Latest global banking news

August 17, 2022 12:00 PM

This week in global banking news, German regulator BaFin takes action on Allianz, trains in Toronto add contactless fare tech, Klarna expands in the U.K., and more.

Here's what's happening around the world.

Allianz faces regulatory pressure following hedge fund fraud

German bank regulator BaFin has ordered Allianz to improve its internal controls after a series of securities fraud incidents in the U.S. The bank initially paid $6 billion in fines to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after several investment funds collapsed early in the pandemic. BaFin found Allainz's hedge fund department was at fault, reports Reuters. The hedge fund unit initially had more than $11 billion under management, but lost more than $7 billion in February and March 2020, with clients including pensions for teachers, bus drivers and religious groups. Reuters reports the bank told investors it used hedges against market crashes, but prosecutors in the U.S. said fund managers did not buy the hedges. Allianz told WirschaftsWoche, a German newspaper, that it is an improving and learning organization that would meet compliance standards. —John Adams

Barclaycard boosts services for U.K. microbusinesses

BT's partnership network has added Barlcaycard, adding a menu of credit and other payment services for small businesses. BT, which is part of the London-based multinational communications firm BT Group, partners with firms in mobile technology, advertising, finance and business services to help small businesses add and scale technology. The small-business program is aimed at businesses with fewer than five employees, which receive discounts on services through the partnership. —John Adams

Toronto commuter trains add contactless tech

Visa plans to deploy on Go Transit, Toronto's commuter train network, and is live on UP Express, the trains that run between Toronto's Union Station and Pearson Airport. Commuters can pay via a smartphone or smartwatch with a mobile wallet that includes a Visa card. Visa, which has about 500 payment upgrades live at transit agencies globally, recently reported results of a June survey that found 91% of people somewhat or strongly expect public transit to offer contactless payments. —John Adams

Klarna expands shopping app in the U.K.

Swedish fintech Klarna will allow shoppers in the U.K. to view their entire online order history, including items that were not purchased using Klarna. The move is designed to help consumers avoid navigating to multiple sites to organize their payment history or to inform their budgets. Klarna, which is best known as a buy now/pay later lender, is adding more services as the larger BNPL fintech market suffers. Klarna, which earlier this year fired about 10% of its staff, recently added a plastic Visa debit card and launched a marketing program at Macerich-managed shopping malls. —John Adams

FIS wins bank core deal in New Zealand

ANZ New Zealand is an early non-U.S. user of FIS' Modern Banking Platform, which operates on Microsoft's Azure cloud. The deployment supports digital banking, payments and other retail operations. By using the cloud, the bank hopes to support future upgrades while avoiding large internal IT projects. ANZ cited research from the Cloud Security Alliance that found 91% of financial institutions are either using cloud services or planning to adopt cloud technology shortly. Other banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group have also recently turned to the cloud to support core banking updates. —John Adams

Mastercard accelerator grad launches selfie pay in Azerbaijan

SmilePay has expanded its footprint in its native Azerbaijan by signing deals with Bravo and Araz, two local supermarket chains. The fintech uses facial recognition technology to support biometric payments based on an image stored in a digital wallet. SmilePay contends checkout takes about a half second with 99.99% accuracy. SmilePay was part of this year's Mastercard Start Path Accelerator, a program that provides support and development access for new fintechs. The card brand is in the midst of expanding the program to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. —John Adams

Remitly to acquire Rewire for $80 million

Remitly, a Seattle-based global payments company, announced Tuesday that it signed a definitive purchase agreement with Rewire, an Israeli financial services platform for migrant workers, for roughly $80 million in cash and stock. The deal is anticipated to close in the latter half of 2022, pending regulatory approval from Dutch and Israeli authorities. "From the start, Remitly has focused on delivering trusted digital financial services to serve immigrant communities around the world … Rewire accelerates our progress as together we will continue to bring to market trusted financial services that are inclusive and accessible to all," Matt Oppenheimer, co-founder and chief executive of Remitly, said in a press release. —Frank Gargano