The Hyperledger Project, a fast growing open blockchain initiative, has added eight new members; the newest members are CA Technologies, Factom Foundation, Hashed Health, Koscom, LedgerDomain, Lykke, Sovrin Foundation and Swisscom; the Hyperledger Project now has over 100 members; Hyperledger is hosted by the Linux Foundation and seeks to create standards for distributed ledger technology. Source
Private markets company SharesPost has released its 1st Annual Private Tech Investor Survey which finds private market investors bullish about 2017; private market investors think the correction that has occurred in 2016 has positioned the market for growth in 2017; 49% of survey participants think valuations will increase for private companies in 2017; private market investors are also bullish on initial public offerings for 2017; 65% of survey participants think ten or fewer unicorns will go public in the next 18 months which suggests two IPOs per quarter in 2017, an increase from only three IPOs in 2016. Source
2016 was an influential year for blockchain technology; companies across all industries invested in blockchain development; CoinDesk reflects on the year with 13 top stories on blockchain; among the leading headlines were Hyperledger and R3, consortiums which led development within the industry; central banks explored the use of blockchain with the Bank of England announcing in January plans for testing distributed ledger with its settlement system; IBM took a lead role, both with its blockchain as a service offering and involvement with the Hyperledger Project; digital currencies were also at the forefront of industry activity. Source
ICICI Bank will integrate Twitter's digital customer care support features through the bank's Twitter account; Twitter business support features to be utilized by ICICI Bank include Twitter's support indicator, message button and links for customer conversations; with the new customer support features, ICICI Bank seeks to make banking more rewarding for its customers. Source
N26 is a smartphone only bank that was originally launched in Germany and has big backers like Peter Thiel behind it; Vincent Haupert, a PhD student at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, told the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg how he and two colleagues found N26 security defenses riddled with holes that could have been used to defraud thousands of users; Haupert presented his findings to the bank and they have since stated that the issues found have been addressed. Source
Banking-as-a-service, banking-as-a-platform, platform-as-a-service, open banking and open application program interfaces (APIs) are all terms being used by fintech companies who are building innovative products for banks; the long term question is will the banks buy or partner with this technology and in a banking system like the US how wide will adoption need to be for the banking system as a whole to change; recent surveys by Cornerstone Advisors of 300 community banks, regional banks and credit union CEOs shows the current economic environment and presidential election has them very optimistic; when they are making money, they innovate less. Source
Bloomberg Intelligence provides insight on Asia's fintech market in 2017; in internet finance Alibaba and Tencent have a strong market position with high barriers to entry set for the growing market; blockchain is expected to remain at the forefront of fintech development with use in online money transfers, electronic payments, banking and internet finance; insurtech will also be important with technology focused on sales distribution, product development and client engagement; data tracking, artificial intelligence and internet of things technology are also expected to be factors for insurtech. Source
In 2016 government regulators became more involved in the fintech industry in a variety of ways; while new regulations were discussed across the globe, governments also got more involved in the industry through sandbox and innovation programs; China's fintech market continued to grow in 2016 with both private market funding and fintech company growth; in 2016 robo advisors and blockchain emerged with new services; the market now offers a broader range of robo advisor services and the leading asset managers have introduced their own platforms; blockchain also reported unprecedented growth with distributed ledger being used for a wider variety of solutions across all industries; all of these industry developments are expected to remain in focus for 2017. Source
Stratfor has released its predictions for the global economy in 2017 with some interesting forecasts; the global intelligence firm says a slowing economy in China will affect the world with demand down and more domestic manufacturing; the US will experience a global retrenchment as it focuses more on its domestic economy; in Europe, countries will become more divided and the European Union will move toward dissolving; oil prices will improve which will help producers globally; monetary policies will also be an important factor. Source
PJSC Siberia Airlines has announced the first letter of credit service payment using blockchain; the opening and executing of the letter of credit issued from Alfa-Bank was recorded with smart contracts on a distributed ledger; the subsequent payment for services will also be transacted through blockchain technology; Alfa-Bank provided members of the deal with an electronic Alfa-business online system for deal processing. Source