Wealthpilot raises €8m to fuel data aggregation push
German wealthtech has raised €14.9 million since 2017.
Digital
Saudi start-up Hakbah raises $1.2m in seed funding
Hakbah aims to “modernise and ease” savings in Saudi Arabia.
Lithuanian paytech kevin. raises €1.5m in seed funding
Lithuanian firm plans availability across Europe by Q4 2021.
Waqfinity launches in UK to provide “impact focused” Islamic finance
Former Rizq founder sets up new Islamic wallet app.
Why Google Pay’s reboot signals a major land grab on financial services
Five reasons why the banking world, including fintech challengers, needs to sit up and take notice.
Crypto liquidity firm Wintermute raises $20m in Series B round
Firm plans to expand into derivatives and new markets in Asia.
Starling experienced “major outage” on its app last week
The temporary outage, though “short-lived”, was severe.
Plaid raising at $15bn as employees pitched $1,200 per share
US fintechs have enjoyed a wealth of VC interest since the Plaid-Visa deal hit headlines.
Rapyd raises $300m in Series D, plans more acquisitions
It will double the engineering and product teams and expand the “self-service” element of the platform.
Working amid COVID-19: why the cloud is the silver lining
How COVID-19 has accelerated the transition to the cloud.
Fintech funding deals globally 18-24 January 2021
Featuring PPRO, iSTOX, Indy, Mercado Bitcoin, and Brigit.
Wealthtech Elinvar raises €25 million funding
Founded in 2016 in Berlin, Elinvar has “the vision to connect the entire wealth management ecosystem”.
Robinhood hires two execs from US regulator Finra
Former Finra execs Anthony Cavallaro and Josh Drobnyk join the fold.
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”.
Singapore’s iSTOX lands $50m from heavyweight Japanese backers
n the past decade, global private equity returned 13.2% on average.
DNA Payments Group acquires Active Merchant Services
The deal brings DNA’s customer base up to around 30,000 merchants.
Plaid launches incubator FinRise for fintech founders of colour
The incubator is looking to accept just three-to-five start-ups.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 22 January 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Female-led tax reporting fintech KAWC takes tech into own hands
“We approached male investors, but they were so condescending,” says CEO.
Three new security strategies for financial services
Continuous compliance remains a challenge because many organisations lack contextual data.
The five p’s of banking
Banks have relied on the “five p’s” – people, physical cash, premises, processes and paper.
FinTech Futures Jobs: new year, new job – five tech companies that are hiring now
Featuring CGI, Cleo AI, Freetrade, Market Finance, and Monzo.
TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin adds payments app
Douyin Pay (Douyin Zhifu) has been added to the app’s options.
Under the hood of London payments platform Currencycloud
Currencycloud talks tech, structure, product development and bank relationships.
Pyypl’s regulation-first approach to MENA starts to pay off
“The options today are mobile money or banks,” says CEO.
PPRO reaches $1bn valuation on back of $180m venture raise
Payments infrastructure firm plans “global expansion” with new cash.
Retailer Uniqlo cuts out middlemen with own payments integration
Uniqlo Pay has partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
SME credit fintech Dinie lands dLocal deal one year into Brazil play
Dinie was founded in the UK, made in Germany, and designed for Brazil.
The end to end benefits of cloud first transformation
Cloud has become a go-to technology for many in the financial services industry.
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.
NAB signs SME payments deal with Eedenbull
Eedenbull is providing a handful of systems to the major Aussie bank.
UK fintech Just lands court backing to undercut bailiff industry
Currently, Just’s virtual offering is in beta.
Goldman picks Marqeta to power Marcus current account rollout
Marcus plans to launch its new accounts later this year.
Ant sets up working group to overcome Chinese regulatory requirements
Companies like Ant have until November 2021 to register a new financial holding.
Tide gears up for international expansion to India
The fintech says it will bring the exact same offering it has in the UK, to India.
ADQ’s unnamed neobank nabs new CEO from Emirates NBD
Patel joins the upcoming challenger after leading Emirates NBD’s challenger Liv.
Konsentus acquires Open Banking Europe initiative from EBA Clearing subsidiary
Open Banking Europe (OBE) will remain a separate operating entity.
Lessons from The Boring Company
Perfecting the art of boring requires some rare skills.
Fintech funding deals globally 11-17 January 2021
Featuring Checkout.com, MX, Blend, Creditas, and Enfusion.
