Digital challenger bank Atom is open for business and the Neil Woodford-backed bank uses innovative face and voice recognition technology April 6, 2016 A digital challenger bank which uses face and voice recognition instead of passwords and is trying to give the big four banks a run for their money is now open for business. Atom Bank, which is backed by top investors including Neil Woodford, has launched today on Apple iOS for pre-registered users. It believes being digital first and innovative [...]
Goldman Sachs just invested millions in an artificial intelligence startup April 5, 2016 The banking world, and now Goldman Sachs in particular, is getting on board with artificial intelligence. The investment bank has put millions into a US startup which uses machine learning for marketing. The $30m round for New York-based Persado also came from previous investors American Express Ventures and Citi Ventures, as well as Bain Capital Ventures and StarVest Partners. “We are [...]
Touchdown: Twitter share price bounces as it unveils plans to stream Thursday night NFL games April 5, 2016 Shares in Twitter jumped more than three per cent in pre-market trading after the company said it had won the bidding for digital rights to stream American football league games on Thursday nights. Shares were up 3.4 per cent, at $17.10, after the news was announced by National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell (on Twitter, natch). This [...]
Sharing economy data just came a step closer to being officially counted in ONS statistics April 5, 2016 How much is the ever-growing so-called sharing economy really contributing to Britain's growth? That's the question the country's top statisticians are grappling with as the likes of upstart businesses such as Uber, Airbnb, Task Rabbit and many more redefine the way we work. Now, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed the details of its first assessment of [...]
These are the hottest 50 fintech companies right now (and half are from London) April 5, 2016 London continues to dominate the world of financial technology with more than half of the hottest fintech startups located in London. Of the 50 startups to make the Fintech50, a comprehensive annual list of the best new businesses disrupting finance and chosen by leading venture capitalists and top tech execs, 29 were spawned in London. The newly [...]
The UK’s “upmarket Airbnb” Onefinestay just got bought by a major hotel group for millions April 5, 2016 A UK startup which offers luxury Airbnb-style holiday rentals has been acquired by a major hotel group for a multi-million pound sum. French hotel group AccorHotels has snapped up Onefinestay for £117m. “Onefinestay has successfully captured a sweet spot: a combination of needs that neither traditional hotels nor new actors of the sharing economy can meet," said Accor's [...]
Barclays customers can now use Apple Pay… finally April 5, 2016 It's been a long old wait, but Barclays has finally jumped on board the Apple Pay bandwagon. Barclays is the last of the major banks to support Apple Pay in the UK, letting customers pay with just the swipe of their iPhone or Apple Watch. “Since we introduced contactless to the UK in 2007, it’s [...]
Who leaked the Panama papers? April 4, 2016 How do you leak 2.6 terabytes of data? That's 11.5m records, 4.8m emails and 2.1m PDFs – 40 years worth of data, about 214,000 offshore entities and numerous famous names and faces and how they secretly arranged their taxes. The Panama papers leak is the biggest in history – but how did it ever get leaked and who was [...]
Twitter’s share price jumps on Mastercard interest April 4, 2016 Shares in social media firm Twitter jumped by over nine per cent today on news that payments firm Mastercard would be interested in a tie-up with the company. "We see companies like Facebook and Twitter occupying a really good space in social media and we are always over in Silicon Valley talking to those companies," said Ann Cairns, president [...]
UK financial services executives back London to become world’s fintech hub April 4, 2016 UK-based financial services executives are backing London to become the world's fintech hub. Some 92 per cent of those surveyed by Robert Half Financial Services said the UK has the ability to become the field’s worldwide leader. Read more: These are the most influential people in UK fintech Six per cent of the 100 executives surveyed [...]
