The ability of AI to help retail FX brokers is quickly moving from the theoretical to the practical; the result should be better operational efficiency and better trader services.

Having tested HSBC FX Everywhere on internal payments, the bank now aims to provide it as a platform service to clients.

R3 believes distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be the answer to overhaul the necessary infrastructure.

A bitcoin conference on a Thai beach, part of a cryptocurrency cruise, is quite a thing. Libertarian in outlook and cool in attendee, these are bitcoin’s true believers. But as the price of bitcoin tumbled in January, why were they still partying like it’s $19,999?

Greenfield start-ups embedded within the core business might be the best way for banks to address their legacy infrastructure problem.

Transaction automation and open banking can help banks to strengthen customer relationships, especially as fintechs are encroaching on their traditional services – but the sector has been slow to adapt.

Banks in emerging Europe have long outperformed many of their western peers in the race for digitalization – now a handful of pioneers are taking it to the next level and using technology to transform the banking landscape across the region.

Digital innovation has the potential to transform international trade, yet many argue that banks are lagging in replacing antiquated systems for trade with smart solutions. What is behind the delays?

JPMorgan announced that it will be the first American bank to launch its own digital currency, but what to other bankers think of it?

Can the combination of core banking system replacement and a pioneering fintech programme help re-privatized lender MKB Bank leapfrog its rivals in the Hungarian market in the race for technological supremacy?

Some digital finance firms are taking liberties with client data. If they aren’t careful, they will lose their core customers.

Rob Scott, head of custody, collateral & clearing at Commerzbank, explains the importance of data in the digitalization of the post-trade environment and the potential of blockchain and artificial intelligence to transform the customer experience.

In Africa, digital payments are still the future, not the present.

In Chinese banking, government-owned doesn’t always mean stodgy and slow to innovate. State-owned banks across the country are absorbing fintech into traditional models to meet surging consumer demand for sharper financial tools. Here’s a few that we've liked this year.

Banks with large wholesale payments and cash management operations must innovate to avoid being ousted by disruptors.

Financial inclusion enables and empowers people and communities, and can help drive economic growth by bridging economic opportunities and outcomes. Increasing financial inclusion for individuals and small businesses is an objective for policymakers, governments, banks and corporations alike. Payment innovations such as mobile money solutions have proved a catalyst for greater financial inclusion over recent years, but there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, and challenges and complexities remain. Continued progress in mobile money, and by extension financial inclusion, requires greater cooperation on multiple fronts, involving governments, regulators, telecoms, banks and fintechs.

After much talk and little action, the use of blockchain in trade finance is picking up, and Asia-Pacific is at the heart of that change – but despite progress, the many different consortia need to agree on some common ground to get things moving.

Their numbers have soared from 100 in 2014 to more than 700 today – some firms will consolidate or be taken over, but most of them will fail; Asiamoney meets three startups that seem likely to stay the course.