There’s been a lot to talk about in the industry again this month, with more research predicting growth across various areas of our sector, as well as the largest global FinTech event of the year, Money20/20 Europe.

We were pleased to be in attendance, with our sustainable stand, carefully designed so that every material, feature and furnishing can be reused, repurposed or recycled.

We’re also delighted to have had our work recognised by two industry awards. Banking Circle has been shortlisted in four categories each for both the 2021 Payments Awards and the 2021 Banking Tech Awards; a testament to the strength and innovation of our solutions.

Our Chief Growth Officer, Søren Skov Mogensen, was joined by speakers from McKinsey & Company on a webinar about pivoting payments into full service banking, exploring who will be the winners in the race for the customer. Watch that on demand here. In another webinar with Innovate Finance, our Head of Products and Solutions, Sarah Lauridsen, joined a panel of experts to explore payments innovation. Watch Spotlight on Payments Innovation again here.

Meanwhile, our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Anders la Cour, shared his thoughts on the top trends transforming the payments landscape in an article for TechRound, while our CIO Michel Andre gave his insights into navigating the technology landscape through the eyes of a CEO, in this piece for Intelligent CIO.

You can also find out more about our take on the build, buy or partner debate, in our blog post on the benefits of working with a cloud-based tech partner for financial institutions. We’ve also written about how collaboration can speed up the real time payments revolution for corporates.

Finally, don’t miss our new whitepaper on the challenges faced by CIOs and CTOs working in banks and FinTechs. Our research found that almost every respondent has skills gaps in their organisations that could hold them back from capitalising on the latest technology, seriously undermining their post-COVID recovery. Register to receive your copy as soon as it is published here.

Here are some other important stories from the industry you may have missed:

The value of instant payments to increase by 470% within five years

New data has shown that the value of instant payments is expected to exceed $27.7 trillion by 2026 – an increase of 470% from the $4.8 trillion recorded earlier this year.

The new Instant Payments – Reshaping the Payments Ecosystem report from Juniper Research credits the future growth to improved cost and transparency for instant payment schemes, when compared with legacy systems such as ACH or CHAPS.

The report also predicts that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which can be designed with cross border use cases in mind from the start, could have a key part to play in harmonising future cross border payments.

Calls for banking sector participation in development of EU e-ID Toolbox

Back in June, the European Commission proposed a regulation establishing a framework for a European Digital Identity, which would make it possible to offer faster onboarding processes and improve customers’ user experience while making sure to maintain the same level of security as face-to-face onboarding.

The European Credit Sector Associations (ECSAs) has submitted feedback on the Commission’s initiative, expressing its appreciation of the cooperation between the European institutions, Member States, and the private sector.

It has also expressed its belief that the banking sector should also be involved in the development of the Toolbox, stating that they can be key partners in creating a roadmap that ensures successful e-IP adoption.

Find out more about that here.

UK Finance warns of fraud surge

Rising numbers of fraud attacks since the pandemic are being described as a “national security threat” by the UK’s trade association for the banking and financial services sector. The body claims the problem now requires government-coordinated action across industries.

£754 million has been stolen through bank frauds in the first half of 2021, a 30% increase on the same time period the year before.

Bank losses from authorised push payment (APP) fraud are also up, increasing by 71% in the first six months of this year, meaning this has now overtaken the amount stolen through card fraud for the first time.

Lenders are calling for tougher action on fraud by government and industry bodies. Read more about that here.

UK partners with the UAE to tackle terrorism financing

A new landmark partnership with the United Arab Emirates was announced by the UK government on September 17th, with Home Secretary, Priti Patel, explaining that the new agreement “bolsters both our countries’ efforts in going after the terrorists and serious and organised crime gangs that seek to do us harm. The partnership will help to keep the public safe, protect our prosperity, and bring dangerous criminals to justice.”

The partnership is designed to enhance intelligence sharing and joint operations between the UK and the UAE against organised crime networks, focusing particularly on countering money laundering in high-risk areas like real estate, as well as emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies.

It’s not the first time the UK has taken bold steps in the fight against AML and CFT without the backing of the EU, as seen with the recent Myanmar sanctions, and it comes following the 2020 Spending Review, where the UK committed a further £63 million to tackle economic crime and fraud.

New whitepaper predicts four markets to succeed in the evolving payments landscape

The new whitepaper from Transact Payments Ltd reveals that the UK, Germany, Spain, and the Nordic countries, will be best placed to be at the forefront of powering the payments industry over the coming years.

The report highlights the opportunities available across markets, and the chances to create products which respond to those opportunities. It also exposes just how fast the payments business is changing, and the subsequent challenges that come with attempting to do everything in-house.

Download the whitepaper here.

New research on attitudes towards Open Banking

A new study has revealed that positive attitudes towards Open Banking are growing.

The research, from Swedish financial services company, Tink, surveyed senior financial executives across Europe, finding that just 55% of respondents in 2019 felt optimistic about Open Banking, but that had increased to 71% in 2021.

The countries ranking highest in seeing Open Banking as a positive development are Belgium (87%), the Netherlands (85%) and the UK (81.3%). Portugal, Sweden, and Denmark were at the other end of the scale, with 59.1%, 57.9% and 50% respectively.

At least a quarter of overall executives rated Open Banking as ‘extremely important’ in realising business objectives.

Rising in correlation with these positive outlooks is the number of Trans-Pacific partnerships. As of June 2021, the UK and European Economic Area (EAA) has registered and authorised 497 of these partnerships, which is a growth of 53.4% year-on-year.

PPS publish whitepaper on embedded finance

The new report, Exploring Embedded Finance; The Future of Integrated Financial Services, investigates the rise of embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), including how non-financial brands can benefit from the ability to offer services like Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). Partnerships between legacy banks and more agile FinTech companies are another key topic within the whitepaper.

It also reveals that 85% of survey respondents believe BaaS will make a dent on the financial services sector within the coming year.

View the report here.