Web Summit 2020: A fintech summary
Stripe is looking at products around digital identity.
Business-to-Consumer/B2C
Libra and Facebook exec joins rental insurtech LeaseLock
The fintech removes the need for renters to pay a deposit for a rental property.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 hosted online by Tom Ward
Join comedian Tom Ward for the 2020 Banking Tech Awards. Broadcast online on 10 Dec, 3:30pm GMT and is free to attend.
Facebook’s Libra could launch as early as January 2021
Novi’s digital wallet is “ready from a product perspective”.
Credit Karma secures $7.1bn Intuit acquisition, sells tax ops to Square
Square enjoyed a 4% jump in stock market value following the announcement.
San Fran alternative lender Oportun applies for banking charter
Oportun currently has licences in 12 states.
HMBradley lands $18.25m Series A led by Chime investor Acrew Capital
To date, the fintech claims it has surpassed $90 million in customer deposits.
Google Pay unveils integrated banking challenger Plex
Plex will sit in the wider, revamped Google Pay app.
App for US landlords NestEgg lands $7m Series A
Alongside its fresh capital injection, the start-up has also launched NestEgg Pay.
How real are real-time payments?
Incumbents and fintechs face the same challenges when scaling real-time payments.
MSU Federal Credit Union built its own app in 2009 – where is it now?
MSU holds around $5.5 billion in assets and is America’s 48th largest credit union.
Mastercard to help Canada build its new real-time payments rails
RTR marks a big step in modernising Canada’s payments system.
Uber plans return to financial services with hires “across the board”
The firm is “not ready to announce anything yet”.
HSBC launches Global Money account in US to rival fintechs
The bank’s aim behind the new service is to create “one global account”.
Chime’s app goes down for a day as users complain of rejected purchases
“We are currently experiencing intermittent outages,” Chime said.
TradingView makes UK switch as COVID-19 boosts global users
TradingView has landed six funding rounds totalling $40.8 million.
JP Morgan launches QuickAccept smartphone card reader to take on Square
QuickAccept was developed by the team from WePay.
PayPal brings crypto further into mainstream with wallet update
PayPal landed the first conditional crypto licence from the NYSDFS.
Mexico’s credit alternative challenger Klar lands $15m Series A
“We help people build credit by looking at how and where they spend their money.”
Canadian robo-advisor Wealthsimple lands unicorn status with $87m raise
Wealthsimple serves some 1.5 million users.
JP Morgan Chase partners with Greenlight for kids account
The JPMorgan Chase app has around 39 million ‘active’ customers.
US rapper Killer Mike unveils Black and Latino-focused challenger bank Greenwood
Each month, the digital challenger promises to gift $10,000 to Black or Latinx businesses.
Ternio becomes Visa’s first crypto enablement partner for debit cards
“This shows Visa’s commitment to onboard other companies which develop crypto.”
Affirm files IPO application, but financials are confidential
Fintechs in the BNPL space have seen their valuations rocket.
Texan challenger Viva First to launch for Latinos before year end
The fintech is piggybacking off Texas-based Spur Security Bank.
LendingClub shuts retail P2P offering as it focuses on institutional investors
The fintech allowed consumers to invest in Notes, corresponding to fractions of loans.
Argentina’s money management app Ualá launches in Mexico
“It’s a much better product than we had in Argentina [upon launch],” says the CEO.
Private banking challenger Letter set to land in California
The start-up is spearheaded by GoDaddy engineer Drew Wilson.
US challenger One launches all-in-one card to serve middle class
One’s debit card offers a mixture of current, savings, and credit services.
Crypto exchange Gemini launches in UK armed with EMI licence
UK customers can now make GBP deposits to fund their Gemini account.
Robinhood’s valuation continues climb with $460m funding
Robinhood it will use the funding to improve its customer experience.
Challenger Envel plans “autonomous” banking with Autumn launch
The fintech claims it will “optimise” users’ money.
US neobank Chime set to more than double in value to $15bn
The new valuation would pit Chime ahead of Brazilian neobank Nubank.
Ex-N26 employee lands $1.8m to launch ETF-linked checking account
“This is an everyday account, we don’t want you to risk your money,” says CEO.
FinovateFall 2020: COVID-19 a chance to build, not just react
“Companies need to leverage this inflection point correctly.”
Mastercard unveils virtual CBDC testing environment
A switch in tactic from Mastercard, which wasn’t always in favour of CBDCs.
To win the battle of banking, you need a digital war room
Here, banks can get visibility into every single process in their business as they actually behave.
Four US digital trading apps experienced technical issues this week
It’s rare for as many as four digital brokerage platforms to experience issues all at the same time.
Aussie BNPL Zip closes $296m acquisition of US player QuadPay
“The US is a critical part of our global strategy,” says CEO.
NerdWallet steps outside US, acquires UK’s Know Your Money
Know Your Money had some five million consumers and 1.2 million business clients in 2019.
