Gilly Wright

As more companies outsource information management to the Cloud or colocation services, focus on data protection increases.

Forming partnerships can be a good way for banks to quickly add new features, as long as they don’t get distracted from their long-term vision.

The Swedish payments platform's huge customer base gives it an advantage as it expands into banking and other product lines.

Delaware has proposed amendments to new legislation that would enable corporations to use distributed ledgers for record-keeping and to keep track of stock transactions, the state’s latest effort to be a first mover when it comes to blockchain technology. 

The partnership of mobile-only bank N26 with German fintech Raisin allows the bank to offer its clients, initially in Germany but across the EU beginning next year, the chance to open savings accounts with just a few taps. As Raisin ...

Global Finance rates the top financial innovations of the last 30 years, looking at where we are, where we’ve come from and how we got from there to here

Damian Glendinning, Lenovo’s treasurer, explains why the world’s biggest PC maker opted for a dual-tranche financing transaction using a perpetual security.

For the 200,000-plus victims of the WannaCry ransomware attack, a short period of blame was replaced by awareness of the reality that complacency creates vulnerability. 

First developed in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto—whose identity remains a mystery—as a public ledger for all bitcoin transactions, blockchain is now outshining the cryptocurrency it underpins as it offers banks and others the benefits of a distributed ledger, i.e., an ...

Starbucks generates 27% of its US sales via mobile payments, as consumers opt for contactless coffee. While there were efforts to provide banking through cell phones in the late 90s, the transition, around 2007, from cellphones to smartphones—with their expanded ...

It’s been another crazy year, with Brexit, the election of Donald Trump as US president, tensions building up with Russia, continued strife and displacement in Syria and rising tensions in Asia, all of which are affecting global markets.

Alipay is partnering with banks around the world to provide its Chinese customers with seamless service at their preferred tourist destinations, with Italy’s UniCredit Bank following France’s BNP Paribas and Barclays in the UK.

Facing increasing competition from Amazon and Alibaba, India’s Flipkart ecommerce platform has turned to Microsoft, Tencent and eBay for financial, technical and market support.

South Africa’s new minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, whose appointment brought on ratings agency downgrades, faces low confidence and slow growth.

The Asia-Pacific region surged past North America for funding of fintech enterprises in 2016, due to blockbuster China deals. 

Japanese banks piloted domestic and cross-border payments successfully through the Cloud with Ripple. 

Corporate and banking entities are seeking faster, more secure payment systems, and experiments in the payments space are coming to fruition.  

By adding voice commands to its SmartBank app, Santander claims to be the first bank in the UK to allow customers to make payments in real time using their voice.

Just months after receiving its banking license, Berlin-headquartered mobile-only bank N26 is active in 17 eurozone countries. The rapid rollout was made possible by N26 linking up with innovative partners, including TransferWise (intercurrency transfers), Vaamo (N26 Invest) and Barzahlen (Cash26).

James Rausch, head of Canadian client coverage and global head of transaction banking for banks, brokers and exchanges with RBC Investor & Treasury Services, speaks with Global Finance on bespoke customer service, innovation and trade flows.

Ad van der Poel, senior vice president, financing services at Basware, winner of Global Finance's 2017 award for Best Web-Based Supply-Chain Financing Solution, explains how data aids collaboration, transparency and financial agility.

Robert O’Donoghue, ING’s global head of working capital solutions, explains the importance of a full view of the supply chain and reasons for growth.

A Q&A with Henry Oroh, CEO of Zenith Bank, which won Global Finance's 2017 award for Best Trade Finance Provider in Ghana, about prospects for increased trade and greater uptake of documentary finance instruments in the coming year.

Not likely. American towns and cities have lost millions of manufacturing jobs, yet manufacturing output has actually risen 85% since 1987.

Much has been said about the brave new world of transaction banking—robots and blockchains replacing humans and inefficient paper. Incorporating artificial intelligence and Big Data enable smarter, more strategic, enterprise-wide efforts.

ExonMobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson went overnight from dark-horse candidate to president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of State. If confirmed, Tillerson might prove to have the toughest position in the new cabinet as he wrestles with strife around the world and a new relationship with Russia.

Jacques Molgo, group financing & treasury director, and Laurent Chesnay, head of group front office, Air Liquide, a French multinational, explain the appeal of deal-contingent forwards (DCF)—a type of foreign exchange contract.

Naspers Group Head of treasury Jaco van der Merwe talks with Global Finance about managing complex foreign exchange transactions. 

Private-sector entities are getting involved in providing aid, education and even jobs to refugees in order to mitigate the crisis. 

Tim Sloan, new CEO of Wells Fargo, will likely close branches and seek growth online, but even that may not be enough to help the San Francisco-based bank change direction in the wake of its cross-selling scandal. 

Financial settlement start-up Ripple has enjoyed a cordial, but at times uneasy relationship with the financial messaging network SWIFT. On the one hand it has sought to collaborate with SWIFT to try and improve the cross-border payments experience for corporate ...

Singapore chosen as a top fintech hub in Connecting Global FinTech: Hub Review 2016 by Deloitte and All Street Research.

Big profits from managing short lead times helped Amancio Ortega—Spanish business magnate, founder and chairman of the Inditex fashion group—recently pass Bill Gates’s fortune for the second time. 

Will bringing in an outsider revive the brand with fresh insight or cause it to stumble on the turns?

Although Liam Fox made headlines for saying British businessmen are too lazy to boost exports, less extensively reported remarks by the UK’s international trade secretary hint at a significant change in policy.

The 2016 Global Cloud Data Security Study, compiled for digital security company Gemalto by the Ponemon Institute, shows that safety measures are not keeping up with Cloud data challenges, making organizations vulnerable in storage and management of confidential information.

The first-round winners of the 17th Global Finance Best Digital Bank Awards reveal the strategic importance that both corporate/institutional and consumer banks place on digital banking.

US | Wal-Mart’s decision to buy Jet.com, a fast-growing e-commerce company, for $3.3 billion is being viewed as a shrewd move for both companies—one that strengthens their ability to compete with Amazon. 

By aping technology firms, banks that simplify solutions and focus upon the customer experience will be the ones that survive.

After 17 years of construction, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, connecting Northern and Southern Europe through the Alps, opened to great fanfare on June 1, and shone a light on years of lax investment in infrastructure by European nations generally. 

Fintech collaborations may be on the verge of yielding concrete solutions for monitoring and compliance.

US | When Microsoft bought LinkedIn, the deal was structured to leave the networking site to grow and develop somewhat independently. The question is, how independently? 

Elisabeth Mosseen, group treasurer, and Eva Christianson, head of risk analysis and control at group treasury, both at Volvo Car Group, chart their treasury’s transformation from a division of Ford to a stand-alone outfit.

UK
The promise of London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan,  to build 50,000 homes (half of them affordable) with a reasonable commute is being heralded but also questioned.

Adam Boukadida, deputy treasurer for Etihad Airways, talks treasury transformation vision, goals and strategy. 

Finance sector innovations have cut costs and improved convenience but have not been transformative. Will bankers and treasurers—traditionally risk-averse players—ever brainstorm a revolutionary breakthrough?

Coca-Cola’s director of international treasury services, Jim Aschmeyer, explains how a strong relationship with Citi aids innovation and cash management. 

Trends | Inversions
The US Treasury Department’s recent rules against corporate inversions are intended to stop “serial inverters.”

Corporates today need more agility to meet regulatory requirements and manage volatility, hence technology plays a growing role in treasury departments.

Bank of China, the fourth-largest bank in the world, has been an ener-getic leader in expanding overseas. In an interview with Global Finance, Chen Siqing, the bank’s president, spoke about internationalization efforts and the importance of overseas growth.