The "new economy" is the catch-all phrase encompassing all new mostly service based industries, especially the ones delivered on a digital platform.

Completely electronic means of identification and authentication are rapidly improving the way companies can offer services to customers digitally.

The European Single Market has made it possible for large companies and small businesses to freely access one of the biggest unified markets in the world.

"Cutting off the funds " is one of the most effective weapons in the arsenal of authorities trying to deal with terrorists and other organized criminals. The international nature of such criminal organizations forces them to move money between various countries and requires international transfers and currency swaps.

Great strides have been made in the retail banking and payments space via innovative financial technology products. However, in the corporate banking space, the developments and transformation into a truly digital platform have been more muted. This small case study provides a mock-up of how a fully digital, secure, and authenticated transaction can take place using a single one-stop application.

In spite of some recent protectionist headwinds, international trade had been chugging along and growing at a decent pace. However, this does not mean business as usual. Firstly, high growth markets are continuously shifting, motivating companies to access emerging markets that they have not done business in before. Secondly, even in their local markets companies are facing stiff competition which is driving them to seek new business relationships in their regions (like in the EU for example).

Technology and governance has come a long way over the last couple of decades and we have reached a point where movement across national borders seems almost seamless. Your phone still works (maybe without additional charges), you can use your credit card and even use the same service providers (like Uber, for example). To take this a step further, the European Commission has been working on the eIDAS project and regulation which allows consumers to use their local eID to access private and even public services anywhere within the EU Single Market.

Banks and other financial institutions are playing a key role in countering global challenges like money laundering and terror financing.

Complying with customer due diligence and KYC norms is perhaps the most important and time consuming aspect of initiating a new banking relationship. Yes, it is important to cover the credit risk, but the consequences of failing on the KYC or AML (Anti-Money Laundering) front are far more severe. This is the primary reason why many banks are spending billions annually on performing customer due diligence the old fashioned way. New EU guidelines and the tools that they provide aim to change just that.