IBS Journal July – August 2015


Murex revamps offering for collateral management


regulations somewhat lag elsewhere, he feels some institutions are taking an ‘anticipatory’ approach, recognis- ing that it will be hard work to become compliant, in part due to the logistics that stem from such a large, geographi- cally spread market. For existing customers, it will be


feasible to implement the new collat- eral management solution without an


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upgrade of the full MX.3 platform and, indeed, there is a project about to start which is along these lines. Such an approach is likely to be driven by time- to-market for the new collateral func- tionality, with a standalone implemen- tation expected to take an average of six months. With the customer in ques- tion, the expectation is that the new collateral management solution will be


rolled back into the full platform at a later MX.3 upgrade. Next enhancements will be for


new regulations related to initial mar- gins for uncleared OTC trades (the functionality is scheduled for October, ahead of the phased introduction of the regulations from September 2016) and the ongoing task of refining the collateral optimisation capabilities.


Payments-specific incubator set for UK launches


The UK-based Emerging Payments Associa- tion (EPA) has launched an incubator initia- tive to support innovation in the payments sector. Dubbed ‘Catalyst’, it has financial and logistical backing from Mastercard and card issuer, The Bancorp. Providing an early preview at the recent


PayExpo event in London, EPA advisory board member, David Hunter, said that while there are now incubators ‘left, right and centre’, Cat- alyst is different in that it is focused purely on nurturing innovation in payments. The aim is to accelerate growth and reduce the risk for start-ups and ‘early stage rising stars’. It will provide a range of options. There


is a co-location workspace facility at London Bridge for those that want to use it. There will also be the opportunity to have men- tors, from the EPA advisory board and from members. A series of pitching events is tak- ing place, starting with the official launch on Thursday 18th June in London. There will be an education programme and access to sub- ject matter experts, in areas such as tax, law and management consultancy. And there will be access to investors, in the form of venture capital and angel syndicates. The EPA’s director general, Tony


Craddock, said the initiative would not have been feasible without the help of Mastercard. Scott Abrahams, group head for acceptance and emerging payments at Mastercard, said ‘the goals of Catalyst are


10


Tony Craddock, EPA


very well aligned with the goals of Mas- tercard on a global basis’. It already has its own innovation labs, including in the US, Asia Pacific, Europe (Ireland) and Africa (Nairobi) and it also supports other incu- bators, directly or through partners. The complete focus of Catalyst on payments was an attraction, he said, so too the aim of growing the ‘payments pie’ for everyone. ‘And we tend to learn at least as much from them as they have the opportunity to learn from us,’ he said. He declined to comment on whether Mastercard was likely to ulti- mately acquire any of the innovators. Kriya Patel, MD, Transact Payments


Limited, at The Bancorp, and another EPA advisory board member, felt that a key advantage would be the input from people who have ‘been there and done it’, and he


© IBS Intelligence 2015 www.ibsintelligence.com


called for more people to become involved. Pre-launch, said EPA’s Hunter, there


are six such ‘rising stars’ signed up and he felt that the optimum number would be around 25. Most of the emphasis would be on the UK, he added. The move comes swiftly on the heels of


Visa Europe’s establishment of a facility such as this, in London, Tel Aviv and Berlin, which mirrors Visa’s California-based equivalent, One Market (IBS Journal, June 2015). The pro- liferation of such facilities over the last year or so, as incumbents such as the card compa- nies and banks seek to harness external inno- vation, means there is plenty of choice for start-ups and other early stage innovators. The EPA is an industry body, formed a


couple of years ago, and it now has around 75 members, mostly UK-based.


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