Banking bazooka? CMA report great for fintech, costly for banks August 9, 2016 The competition watchdog has today handed fintech startups a bazooka for their mission of disrupting banks, with new rules for making data more open to improve customer choice. The so-called big four – HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland – and other smaller high street banks will have to work together to create standards for sharing [...]
US jobs site Monster on £330m Dutch date with recruiter Randstad August 9, 2016 Remember Monster.com? It was one of the first companies to harness the power of the internet to help connect jobseekers and potential employers. It paved the way for the likes of LinkedIn and Glassdoor — as well as a new wave of snazzy job search apps, such as the so-called "tinder for jobs" Jobr (which it also acquired [...]
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 could be its best chance to pip Apple to the post August 8, 2016 Samsung versus Apple is one of the fiercest mobile tech rivalries ever and, with the right timing and its latest “phablet” device, the South Korean giant may have found the right formula to steal customers from the iPhone maker. Last week, Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7, a 5.7 inch “phablet” that comes with an [...]
This incredibly morbid game puts your morals to the ultimate test August 8, 2016 Imagine sitting back and relaxing in a driverless car… Getting from A to B with your feet up and eyes off the road… but then… there's a girl and an elderly woman in the road on a pedestrian crossing… should the car keep on going and hit them, almost certainly killing them? Or should the car [...]
Uber just renewed its feud with London’s regulators August 8, 2016 Uber is turning to its customers to help it fight "bureaucratic" new rules imposed by Transport for London, including an English exam "harder than the test for British citizenship", renewing its feud with regulators in the capital. The billion-dollar company said the rules would "threaten the livelihood of thousands of drivers", reducing their numbers and thus increasing the [...]
This London tech startup is planning to list on AIM August 8, 2016 A tech startup based in London is planning to go public with a multi-million pound listing on the capital's junior market. LoopUp is seeking to raise £9m, it's understood, which would give the firm a market capitalisation of up to £45m, and plans to list by the end of August on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The startup takes [...]
Robots: They’re coming for our jobs – and our world records… August 8, 2016 A Chinese company has set a new world record for the most robots dancing simultaneously. We're all aware that it's only a matter of time before our robot overlords machines take over our jobs, and now they're coming after our hobbies too – and even managing to set Guinness World Records. Engineering firm Ever Win [...]
You’re probably lying about how much you eat (but the whole country is too) August 8, 2016 The nation is in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to the problem of obesity. The number of people who are overweight is rising, but people say they are eating less. How to explain this puzzle? Now, researchers at what was formerly the government's so-called nudge unit, have identified the potential crux of the problem [...]
Amazon’s Japan office reportedly raided August 8, 2016 The offices of Amazon in Japan were raided by authorities, according to local media. Officials from the Fair Trade Commission, the country's competition watchdog, were probing the retail giant's offices on suspicions that it unfairly forced sellers to favour its own platform over rival ones, according to Nikkei. Read more: Prime Day was the biggest [...]
Fintech founders choose their favourite business books August 8, 2016 Stuck for what to read this summer and want to use the time improving your business acumen? City PM has asked five of London’s leading fintech founders what they’d recommend. Hiroki Takeuchi, co-founder of GoCardless, the online direct debit provider Five dysfunctions of teams, by Patrick Lencioni I love books that introduce me to [...]
