Virtual bank Airstar launches pilot in Hong Kong
The digital bank will onboard roughly 2,000 customers.
Consumer/Personal Finance
Plaid and Microsoft partner to turn Excel into a fintech app
“One of the earliest forms of ‘fintech’ is a budgeting spreadsheet,” says Plaid.
Phyre secures $1.7m to develop its e-wallet in Bulgaria
The fintech works with two major telcos in Bulgaria.
Canadian financial planner Finally to launch in May
“People don’t want to tell strangers how bad they’re doing with their finances,” says founder.
Moven shuts all consumer accounts, pivots to B2B-only service for banks
Founder says “major multi-year funding” was withdrawn due to coronavirus.
Australian telco ZipTel buys up challenger bank Douugh
Douugh uses AI to help customers get better insights on their money.
Dublin start-up My Money Jar lands investment from Enterprise Ireland
The fintech has raised a total of $1.4 million.
Russia’s PM introduces new bill for fintech sandboxes
These new sandboxes will be subject to lighter regulations.
Aussie challenger Xinja lands $255m from Emirates’ World Investments
Xinja will receive the bulk of the investment over 24 months.
UK contactless limit raised to £45 to prevent coronavirus cash handling
“The changes were already under consideration by the industry,” says UK Finance
UK challengers Revolut and Monzo combat claims they are going bust
Revolut dubs the claims “fake news”, and Monzo says it is “here to stay”.
Fronted, 11:FS and Credit Kudos create ‘Covid Credit’ for self-employed
Covid Credit uses open banking data to help the self-employed get income relief.
Will Asia’s Big Tech European expansion stick?
Asia’s mega funding rounds make Europe’s look like child play.
ID Finance’s revenues hit $86.6m across Spain, Brazil and Mexico
“Despite macroeconomic volatility, the company plans to continue its growth,” says CEO.
Mastercard set to propel bunq’s Green Card throughout Europe
The cards have seen a CO2 reduction of roughly 30.8 million kg so far.
Will regulators make an example of trading unicorn Robinhood?
“We don’t think they were set up to do it properly,” says class action lawyer.
Neobank for America’s middle-class One lands $17m Series A
The 40-person challenger has opened early access to its private beta.
US challenger Cogni to create lifestyle hub, starting with banking
The challenger wants to be the ultimate “operating system” for lifestyle.
Revolut launches accounts for under-18s in the UK
Only the children of Premium and Metal account holders will have access.
Cyber-incidents are on the rise: What can your firm do to defend itself?
Senior management should ask themselves five key questions.
Crypto start-up Bakkt lands $300m Series B from Microsoft and PayU
The fundraising was closed last Friday, the same day Bitcoin experienced a multi-month low.
Underpinned helps companies pay freelancers with Banked
“The number of people choosing freelance work has grown rapidly,” says UnderPinned CEO.
Amazon VP Maria Renz joins Californian fintech SoFi
For a time, Renz was Bezos’ first and only female adviser.
Over one million users migrate from Yes Bank’s to ICICI Bank’s UPIs
The collapse of Yes Bank is causing ripple effects for UPI partners.
UK challenger ikigai to launch flat-fee investment account
“I think the pain points are quite similar across different income levels,” says co-founder.
Tandem launches AI personal finance adviser Ada
The AI assistant can predict cashflow, spending patterns and forecast balances.
Global fintech funding: 2018 still stands as the reigning year
As of February 2020, year-over-year deal counts were down by 22%.
Visa teams up with Nigeria’s Paga
Lagos-based Paga holds more than 14 million customers across Nigeria.
Family finance app Jassby raises $5m, anticipates $20m round later this year
CEO says rounds will drive fintech closer towards 1 million users within a year.
Banking Technology March 2020 issue out now
Keep calm and carry on: Where does COVID-19 leave the Chinese fintech market?
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 06 March 2020
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Money management app Emma bags $2.5m in seed funding
The fintech connects users’ bank accounts under a single dashboard.
Starling Bank amps up advertising efforts with Team GB win
The bank is offering every British athlete an account with £100 in credit.
Is the future of banking not open but closed?
Europe and USA have to create their own ecosystems to compete with the East.
Dzing challenger bank launches beta in UK
It has been in the works since October 2018.
Australian neobank Xinja launches $33m Series D with customer buy in opportunity
The challenger is offering a minimum investment of AUD 20,400 ($14,000).
China’s Ant Financial buys small stake in Swedish unicorn Klarna
Klarna is already embedded into Alibaba’s AliExpress.
How AWSM Bank plans to turn teenage financial literacy into a reality
The neobank is “very close” to its Q2 launch this year.
Refinitiv buys US wealth management fintech Scivantage
The deal amount is yet to be disclosed.
Poland’s digital banking provider Efigence talks private over public cloud
“Banks don’t want to invest in infrastructure when they don’t need it,” says CTO.
