Month: June 2020

The United Kingdom’s regulatory authority said Wirecard AG was correcting issues raised by the $2.1 billion accounting scandal, but restrictions on the collapsed German payments company will stay, Reuters reported. “We cannot lift the restrictions without reassuring ourselves that the firm has been able to satisfy all our concerns, for example that all clients’ money is … Continue reading UK Financial Watchdog Says Wirecard Cooperative But Assets To Stay Frozen Continue Reading →

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) has been fined $107 million by regulators for failing to identify money laundering risk in its Baltic operations. Sweden’s banks have been in hot water about their Baltic operations The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) announced the penalty last week. It charges SEB, the second largest bank in Sweden, with failing … Continue reading SEB fined $107m by regulator for Baltic AML failures Continue Reading →

The coronavirus pandemic and its boost to online commerce has provided a major lift to Stripe, the San Francisco-based startup whose software provides the backbone for eCommerce networks around the world. Now Stripe, whose platform enables companies around the world to accept payments, is rolling out a pair of new products and changes aimed at helping customers … Continue reading Stripe Rolls Out New Products Amid Accelerated eCommerce Shift Continue Reading →

In today’s top news, Germany’s deputy finance minister wants to restructure accounting firm regulations, and consumers are turning away from travel rewards cards. Plus, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is looking to modernize bank reporting. Wirecard Forces ‘Radical’ Reboot Of German Accounting Regs As the fallout from Wirecard’s troubles unfold, Germany’s deputy finance minister … Continue reading Today In Payments: Wirecard Forces German Accounting Regs Reboot; Consumers Sour On Travel Rewards Cards Continue Reading →

HSBC wants to double the bank’s number of mobile users by 2022 in a bid to generate more revenue per customer, Bloomberg reports. “All the industry is going to struggle for a while,” says HSBC exec The aim follows plans it laid out to drastically reduce its branch-focused services. This will see $4.5 billion in … Continue reading HSBC wants to double mobile users by 2022 Continue Reading →

Two years in, there’s no easy lifting for companies looking to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs how data gets transferred outside of the European Union. The European Commission said in a report this month that while GDPR is “an overall success,” further actions are needed — especially among small to mid-sized companies … Continue reading EU Says GDPR A Success; Consumers Still Fear Open Banking Security Continue Reading →

IDnow, a German identity verification fintech, is hoping to bring its video authentication solution to banks in the UK. Whilst UK banks are less pressured by regulators to adopt video onboarding, banks in wider Europe have already deployed IDnow’s live video onboarding. IDnow is in talks with a number of UK banks on the subject … Continue reading IDnow hopes to bring video authentication to UK banks’ onboarding Continue Reading →

Pending home sales continue to be sluggish, according to year-over-year data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index, an advance look at home sales based on signed purchase and sale agreements, fell 5.1 percent in May compared to the same month last year. When compared to April of 2020, the news was much better. … Continue reading Pending Home Sales Down In May Compared To Last Year, Up From April Continue Reading →