August newsletter
Welcome to “Exploring the world of FinTech”! ?? ?
Join us as we delve into the ever-evolving world of financial technology, including the exciting realm of core banking. Stay informed about the latest trends, insights, and news shaping the fintech and core banking landscape. From disruptive innovations to market analysis and thought leadership, our newsletter is your go-to resource for staying ahead in the dynamic world of fintech and core banking. Let's explore the future of finance together! ?? ?
Revolut, facing a series of issues, has recently experienced a $20 million theft in its US payment system. The flaw allowed criminals to exploit payment system differences, leading to erroneous refunds and loss of corporate funds. This comes amidst other challenges, including senior departures and delays in obtaining a UK banking license. Read more .?
Singlife and Microsoft partner to revolutionize insurtech in ASEAN through generative AI. Singlife leads Singlife Connect Plus (SCP), supporting insurance startups with scalable distribution solutions, mentorship, and access to Singlife's products. Microsoft identifies startups and offers technical guidance on Generative AI. Goal: Establish Southeast Asia as a thriving financial technology and innovation hub. Read more. ?
Shopify ventures into credit cards with Shopify Credit, an exclusive business card for its merchants. Powered by Stripe and issued by Celtic Bank, it's Shopify's first pay-in-full business credit card, usable wherever Visa is accepted. Eligibility depends on sales performance, not credit checks, and requires the merchant to be on Shopify Payments and U.S.-based. This move strengthens Shopify's presence in fintech and commerce, building on previous financial service partnerships and offerings. Read more. ?
The European Central Bank (ECB) plans to raise its main interest rate (deposit rate) to 3.75% due to a slowing real economy and low loan demand. The rate hike is expected in July, and analysts are curious about the bank's approach in September. Despite high inflation, the ECB is approaching a peak in its tightening cycle, having raised rates by 400 basis points since last July. The rapid rate increase may impact loan growth and economic activity in the euro area. The ECB faces the challenge of balancing elevated rates signaling with addressing the cooling economy. Read more. ?
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The Bank of London seeks an EU banking license and has applied jointly with the European Central Bank and Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg. They plan to invest €200 million in Luxembourg and the wider EU, creating 300 new jobs. Unlike other banks, the Bank of London focuses on protecting deposits and does not engage in lending, leveraging, or investing. Choosing Luxembourg as its EU headquarters, the bank aims to provide a global digital clearing ecosystem for financial institutions and corporate clients. With strong shareholders, including Mangrove Capital Partners, and recent funding of $40 million, the bank has promising growth prospects in the EU market. Read more. ?
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?? In the realm of core banking providers, "scalability" is the buzzword, but how does a next-gen solution actually enable it?
We've recently published an article deep diving into the scalability of cloud-native core banking platforms. Below we share the highlights of this piece and explore the timeline of core banking evolution:?
In the ever-changing financial environment of today, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending companies face numerous challenges in streamlining operations while driving business growth. To overcome these obstacles, lenders are increasingly turning to cloud-native core banking solutions. These modern technological platforms provide the scalability and flexibility required by lenders to meet the unique needs of SMEs.??
Cloud-native core banking, known as next-gen solutions, enables SMEs to drive business growth and broaden their market presence. Whether entering new geographical markets or diversifying product portfolios, modern platforms provide the necessary tech infrastructure to support expansion plans.?
How does a provider enable you with scalability?
By leveraging automatic scalability within a cloud-native core banking solution, SME lending companies can efficiently handle fluctuations in demand, ensure high availability, and optimize resource utilization. This flexibility allows them to scale their operations up or down seamlessly, adhering to increased business volumes.??
Technology providers achieve this by developing software on cloud platforms that provide an elastic infrastructure. This means that the underlying foundation can automatically scale up or down based on demand. The cloud provider manages the infrastructure, ensuring that resources are provisioned and de-provisioned as needed.?
To optimize cloud usage, cloud-native cores employ load-balancing techniques to distribute the workload across multiple instances. Load balancers intelligently distribute incoming requests across available instances, ensuring even distribution and optimal resource utilization. This helps prevent any single instance from becoming overwhelmed while maintaining high availability and performance.?
Additionally, the platforms include monitoring and auto-scaling policies. These policies continuously monitor key metrics such as CPU (Central Processing Unit) utilization, memory usage, network traffic, and request latency. Based on predefined rules and thresholds, the system automatically triggers scaling actions. For example, if CPU utilization exceeds a certain threshold, the system can automatically provision additional instances to handle the increased workload. Similarly, if the workload decreases, instances can be automatically removed to save costs.?
The image below illustrates the process.
Read the full article here. ?
Exciting news: Five Degrees and Topicus Join Forces to Offer Revolutionary Banking Tech-Stacks
Topicus, a pioneering financial technology company, has joined forces with Five Degrees to disrupt traditional financial technology providers. Following Topicus' successful acquisition of Five Degrees, the collaborative mission is to provide fully integrated, cutting-edge banking tech stacks that revolutionize the industry. With a keen focus on vertical market solutions, we will begin with Retail Lending and expand to encompass all banking domains, ranging from private banking and mortgages to mobile-only and commercial banks. This strategic partnership streamlines implementation projects and empowers financial institutions to lead the pack with next-gen cloud-native technology.
Read the full press release here. ?