Banks across the world are set to significantly increase spending on new payment technology in 2016, according to a study by analyst house Ovum, and reports by Finextra. Almost two in three banks (61 per cent) globally told Ovum that they planned to increase their spending on payment technology next year. The main reasons cited included "increased emphasis on security, changing consumer behaviour, and new technologies - such as blockchain, mobile payments, and real-time payment transactions."  Ovum's conclusions are drawn from a survey of CIOs and other senior IT decision-makers in over 60 countries and process data from around 6500 interviews in 17 industries, Finextra reports. A Standard & Poor's presale report for the US$152 million SolarCity FTE Series 1 transaction shows this is the start of a new type of asset class: the securitisation of a portfolio of solar loans and agreements, deposits and rights from insurance policies covering photovoltaic systems (ie loans for solar panels). S&P's BBB (sf) preliminary rating assigned to the class A notes reflect the agency's view of the credit enhancement and the transaction's structure. "Because this asset class has a limited operating history, we expect the rating on the senior-most class to be constrained to the low investment-grade range for the near future," S&P said. Belgian national Leon Dhaene was appointed director general of Leaseurope, the umbrella body for the leasing and automotive rental industries in Europe from December 1, notes Asset Finance International. Dhaene is also the director general of sister federation Eurofinas, representing specialised consumer credit providers at European level, with whom Leaseurope has a special partnership relationship. Dhaene succeeds Tanguy van de Werve who has joined AFME, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.