U.K.

Each year, 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the U.K. are forced under due to late payments. This is the net result of a culture where many large companies regularly make their suppliers wait far beyond agreed terms, before processing payment.

Europe's PSD2 data-sharing standards are meant to foster cooperation in the market, but banks are getting more competitive as they seek to plug a revenue drain the new rules threaten.

Security is a top priority for financial institutions around the world. In the past few weeks, the U.K.’s TSB Bank has learned the hard way that availability is even more important. And when availability is an issue, security can’t be ignored.

Ulster Bank customers in the Republic of Ireland were left fuming as a second problem with the bank’s digital systems emerged only a week after the last mess, slowing down payments.

In one of the biggest fundraising rounds for a European fintech this year, Revolut Ltd., a U.K. startup that provides digital banking, received $250 million.

Contactless payments have become increasingly popular in the U.K. over the past couple of years due to the advantages they offer in terms of speed and ease of payment — but despite this, much of the U.K. public does not trust the format.

Companies that handle sensitive customer data have even more to worry about when making an acquisition. Not only do they have to be sure the acquired company has good security, but they can't let their guard down even after the acquisition closes.

The U.K.’s late payments culture and its resulting impact on suppliers has many worrying about whether their clients are the next Carillion, a U.K. construction giant whose collapse left approximately 30,000 SMEs with millions of pounds in unpaid invoices.

TransferWise is the first nonbank to become a member of the U.K.’s Faster Payments service (FPS), but with Brexit on the horizon, it has to make sure it is similarly invested in other markets.

Despite its popularity — or perhaps because of it — the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been at the front lines of many of the issues plaguing the cryptocurrency market. Its new e-money license in the U.K. could go a long way to easing some of those pains.