Web browser Opera to buy digital challenger Fjord Bank
In December 2019, the digital challenger landed a specialised bank licence.
Business-to-Consumer/B2C
ING appoints ex-Google and Confused.com exec as Yolt CEO
Weng Kan led Google’s attempt to edge into the insurance market in 2015.
Why mid-sized players should embrace the direct-to-consumer model
It’s imperative for businesses to be able to help customers directly.
Paytm to buy insurance firm Raheja QBE for $76m
Raheja QBE has around 41,000 customers.
Estonian fintech Planet42 to tap South Africa’s alternative car finance market
The fintech landed €2.2 million in seed funding last month.
Square’s $55bn valuation reaches skies of major US banks
Square is $20 billion away from matching Goldman Sachs’ market valuation.
UK challenger Monument to tap Britain’s mass affluent
The fintech has raised £10 million to date.
SoftBank splashes $130m in Indian insurtech PolicyBazaar
SoftBank now holds more than a 15% stake.
Lending Works acquired by Intriva Capital
Intriva has bought 100% of Lending Work’s equity for an undisclosed price.
How open is open banking?
If open banking was to deliver on its promise, the opportunity for growth would be enormous.
Crypto trading platform GPay shut by UK High Court
On 23 June, the court “wound up” GPay “in the public interest”.
Pakistani fintech SadaPay lands CTO from Indonesian unicorn Gojek
Gojek is Indonesia’s most valuable start-up.
Major banks take another step towards ‘truly European’ payment system
Some 16 of Europe’s major banks are set to initiate the implementation.
US challenger Point lands $10.5m for debit-credit hybrid
Rewards rest on a point-based system.
B21 launches crypto trading app in India following regulation clarity
India has seen a spike in crypto investing in the last months.
UBI Banca offers digital salary backed loans with FinLeap
The partnership is through the bank’s subsidiary Prestitalia.
Fintech start-up Simpl targets India’s low credit card adoption
Just 3.85% of Indian consumers have credit cards.
TransferWise lands licence from FCA to offer investment products
The move marks its second side-step from cross-border payments.
Car repair loan fintech DigniFi lands $14m Series A
DigniFi also landed a hefty sum of private equity for its auto financing platform.
TransferWise partners with two Swiss banking services
TransferWise will tap neon’s 30,000 users.
HSBC wants to double mobile users by 2022
The bank wants to generate more revenue per customer.
Curve gets services back online over weekend
The fintech is still working on third party digital wallet usage and refunds.
PictureWealth lands AUD 12m and seals acquisition
The company has acquired NEO Financial Solutions (NFS) for an undisclosed sum.
Newly licensed RevoluPAY taps global remittance market
The fintech landed its PSD2 licence in Spain at the end of May.
FCA suspends Wirecard’s UK subsidiary
This has prompted a handful of fintechs to issue warnings to their customers on Friday.
UnionBank to tap rural Philippines with 11,000 remittance counters
70% of Filipino adults are still unbanked.
Lanistar partners with Jumio ahead of “polymorphic” debit card launch
Lanistar landed a $2.5 million seed investment in March.
NatWest launches its no-card payments service Payit
The service uses open banking infrastructure.
Chinese lenders suffer two bank runs in a week
China has relied on these local lenders amid the coronavirus crisis.
Samsung chooses Curve to power its new Samsung Pay Card in UK
This is a one of a kind partnership for Curve and Samsung.
Why UK challenger banks haven’t taken on the insurance market
“The insurance community is not necessarily responsive to change,” says insurtech CEO.
Credit Sesame’s banking service uses i2c payments platform
More than 200,000 users have opened a Sesame Cash account.
P2P payments app Chipper Cash lands $13.8m
The San Francisco-based start-up operates across seven African countries.
PayPal and Venmo to “allow buys and sells of crypto directly”
It is understood the services will offer “a built-in wallet functionality” so you can store crypto.
Be Money looks to tap America’s 11m LGBT+ community
The start-up is planning to set up shop in Los Angeles.
Payfone identity verification firm lands $100m
The firm uses mobile data to create a “trust score”.
Santander gets US challenger bank Upgrade to unicorn status
The San Francisco-based challenger has landed a $40 million Series D.
Kazakhstan’s ecommerce banking app Kaspi quietly expands in CIS region
Kaspi made more than half a billion last year in profits.
Santander’s PagoFX rolls out business offering and adds more currencies
Eight currencies from the Middle East and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been added.
Italian neobank illimity launches its open banking platform
The bank launched just nine months ago.
