Sehrish Alikhan - Community Author: Finextra Research

Allocating green capital to housing: Why energy efficiency needs to be prioritised

The climate crisis and cost of living crisis are both well underway and wreaking considerable damage on the livelihoods and fiscal capabilities of the UK public. Financial institutions and the government need to step up green initiatives to make housing more sustainable and more affordable. While these may seem like two different, and even opposin...

08 August 2024 /sustainable

What is the role of biodiversity bonds in green finance?

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

What is the role of biodiversity bonds in green finance?

Last month, BBVA Colombia announced it will be issuing the financial sector’s first biodiversity bond of $50 million, in association with IFC. So, what are biodiversity bonds, and what do they mean for sustainable finance? The BBVA investment marks progress in financing green projects; focusing on allocating capital for natural resources and initi...

24 July 2024 /sustainable

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Is the UK in a credit crisis?

It should not be a surprise, given that the UK is deep into a cost-of-living crisis with nothing to indicate relief on the horizon, that there is also a credit crisis underway. Living costs leading to debt burdens The cost-of-living crisis has increased the prices of household bills including energy and water, as well as inflating prices of housing...

10 July 2024 /markets

UK election 2024 fallout: What are Labour’s plans for fintech?

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

UK election 2024 fallout: What are Labour’s plans for fintech?

The Labour Party’s landslide victory in the UK general election last week kicked the Conservatives out of office, replacing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with Keir Starmer. However, while the Labour Party gained the majority of seats in the house, the Tories retained 121 seats, and other notable parties, including the Green Party, Reform UK, and Libe...

09 July 2024 /markets

UK election 2024: What the manifestos mean for sustainability

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

UK election 2024: What the manifestos mean for sustainability

The UK general election will take place on July 4, with each party championing different priorities when it comes to the future of the country. Along with the many needs of a nation, one glaring main concern of each platform should be their sustainable development goals and climate focus for the future. Dominic Rowles, lead ESG analyst at Hargreav...

04 July 2024 /sustainable

London’s abuzz with Climate Action Week 2024

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

London’s abuzz with Climate Action Week 2024

June 22-29 celebrates London Climate Action Week (LCAW), a week of events, conferences, seminars, and discussions about the future of the City of London in its approach to climate change mitigation. The events taking place all over the city this week range from panel sessions and webinars to carbon literacy workshops and park tours. Making moves B...

27 June 2024 /sustainable

How can fintechs ensure further profitability amid macro-economic challenges?

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

How can fintechs ensure further profitability amid macro-economic challenges?

Funding for startups and fintech has fallen to a low point since its peak in 2021. Yet, many companies with a more solid base are looking at how they can expand further and create more profitability in a challenging macroeconomic environment. Q1 2024 saw only 904 deals and $7.3 billion in fintech funding, which was the worst performing quarter sinc...

07 June 2024 /startups

ERP migrations and the pitfalls of decayed bank master data

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

ERP migrations and the pitfalls of decayed bank master data

In a data-rich world, financial institutions are already struggling with fractured bank master data. Add on top of that data decay and the drive towards migration as many ERP (enterprise resource planning) providers move towards the end-of-life dates for their traditional ERP systems, migration is becoming a herculean task. In the face of a loomin...

06 June 2024 /cloud

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

The telecom-fintech overlap

With the common factor of being two sectors consistently on the forefront of innovation, the telecommunications and fintech industries have intersected in exciting new ways that redefine each industry and pushes towards new business models. There is significant overlap between the sectors, with both telecoms and fintech being heavily regulated indu...

05 June 2024 /payments

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

What is pay by bank?

2024 might be the year that pay by bank hits the mainstream. Pay by bank is a direct account-to-account payment methods that many fintechs have been increasingly been drawn to as open banking has become more established in Europe. Pay by bank may be on track to replace card payments, as it is an alternate payment method that requires no log-in or a...

29 May 2024 /payments

Greenhushing: How will it impact sustainability efforts in financial services?

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Greenhushing: How will it impact sustainability efforts in financial services?

We have all heard of greenwashing – when companies lie or exaggerate their sustainable efforts to gain ESG brownie points and falsely reassure customers of their dedication to the environment, there is a new term that companies are getting the hots for called greenhushing. This terrible name for an even worse activity is when companies simply will...

13 May 2024 /sustainable

Top payments stories you missed in April

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Long reads