A startup competition organised by Spanish bank BBVA has attracted entrepreneurs from 56 countries, showcasing 850 technology projects.

Norwegian digital bank Skandiabanken has acquired a 39.9% stake in local AI and machine learning outfit Quantfolio as part of a push into the provision of robo advisory services for customers of its private savings division.

Australia’s NAB has appointed Lloyds Banking Group’s Pete Steel to the newly created role of group executive, digital data and artificial intelligence.

Klarna is to provide Apple Pay users with access to BNPL loans at instore checkouts in the UK and US.

Following a recent commitment by Nato countries to invest 5% of their GDP to defence, global banks are backing a new bank that is being set up to support Nato countries and their allies finance their defence needs.

Emirates NBD’s digital offshoot Liv is working with B2B alternative asset solutions provider Ctrl Alt to explore the tokenisation of real-world assets.

The spotlight has once again been shone on the prominent role played by a small number of cloud computing providers after an outage suffered by Microsoft’s Azure platform

French wealth management and financial advisory platform Ramify has raised €11 million in a Series A funding round joined by Crédit Agricole.

The co-heads of digital assets at Citi have both announced that they are leaving the bank to start a new venture in the crypto space.

Senior staff in the retail division of ANZ learned of their forthcoming redundancy when they received an automated e-mail asking them to return their work laptops, before they had received any formal exit notice.

Speaking with Finextra’s Richard Peers, Simon Zadek, co-chair for the technical hub of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and chair of the Finance for Biodiversity (F4B) initiative, discusses the different approaches sovereign debt, natural capital, nudging, and the role that F4B and the TNFD play in that.

EBA Clearing has launched a Sepa-wide Verification of Payee (VOP) service to help PSPs in Europe meet Instant Payment Regulation requirements.

Legacy infrastructure cannot keep pace with the continuous automation, changing regulatory demands, dynamic market conditions and growing customer expectations in the financial services industry today, particularly in capital markets. Firms have started to realise the opportunities that come with cloud, redesigning operating models and implementing cost-saving measures to increase efficiency.

Starling Bank is reinforcing its environmental credentials with a marketing campaign that will see 100 electric vehicle chargepoints wrapped in the bank’s branding.

Digital wealgh manager Moneyfarm is to raises £44.1 million through a private placement that will see M&G acquire a minority stake in the company.