FinTech Futures: Top five news stories of the week – 24 May 2024
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring JP Morgan Chase, Citi, BBVA, OpenAI, Visa and more.
Visa seeks to “revolutionise the card” with array of new product launches
Visa has unveiled a string of new digital product developments at the annual Visa Payments Forum in San Francisco, US, in an effort to “revolutionise the card”.
Visa debuts string of new digital product launches
The products, due to launch “later this year”, include the Visa Flexible Credential to toggle between different payment types, the Tap to Everything service for NFC-enabled mobile devices, the Payments Passkey service for biometric online payment authorisation and an expansion of the company’s Pay by Bank service in the US.
It also notably includes the advent of Visa data tokens, which the company says will “let consumers, whose financial institution participates in the programme, consent to sharing their data as they shop online, then see where it’s been shared and revoke access right from their banking app”.
Jack Forestell, chief product and strategy officer for Visa, says that collectively, the developments will bring “consumers into a more customised, convenient and secure future”.
JP Morgan Chase commits additional £40m to boost economic growth in the UK
JP Morgan Chase has announced a new wave of investment in the UK with the aim “to help connect young people and underserved communities to economic opportunities” and to “drive sustainable economic growth”.
Its latest commitment, to be spread over five years, is comprised of £24 million to improve access to job opportunities in operations and technology specifically, and £16 million to help families build “stronger financial futures”.
Furthermore, the bank will run in-house programmes providing young people with mentoring, workplace visits, and skills sessions to equip them with the experience needed “to succeed at JP Morgan Chase or other firms”.
“Our intent is for these new investments to continue to help us serve clients, hire great people, and collaborate with the UK government and local partners to create new investment opportunities and encourage others to get involved too,” Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO at JP Morgan Chase, said in a statement this week.
Citi fined £61.6m by UK regulators for “failures in its trading systems and controls”
Citigroup Global Markets Limited (CGML) has been fined £61.6 million by UK regulators for historic failings in its trading systems and controls.
CGML fined £61.6m by PRA and FCA
The total penalty consists of a £33,880,000 fine from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and a £27,766,200 fine from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Relating to an incident from 2022, the FCA says failures in the firm’s systems and controls “led to $1.4bn of equities being sold in European markets when they should not have been”.
The FCA said this week that the incident coincided with “a material short-term drop in some European indices which lasted a few minutes”.
In a statement, Citi says: “We are pleased to resolve this matter from more than two years ago, which arose from an individual error that was identified and corrected within minutes. We immediately took steps to strengthen our systems and controls, and remain committed to ensuring full regulatory compliance.”
Payments fintech Vitesse raises $93m Series C funding to fuel US expansion efforts
UK-based payments fintech Vitesse has raised $93 million in a Series C funding round to support its ambitions of tapping the “significant growth market” of the USA.
US investment firm KKR led the round through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III, supported by German venture capital firm Hannover Digital Investments and other existing investors.
The fintech says it plans to use its latest funding to fuel its expansion to the USA. It also aims to boost its product development, with a focus on expanding its payments network and insurance value chain connectivity.
To lead its growth state-side, the fintech has appointed former 10x Banking chief Curt Hess as its new US executive president, while Patrick Devine, KKR’s managing director, is set to join its board of directors.
BBVA partners OpenAI to deploy ChatGPT among its employees
Spanish banking giant BBVA has partnered with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to distribute generative AI tools among its workforce.
Spain’s BBVA partners OpenAI for ChatGPT
The Spanish banking giant says that it has now started to deploy 3,000 ChatGPT Enterprise licenses among employees operating its central services in Spain to “increase productivity and process efficiency, while stimulating innovation across the group”.
According to a statement, it plans to extend licences to employees in the group’s other “main countries” in due course, as part of a push for “all areas and departments to have access to ChatGPT, so that licensed employees can collaborate with their colleagues in undertaking various projects”.
Ricardo Martín Manjón, global head of data at BBVA, said this week that the agreement will serve as “a game-changer in how we support our customers in their decisions and offer personalised services”, and will help to “stimulate creativity among our employees”.
