Top five stories of the week – 25 November 2022

Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.

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FIS reportedly looking to cut thousands of jobs under new CEO

US banking and payments technology giant FIS is reportedly planning to cut thousands of jobs under incoming CEO Stephanie Ferris’ strategy to right the firm following a slump in its share price over 2022.

Bloomberg reports that while the cuts to the workforce are expected to be staggered, several thousand members of staff and contractors are on the chopping block as part of Ferris’ $500 million cost-saving plan.

Ferris was appointed as president in February this year and is set to also take over as CEO from Gary Norcross on 1 January 2023. Norcross will move to the role of executive chairman of the board.

Read more here

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Visa appoints Ryan McInerney as new CEO

Payments giant Visa has appointed current president Ryan McInerney as its new CEO.

McInerney will take over from Alfred Kelly, CEO since 2016, on 1 February 2023. Once the transition is complete, Kelly will become executive chairman of the board.

Visa CEO Kelly says that as president, McInerney has become “intimately familiar” with how Visa operates, with the company poised for further success under McInerney’s leadership, the firm says.

Read more here

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US fintech GloriFi to shut down amid “a series of financial challenges”

Texas-based fintech GloriFi, which describes itself as “an unapologetically pro-America, pro-freedom, pro-capitalism technology company”, is shutting down just months after launching its digital banking app.

Announcing the closure on its website, the company says it has “experienced a series of financial challenges related to start-up mistakes, reputation attacks, the declining economy and multiple negative media stories”.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the firm was unable to secure the funding it needed to carry on operations, with a potential funding arrangement falling through on Friday last week.

Read more here

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Nationwide Building Society appoints new COO, Suresh Viswanathan

UK-based Nationwide Building Society – the world’s largest building society with 16 million members and 18,000 employees – has appointed a new chief operating officer (COO), Suresh Viswanathan.

Nationwide says Viswanathan “has extensive experience in delivering data-led technology and digital transformation with a focus on improving customer experience”.

Over the past decade, he has held COO roles at UK high street banks Barclays and, more recently, TSB (you can read an exclusive interview with him here when he was at TSB).

“His passion to do the right thing for members and colleagues, coupled with his wide-ranging expertise and industry connections, will prove invaluable as we improve our digital capability,” says Debbie Crosbie, CEO of Nationwide.

Read more here

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FCA warns stock trading apps against gamification

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned stock trading apps against adding gamification elements to their platforms, saying they may cause users to make high-risk investments and lead to gambling-like behaviours.

The regulator says gamification can “engage consumers positively” but found it is being used in ways that could mislead consumers or cause poor outcomes.

The warning to review design features such as gamification comes after the FCA surveyed more than 3,000 users across four trading apps. The FCA found that points, badges, push notifications and celebratory messages led to users being more likely to invest in products beyond their risk appetite.

Read more here