HSBC on track to hire 1,000 wealth managers in Asia before year end
In 2020, the bank’s Asian business reported $12.8 billion in profits.
Consumer/Personal Finance
US start-up EarlyBird re-thinks gifts for kids with investment platform
EarlyBird launched four months ago.
What are the opportunities in open finance?
Envestnet | Yodlee hosted a discussion with FinTech Futures to find out.
UK P2P lender The House Crowd’s collapse a result of governance failings
The House Crowd had struggled to raise capital.
Curve goes crowdfunding five months after $95m Series C
Curve plans to grow its workforce by around 60% this year.
UK fintech Fronted raises £1m with backing from Monzo co-founders
The start-up launched back in February.
TSB COO: It’s easy to throw the rock at us and say ‘this guy crashed in 2018’
“Compare this company to the market,” says TSB’s COO.
Canadian fintech Wealthsimple raises record $610m at $4bn valuation
The fintech started off as a robo-advisor back in 2014.
Digital challenger Arrow pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years
Digital challenger pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years.
Lanistar secures FCA approval less than six months after regulatory warning
Lanistar also filed its unaudited accounts last month.
UK neobank hopeful Kroo partners with Bugni Labs for credit engine
Kroo underwent a brand revamp from B-Social last year.
French watchdog says banks risk “marginalisation” by Big Tech payment apps
The paper focuses on Big Tech-associated threats to competition.
UK eco-banking challenger Tred lands £1m in Crowdcube raise
Tred partners with Forest Carbon to deliver on its tree planting promise.
São Paulo fintech brokerage Warren lands $55m led by Singapore’s GIC fund
The fintech intends to use the fresh capital to hire more employees.
Virgin Money Australia claims to “break new ground” with loyalty scheme
There is clear disruption already happening in the rewards space.
Greenlight, Step and Current land “kids banking” industry collective $580m
Greenlight, Current, and Step all began with basic card-based offerings.
BNPL firm Affirm acquires Returnly in $300m deal
More than eight million shoppers have used the online return service.
Fi partners with Federal Bank to launch neobank for millennials
Features include a flexible deposit product and rewards for saving money.
Danish neobank Lunar acquires Swedish lender Lendify
The deal, which is pending regulatory approval, is expected to close by mid-May.
Welcome Tech raises $35m in Series B funding round
The money will go towards expanding Welcome Tech’s portfolio of financial services.
Hospitality payment app Sunday raises record €20m seed round for Europe
The start-up claims to cut the costs for operators to 0.5% per transaction.
UK challenger Starling lands £50m investment from Goldman Sachs
Starling now claiming to hold a 6% share of the UK SME banking market.
Robinhood calls Massachusetts regulator “elitist” for trying to revoke its licence
“The complaint reflects the old way of thinking,” says Robinhood.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 16 April 2021
To stories from across the fintech world, featuring Coinbase, Pine Labs, Ozon and more.
Better.com’s CPO accused of bullying days after $500m SoftBank investment
The CPO joined Better in 2017 from Goldman Sachs.
Pine Labs acquires digital payments start-up Fave in $45m deal
Indian payments firm snaps up Fave to introduce the latter to India.
Coinbase IPO values hits $99.6bn valuation with shares up 52% on debut
Shares closed below $330, up a lesser 32%.
LA fintech Ensemble is helping divorced parents navigate their kids’ finances
App features range from organising one-off expenses, to saving for college tuition.
Cuba’s only telco ETECSA granted payment provider licence
The firm can now convert customers’ balances into electronic money.
TSB taps ApTap to help customers manage bills
Deal follows trial period featuring 10,000 TSB customers, who saved an average of £150 a year using the service.
Fair CMO Toni Harrison: Oppressors can’t be the underbanked’s saviours
Instead of shrinking, the racial wealth gap has only continued to swell and expand.
Finder snaps up shuttered Singapore fintech GoBear
COVID-19 took a toll on GoBear’s capital reserves and certain financial products.
Dutch personal finance app Paynote goes live with beta
Unlike its rivals, Paynote launches without bank support.
Moneycorp continues exec shake-up with new ex-Vocalink vice chairman
Yates previously headed up Vocalink, the fintech Mastercard bought in 2017.
German challenger pockid targeting Gen Z launches this month
Users can either sign up to Neo Beginner, or Neo Pro.
France’s central bank warns fintech industry of rules when using term “neobank”
The industry has long called out the interchangeable use of the word “neobank”.
Acorns bags second acquisition of 2021 with AI start-up Pillar
Pillar helps students manage loan debt.
Swiss neobank Alpian lands $18m Series B ahead of 2021 launch
The raise comes less than a year after its Series A.
UK fintech TrueLayer lands $70m Series D led by NY investor Addition
TrueLayer claims payment volumes have grown by 600 times in the last 12 months.
Plaid announces $425m Series D with three new investors
“Mobile banking is no longer the realm of start-ups”.
