Zopa founder Giles Andrews joins Hoares as non-exec director
Andrews founded Zopa in 2004 and is currently a member of the fintech unicorn’s board.
UK
Bank Islam taps Kestrl to offer financial management tools in Be U app
The firm will incorporate Kestrl’s personal financial management tools into Be U by the end of the year.
Cornerstone FS appoints payments veteran James Hickman as CEO
Hickman has more than 19 years’ worth of experience within the payments industry.
AstroPay promotes Sofia Lanza to chief banking officer, appoints new CFO
Founded in 2009, AstroPay provides payment solutions and digital wallet services across the globe.
Abrdn snaps up stake in digital securities exchange Archax
Through Archax, abrdn aims to provide new investment opportunities to its customers.
New Fintech Growth Fund set to plug £2bn UK fintech funding gap
Former chancellor Philip Hammond is reportedly in talks to serve on the fund’s advisory board.
UK challenger Dozens set to close by end of the month
The Dozens app is set to close by the end of August.
UK challenger Recognise Bank appoints new CEO, Jean Murphy
Murphy brings more than 25 years’ worth of banking and capital markets experience to the role.
NatWest’s director of payments leaves to join Bibby Financial Services
Marion King spent over seven years in her role at NatWest.
Deutsche Bank to automate trade document checking with Traydstream partnership
The partnership will boost the bank’s efforts to digitise and automate its documentary trade business.
Mansfield Building Society partners DirectID to streamline mortgage applications
Mortgage applicants can now securely provide their bank statements online via open banking.
The Co-operative Bank taps Finastra for treasury infrastructure upgrade
The bank is moving its treasury activities to the cloud with Finastra’s Kondor solution.
UK challenger Monument partners Persistent to build digital banking platform
Persistent’s “building block” approach will allow the challenger to add new SaaS components as required.
Data and payments fintech Moneyhub appoints David Firth as product director
Firth joins from Mastercard, where he helped build out the firm’s open banking solutions.
Mollie appoints former Worldpay exec Michaela Weber as VP of partnerships
Mollie is looking to boost its global partner network.
Lloyds Banking Group to close 66 more bank branches
48 Lloyds Bank and 18 Halifax branches are set to shut between October and January of next year.
Monzo rapped by CMA over failure to provide transaction history data
The challenger informed the CMA it had failed to send transaction histories to more than 13,000 customers.
Great Western Credit Union completes merger with Stroud Valleys Credit Union
GWCU says it now has a combined total of over 21,000 members.
Virgin Money to enter BNPL market this year with Slyce credit card product
Slyce has been created in partnership with Mastercard and TSYS.
Green fintech start-up Tred launches new carbon-tracking banking app
At the end of each month, Tred users are nudged to offset any carbon their spending has emitted.
New bank for public sector workers set to launch next year in the UK
The aspiring bank aims to submit its banking authorisation application by the end of this year.
Social investing start-up Shares bags $40m in Series B funding round
The new funds will be used for product development and to fuel its global expansion plans.
UK fintech investment defies global downturn with 24% growth
UK-based fintech firms received $9.1 billion in investment spread across 294 deals in H1 2022.
Curve appoints new CPO Eyal Galina to build out product offering
Galina will be responsible for Curve’s product roadmap and strategy as it looks to boost its presence in the US.
Scottish Building Society taps AML firm Jade ThirdEye to upgrade security
Jade ThirdEye will upgrade the firm’s existing transaction monitoring solution.
FX firm Monex Europe hires former Mastercard exec as new CTO
John Gallagher joins as one of three new leadership hires at the firm.
Pennyworth partners Moneyhub for financial planning tool
The offering is targeted towards those with salaries between £40,000 and £150,000.
Wealthtech FNZ snaps up private banking tech provider New Access
New Access is primarily active in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
Starling withdraws Irish banking licence application in expansion rethink
Starling says it will take its software to banks worldwide through its SaaS subsidiary, Engine.
Funding Circle hires Bruno Tavares as new VP of engineering
Tavares has more than 20 years worth of experience across technology and engineering.
UK challenger Kroo expands partnership with ClearBank
ClearBank has worked with Kroo since 2019 in its journey towards becoming a fully regulated bank.
Saleem Arshad appointed as new CTO for Revolut India
Arshad will help shape Revolut’s product offerings and technology for the Indian market.
FCA tells banks to treat struggling small business borrowers fairly
The move comes as part of the regulator’s work in response to the increasing cost of living.
Remittance start-up SendSprint launches in UK in partnership with Flutterwave
Flutterwave will provide the infrastructure to enable SendSprint to process cross-border transactions.
A2A paytech Volt hires Stuart Barclay as new VP of strategy
Barclay joins from Swedish open banking unicorn Trustly.
Multi-currency investment platform Lightyear lands $25m Series A
The Series A will support the company’s expansion into 19 European markets.
UK fintech funding round-up: Griffin, Novatus, Zazuu and Plenitude
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies in the UK.
Coremont hires Akbar Sheriff as new global COO and partner
Sheriff joins Coremont from State Street, where he held multiple global and regional leadership roles.
Recognise Bank taps TruNarrative for digital customer onboarding solution
The RiskNarrative platform will digitise a number of AML and KYC processes via a single API.
ING spins out digital post-trade market infrastructure tech to GMEX Group
GMEX intends to combine Pyctor with its MultiHub offering.
