Author: Fintechnews Switzerland

The Swiss Fintech Award 2016, an initiative by the Finanz & Wirtschaft Forum and Accenture that aims to foster Switzerland’s fintech startup ecosystem, has selected its top ten startups in the competition. Congrats to our Top10! @Advanon @carbondelta @crowdhouse_ch @gobeyondinvest @investglass @Knip @qumram @raisenow @sentifi @WealthArc — Swiss FinTech Award (@FinTechAward) January 21, 2016 SwissawardTop10 @Advanon @crowdhouse_ch @gobeyondinvest @investglass @Knip @qumram @raisenow @sentifi @finnovationCH pic.twitter.com/ZkeEJSlRQP — swissfintech (@swissfintech) 21. Januar 2016 Announced on January 18, following the Accenture Boot Camp held in Zurich, the semi-finalists will now head to the “Speed Dating” phase consisting in presenting their sales pitch in…

SwipeStox, the self-proclaimed “Tinder for trading,” lets you “swipe and trade” following advices from successful professional traders, who themselves make cash when being copied. Created by the Naga Group AG, a Hamburg-based fintech firm founded in October 2015, SwipeFox is a mobile social trading app that allows people to trade Forex, Indices and CFDs by copying other trades created by from experienced traders. SwipeStox, headquartered in London, is built on a large community of both novice and professional traders and intends to “bring social trading to every single smartphone worldwide,” allowing everyone to gain access to the knowledge of the…

Paymit, mit aktuell rund 170’000 Downloads die meistverbreitete Bezahl-App der Schweiz, expandiert weiter. Nach SIX, UBS und der Zürcher Kantonalbank bietet ab heute die Luzerner Kantonalbank ihren Kunden Paymit in einer eigenen App an. Im Februar werden Raiffeisen und Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Paymit für ihre Kunden lancieren. Die entsprechenden Paymit Apps werden im Apple App Store und im Google Play Store zum Download verfügbar sein. Schneller Einstieg mit Swisscom Service für Banken Raiffeisen sowie die Kantonalbanken aus Genf, Obwalden, St. Gallen und Zug setzen auf das neue Angebot „Paymit as a Service“ von Swisscom. Zusammen mit dem Entwicklungspartner ti&m und…

Swiss FinanceFox is moving insurance brokerage and policy management process onto users’ mobile phones. The startup has recently raised US$5.5 million to boost growth in Switzerland and Germany, and fuel its global expansion. The round, led by Salesforce Venture, with participation from AngelList, Idinvest, Seedcamp and Speedinvest, will help FinanceFox expand its marketing and sales activities in Switzerland and Germany and enter new markets. FinanceFox, which currently has offices in Zurich, Berlin and Barcelona, provides users with a single point of access for all insurance matters, letting them manage all existing insurances and get personal advice. FinanceFox intends to move…

EWise, a leading international provider of Personal Financial Management (PFM) and account aggregation solutions, has been serving some of the world’s most innovative banks and financial institutions including HSBC, Westpac, and FirstDirect. Launched in 2000, eWise’s flagship product, labeled Money Manager, basically brings into one single platform all your financial data. The solution includes Account Aggregation and Personal Financial Management tools, allowing users to understand and manage their money better, while providing banks with tools to enhance engagement and expand relationships. Money Manager uses the eWise “Personal Data Vault” (PDV), a feature that stores users’ credentials securely and privately on a chosen device.…

WORLDWEBFORUM/Fintech is just a few days ahead and will bring together some of world’s leading fintech entrepreneurs and experts to discuss the future of finance. On January 29th, senior executives from top fintech startups, banks, as well as governmental representatives, will gather at WORLDWEBFORUM/Fintech in Zurich in cooperation with Leonteq, an event sponsored by the likes of Helvetia, Ernst & Young, Cornèr Bank, to discuss all things in fintech. WORLDWEBFORUM/FinTech, which intends to be an “open and neutral platform to discuss the vast and dynamic potential of financial technology,” will host a set of keynotes and panel discussions entirely dedicated to…

Fintech Switzerland Infographic 2016:In this Infographic you will find facts about Fintech and Switzerland, such as information about the population, Mobile Penetration, Mobile-Demographics, upcoming Fintech Events in Q1 and about Swiss Fintech Startups. Please share. Infographic Fintech Switzerland 2016

Die FinTech-App FinanceFox, die Versicherer, Vermittler und ihre Kunden zusammenbringt, hat eine Finanzierungsrunde über 5,5 Millionen US-Dollar abgeschlossen. Angeführt wird die Finanzierung von Salesforce Ventures, auf deren Plattform die App zudem basiert. Weitere Investoren der App sind AngelList, Idinvest, Seedcamp und Speedinvest. Mit dem Kapital wird FinanceFox das Marketing und den Vertrieb in der Schweiz und in Deutschland ausbauen sowie weitere Märkte erschliessen. Die Digitalisierung des Versicherungsmarkts eröffnet allen Beteiligten vollkommen neue Möglichkeiten bei Service und Transparenz. Die daraus resultierenden Mehrwerte integriert FinanceFox in sein hybrides Geschäftsmodell aus moderner App-Technologie und persönlicher Beratung auf Basis des traditionellen Versicherungsgeschäfts. Damit werden…

Robinhood, a major American brokerage known for being the first company to offer zero trading commissions for US listed stocks as well as zero account minimums, is planning to launch in Europe as the company seeks for a “Chief Executive to lead and operate [its] planned UK/EU expansion,” according to a new job listing. In May 2015, the company triggered its global expansion following a US$50 million round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), announcing Australia as its first international market. Robinhood has since been waiting for its regulatory approval. Launched in 2013, the Robinhood app lets users…

As the New Year beckons, it’s time to speculate about what 2016 holds. Here are nine predictions from Ben Robinson, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Temenos. 1. Talent management will be a much bigger issue. In Temenos’ annual banking survey, double the number of bankers compared to last year told us that attracting and retaining the right talent was their biggest priority. And it is in technology that the issue is most acute. Banking has become a relatively less attractive place to work at the same time as facing increased competition with all industries for the same kinds of scarce…

Global investment in financial technology ventures, or fintechs, tripled to US$12.21 billion in 2014, according to Accenture, a clear indication that the financial sector is poised to be disrupted by new entrants. Global fintech investment jumped 201% between 2013 and 2014 with Europe experiencing the highest level of growth with a year-on-year increase of 215%. But who exactly are betting on the European fintech sector? Today, we compile a list of some of the biggest investors in financial technology. We excluded the Accelerators.  You can check out with the following link our separate list of the Top 10 Fintech Accelerators in Europe.…

Microsoft has launched in the US a new feature that allows Windows 10 users who are Sprint customers to add their phone number to the Windows Store and make purchases on all kinds of devices, including mobiles and desktops. Next stop will be Switzerland, according to reports from Forbes. Microsoft, which announced plans to integrate direct carrier billing back in April 2015, has moved forward with its plans, launching earlier this month the new feature in the US thanks to a partnership with Boku. Boku, a 155-employee firm based in San Francisco, is a leading direct carrier billing mobile payments company…

Top 9 Fintech Podcasts: Podcasts use an audio file to share information through computers or portable music devices. When they are well conceived, they become an effective, portable, convenient and intimate way to deliver and produce content. Since the past few years, podcasting has been taking off and you can literally find all sorts of podcasts online. But today, let’s focus on fintech shows with our nine favorite fintech podcasts. Have fun and listen to the best fintech podcasts when driving, at home or during running. If you like reading more: Check the list of the Top 10 Fintech Books  and of the Top 10…

Swiss watchmaker Swatch is partnering with Visa Europe to enable cardholders to “tap and pay” with the firm’s freshly announced NFC-enabled analog watch the Swatch Bellamy. Announced at the landmark Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the new Swatch Bellamy is set to launch in Switzerland, the US, Brazil and China in early 2016 and represent the company’s answer to smartwatches. “We want to stay away from that connectivity to the cloud and the Internet, because we don’t want you to lose control of your data,” Nick Hayek, co-founder and CEO of the Swatch Group, told the Wall Street Journal.…

It requires grounding to become realistic, reshape your personal or environmental development and make progress. A highly exaggerating press and a ton of only cheering coverage led to my conviction about writing this article. Dennis Just, Founder and CEO of Knip FinTech is hot. InsurTech is hotter. And Knip is one of the frontrunners in Europe serving tens of-thousands of customers and convincing backers to invest more than CHF 17 million in total funding so far. I would like to reflect on the hype and concerns from the perspective of a CEO and Founder who is trying to break new ground in one of the…

The founder and former chairman of Canadian foreign exchange company OANDA, Richard Olsen, has unveiled his most recent venture: a global marketplace for multiple assets and financial instrument built on the Bitcoin blockchain. Dubbed Lykke, the company launched in late-September and seeks to provide every person on the planet with market access as well as the ability to issues his or her currencies. Qualifying distributed ledger technology as “one of the greatest innovations in recent history,” Olsen said his company will use the Bitcoin blockchain as a global notary service to record and settle all types of transactions. Lykke, a…

Banks and fintech startups have more business interests in common than issues that divide them, according to a new report from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The document, entitled ‘The Disruption Of Banking,’ is based on surveys of more than 100 senior bankers and 100 fintech executives and seeks to determine their respective views on the impact of financial technologies. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both banks and these new players and the likely outcome of the phenomena for the retail banking industry over the next five years. Findings suggest that 33% of bankers predict the upcoming retail banking…

Known in the UK as the “cheapest online broker,” iDealing is now further expanding in Europe, launching an aggressive commercial policy and removing brokerage commission for stocks listed on the Dutch, French or Belgian Euronext markets. Last week, London-based European online securities brokerage iDealing became the first broker in the continent to provide its clients with commission-free trading, a news that broke simultaneously with the announcement that the company has launched in the Netherlands and Belgium. According to Lee Foster Bowman, the founder and managing director of iDealing and a former banker at major banks and financial institutions including Barclays,…

Fintech startups are “cannibalizing banks,” attacking every single service typically provided by financial institutions ranging from lending to wealth management among many other areas. Their key strengths: they understand much better the real consumers’ needs and “excel” in meeting those needs, according to IT consulting firm OCTO Technology. In a white paper called ‘Fintech is Cannibalizing Banks,’ the France-headquartered consulting firm argues that in a world that is changing at the pace of technology, the digital era will not spare any industry, and especially not the financial and banking industry. Since the subprime crisis, governments have been calling for more…

Bank boardrooms dramatically lack technology expertise with only 6% of board directors and 3% of CEO of the world’s biggest banks having expertise in the field, according to a report from Accenture. At the time when banks’ major challenges are “intimately connected with technology,” banks need to re-think their boardroom culture and start including at least one or two technology experts in their board, the consulting firm said. “It’s not sufficient for banks to just realize that their businesses are under threat and that innovation is critical to prevent them from being disrupted,” Richard Lumb, group chief executive of Financial…