Financial Sector Technology (FinTech)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in its daily announcement timed for after everyone except Compliance has set off for Lan Kwai Fong (17:39, this one arrived), has some startling news for all those who are wetting themselves over the future of FinTech. A third of applicants for licences made such a mess of the process that the HKMA has thrown them out.

Mobile payments are exploited by criminals who use services such as AliPay and WePay coupled with QR codes and while the companies behind the services are, well, behind on customer protection, The People's Bank of China, the central bank, is running ahead of regulators in other jurisdictions to find a solution. Their first idea was harsh. Their second is brutal. Can it work?

A report published by FinMark Trust (a charity funded by the UK, the UN and private organisations) seeks to explain the reasons behind the " termination of mobile money services" in South Africa and the likely effects. More positively, the report also " identify barriers to launching effective mobile financial services (MFS) in South Africa with a specific focus on the regulatory environment required to enable such opportunities. " But, as extracts show, there might be an element of a solution looking for a problem. It all seems a little too much as if someone has decided that mobile financial services are essential. What do you think? Subscribers can comment.

IN an order issued today, the Securities Commission of Malaysia has ordered CopyCash Foundation to cease and desist from all commercial activities, including an ICO planned for tomorrow (10th January 2018)

Kuala Lumpur, 5 January 2018
Media Statement on Initial Coin Offerings

Following a public statement released on 7 September 2017 regarding Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has noticed an increase in activities by new ICOs to solicit investments in crypto-currencies from the public at large, including senior citizens.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority and ASIC yesterday signed a Cooperation Agreement which provides a framework for cooperation to support and understand financial innovation in each jurisdiction.

The UK government is to host a conference on FinTech as part of FinTech Week 2017. Chancellor Phillip Hammond is pleased to say that it's got Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and City Minister Simon Kirby to speak. If that sounds like a non-coup, just think about this: the FinTech bubble is already under strain. It may well have burst by the time the conference takes place in the middle of April.

There's a lot of buzz about Person to Person Payments (sometimes called P2PP) but are they just a fad that don't add much to the old ways?

I hate buzzwords. I hate management-speak. And I really, really hate trends that appear to be one thing when really they are another. And more than all of those combined, I hate marketing-hype bubbles where everyone talks in breathless terms about the means instead of the ends or, even, the process.

So it follows, even though I've been fascinated by technology for decades, I'm irritated by the growth of so-called "fintech."

And I'm watching all the signs of a bubble.

A riddle: if ACI Worldwide wants to buy S1 Corporation and S1 Corp wants to buy Fundtech and Fundtech wants to be bought by S1 but ACI does not want to buy Fundtech, who will buy who?

Mobile payment systems provider is facing a nice day as venture capitalists value the little business at some USD1,000 million.

US company SurePass says that it has developed a two-factor authentication system that avoids problems with the "RSA Breached Token Devices" so as to "deliver secure two-factor authentication via free mobile apps, text and electronic card"