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AXA: “Our competitors of tomorrow are Amazon, Apple or Facebook”, says Thomas Buberl, the new AXA CEO
AXA’s new CEO believes that Apple and others could move into the insurance industry tomorrow and warns that traditional insurers must learn from and how to work together with new players to improve current offerings and avoid being relegated to risk carriers here (article in French)
Alibaba partners with AXA to sell insurance products and more weight to its platform Taobao.com
AXA insurance policies will be available via two methods (i) on the B2B platforms for SMEs and (ii) through Ant Financial for Chinese consumers looking to buy travel insurance for their 120 million annual overseas trips here
Apple Pay now in France with four banks including Banque Populaire, Carrefour Banque, Caisse d’Epargne Ticket Restaurant
Through a partnership with four French banks, Apple Pay’s entrance into the French market lets customers pay with their Apple devices (iPhones, Apple Watch, iPad Pro and iPad Mini) which are connected with their Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards here
Facebook Messenger users can now pay their bills via chatbot BillHero
American-based BillHero allows users to pay any bill from any bank account, debit card or credit card through Facebook Messenger. The chatbot aims to simplify and speed up bill-paying for users who are on the go here
Bank customers in Singapore can soon exchange payments via Facebook and Twitter
From the beginning of 2017, customers of 20 Singaporean banks will be able to transfer money using their Facebook or Twitter account instead of entering their bank details. Mobile phone numbers will serve as a proxy for bank account details. The trial, due to begin in the first quarter of 2017, is integrated into Singapore’s internal fund transfer system, Fast here
Google’s Android Pay now in Australia with ANZ Bank
ANZ became the first of Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks to roll out Android Pay to users. Five other banks also offer Android Pay with four to follow in the coming weeks. Despite fears about fraud and security, tokenisation ensures card information is kept secure here
A group of Australian banks have come together to challenge Apple Pay services
Australian banks are unhappy with Apple and have filed an application for negotiation as they are unable to offer a rival service to Apple Pay as Apple disallows third party digital payments on iOS devices here
Dutch bank Rabobank will build an online P2P platform linking private banking customers with SMEs
In a bid to boost SME-financing, Rabobank is trialling a peer to peer lending platform between its private banking customers and its SME business customers. During the trial, Rabobank will provide 50% of loans to its business customers with the rest from private banking customers who may choose which loan they wish to co-finance here
Online retailer Amazon has partnered with San Francisco lender Wells Fargo & Co. to offer interest-rate discounts to select Amazon shoppers
In an increasingly competitive student loan market, student Amazon Prime users will benefit from a discount of half a percentage point on student loans (for attending college or refinancing existing loans) from Wells Fargo. To date, the partnership is the first of its kind here
Despite tough Chinese banking regulation, MYBank, a financial affiliate of Alibaba, has began limited online bank operations
Internet giant Alibaba is pushing beyond e-commerce through MYBank by offering loans of up to 5 million yuan to consumers and businesses, an area that has been previously underserved by Chinese banks. Regulatory hurdles currently prevent MYBank from offering online current accounts, which is currently forbidden due to strict laws on identity and background checks here
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