Hi!
In case you missed it, please see below today's most relevant fintech news.
"Wise is for all of us who live, work, travel, or support family around the world. It’s for those of us who want to cut out the middlemen that hold us back from being truly borderless." TransferWise has rebranded as Wise, dropping the money-moving focus of its brand to reflect the wider array of banking products it now provides to customers. The firm now has a customer base of ten million users and offers a deeper suite of services, including a borderless bank account for itinerant professionals. "Today our name catches up with who we’re already building for — a community of people and businesses with multi-currency lives." Read more here.
India is amongst the fastest growing fintech markets in the world according to a new report from RBSA Advisors. The recently released study details the fintech industry in India and examines the future of financial services in the region. Link here.
European tech investor Dr. Klaus Hommels launched a blank-check firm aimed at snapping up a late-stage tech company in the region. Hommels, the founder of venture capital firm Lakestar, is looking to fetch up to 275 million euros ($332 million) for his SPAC, which is called Lakestar SPAC I SE. Link here.
After rising 900% in value across the last year, Bitcoin hit a new record last week, surging beyond $50k for the first time in its history. Crypto’s gone mainstream and, for startup Bitwala, which allows people to invest directly in cryptocurrencies from their bank accounts, it’s meant users increased by nearly 50% across 2020. Link here.
LINE Corp. and Mizuho Financial Group have agreed to increase their investment in LINE Bank Preparatory Co. and to make changes to its management structure as part of creating a new bank in Japan. Link here.
Bottlepay, a payments app bringing real-time global payments in Bitcoin and other currencies, has closed an £11m ($15m) seed funding round. Link here.
Embedded financial services provider HUBUC announces the launch of payment cards underpinned by MOTION CODE™ - a dynamic CVV technology – from IDEMIA, the world leader in Augmented Identity, for online shopping across Europe. Link here.
Mastercard’s Open Banking Connect service is now enabled for credit card holders of Lloyds Banking Group brands: Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Bank itself. Link here.
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to unveil a fast-track fintech visa to attract top tech talent to post-Brexit Britain. Link here.
Netflix has appointed former Uber product head, Ebi Atawodi, as the director of payments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Link here.
This ends my Daily Fintech Newsletter. Let me know if there are any questions or news/insights worth mentioning in the next newsletter. Until the next!
Regards,
Marcel van Oost
marcelvanoost.com
My weekly newsletter
Sign up for my Weekly Digital Banking newsletter on Substack here.
My free daily newsletters
Sign up for my Daily Digital Banking newsletter here.
Co-invest alongside me in the most promising FinTech startups
Join our Angel Investors Syndicate. Link here.
Looking for funding?
If you are a startup looking for funding, sign up here.
Join our group
Do you have and use Telegram? Join our group and get the latest changes to the Fintech industry as they are happening.
Sign up to get my updates first!