Fintech News Issue #128 July 27th, 2017

New technologies are poised to sweep through investment banks, relieving many rank-and-file employees of roughly a third of their current workload, according to McKinsey & Co. The shift, already stoking angst on Wall Street, may take only a few years.

ast week, one of the final demons of the dotcom crash at the start of the 21st century was finally exorcised. The S&P 500 technology index, a gauge of the leading US internet stocks, passed the record that had stood since March 2000.

The first generation of chatbots in financial services has yet to win over the majority of consumers. But as the technology improves, banks and payments companies foresee a variety of roles and abilities for these virtual assistants.

A comprehensive, data-driven look at global financial technology investment trends, top deals, active investors, and corporate activity.

Roy Keidar examines how blockchain could provide the answer to the anti-money laundering issues that crypto-currencies face.

Major banks are betting on artificial intelligence (AI) to act like a digital personal assistant to customers, helping to automate money-making decisions, top CEOs in the sector told CNBC, amid the continued threat from new, more nimble entrants into the market.

Banks need to come up with PSD2 compliant payments solutions that can be used by any person or merchant in their region and beyond

While 75% of consumers still consider a traditional bank with branches to be their primary financial services provider, 40% express both decreased dependence on their bank and increased excitement about alternative providers. Bottom line, without better customer insights and solutions, the reliance on traditional banks will continue to decrease.

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) appeared on the horizon in the blockchain world with the first ever such issuance by a company called Mastercoin in 2013. The name has been changed to Omni since 2015.

U.S. Securities Laws May Apply to Offers, Sales, and Trading of Interests in Virtual Organizations

As January 2018 inches closer, financial institutions and fintech startups across Europe have PSD2 on their minds.

After hackers looted $30 million worth of ether last week, a company planning to raise money with cryptoassets is turning to an old-fashioned solution to safeguard the funds: a bank vault. It highlights the difficulty of keeping even the most sophisticated new technology safe and secure.

Around 47% of the AI companies acquired since 2012 have had VC backing. Corporate giants like Google, IBM, Yahoo, Intel, Apple, and Salesforce are competing in the race to acquire private AI companies, with Ford, Samsung, GE, and Uber emerging as new entrants.

Most people hate shopping for insurance, and they don’t enjoy talking about it either. That’s probably why you’re unlikely to hear about the industry’s current transformation in conversation, even in startup circles.