What the FinTech? | S.3 Episode 1 | Talking open banking
To kick off season three, we’re joined by John Natalizia, co-founder and CEO of Snoop.
Europe
Crypto firm Bitpanda acquires Trustology to launch custody service
Trustology will be rebranded as Bitpanda Custody, providing an institutional-grade crypto custody platform.
Digital ID verification start-up OCR Labs expands to North America with $30m funding
OCR Labs has raised $46 million through its combined Series A and B.
Italian BNPL provider Scalapay raises $497m in Series B
Scalapay has also launched a checkout experience platform for e-commerce called Magic.
Virgin Money revamps customer onboarding with HooYu
Virgin Money implements a new account opening journey for its customers.
UK’s Money and Pensions Service seeks new tech leadership for digital transformation
MaPS is searching for a chief operating officer (COO) and chief digital and information officer.
SME banking provider Tide loses UK CEO
Laurence Krieger has stepped down after five years with the UK-based fintech.
Fintech momentum is growing in Cyprus, but challenges must be resolved
The fintech scene in Cyprus is growing rapidly, but there are still some hurdles to overcome.
Seven ways “saving” has changed during the pandemic
Seven changes we’ve seen during the pandemic that will drive long-term changes for savings providers.
Magyar Bankholding signs Thought Machine to launch new digital bank
Hungary’s second largest bank plans to launch a new retail digital bank.
ING’s chief data officer steps down
Aniruddha Paul spent 15 years in various senior roles at ING.
PrimaryBid lands $190m in SoftBank-led Series C investment round
The money will be used to expand across continental Europe and the US.
Amazon and Visa bury the hatchet over UK credit card fees
Visa says the agreement includes “a joint commitment to collaboration on new product and technology initiatives”.
Permanent TSB heads to the cloud with Kyndryl
Permanent TSB recently invested €150m in enhancing its IT systems and digital capability.
OpenPayd hires former Worldpay VP Daniel Belda to head up product strategy
Belda spent the best part of five years in senior positions at Worldpay before moving to OpenPayd.
BNPL provider ViaBill raises $120m in equity and debt
ViaBill’s funding round was led by London-based Fasanara Capital.
Financial “cockpit” for SMEs Ageras raises €30m
Denmark-based Ageras is “poised to become one of Europe’s next unicorns”, investors say.
Paysafe builds out digital wallets team with new exec hires from Barclays and Amazon
Rachel McShane joins as digital wallets CFO and Megan Oxman joins as SVP of new product development.
Tinkoff Bank launches Russia’s first fully digital mortgage; plans Philippines expansion
“The refinancing and lending process will be extremely simple and 100% digital,” Tinkoff states.
TSB and BankiFi team up to launch Revenu app for small businesses
Revenu enables small businesses to receive quicker payments and to better manage their finances.
NatWest and RBS to shutter 32 branches in England and Wales
The UK banking giant says it has taken steps to mitigate the impact of the closures.
UK challenger bank Atom raises £75m as it heads toward IPO
The UK’s first app-based bank has raised more than £75m in new equity priced at 70p per share.
Rob Regan joins Hodge as new COO
Regan moves from digital savings, pensions and investment firm Ascentric, where he was CEO.
Barclays and Oracle FS team up for virtual account management project
The large-scale VAM project aims to deliver “more capability to corporates”.
Billtrust grows European presence with Order2Cash acquisition
Order2Cash is a B2B order-to-cash platform provider in the Netherlands.
UK challenger 3S Money partners ClearBank to offer multi-currency accounts
ClearBank and 3S Money say the partnership will support SMEs as they scale across borders.
Round and round: how circular economy fintechs are aiming to save the planet
Twig CEO Geri Cupi thinks the circular economy is now at a tipping point in terms of mainstream acceptance.
Banking tech vendor Thought Machine receives £40m investment from Intesa Sanpaolo
Thought Machine’s Vault system will underpin Intesa Sanpaolo’s new digital banking service, Isybank.
Bank of America invests in UK paytech Banked, launches new online payment solution
BofA says the Pay by Bank solution is “part of our continual cycle of technology investment”.
Spanish banking giant BBVA invests $300m in Brazilian neobank Neon
“Digital is opening new ways for us to grow in very attractive markets,” says BBVA chairman.
The evolution of institutions: how to make banks competitive in a digital landscape
As technology has given us greater flexibility in other areas of our lives, we want those benefits from our banks too.
UK alternative lender ThinCats secures additional £100m funding to support SMEs
ThinCats now has “£650m currently available to deploy in support of businesses across the UK”.
Danish neobank Lunar welcomes new investor – Hollywood actor Will Ferrell
Actor “excited to take part in Lunar’s mission to give people more power from their money”.
French BNPL fintech Alma raises €210m Series C to support European expansion
To date, Alma has raised €180m in equity and more than €100m in debt financing.
UK fintechs conduct blockchain settlement test with NatWest and Santander
Fnality, Nivaura and Adhara teamed up with NatWest and Santander for the proof-of-concept pilot.
Danske Bank taps SunTec for fee and billing management upgrade
“SunTec is providing a platform that supports our product roadmap,” says Danske Bank.
Paysera appoints new CEO, awaits banking licence
Gintautas Mezetis is Paysera’s new CEO as it plots a move into the banking business.
SumUp selects Worldpay from FIS to support global expansion
London-based SumUp supports more than 3.5 million merchants across 30 markets.
Suffolk Building Society signs for TruNarrative’s regtech
TruNarrative’s technology will digitise mortgage customer onboarding and help prevent financial crime.
Online brokerage ThinkMarkets secures $30m investment to support growth
The trading platform has headquarters in London and Melbourne.
