#Payworks is bringing Chinese payment service #AliPay to the #European point-of-sale. The POS payment gateway provider has partnered with Ant #Financial in order to integrate the AliPay service with European acquirers, the companies announced today. This marks an expansion for AliPay in Europe. It first arrived on the continent in 2015. With the partnership, AliPay will […]
Bank Innovation
A #consortium of seven #European #banks will use #blockchain #technology to provide trade finance for #SMEs.
Financial Technology
Europe needs more #later #stage #funding if it is going to grow its #tech firms to billion euro unicorn scale, according to #Magister #Advisors‘ Victor Basta.
Tom Groenfeldt – Financial Technology
#European #banks are in the midst of a ‘perfect storm’ of negative interest rates, regulatory pressures and market disruption, and are in search of new sources of value. A recent Accenture roundtable discussion concluded that European banks have the opportunity to develop innovative #transaction banking offerings using #virtual accounts, such as virtual #cash #management, to address changing market needs and create new business #models.
Jeremy Light, Head of Accenture Payments, EALA, speaking at the breakfast roundtable.
The roundtable, co-hosted with Cashfac (a leading cash management #technology provider), was organized in Amsterdam on January 31st, 2017 and saw participation from industry leaders from European transaction banks, as well as a trade body and a #fintech.
Accenture led the discussion by providing insights on the evolving transaction banking landscape and the promise of virtual cash management, and explored the role virtual accounts can play in driving a growth strategy for banks. Cashfac demonstrated the key capabilities enabled by its proprietary “Virtual Bank Technology” and illustrated how it has enabled transaction banks and corporate treasurers to realize their strategic ambitions.
The post Virtual cash management: A catalyst for new business models for European transaction banks appeared first on Accenture Banking Blog.
#Square has finally arrived in Europe. The payments company has just expanded its services to the United Kingdom, according to a statement released today. The U.K. became the fifth #market where Square’s services are now available, in addition to the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Australia. Square’s U.K. launch was held in a Soho bar in […]
Bank Innovation
The #European #Commission’s Start-up and Scale-up Initiative aims to give #Europe&8217;s many innovative entrepreneurs every opportunity to become world leading companies. It pulls together all the possibilities that the EU already offers and adds a new focus on venture capital investment,insolvency law and taxation
There is no lack of innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit in Europe. But many new firms don&8217;t make it beyond the critical first few years, or they try their luck in a third country instead of tapping intothe EU&8217;s potential 500 million customer base. The European Commission is determined to change that and help start-ups deliver their full innovation and job creation potential.
Via Pixabay
Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “Today&8217;s local start-ups could become tomorrow&8217;s global success stories. We want to help start-ups stay and grow in Europe. By helping them navigate the – often perceived – regulatory barriers to fully benefiting from the Single Market. By making it easier for them to have a second chance, without being stigmatised if their idea doesn&8217;t succeed the first time around. And by improving access to funding by boosting private venture capital investment.”
Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “Today start-ups do not fully take advantage of the opportunities of the Single Market. Starting and scaling up a company across Europe has to become simpler. Europe needs to become the first choice place for great business ideas to grow into successful companies. This is about new jobs, innovation and competitiveness for Europe.&8221;
The Initiative brings together a range of existing and new actions to create a more coherent framework to allow start-ups to grow and do business across Europe, in particular:
Improved access to finance: The Commission and the European Investment Bank Group are launching a Pan-European Venture Capital Fund of Funds. The EU will provide cornerstone investments of up to a maximum budget of €400 million and the fund manager(s) must raise at least three times as much from private sources, triggering a minimum of €1.6bn in venture capital funding. It will be managed by one or more professional and experienced fund managers ensuring a real market approach. This complements existing EU funding instruments such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), Europe&8217;s programme for small and medium-sized enterprises COSME and the EU&8217;s research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020.
Second chance for entrepreneurs: The Commission has tabled a legislative proposal on insolvency law. It will allow companies in financial difficulties to restructure early on so as to prevent bankruptcy and avoid laying off staff. It will also make it easier for honest entrepreneurs to benefit from a second chance without being penalised for not succeeding in previous business ventures, as they will be fully discharged of their debt after a maximum period of 3 years.
Simpler tax filings: The Commission is also working on a range of taxation simplifications including the recent proposal for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), which proposes to support small and innovative companies that want to expand their business across borders. Other initiatives include plans for a simplification of the EU VAT system and broadening the forthcoming guidance on best practice in Member States tax regimes for venture capital.
The Initiative also puts emphasis on helping navigate regulatory requirements, improving innovation support through reforms to Horizon 2020, and fostering ecosystems where start-ups can connect with potential partners such as investors, business partners, universities and research centres. Changes to Horizon 2020 will pave the way towards a European Innovation Council and include using €1.6bn over 2018-2020 to provide bottom-up support for breakthrough innovation projects by start-ups with potential to grow. The Startup Europe network will be reinforced to connect clusters and ecosystems across Europe.
In 2017, the European Commission will put forward proposals for a Single Digital Gateway that provides easy online access to Single Market information, procedures, assistance and advice for citizens and businesses. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provide specific advisory services – through scale-up advisors &8211; for #startups including on funding opportunities, partnering and how to access cross-border public procurement. The Commission will adopt a set of measures to support the use of Intellectual Property Rights by SMEs and take action to support access by start-ups to the €2 trillion European public procurement market.
Over recent years, the European Commission has proposed a number of policies, such as the Capital Markets Union, the Single Market Strategy, and the Digital Single Market to benefit start-ups in Europe. Together with Member States&8217; actions, this has led to the creation of a number of market leaders, such as Spotify, Klarna, Adyen, #Blockchain, Jobandtalent, N26, Algolia, Intercom, Cabify or Deliveroo.
The Initiative addresses three main obstacles to starting up and scaling up in Europe identified in a recent public consultation:
&8211; Access to finance is the biggest problem for entrepreneurs whether starting up or scaling up;
&8211; Complying with regulatory and administrative requirements diverts too much energy from growing the business &8211; particularly cross border;
&8211; Connecting to right business partners, markets and skilled workers, despite the availability of 500 million people European Single Market is still too difficult.
Featured Image: via Pixabay
Original Press-Release here
The post European Commission Gives Boost To Startups In Europe appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
The #European #Commission’s Start-up and Scale-up Initiative aims to give #Europe&8217;s many innovative entrepreneurs every opportunity to become world leading companies. It pulls together all the possibilities that the EU already offers and adds a new focus on venture capital investment,insolvency law and taxation
There is no lack of innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit in Europe. But many new firms don&8217;t make it beyond the critical first few years, or they try their luck in a third country instead of tapping intothe EU&8217;s potential 500 million customer base. The European Commission is determined to change that and help start-ups deliver their full innovation and job creation potential.
Via Pixabay
Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “Today&8217;s local start-ups could become tomorrow&8217;s global success stories. We want to help start-ups stay and grow in Europe. By helping them navigate the – often perceived – regulatory barriers to fully benefiting from the Single Market. By making it easier for them to have a second chance, without being stigmatised if their idea doesn&8217;t succeed the first time around. And by improving access to funding by boosting private venture capital investment.”
Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “Today start-ups do not fully take advantage of the opportunities of the Single Market. Starting and scaling up a company across Europe has to become simpler. Europe needs to become the first choice place for great business ideas to grow into successful companies. This is about new jobs, innovation and competitiveness for Europe.&8221;
The Initiative brings together a range of existing and new actions to create a more coherent framework to allow start-ups to grow and do business across Europe, in particular:
Improved access to finance: The Commission and the European Investment Bank Group are launching a Pan-European Venture Capital Fund of Funds. The EU will provide cornerstone investments of up to a maximum budget of €400 million and the fund manager(s) must raise at least three times as much from private sources, triggering a minimum of €1.6bn in venture capital funding. It will be managed by one or more professional and experienced fund managers ensuring a real market approach. This complements existing EU funding instruments such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), Europe&8217;s programme for small and medium-sized enterprises COSME and the EU&8217;s research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020.
Second chance for entrepreneurs: The Commission has tabled a legislative proposal on insolvency law. It will allow companies in financial difficulties to restructure early on so as to prevent bankruptcy and avoid laying off staff. It will also make it easier for honest entrepreneurs to benefit from a second chance without being penalised for not succeeding in previous business ventures, as they will be fully discharged of their debt after a maximum period of 3 years.
Simpler tax filings: The Commission is also working on a range of taxation simplifications including the recent proposal for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), which proposes to support small and innovative companies that want to expand their business across borders. Other initiatives include plans for a simplification of the EU VAT system and broadening the forthcoming guidance on best practice in Member States tax regimes for venture capital.
The Initiative also puts emphasis on helping navigate regulatory requirements, improving innovation support through reforms to Horizon 2020, and fostering ecosystems where start-ups can connect with potential partners such as investors, business partners, universities and research centres. Changes to Horizon 2020 will pave the way towards a European Innovation Council and include using €1.6bn over 2018-2020 to provide bottom-up support for breakthrough innovation projects by start-ups with potential to grow. The Startup Europe network will be reinforced to connect clusters and ecosystems across Europe.
In 2017, the European Commission will put forward proposals for a Single Digital Gateway that provides easy online access to Single Market information, procedures, assistance and advice for citizens and businesses. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provide specific advisory services – through scale-up advisors &8211; for #startups including on funding opportunities, partnering and how to access cross-border public procurement. The Commission will adopt a set of measures to support the use of Intellectual Property Rights by SMEs and take action to support access by start-ups to the €2 trillion European public procurement market.
Over recent years, the European Commission has proposed a number of policies, such as the Capital Markets Union, the Single Market Strategy, and the Digital Single Market to benefit start-ups in Europe. Together with Member States&8217; actions, this has led to the creation of a number of market leaders, such as Spotify, Klarna, Adyen, #Blockchain, Jobandtalent, N26, Algolia, Intercom, Cabify or Deliveroo.
The Initiative addresses three main obstacles to starting up and scaling up in Europe identified in a recent public consultation:
&8211; Access to finance is the biggest problem for entrepreneurs whether starting up or scaling up;
&8211; Complying with regulatory and administrative requirements diverts too much energy from growing the business &8211; particularly cross border;
&8211; Connecting to right business partners, markets and skilled workers, despite the availability of 500 million people European Single Market is still too difficult.
Featured Image: via Pixabay
Original Press-Release here
The post European Commission Gives Boost To Startups In Europe appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
#BlockShow #Europe #2017 will take place in Alte Kongresshalle, Munich. The #conference is going to become the #major international event for showcasing established #Blockchain solutions.
Blockchain is hailed as one of the most revolutionary technologies of the past few decades. In this year, the industry has experienced an intense influx of investment – the volume of funds invested in Blockchain startups has exceeded $ 1B, and two largest VC deals of this year were also Blockchain-related.
In addition to that, the #technology has managed to receive public recognition from such global giants as Visa, PayPal and Mastercard. This state of affairs has formed a favorable environment for startups, and a real boom followed as a result: the number of young Blockchain companies has grown fourfold over the past year.
30% Discount for Fintechnews reader with Code FNSMUNICH
Becoming more and more accepted worldwide, “the biggest innovation after the Internet itself” is receiving a growing number of various practical implementations and taking over the markets &8211; both within and outside the financial sector. That is why the main goal of BlockShow Europe 2017 is to become the major international platform for showcasing the most disruptive Blockchain use cases in all their multiplicity.
However, none of the Blockchain projects exists in a vacuum &8211; there is a wide range of various external factors considerably influencing the whole industry, and this cannot be ignored. That is why BlockShow Europe 2017 will be opened by a talk about the current state of Blockchain, and the further conference programme will include talks and panel discussions on such topics as “Overcoming the challenges of Blockchain implementation”, “Blockchain Ecosystem from #Banks & Enterprises perspective”, “Security on Blockchain” and other. As for the direct objective of BlockShow Europe 2017, a large-scale comprehensive presentation of the existing revolutionary Blockchain projects will be set out in two parts.
In addition, the conference will provide startups with opportunity to compete with each other for the title of The Best Blockchain Startup 2017 in a competition which will be hosted by Blockchain Angels.
Among the conference speakers will be prominent experts and practitioners of the global Blockchain industry, such as Ned Scott (CEO & Co-founder at Steemit), Adam Stradling (#Bitcoin & Blockchain pioneer, co-founder of Bitcoin.com), Ismail Malik (CEO Blockchain Lab, founder of SmartLedger), Bernd Lapp (Advisor at Ethereum Foundation), Jamie Burke (Founder of Blockchain Angels), Matej Michalko (Founder & CEO at DECENT), and Bruce Pon (CEO & Co-Founder at BigchainDB). This non-exhaustive list is about to expand &8211; so watch for updates!
BlockShow Europe 2017 is organized by the popular Bitcoin & Blockchain media outlet CoinTelegraph in partnership with Zurich-based Blockchain platform Nexussquared and Blockchain payment processor BlockPay. The upcoming event won’t be the first one for CoinTelegraph &8211; in August this year, the company has already held Helsinki Blockchain Conference 2016, the first high-profile Blockchain-dedicated event in Nordic, which attracted massive attention from the regional Blockchain community.
Starting this week, the registration for BlockShow Europe 2017 is officially #open. Get to know more at the official BlockShow Europe website! Please note that there is a unique offer available exclusively for #Fintech News Switzerland community &8211; use a discount code FNSMUNICH to get 30% off all tickets when registering on the BlockShow Europe Eventbrite page.
The post BlockShow Europe 2017: The Major European Blockchain Conference Will Open in April appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Five major #European #insurance and reinsurance companies have partnered on a new #blockchain initiative.
Often touted as a niche industry, this author is seeing early signs that mass-acceptance of #fintech providers by consumers and businesses is creeping closer to a tipping point, of sorts. The call may be slightly premature, however the following recent announcements by various industry players all point towards a growingRead More
Bank Innovation
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