Das Kölner Blockchain-Unternehmen Ubirch hat auf Anfrage des Bundesverbands Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V. eine Lösung für fälschungssichere Zertifikate entwickelt. BVDW-Qualitätszertifikate gelten als neutrale und objektive Gütesiegel der Digitalwirtschaft in Deutschland. Um Betrug und Manipulation vorzubeugen und um die Wertigkeit der BVDW Zertifikate digital zu unterstreichen, wird von nun an jedes Zertifikat mit relevanten Details in der Blockchain verankert und ist durch die Ubirch-Lösung unmanipulierbar. Ubirch-CEO Stephan Noller: „Der BVDW als Dachverband der Digitalisierung in Deutschland hat das Potential bzw. die Notwendigkeit von fälschungssicheren Zertifikaten sehr früh erkannt. Grundsätzlich richtet sich unser Produkt für unmanipulierbare Zertifikate an jeden Hersteller weltweit, der…

Deutsche Bank is a new shareholder of Deposit Solutions GmbH, as announced by the two companies today. Deutsche Bank has acquired a 4.9 percent stake in the Hamburg-based company. Both parties agreed not to disclose details about the volume of the investment. The bank’s objective with this investment is to benefit from the expected growth in valuation of Deposit Solutions. Deutsche Bank already operates its “Zinsmarkt” deposit offering using technology supplied by Deposit Solutions. Since 2017 Zinsmarkt has enabled Deutsche Bank customers to access fixed-term deposit products from other European banks that pay higher interest. Deutsche Bank is pursuing two…

F10 Incubator and Accelerator, based in Zurich,  goes into the third round with the P3 «Product to Market» program this week and is announcing the FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech Startups who are participating. A great number of teams with market traction and revenue generation from over 20 countries applied to the P3 program to become part of the F10 ecosystem. The selected Startups will demonstrate their solutions in front of the Corporate Members at F10 in Zurich today. After the demos, the FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech Startups will have one-to-one meetings with the F10 Corporate Members to discuss collaboration options.…

Am Dienstag trafen sich die Fintech- und Finanzbranche im Zürcher Kraftwerk zur Swiss Fintech Fair 2019. Das Ticket Kontingent war bereits Tage vor der Messe vollständig erschöpft und mit über 700 Besucherinnen und Besuchern war reger Betrieb an den über 50 Ständen der Fintech-Aussteller. Zusätzlich gab es Walk-in-Live-Präsentationen in Show Rooms, Workshops, Startup Pitches, Talks und Panels. Bundesrat und Wirtschaftsminister Guy Parmelin besuchte die Swiss Fintech Fair und machte sich im Rahmen eines Startup-Rundgangs selbst ein Bild von der hiesigen Fintech- und Startup-Szene. Verschiedene Schweizer Grossbanken – wie die grösste Universalbank des Landes, die UBS Schweiz – entsandten VIP-Delegationen aus…

Marcel Stauch, Geschäftsleitungsmitglied der Glarner Kantonalbank, hat sich aus persönlichen Gründen dazu entschlossen, die Bank zu verlassen und die Leitung des Bereichs Digitalisierung und Kreditfabrik per Ende März 2020 abzugeben. Er will sich einer neuen beruflichen Herausforderung stellen und seinen Wohnsitz zurück in seine Heimat verlegen, um dadurch auch mehr Zeit mit seiner Familie verbringen zu können. Marcel Stauch hat 2009 die Leitung der Kreditabwicklung übernommen und ist seit 2013 Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung der Glarner Kantonalbank. Als Bereichsleiter Digitalisierung und Kreditfabrik hat er mit seinem grossen Fachwissen und Engagement substanziell zur erfolgreichen Entwicklung der Bank und zu ihrer Vorreiterrolle in…

Baloise is entering into a partnership with Plug and Play, a California-based business accelerator. This will expand its portfolio of strategic partnerships focused on innovation, adding to its existing collaborations with the Swiss Fintech Accelerator and Incubator F10 in Zurich. Baloise is thereby doing its utmost to meet the growing needs of the entire Group in all relevant strategic development fields. Plug and Play runs a global innovation platform featuring a large number of startups that specialise in Baloise’s target segments. Many of these startups’ activities mesh with Baloise’s ecosystems of ‘Home’ and ‘Mobility’. This collaboration gives Baloise access to…

Lendora, a crowdfduning based in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, has raised CHF 1.2 million in a financing round led by the Frey Family – owner of Firstcaution and of several prestige vineyards in France. Founded in 2017 by five young entrepreneurs, Lendora – the first crowdlending platform operating from the French-speaking part of the country – connects consumers online to provide better rates to borrowers and better returns to investors. The start-up has just concluded a financing round of CHF 1.2 million led by the Frey family. “In 2019, there is no justification for traditional intermediaries anymore. Technology allows…

Das Schweizer Startup Skribble konnte die Zürcher Kantonalbank als Investorin gewinnen. Skribble brachte Anfang Jahr eine Cloud-Plattform für elektronisches Signieren auf den Markt. Verträge müssen nicht mehr den Umweg über Drucker und Papier nehmen, um rechtsgültig unterschrieben zu werden: Das geht schneller, einfacher und günstiger auf digitalem Weg, so die Überzeugung des Schweizer e-Signing Anbieters Skribble. Skribble brachte im vergangenen März eine Cloud-Plattform für elektronisches Signieren auf den Markt. Die Basis bilden gesetzlich geregelte E-Signatur-Standards, darunter die qualifizierte elektronische Signatur (QES). Das ist die einzige Form der E-Signatur, die der handschriftlichen Unterschrift vor dem Gesetz gleichgestellt ist. Ende Mai kommunizierte…

The “Manufacturing technologies” impulse programme from Innosuisse aims to promote modern manufacturing technologies as a contribution to the transition of industry into the digital age. Of the 29 applications for 12-month projects submitted in the second call for projects, Innosuisse has approved 17. The total funding amounts to more than CHF 6 million. In March 2019, Innosuisse already approved 27 projects with a duration of 18 months within the framework of the first call for projects. The projects received by Innosuisse – the Swiss Innovation Agency cover a broad spectrum of modern manufacturing technologies and the industry 4.0. For example,…

MSCI, through its subsidiary, MSCI Barra (Suisse) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zurich-based environmental fintech and data analytics firm,Carbon Delta. Founded in 2015, Carbon Delta is a leader for climate change scenario analysis. Together, MSCI and Carbon Delta will create an extensive climate risk assessment and reporting offering for the institutional market, providing global investors with solutions to help them better understand the impact of climate change on their investment portfolios and comply with mandatory and voluntary climate risk disclosure initiatives and requirements. Voluntary reporting initiatives are being led by entities such as the Task Force on…

PwC Luxembourg is stepping further into blockchain and crypto-assets by accepting Bitcoin payments from its clients as from 1 October 2019, in a move acknowledging the needs of clients and the willingness of the Luxembourgish Firm to support the growing national crypto ecosystem. Bitcoin is now ten years old and went through a very public rollercoaster-life cycle over the years since its inception. In it relatively short history it has gone from being a symbol of a revolutionary payment model to a dark-web preferred currency tag, all the while passing through breathtaking price fluctuations. It has been a tough childhood…

Am diesjährigen nationalen Schweizer Digitaltag fand erstmals der Swiss Real Estate Innovation Day statt. Rund 150 erfahrene Branchenakteure und junge Startups kamen zum neuen Kongress der Immobilienbranche nach Zürich. Die Swiss Circle AG und die Galledia Fachmedien AG, Herausgeberin der Fachzeitschrift Immobilen Business, nahmen den Schweizer Digitaltag am 3. September 2019 zum Anlass, um aufzuzeigen, wohin die digitale Reise in der Immobilienwirtschaft geht. Der Swiss Real Estate Innovation Day liess sich dabei von der Retroatmosphäre des Zürcher Brockenhaus inspirieren. Dort fanden sich nicht weniger als 150 etablierte Immobilienakteure und Jungunternehmer ein, um über Innovationen und digitale Dienstleistungen für die Immobilienwelt…

Swiss Fintech Innovations (SFTI), the independent association of Swiss financial institutes, announces some management changes. Natascha Tummeley, who joined SFTI’s management in April 2016 and took over in September 2017, will leave SFTI by end of September 2019 and move back to her hometown Hamburg. Her successor will be Anja Vujovic, who will officially start today. Anja successfully completed her Bachelor’s degree in Business Law at the ZHAW in 2019. In addition, she has worked for a major bank in the field of tax and for over three years at Kellerhals Carrard in the field of financial market law /…

Although a growing number of food companies are launching traceability projects, many of them focus only on the marketing advantages by providing transparent food information to their consumers. However, food traceability can provide more value from easier product recalls to improved supply chain control. Migros wants to achieve deeper supply chain insight to optimize its processes. Supply chain optimization can lead to quicker distribution and reduced food waste, which is also part of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) initiatives for the next years. Fresh food suppliers of Migros already had the possibility to communicate traceability data from their legacy…

Two German fintechs are merging. The pan-European savings marketplace Raisin (Weltsparen) is acquiring fairr, Germany’s fintech for retirement savings. Through this strategic acquisition Raisin will get access to the German pension and retirement savings market and become the only platform worldwide to offer its customers access to savings, investments and pension products — all on one online marketplace with one simple registration. This is the second takeover for Raisin this year, following the fintech’s addition of its service bank MHB-Bank to its portfolio. fairr team to join Raisin fairr’s three founders will take on leading roles in the newly formed investments…

The Cryptix AG, a Swiss full-service provider in the blockchain and DLT sector, has completed the acquisition of Blocktrade, a Liechtenstein digital assets exchange. As part of this acquisition, the team of the Vaduz-based company remains with Blocktrade and will be expanded in the coming months. In the future, both companies want to grow the existing structure and features of the digital asset exchange. The acquisition will not affect customers, who can continue to use the services and rely on the high quality and security standards of the platform. “Cryptix enables us to find new talents within a short time.…

In November 2019, SIX will introduce the network partner model for eBill into the market. Since the beginning of July, contracts for network partners have been available online for signature. The Fintech startup Billte is the first company to have concluded the respective contract. eBill is a Swiss solution for digital invoicing and paying invoices which has been integrated directly into the e-banking of over 90 Swiss banks. By implementing the network partner model, SIX opens its eBill infrastructure to all interested entities providing solutions to invoice senders. This will enable business software providers, Fintechs and financial institutions to act…

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Swiss National Bank conducted a survey on digitalisation and fintech at Swiss banks. The exercise – part of ongoing monitoring by the SNB in the context of its statutory mandate – focused on financial stability considerations. The aim was to gain a representative picture of how digitalisation and fintech are influencing banks operating in the deposits and lending business. Overall, the results indicate that the banks expect a strong level of digitalisation in financial intermediation. They view this mainly as a source of opportunities, particularly with regard to cutting costs and improving service…

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has published guidance on how it applies Swiss anti-money laundering rules to financial services providers supervised by FINMA in the area of blockchain technology. FINMA has also issued banking licences to two new blockchain service providers. FINMA recognises the innovative potential of new technologies for the financial industry. It applies the relevant provisions of financial market law in a technology-neutral way. However, blockchain-based business models cannot be allowed to circumvent the existing regulatory framework. This applies particularly to the rules for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, where the inherent anonymity of blockchain…

SEBA Crypto AG informs that it has successfully obtained a banking and securities dealer licence from the Swiss regulator FINMA. This represents a milestone for the entire digital asset market ecosystem, as a new secure and integrated access point to the crypto world is now available. The 2018 founded start-up, led by CEO Guido Bühler, has successfully built a licenced and supervised bank within 17 months. The official go-live is expected to take place in early October 2019. The already announced cooperation between Julius Baer and SEBA will enter into force at this time. With the banking and securities dealer…