FinTech News Issue 10 January 28th, 2015

FinTech Articles

    The virtual currency bitcoin is getting a very real boost on Monday with the opening of the first licensed U.S. exchange.

    Attention all FinTech developers: there are a host of open FinTech APIs out there ready to be utilised in your next big project. We run down the list of APIs you should be adding to your virtual toolbox.

    London-based peer-to-peer money transfer service TransferWise has raised $58 million in a new round of funding that values the company close to $1 billion.

    What if a bank had the goal of helping its customers thrive, rather than just maximising shareholder profits? The first one that does will be a huge success.

    In a post on the state of consumer fintech, I took a look at how retail banks are beginning to “unbundle” as tech tries to reinvent finance. I now look at how the same is beginning to happen for commercial banks.

    At the moment, it seems to be fashionable for venture capitalists and tech journalists to say “I love the blockchain, just not bitcoin.” There are a few things that people that make this claim completely ignore: The blockchain does not work without bitcoin

    Mobile devices account for 60 percent of Internet traffic, but less than 20 percent of online transactions. Why? Because entering your credit card info into a mobile device sucks, so people don’t usually do it, or they abandon the process halfway through.

    The functionality of mobile banking apps developed by five of the UK's top banks has been criticised after they racked up so-so scores in user experience testing conducted by Adaptive Lab.

    TransferWise, the fast-growing UK-based P2P money transfer startup that has reportedly been in talks with Facebook for remittance services, has raised a large tranche of funding led by one of the social network’s earliest backers.

    Sunnyvale startup Qvivr is is building a universal credit card named Swyp , competing with the likes of LoopPay, Coin and Plastc, but it’s adding its own unique twist.

    With the invention of bitcoin as the first version of digital cash based on a blockchain, it may now be possible to make BitTorrent even more useful for the widespread distribution of digital content.

    We’re happy to announce Coinbase Exchange, the first regulated bitcoin exchange based in the U.S. With this launch our goal is to bring increased stability to the bitcoin ecosystem.