U.K.

As part of the modernization of the U.K.’s payments systems, the new Image Clearing System is now being phased in. All banks and building societies across the U.K. are connecting their deposit channels into the central infrastructure, a process that will be completed by the end of 2018.

After a slow start, order-ahead payment services will begin to achieve more widespread adoption in U.K. corporate catering, encouraging the transition to the high street in the near future.

CommuterClub provides loans so consumers can purchase annual season passes online, instead of monthly or weekly passes and spread the cost over monthly installments.

A legal battle is being waged between a U.S. bank and its insurer over the insurer’s refusal to pay out on a cyber policy, in the wake of hacks on the bank which led to a loss of over $2.4 million. The case flags the problems of insurance in the fast-moving world of digital security.

London-based fintech Flux is leveraging open banking and PSD2 to work with U.K. banks and retailers to give their customers paperless receipts, digital loyalty stamps and digital cashback offers.

The U.K.’s Food Standard Agency completed its first successful blockchain pilot this month, with plans to expand the test in August.

Airborne drone delivery is becoming e-commerce's version of self-driving cars: A promising but troubled technology that's nonetheless creating opportunities to change the way people make payments.

Mastercard's strong performance is dampened by threats from trade disputes and Brexit, both of which could cause the company pain in the future.

The hack's core trick highlights an area of cybersecurity which is often neglected: hardware connected to computer networks which laymen wouldn’t normally consider a computer.

The U.K.’s Starling Bank markets itself as a digital bank that’s too modern for branches, and now it’s seeking an edge by offering a vertical payment card with all of the account details moved to the back.

The research, carried out in coordination with the all-party U.K. parliamentary group on blockchain, profiles companies, think tanks, innovation hubs and individual players in the U.K.

Mastercard and Worldpay are embarking on a strong push to promote Mastercard's Pay by Bank system, which will likely face a deluge of competition under the updated Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which took effect this year.

London-based Shieldpay will expand its reach in the U.S. this year through a partnership with AutoClassics.com.

Both PayPal and Citigroup are taking a bigger role in the market for cross-border payments, a strategy that led both companies to participate in a $50 million round in PPRO Group, a U.K.-based cross border e-payment company.

Paysafe Group will launch an in-store and online installment payment service to serve a growing appetite it sees in the U.S. and Canada.

Worldpay and Mastercard have formed a global strategic partnership, expanding the ways consumers and merchants connect for online and in-app payments via Mastercard’s Vocalink business.

The department of Transport for the West Midlands is looking at how to provide a smart ticketing system to ensure that contactless card users get the best rate on a journey.

About a month after Visa's European outage, Mastercard encountered a similar glitch for a brief period of time on Thursday.

The Bank of England, together with the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, has cautioned U.K. banks to prepare for cyberattacks and technical failures.

Brexit's implications for the U.K.'s technology industry are deepening political fractures, with no clear answer as to how startups fintechs and challenger banks can operate in the U.K. after it leaves the European Union.