Established banks and new players alike see digital services as a way to reach Brazil’s unbanked population. But will greater competition lead to a better experience for the consumer? Silvia Pavoni reports.

Quantum computing promises the possibility of performing an infinite amount of computations almost instantaneously. But the technology is still in its early stages. Joy Macknight investigates how banks can cut through the hype to what is real. 

Evans Munyuki, recently appointed as group chief digital officer at Emirates NBD, talks to Joy Macknight about his plans to take the digitally mature bank to the next level of innovation. 

Adrienne Klasa looks at how the innovative approach of fintech start-ups is bringing a greater range of services to the financially excluded across the globe.

Olga Dergunova, VTB Bank’s deputy president, hails a new era of co-operation in Russia’s banking industry, not just bank-to-bank but bank-to-fintech and, importantly, bank-to-regulator. Joy Macknight reports.

As the hype around blockchain technology ebbs, real-world applications are coming to life, particularly in trade finance. Joy Macknight examines market initiatives, lessons learned and the role that blockchain could play in driving the digitalisation and growth of global trade. 

Is blockchain living up to its potential in revolutionising the cross-border payments space? Joy Macknight investigates how far the technology has come.

With the cost of know-your-customer compliance increasing, sharing client information to a standard everyone trusts makes absolute sense. Katja Zschieschang, Deutsche Bank’s resident KYC expert, looks at the benefits of a collaborative approach to data collection to help reduce the costs of compliance.

Swift, together with 45 member banks, launched the global payments innovation (gpi) initiative in early 2016, to increase the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments. More than 180 banks have signed up to the service, with over 60 banks now live. As of May 24, 25% of all Swift cross-border payments traffic is now being sent as gpi. Joy Macknight talks to Wim Raymaekers, Swift’s gpi programme director, about the latest developments.