Payments trends and the “first world unbanked”
Cash is the most inclusive financial instrument, and many firms seem to forget this fact.
Payments
SpotOn raises $50 million in Series B featuring former Twitter CEO
Payments firm plans to extend product development.
Neyber sells up to biggest rival Salary Finance
The sale is “understood to have seen Neyber’s assets sold for a meagre sum”.
Inclusion, innovation, and mobile money in Sub-Saharan Africa
“If our systems fail, a big part of the economy would fail,” says exec.
Wirecard and Singapore’s Grab partner on payments
The partnership will begin in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
Credit Sesame launches new digital bank account Sesame Cash
A banking offering will engage customers beyond just improving credit.
Step aside China, it’s Southeast Asia’s turn in the spotlight
The region is full of promise and possibility for investors and entrepreneurs alike.
Budget 2020: What’s the fintech impact?
FinTech Futures picks out the fintech tidbits in this week’s announcement.
Rizq launches in UK as Sharia-compliant challenger bank
Rizq plans to benchmark itself as close as possible to existing challengers.
Paytech firm QRails raises $8m in Series A funding
Colorado-based firm brings total funding raised to $18 million.
Alipay plans digitisation for 40 million Chinese service providers
The move marks a shift in the business from financial to digital services.
Visa teams up with Nigeria’s Paga
Lagos-based Paga holds more than 14 million customers across Nigeria.
Greensill buys Aussie payday advance app Earnd
The acquisition marks Greensill’s move into payday finance.
China leads the way in adoption of ISO 20022 for payments
PBOC published its ISO 20022 migration plan as long ago as 2011.
PFM app Bean shuts down 15 months after BGL Group acquisition
Bean no longer accepting new sign-ups and set to close later this month.
Aruba’s banks switch to instant payments with equensWorldline
The digitisation of payments has been “a challenging project” for the island.
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.
HPS to provide QR-based payments system in Saudi Arabia
Payments firm tapped up by Saudi Arabia’s Monetary Authority.
US challenger Branch partners Cardtronics to offer fee-free ATM service
Minneapolis-based Branch expands fee-free network.
Flywire’s CEO on unicorn status: “It means nothing until it is something”
“I’m the most anti-unicorn terminology person, so it’s quite ironic,” says Massaro.
Ikano Bank builds on Nets partnership to power new lending platform
Ikano plans to launch products on the new service later this year.
Dutch fintech TerraPay gets acquired & raises $9.6m
“Fintechs like TerraPay play a vital role in increasing financial inclusion in emerging markets.”
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.
Fiserv acquires long-standing partner MerchantPro Express
The two firms have held a partnership since 2009.
China’s Ant Financial buys small stake in Swedish unicorn Klarna
Klarna is already embedded into Alibaba’s AliExpress.
Samsung SDS and Credorax to launch DLT account reconciliation platform
The companies say the decision to team up was driven by open banking.
Santander’s PagoFX to launch in Spring and rival TransferWise
The venture now has a 50-person London-based team.
Allied Irish Banks sells remote ATM network to US-based Brink’s Company
Brink’s will deploy its Point Cash solution to the purchased machines.
Estonian start-up Xolo offers banking services with Wirecard Bank
Xolo is a “one-stop-shop” for one-person micro-businesses.
PayPal migrates “key” infrastructure to Google’s new Salt Lake City data centre
Google Cloud now has 22 data centers across the globe.
PPRO gives Europe’s merchants access to Chinese shoppers with UnionPay
The Chinese ecommerce market is currently valued at more than $1 trillion.
UK paytech Checkout.com buys French start-up ProcessOut
Checkout.com buys another module in the payments process.
Bank of Japan governor calls for digital currency caution
Masayoshi Amamiya warns central banks not to “jump immediately.”
UniCredit finds two new partners in Tel Aviv’s PayKey and equensWorldline
PayKey is a social app payments integrator, and equensWorldline a pan-European payments processor.
Open Banking home finance start-up Youtility raises £4.5 million
Venture funding round to be used on new products and new hires.
UK fintech B-Social raises £7.8m ahead of ‘Kroo’ rebrand
The fintech has “significantly progressed” with its pre-application for a UK bank licence
Banking Circle nabs first banking licence from Luxembourg regulators
Banking Circle’s operation centers in the UK, Germany and Denmark will turn into bank branches.
Europe’s joint largest fintech start-up Klarna reports its first annual loss
The operational loss is down to its US expansion and its set up of a Berlin-based tech hub.
