A seven-year-old tells us what we (should) already know about banking
Your customers aren’t seven-year-olds, but they probably want a lot of the same things.
Consumer/Personal Finance
Oraan CEO: Women in finance weren’t welcomed in Pakistan
Oraan’s research found that savings – particularly for women – just wasn’t tapped into.
UK Black-owned challenger Atmen to launch in March
The start-up is now looking to raise £5 million from institutional investors.
Neobank hopeful 11Onze to offer Catalans a non-Spanish alternative
The start-up intends to be a true representation of the country’s 7.6m population.
Robinhood backer Tiger Global leads $200m investment in rival Public.com
Public.com – as on 1 February – decided to stop making profits from payment for order flows.
MoneyLion set to go public via $2.9bn Spac deal
The fintech anticipates year-over-year growth of around 88%.
IKEA buys 49% stake in financial services partner Ikano Bank
Lending to IKEA shoppers accounted for about a quarter of the bank’s total business.
Danish edtech Female Invest targets UK expansion with $1.6m fresh capital
“It makes a big difference when you see someone like you on a platform.”
Italian neobank illimity turns €16m loss into €31m profit in a year
The neobank’s best-performing arm, by a long way, was its NPL unit.
Raiffeisen Bank to buy Czech Republic’s consumer lender Equa bank
In 2020, Equa bank’s consolidated net profit fell by 55% to $8.5 million.
Goldman Sachs re-opens Marcus in UK with 0.5% rate
0.5% is the highest paying easy-access rate in the UK.
Huawei to acquire Xunlian Zhipay for its payments licence
The deal is yet to be officially announced.
Klarna’s valuation set to triple to $30bln, says report
A report says Klarna is currently working on a half a billion new share issue.
UK-Nigeria mobile wallet Sendit.Money goes crowdfunding
It has already exceeded its £100,000 target, having raised £146,006 at time of writing.
Hapi rolls out UK savings and investments app for parents
The start-up is backed by Entrepreneur First.
US investor Stash lands $125m Series G ten months after last round
Stash’s last valuation sits at around $812 million.
A look inside MENA investor Global Ventures’ fintech portfolio
Global Ventures’ portfolio covers payment acceptance, digital wallets, credit and trading.
US fintechs Albert and Crux Informatics in funding rounds
Featuring Albert’s $100 million Series C funding round and Crux Informatics’ $36 million convertible note.
N26 mulls acquisition despite net losses tripling in 2019
N26’s failed UK expansion cost it a total of €26.9 million.
What’s in store for financial services in 2021?
A look at what the rest of this year might have in store for the world of financial services and fintech.
2021 fintech predictions
Staring into the crystal ball for signs of what we could see over the course of the year from the industry.
N26 lands Zalando’s former financial chief as CFO
The former Zalando chief isn’t the only executive addition in recent months.
Mastercard plans to raise fees for UK purchases from EU
“This smacks of opportunism,” says Kevin Hollinrake, chair of Fair Business Banking.
Minna Technologies raises €15.5m in Series B funding round
Minna says the investment will be used for global expansion, “with requests from all continents”.
Plaid launches incubator FinRise for fintech founders of colour
The incubator is looking to accept just three-to-five start-ups.
Tom Blomfield exits Monzo and opens up about mental health
“COVID-19 just exacerbated things,” says Blomfield.
FinTech Futures Jobs: new year, new job – five tech companies that are hiring now
Featuring CGI, Cleo AI, Freetrade, Market Finance, and Monzo.
Pyypl’s regulation-first approach to MENA starts to pay off
“The options today are mobile money or banks,” says CEO.
New York cash advance app Brigit reveals $35m Series A
Brigit’s CEO is a former Deutsche Bank and Infosys executive.
Prospective UK challenger Perenna lands $10m ahead of Q3 launch
The fintech lodged its banking licence in the last quarter of 2020.
UK fintech Just lands court backing to undercut bailiff industry
Currently, Just’s virtual offering is in beta.
Ant sets up working group to overcome Chinese regulatory requirements
Companies like Ant have until November 2021 to register a new financial holding.
Goldman Sachs mulls acquisitions to bulk up Marcus
Goldman’s CEO intends to make Marcus a pillar of the US bank’s growth.
Vietnamese “super app” hopeful MoMo lands $100m Series D
The fintech’s registered users doubled to 23 million in 2020.
Polish consumer protection regulator investigates CD Projekt over Cyberpunk 2077
The UOKiK can fine the studio up to 10% of its annual revenue if it finds fault with its refund policy.
PAYMYNT Financial buys crypto e-wallet LettucePay
LettucePay operates on top of Stellar Network, an open source blockchain platform.
BBVA shutters Simple after paying $117m for it in 2014
The bank is cutting out standalone entities which no longer make sense to operate solo.
SoFi set to go public via merger with Palihapitiya’s fourth Spac
The IPO will value SoFi at $8.65 billion.
Customer service start-up Glia lands $78m to help banks and credit unions
The round was led by Shopify and Checkout.com backer Insight Partners.
Webinar: Deep dive on ServiceNow’s purpose built product for finserv operations
How to improve customer and employee experiences. Featuring a demo of The Now Platform from ServiceNow.
