Announced shortly after the news of Ant Group’s record-breaking IPO, Lufax is reportedly preparing a smaller but still significant IPO of US$2.4bn.
Founded in 2011, the Chinese company is an internet-based wealth management and lending platform backed by Ping An Insurance Group, the country’s largest insurer.
Utilising big data and cutting-edge analytics technology, Lufax’s specialities include risk management, financial assets trading and consulting services.
According to an article by Yahoo!, …
Customer experience expert Quadient has warned high-street banks that the window for enhancing their digital services is closing fast.
The company references McKinsey & Co’s article ‘Financial life during the COVID-19 pandemic’, which found a “muted” response from those surveyed in the US and Europe on their intention to switch from branch-based banking to online options, although Latin America, Africa and APAC were generally more enthusiastic (Exhibit 10).
The reason, Quadient surmises, is a general consensus that challenger banks offer a better digital experience and sometimes even a superior service level altogether.
Ipsos MORI’s survey found that Monzo, Starling Bank…
As digital transformation reshapes how finance operates, Alexandra Roddy, CMO at Zafin, believes that an opportunity for greater equality is at hand.
Zafin, which Roddy describes as “a fintech before fintech”, is a Toronto-based company founded in 2002. Specialising in software that increases the lean and agile capabilities of banks, the company has grown a truly global presence in the market and counts some of the world’s largest financial institutions as its clients.
However, when FinTech Magazine spoke to Roddy, she had a different topic in mind: the gender equality gap.
“Generally, women are disproportionately represented in the workplace. There…
Leading fintech Finastra has launched Fusion Data Cloud, a suite dedicated to driving engagement, growing revenue and enhancing digitisation.
Developed through the company’s open collaboration platform FusionFabric.cloud, the new range of solutions will provide the following benefits:
- A secure data ecosystem built from Microsoft Azure, facilitating high-speed data gathering, structuring and analysis, as well as faster R&D.
- Deep learning algorithms capable of rendering fast, prescriptive analytics to unlock insights into customer behaviour and improve decision making.
- Enhanced omnichannel communication and data visualisation.
When we spoke with Eli Rosner, Chief Product and Technology Officer, on the subject of digital transformation, he…
Austrian fintech and digital trading platform Bitpanda has announced a partnership with Raiffeisen to introduce blockchain-interoperability in banking.
Forming part of the ongoing (two and a half years) ‘Pantos’ (PAN) project, itself a joint venture between Bitpanda and the Technical University of Vienna, the company’s aim is to “enable token projects to be independent of a specific blockchain.”
It is hoped that Raiffeisen, which is currently active in 13 European markets and serves over 16.7 million customers, will enable both the development of Pantos and allow a more ‘tech-agnostic’ environment for banking regarding blockchain.
Unifying the fragmented blockchain
Raiffeisen will…
US comparison website Policygenius’ new annual survey has found that the majority (62.8%) of Americans find health insurance confusing.
Despite an overall increase in public awareness because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company found that most citizens were not fully informed about healthcare-related insurance terms.
This is significant as the Affordable Care Act, wherein plans are configured to cover those with pre-existing conditions, has so far been a strong point of contention during the 2020 presidential election.
Among Policygenius’ findings from a representative poll of 1,501 US adults were the following:
- 87% did not know the correct enrollment window for…
Following its entry in the InsurTech NY programme, cognitive-tech company Sorcero has expanded into the New York insurance market.
A 12-day programme spread across six weeks, participants in the event will gain valuable insights into how to win commercial contracts, maximise talent acquisition, fundraising tips and much more.
Believing that Language Intelligence tech could lead to important developments in the insurance industry, Sorcero cited the following as key benefits in the fight to adequately serve customers amidst a significantly changing market:
- Determining potential overbilling
- Enhance large-scale competency and fraud detection
- Increase operational efficiency and effectiveness
Commenting on the company’s potential…
Italian bank BNL GRUPPO BNP Paribas and Vodafone Business are partnering to create a greener and more secure digital banking experience.
Spread across five years, Vodafone will be supplying BNL with mobile technology to enhance staff-customer communications, as well as upgrading its network infrastructure with new 5G capabilities.
Furthermore, the duo will jointly explore fresh applications of mobile tech within finance, such as wireless ATMs, video services and usage of augmented/virtual reality. Ultimately, the endeavour will strive to deliver a more engaging experience that is suitable for the digital era.
Technology: improving banking
Singapore-based insurtech bolttech has announced an expansion to South Korea as its 13th market and a new partnership with leading telco LG U+.
The digitally-native bolttech, which launched in 2020 and has already experienced rapid development, currently serves 7.7 million customers on three continents, offering insurtech exchange, digital insurance and device protection.
The latter will be an important contributing factor to its collaboration with LG U+, which will enable its customers to complement their telco services with insurance options.
“We are excited to introduce South Korea’s first mobile phone switch service to our consumers through the partnership with bolttech,” said…
The news from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the country should prepare for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit is creating pessimism for investors, says deVere Group.
With both sides of the negotiations apparently at an impasse, Johnson’s remarks have stoked business anxieties that the situation will not be resolved by the end of 2020.
There is a caveat: “The EU is preparing for more trade talks in London next week, because the Prime Minister did not explicitly say he was walking away from negotiations,” clarified Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group.
However, with the exact motives on both sides of the…
