Microsoft Perspectives on Payments and Core Banking in Financial Services

In my teens, I remember TV commercials for Yellow Pages in the UK. The publication would list local retailers by category, and then you could call to see if the retailer had the item in stock. Maybe if they were a ‘nice retailer’ they would...

Over the past few ye ars much of the innovation in payments has centered on the consumer experience with the mobile handset for purchases at point of sale (POS). NFC payments is the topic du jour in many countries. Mobile network operators through consortia...

This week Microsoft announced its 4Afrika initiative. This is a new effort through which the company will actively engage in Africa’s economic development to improve its global competitiveness. By 2016, the 4Afrika Initiative plans to help place...

Looking back on Sibos this year, one of the most exciting aspects of the show for Microsoft was the phenomenal interest around the recent launch of Windows 8 and its value to banks in the enterprise. The formal launch of Windows 8 on October 26th gave...

Another key solution provider that Microsoft is proud to partner with at Sibos is Experian Payments, a leading provider of payments solutions for the European market. To provide some more insight to Experian, their solutions and what to expect at Sibos...

Kon nichi wa Osaka. After a missed connection on the way from Chicago, I finally checked into the hotel at midnight, thankful my luggage also survived the trip. As a wet drizzle blankets Osaka on Sunday morning the Microsoft team is making our final preparations...

Microsoft has many high profile technology solutions partners exhibiting at Sibos this year. Decillion Group, a leading provider of SWIFT and high value payments solutions across Asia, was one of the first Microsoft partners to develop payments solutions...

With Sibos fast approaching, it is about time I introduced you to another of our stand partners. This time though, our partner interview is a little different than with traditional software partners. As many of you will have seen from my previous posts...

As a slight diversion from my normal blog topics, I'd like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you to one of my colleagues and his new Microsoft blog for capital markets. Rupesh Khendry is Microsoft's head of capital markets solutions focus...

With only about six weeks to go before the doors of Sibos 2012 open in Osaka, Japan - I thought I'd take this opportunity to give a brief overview of Microsoft's presence there. As a SWIFT Key Partner we've been an exhibitor at Sibos for 9 years now,...

Last week I had the privilege to attend and speak at the Temenos Community Forum in Barcelona. Over the years this has expanded from being a customer-only event to also include prospects, partners, press and analysts. The Temenos team always organizes...

More and more I hear our customers and partners around the world asking for a Microsoft view on how to best leverage technology to transform banking. Banks are faced with complex decisions to modernize core infrastructure, increase employee productivity...

With only a few days to go to Sibos Toronto, today I would like to introduce you to another of Microsoft’s Sibos stand partners. Cloud Trading Technologies is an incredibly innovative financial services partner with a focus on Electronic Trading...

As the countdown to Sibos Toronto continues, today I would like to introduce you to one of Microsoft’s Sibos stand partners. ProfitStars is part of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. and is a long standing financial services partner with a focus...

I hope those of you in the northern hemisphere enjoyed your summer and took time out to be with friends and family. Now the summer is drawing to and end, the kids are back at school, and that means one other thing: Sibos is right around the corner. Just...

As the debate about digital wallets and mobile payment models rages in the US, many point to the very successful mobile schemes in markets such as Africa as proof positive that a mobile payments infrastructure can be sustained as a viable model. M-PESA...

Those of you who know me have heard that I am passionate about the game of hockey (the variety played on ice rather than grass). The NHL playoffs have just started and so this is my favorite time of year. It's a fast-paced game and it takes physical and...

Hardly a day goes by without some new innovation in mobile payments or mobile banking being announced. It’s hardly surprising, as ‘consumers in control’ are demanding banks provide services that meet the capabilities of mobile devices...

Picking up on my recent threads about mobile payments as a form factor ( NFC Payments - Build It and They Will Come? ), and with the current state of market buzz around mobile and alternative payments, I am certainly a strong proponent for advancing innovative...

What is a Mobile Payment Anyway? A somewhat rhetorical question, but every day there are new startups, alliances and technology announcements about the next generation of mobile payments: most recently, NFC enabled phones. The problem with mobile payments...

Payments processing has always demanded a high performance, and highly resiliant platfrom. This is true of Fedwire and other RTGS systems, national ACH systems, and card transaction platforms alike. As the first of these systems was implemented in the...

I just returned from my annual trip to visit partners and customers in India. In one year I could see quite a difference in the infrastructure developments, but also how the pace has picked up in developing new banking services. The economy is expanding...

It is easy to think of ISO20022 as a Europe-only set of message definitions because of the machinations around SEPA, and so the broader value of ISO20022 and its global applicability can be lost when it is viewed only as a SEPA issue. At Sibos 2010...

There are two areas of corporate payments innovation that I expect to receive more attention at Sibos this year. First is e-invoicing, a process that is gaining considerable momentum as companies seek to further digitize the financial supply chain. The...

Living in the Chicago area, I've spent my fair share of time in traffic congestion trying to get to the airport. (Anyone familiar with Chicago ORD will also know that finding a plane that leaves on time is another challenge - but that's a different story...