Identity and access management is no exception to the digitization of everything. The use of biometric features, behavioral aspects and physiological technologies is just around the corner, bringing new authentication and authorization methods to the market. Another wave of technology disruption or an actual business need? by Maurice Bollag*, Senior Manager Ernst&Young Era of digitalization and disruptive technology The unprecedented explosion of technology disruption and innovation, the velocity of change and the tremendous impact on businesses are ultimately forcing a large number of industries to increase the pace at which they do business and transform technology. At the same time, the need…

Die in Zürich ansässige Fintech-Plattform Nexussquared hat den Setup und Zeitplan für ihr virtuelles Blockchain Startup-Programm Nexuslab bekanntgegeben. Nexuslab verfolgt bei der Unterstützung von Startups einen neuartigen Ansatz und bietet ein Programm, das die Blockchain-Paradigmen Dezentralisation, Vertrauen und Effizienz wiederspiegelt. Durch eine Zusammenarbeit mit Startupbootcamp Fintech erweitert Nexuslab das eigene Mentorennetzwerk und vertieft das vorhandene Expertenwissen. Anfang 2016 wird Nexuslab den ersten Durchgang seines dreimonatigen Programms starten, welches primär auf einem virtuellen Setup aufbaut. Gestützt auf eine sichere Kollaborationsplattform wird Nexuslab den Teilnehmern massgeschneidertes Coaching und On-Demand Training anbieten. Drei an verschiedenen Wochenenden stattfindende „Hangout Sessions“ in Europäischen Metropolen geben…

Each week, a tremendous amount of news stories related to bitcoin and blockchain technology are being published. At Fintechnews alone, not one week passes by without at least two or three new articles on the matter. Surely, Bitcoin is hot topic and all major news organizations, blogs and firms are talking about its disruptive potential in all sorts of industries, either it is in the financial services sector or for other use cases such as personal identification and document certification. For those you arrived late to the party and kind of missed the boat, Diana Biggs, Founder of Global Fintech…

The blockchain has the potential to do much more than just support cryptocurrencies; in fact, Capgemini expects that the technology will “revolutionize the financial services sector… [by providing] unprecedented transaction security through cryptography.” In a new report called ‘Blockchain: A Fundamental Shift for Financial Services Institutions,’ French multinational management consulting corporation Capgemini, looks at blockchain technology and explores how the technology can transform banks financial institutions. “Beginning from a ‘standing start’ 7 years ago, we are now witnessing the first tentative steps of blockchain technology adoption quicken as interest widens and investment accelerates,” Capgemini said, indicating that startups, corporations and…

Firms must embrace RegTech solutions as they will help them automate compliance tasks and reduce operational risks associated with meeting compliance and reporting obligations, according to a report from Deloitte Ireland. Entitled ‘RegTech Is The New FinTech, How Agile Regulatory Technology Is Helping Firms Better Understand and Manage Their Risks,’ the report authored by Lory Kehoe, Senior Manager in Strategy & Operations Financial Services Consulting for Deloitte Ireland, is based on research and interviews with RegTech companies and explores how firms can benefit from regulatory technologies and how they can leverage regulatory focused data to better understand and manage their…

Financial technology is a hot topic and has become an important subject that is discussed in nearly all tech and startups events. As the world of fintech is moving fast, it can sometimes be a bit tricky to stay on track. What are the emerging trends? What are the hottest startups? What will be the killer apps? In order for you to stay up-to-date and not miss a single thing of the Swiss fintech ecosystem, we have compiled a list of some of the upcoming fintech events to finish year 2015 and start 2016 on a high note: Swiss Payment Forum…

Bundeshaus Startup Hearing: Anfangs November haben sich Ruedi Noser zusammen mit verschiedenen Verbänden und Interessensvertreteren für Schweizer (Fintech) Startups im Bundehaus eingesetzt. Wir von Fintechnews.ch sagen DANKE für den Einsatz an Ruedi Noser, Swiss Finance Startups, Digital Zürich 2025, Swiss Crowdfunding Association, Swiss Startup Association, Impact Hub, Le Réseau und alle weiteren Beteiligten. Einige Statements hier vom Bundeshaus Fintech Startup Hearing: “Mark Zuckerberg hätte in der Schweiz längst nur noch 0.01% an Facebook Aktien” “Schweizer Fintech Startups werden gezwungen ins Ausland abzuwandern” “Es kann nicht sein, dass Regulierung gleichermassen auf internationale Banken und neue Fintech Startups angewendet wird” “Finma macht gewisse Hausaufgaben, die…

A startup accelerator program is an intensive business development program that supports founders and helps them turn their ideas into successful businesses. The support comes in a form of mentorship, affordable office spaces and some starting capital. For fintech startups, there is an extensive list of programs in Europe to choose from. Today, we’ve compiled the top ten accelerators for fintech startups in Europe. Seedcamp Launched in 2007, Seedcamp is UK-based venture-capital accelerator offering seed funding to innovative European startups. In eight years, Seedcamp has backed almost 200 companies with one unicorn and 91% having raised further funding to a…

Emerging fintech players and regulatory reforms are posing new challenges to European retail banks notably in the area of payments. Banks will need to collaborate with other banks and non-banks in order to stay in the game, according to a new report from Deloitte. Entitled ‘Payments disrupted: The emerging challenge for European retail banks,’ the report is based on interviews with 24 payments experts and sought to understand their perspective on developments in payments. The report also explores the main scenarios that are likely to emerge as well as the strategies banks could follow to respond to these market changes. Payments,…

Infografik zu Fintech Schweiz. Wo stehen wir? Gute Infografik von der IG Bank zur Fintech Schweiz Szene. Weitere Informationen zu: “Fintechs in der Schweiz – Chancen und Herausforderungen” hier. …

Am 10.Dezember werden in Zürich die Gewinner für die UBS Future of Finance Challenge gekürt. Diese erhalten Preise bis zu 300’000 USD und Zugang zu einem speziellen UBS Mentoring-Programm. Nun stehen die Finalisten fest, die in lokalen Ausscheidungen in Zürich, New York, London und Singapur ermittelt wurden. Auch zwei Schweizer Startups sind dabei. In den lokalen Ausscheidungen in Zürich haben sich Biowatch, Embotech sowie Wayerz Solution aus Israel  in einem Finale mit 15 Initiativen durchgesetzt. Biowatch ist bereits Mitglieder der Fintech Fusion Familie in Genf. Wayerz Solutions – Zurich (Israel) @iwayerz Wayerz provides an integrated bank-to-bank platform that includes a navigation-like system used to optimize international money…

Launched in February this year, FUSION is a Swiss accelerator program dedicated to financial technology startups. Self-proclaimed the “Swiss fintech factory,” FUSION was created by Swiss venture capital firm Polytech Ventures and Temenos, a leading banking technology provider, and is the very first program of its kind in the country. In September, FUSION selected its first batch of 10 startups coming from all around the globe to integrate its program. These startups come from seven different countries and tackle segments that include blockchain tech, insurance, crowdfunding, payment, wealth management, risk management and cyber-security. They are AceBanker, BIOWATCH, DXMarkets, Edge Laboratories,…

Das Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (SECO) und das Lausanner Start-up TawiPay treten in die Endphase einer öffentlich-privaten Partnerschaft ein, bei der die hohen Kosten von Geldtransfers zwischen der Schweiz und den Balkanländern aufgezeigt werden sollen. Nach der Analyse lanciert TawiPay nun eine Sensibilisierungskampagne, um über die effektiven Kosten von Geldtransfers sowie über Transfervarianten zu informieren, die zu vermeiden sind, will man nicht mehr als nötig bezahlen. Weltweit überweisen jedes Jahr schätzungsweise 232 Millionen Migrantinnen und Migranten insgesamt über 580 Milliarden US-Dollar an ihre Familien und Bekannte in ihren Herkunftsländern. Gemäss der Weltbank belaufen sich die Kosten für diese Überweisungen durchschnittlich auf…

Swiss bitcoin startup ECUREX has released an extensive 110-page report on the ongoing innovations in the financial sector brought by digital currencies. Main author is Paolo Tasca, Economist at Deutsche Bundesbank and Executive Director at Ecurex. Entitled ‘Digital Currencies: Principles, Trends, Opportunities, and Risks,’ the report is aims to be a comprehensive study on digital currencies with a deep quantitative analysis of their technological, entrepreneurial, economic, and legal aspects. The report is the result of over two years of work and suggests nine key findings. Larger transactions During the period of 2011-2015, ECUREX found that the average amount per transaction in…

Swiss Fintech Study by Roland Berger: Fintech will play an important role in the financial services industry. While Switzerland’s financial center offers a promising starting point for fintech companies, the country is still well behind expectations, according to this new report. Conducted by global consultancy firm Roland Berger and Swiss Finance Startups, the Swiss Fintech study is based on a set of experts interviews, questionnaires and analysis of global trends, and aims to identity the opportunities and challenges of the Swiss fintech ecosystem. Compared to leading international fintech hubs such as London, New York or Silicon Valley, experts said that…

The Aduno Group and Swisscard, two leading credit card companies, have teamed up with software company Netcetera, to launch SwissWallet, a digital wallet service that promises to “drive the digital transformation of credit cards.” The service, which will operate through a new venture called Swiss One Wallet AG, consists in a digital wallet linked to card networks. SwissWallet will allow users to centrally store their credit cards and use any one of those with a single login. SwissWallet, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks, will enable consumers to shop at any store that uses MasterCard’s MasterPass. The…

Illuminate Financial Management LLP, die von Mark Beeston gegründete Venture-Capital-Fondsgesellschaft, hat den Abschluss der ersten Kapitalbeschaffungsrunde für ihren neuen IFM Fintech Opportunities Fund bekannt gegeben. Co-Investoren waren der Finanzinformationsdienstleister Markit und die Gruppe Deutsche Börse. Beide Unternehmen engagieren sich damit stärker am rasant wachsenden Markt der Fintech-Early-Stage-Finanzierung. „Wir freuen uns, die erste Finanzierungsrunde des Illuminate Fintech Opportunities Fund abgeschlossen zu haben“, sagte Mark Beeston, Managing Partner und Gründer von Illuminate Financial Management. „Markit und Deutsche Börse sind global agierende Unternehmen, deren großes Kundennetzwerk von den verschiedenen Technologiefirmen, die Illuminate bereits unterstützt, profitieren wird. Wir freuen uns, diese beiden Unternehmen als Co-Investoren an Bord…

Crowdhouse.ch is Swiss real estate crowdfunding platform that allows individuals to acquire shares of rental buildings. The platform, which went live in late October, aims to gather several small investors and allow them to become co-owners of a property by investing a minimum of CHF 25,000. According to co-founder and CEO Robert Plantark, the idea is to give small investors the opportunity to invest directly into the Swiss real estate and earn revenues from both rental stream and the appreciation of the property itself. Plantark and his co-founder Ardian Gjeloshi both worked several years in the real estate industry prior…

Nearly one hundred people attended the 2. Digital Finance Crypto Tech Event in Zug this week. The technology behind the “Crypto Valley” startup scene was the main topic. Startups and interested people from more than ten countries (Switzerland, USA, UK, Germany, Singapore…) came to the event to inform and network with each other. The organizer – extendance GmbH – did the event this time in partnership with SERI (Staatssekretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). In the morning keynotes and a panel discussion were followed by twelve international startups who gave pitches about their company, products and services. In the afternoon…

Schweizer Fintech Unternehmen Run my Accounts revolutioniert Buchhaltung: Besonders die deutsche Buchhaltung bedeutet pure Fleissarbeit mit unzähligen Fehlerquellen. Mit der innovativen Schweizer Technologie von Run my Accounts können KMU ab sofort Geld, Zeit und Nerven sparen. Die perfekte Kombination aus automatisierter Online-Buchhaltung und Begleitung durch Spezialisten ist um Faktoren günstiger als eine konventionelle Buchführung. Und zugleich täglich aktuell. Unternehmen brauchen jederzeit finanzielle Klarheit Eine sauber geführte Buchhaltung erfordert viel mehr als nur die Erfassung von Belegen. Es ist oftmals harte Arbeit, bis endlich alles aufgeht und korrekt verbucht ist. Wenn ein Unternehmer sich spürbar entlasten will, muss er seine Buchhaltung…