In this issue: Long term trends: AI and Voice User Interfaces in banking; Speech analytics in banking customer services; New secure £1 coin to be released in March and more...

UK

Long term trends: AI and Voice User Interfaces in banking

A BBA article examines the long term trends of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and voice user interfaces in banking. The BBA suggests that attaining precision in speech recognition and designing voice user interfaces linked to artificial intelligence could lead to a 'transformational breakthrough.'

BBA, 6 January 2017

Speech analytics in banking customer services

A BBA article discusses how using speech analytics can improve banking customer services. Online and voice channels have little potential for improving customer experience without speech analytics. Analytics have become the fuel that drives the next generation of customer service solutions. Banks that successfully leverage their analytics in 2017-2018 are set to obtain a competitive advantage that differentiates the leaders from the rest of the crowd.

BBA, 4 January 2017

New secure £1 coin to be released in March

The Treasury is set to roll out the new £1 coin on 28 March 2017, claiming is will be the most resistant to counterfeiting that they have ever produced. The Treasury believes that one in thirty £1 coins currently in circulation are counterfeit. To combat this, the new coins have several hidden security features. More information regarding the launch can be found on The Royal Mint's dedicated website.

UK Treasury, 3 January 2017

UK Card Expenditure Statistics: October 2016

Richard Koch, Head of Policy at The UK Cards Association has said that "cards continue to play a central role in the economy and our wallets. As the preferred way to pay for the majority of consumers, spending on cards will only increase.” The press release outlines the statistics in full.

UK Cards Association, 22 December 2017

CMA finds competition concerns with cashpoint merger

The CMA has provisionally found that Diebold’s acquisition of Wincor may reduce competition in the supply of customer-operated cashpoints in the UK. The CMA has also issued a notice of possible remedies which outlines measures the CMA could take if it still believes the merger may be expected to lead to a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) when it makes its final decision.

CMA, 20 December 2016

Worldwide

ECB market consultation on TIPS user requirements

The ECB has published a consultation document setting out the user requirements for a TARGET Instant Payments Settlement (TIPS) service. TIPS is a service for the settlement of instant payment. The consultation closes on 24 February 2017. The ECB will decide in June 2017 whether to develop the service. If it does decide to proceed, it expects that TIPS will be operational in November 2018.

ECB, 10 January 2017

Bitcoin digital currency hits three-year high of $1,000 (£815)

Bitcoin has seen its value top $1,000 (£815) for the first time in three years after it ended as the best-performing currency of 2016. Analysts are attributing its jump to increased demand from China, which is where the majority of bitcoin trading takes place.

BBC News, 3 January 2017

Summary of the Fourth Meeting of the Mobile Proxy Forum Steering Committee

The European Payments Council has published the minutes of the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of the Mobile Proxy Forum (MPF) (which took place in October 2016). The EPC acts as facilitator in the context of interoperable pan-European Person-to-Person (P2P) mobile payments and provides secretariat support to the MPF. The main takeaway from the meeting is the agreement reached regarding the polling hierarchy logic of the future Standardised Proxy Lookup (SPL) service, which the MPF is tasked to develop.

EPC, 22 December 2016

IOSCO report on automated advice tools survey

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published an updated report (FR15/2016) following its July 2014 report on its automated advice tools survey. IOSCO had conducted a second survey of its members to update its earlier findings on automated advice tools.

IOSCO, 21 December 2016

ESMA proposes new digital format for issuers' financial reporting

ESMA has published a feedback statement setting out the digital format which issuers in the European Union (EU) must use to report their company information from 1 January 2020. It concludes that Inline XBRL is the most suitable technology to meet the EU requirement for issuers to report their annual financial reports in a single electronic format because it enables both machine and human readability in one document. ESMA will focus on developing the detailed technical rules, field test its proposed solution and afterwards submit the technical standard to the European Commission for endorsement around year-end 2017.

ESMA, 21 December 2016