Open Banking happen when it’s not going to happen?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Should we stop trying to make Open Banking happen when it’s not going to happen?

Comments from Starling Bank’s Anne Boden at a House of Commons Treasury Select Committee at the end of 2021 struck a painful chord with several fintech founders. During an oral evidence session for the Future of Financial Services inquiry, Boden expressed her opinion that “Open Banking has not been successful.” This pronouncement of the failure of...

21 January 2022 /devops

The future of ESGtech: Goal 7 - Affordable and clean energy

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The future of ESGtech: Goal 7 - Affordable and clean energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This is an extract from Finextra's The Future of ESGTech 2022 report. Focus target 7.a: By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-...

23 December 2021 /sustainable

The future of ESGTech: Goal 3 - Good health and wellbeing

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The future of ESGTech: Goal 3 - Good health and wellbeing

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is an extract from Finextra's The Future of ESGTech 2022 report. Focus Target 3.c: Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small ...

17 December 2021 /sustainable

The fintech sentiment: Revealing the impact of the Amazon Visa payments news

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The fintech sentiment: Revealing the impact of the Amazon Visa payments news

Last week, Amazon announced its intention to stop accepting Visa credit card payments in the UK, citing high cost as the core reason. Visa debit cards are exempt from the move. As it stands, this will become effective from the 19th January, although there is some speculation that Visa may yield given the size of Amazon. Prior to Brexit, UK merchan...

02 December 2021 /payments

The future of wealth management: Hybrid advice, hyper-personalisation, and holistic services

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The future of wealth management: Hybrid advice, hyper-personalisation, and holistic services

This is an excerpt from Finextra's Research report 'The Future of Wealth Management 2022,' and is available for download via Finextra Research. Hyper-personalisation has always been an important aspect of wealth management. Clients would meet with their wealth managers over coffee or dinner to discuss a personalised print-out of their investments....

24 November 2021 /wealth

The fintech sentiment: Autumn Budget 2021 and the impact on the industry

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The fintech sentiment: Autumn Budget 2021 and the impact on the industry

The UK Government announced its Autumn Budget and spending review this week and the fintech industry was captured by chair of techUK's Open Finance and Payments Working Group Louise Beaumont’s article in CityAM that blasted Chancellor Rishi Sunak's plans to slash the bank profit surcharge levied on the UK's biggest banks from eight percent to thr...

28 October 2021 /markets

The fintech sentiment: BNPL regulation welcomed by fintech firms

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The fintech sentiment: BNPL regulation welcomed by fintech firms

The UK government has announced its consultation for the regulation of buy now pay later (BNPL). This decision comes after the publication of the Woolard Review - a review of change and innovation in the unsecured credit market earlier this year, which highlighted some of the potential consumer risks of BNPL. The consultation notes that there has...

26 October 2021 /regulation

The fintech sentiment: is the £100 contactless limit a step towards a cashless society?

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

The fintech sentiment: is the £100 contactless limit a step towards a cashless society?

The British Government has announced that they have approved the contactless limit being raised to £100 from 15 October 2021. In response to this news, Starling Bank immediately stated their plan to allow customers to choose their own contactless limit, citing consumer concerns and little demand for the change. When contactless was initially launc...

20 October 2021 /retail

Five behaviours that indicate a social engineering scam

Níamh Curran Senior Reporter at Finextra

Five behaviours that indicate a social engineering scam

Social engineering and authorised push payment (APP) scams have been on the rise. For banks this creates a litany of problems, including compromising customer trust, difficulty navigating repayment schemes, and the changing nature of these attacks. The number of people falling victim to these scams rose during the pandemic, with UK Finance finding ...

17 September 2021 /crime

Long reads