Microsoft is partnering with the US stock market Nasdaq and financial markets data provider Refinitiv to bring real-time stocks data to Excel.

The new facility builds on Stocks, a data type in Excel powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and launched by Microsoft last year. Stocks turns a stock ticker into an interactive entity with layers of rich information including price, change, and currency.

Users can now access current financial information for the full range of US exchange-listed equities from Nasdaq and all the stocks data from Refinitiv.

Stocks in Excel now supports bitcoin, bonds, international currencies, extended-hours pricing information and information about the company, such as industry and company description, in addition to other previously available data that includes mutual funds and stock indexes, such as the Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and more.

Users need only type a ticker - for example MSFT - and click “stocks”. Excel recognises it as a stock and gives an option to convert it into a rich entity linked with properties of related information, including real-time attributes such as price, change, last trade time, and 52-week high/low.

“Expanding the reach of real-time market data is essential to making markets more accessible,” said Oliver Albers, senior vice president and head of strategic partnerships for Nasdaq’s Global Information Services.

“Our collaboration with Microsoft is a significant step towards bringing important market information to individual investors. Microsoft’s focus on empowering individuals aligns perfectly with our mission to make financial markets more inclusive.”

Trulioo partnership

Separately, Refinitiv has just announced a strategic partnership with Trulioo, a leading global identity verification provider, to enhance and expand access to digital identity solutions that encourage financial inclusion and fight financial crime.

The partnership aims to deliver innovative solutions that will help financial institutions (FIs) worldwide reduce fraud and financial crime by verifying billions of customers online while adhering to anti-money laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations.

Trulioo operates a Digital Identity Network that provides instant access to over 400 procured, vetted, and trusted data sources around the world — all through a single integration.

Deploying stringent security and privacy standards combined with the latest innovations in AI, biometrics and cloud computing, Trulioo’s GlobalGateway solution has access to information on more than five billion people, enabling organisations to run identity verification checks with accuracy, reliability, speed and scale.

“Our customers operate in a fast changing and dynamic market, and when it comes to managing their KYC, due diligence and financial crime risks, rapid changes in technology and digitalisation continue to shape the support they need,” said Phil Cotter, Managing Director of the Risk business at Refinitiv.

“The partnership between Refinitiv and Trulioo will build on our expertise with World-Check and will focus on delivering faster innovation to help customers meet these new demands and in the process meet their regulatory obligations.”