Two UK towns to open all-in-one Banking Hubs pilot stores
The towns are two of nine across the UK to get one.
Consumer/Personal Finance
UK energy provider Octopus launches Moneycoach
It intends to invest £10 million into Moneycoach to scale the offering.
Airtel Africa sells 25% stake in mobile money arm to Mastercard for $100m
Airtel Africa hopes to list the mobile money business as a separate entity.
Clubhouse introduces tipping for content creators with Stripe
The one-year-old start-up has raised around $100 million to date.
WhatsApp Pay finally gets greenlight from Brazil’s central bank
WhatsApp is only allowed to do P2P payments in Brazil.
FTC shutters San Fran fintech Beam for not delivering on 7% interest rate
“Don’t lie about your customers’ ability to get their money when they need it.”
ICYMI funding round-up: Butter, Spiral, SadaPay, OVEX, Ensemble & more
We’ve put together an “In Case You Missed It” (ICYMI) funding list.
Global fintech M&A round-up Q1 2021
Whilst some big deals never closed in Q1, plenty others took their place.
Santander launches Prosper open banking-powered PFM app
Roll-out of Prosper has already started in Denmark.
Ripple snaps up 40% stake in Asian cross-border payments firm Tranglo
Tranglo’s global network spans more than 100 countries.
Box: Insurance isn’t just about premium rates, it’s about the entire user experience process
Vaneet Grewal, Box’s financial services managing director, talks to FinTech Futures.
Digital challenger Minna Bank to launch in Japan by May
Minna will offer both consumer-facing and white labelled products.
Spac led by ex-Commerzbank CEO trading on Amsterdam’s Euronext
The blank-check firm has already sold 41.5 million shares at €10 each.
Major US banks invest $40m in Black-owned challenger Greenwood
Backers include JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and Bank of America.
Challenger Oyster Financial launches credit offering for Mexico’s SMEs
Instant credit will range from $500 to $1,500.
Indian fintech lender KreditBee boosts record Series C with extra $70m
KreditBee’s fresh funding also saw the exit of Finnov’s Chinese investors.
Revolut applies for US banking licence days after Canada exit
Revolut’s US operations are led by banking veteran Ron Oliviera.
Freetrade raising £50m Series B for European expansion
Customers have been waiting years for European expansion.
Dallas fintech Stretch to offer former prison inmates bank accounts
The start-up’s aim is to help America’s formerly incarcerated people transition back into the country’s economy.
Wise considers rare direct listing on London Stock Exchange
This would see Wise circumvent the conventional IPO process.
Australia consults industry on more “sustainable” challenger bank licence
The APRA’s consultation closes at the end of April.
US fintech Sincere to target “pet parents” with debit cards
In 2019, Americans spent $95.7 billion on their pets.
UK fintechs B-North, DIEM, Encompass, and Lumio raise funding
A round-up of recent investments clinched by the UK fintech start-ups.
Wealthtech for asset managers FundSense launches in UK
FundSense licenses the platform on a per-user basis.
Ikigai launches in UK to disrupt the asset percentage pricing model
Ikigai is charging a flat £10-a-month fee to early access users.
Web browser Opera hires ex-PayPal and Tencent exec to lead new fintech arm
The new EVP likens Dify’s potential to PayPal’s market disruptor status.
Revolut exits Canada after trialling beta for year and a half
Canada is a difficult market for challengers to crack.
Tencent suffers $65bn market value blow, analysts put fintech business at “zero”
Tencent, like Ant, holds a financial foothold in China which rivals banks.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: Yolt – Best Mobile Initiative
Yolt’s new mobile app: nudge techniques, open banking and smarter personal finance.
London fintech WorldRemit mulls taking $1.5bn Spac listing to US
Refinitiv data shows Spac mergers have surged to a record $170 billion this year.
YAP throws hat into UAE’s digital banking ring
The start-up’s partner is National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah.
MFS Africa invests in London with all-new executive team
“London has taken up the mantle of fintech advocate and champion.”
Amazon expands pay-with-hand tech, pushes on with digital currency
Amazon hopes to contract out the pay-with-hand technology to third parties.
M&S Bank closing all bank accounts and 29 in-store branches
M&S has moved towards retail-focused solutions in recent times.
Orange seeks buyer for loss-making banking unit
Orange’s banking ops in trouble despite an income of €79 million last year.
Square finally launches bank after filing first application in 2017
Previously, Jack Dorsey’s fintech partnered with Celtic Bank for banking products.
Goldman’s consumer head Omer Ismail leaves for Walmart’s fintech venture
Ismail architected the firm’s move into consumer digital banking.
Robinhood pushes on with IPO plans despite facing 49 GameStop lawsuits
Robinhood has held talks with underwriters about filing “within weeks”.
Ethical challenger algbra banks on tech to define it in “fintech gold rush”
“We’re building a backend on a global level,” says co-founder.
UK challengers Monument, Pockit and TreeCard bank funding
Three UK banking services start-ups have landed investment recently.
