Daily Fintech Newsletter | Mar. 10th
Hi!
In case you missed it, please see below today's most relevant fintech news.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), one of the world’s largest accounting firms, has accepted its first-ever bitcoin payment for its advisory services. An ever-growing embrace of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology among its clients has seen PwC accept bitcoin as a payment in Hong Kong. According to a Wall Street Journal report, PwC in Hong Kong revealed it is working with a number of startups involved in bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency industry, prompting the firm to accept the world’s most widely-known cryptocurrency. Notably, PwC also confirmed its advent into advising clients about crypto funds and investments, cryptocurrency exchanges, and initial coin offerings – a radically new form of fundraising powered by cryptocurrencies. “This decision helps illustrate how we are embracing new technology and incorporating innovative business models across our full range of services,” said PwC Asia-Pacific chairman Raymund Chao. Link here.
Leading digital payment platform, Wirex, has launched its hotly-anticipated multicurrency Mastercard debit card in the UK and EEA, as well as its new rewards program, X-tras, across the globe. Link here.
Title insurance startup States Title is going public in a $3 billion deal with a blank-check firm, the latest sign of investor interest in companies that digitize the residential real estate industry. Link here.
One of the few industries that have benefited from the COVID-19 crisis is online finance. Around the world, the pandemic has forced consumers to adopt digital banking. Hong Kong’s WeLab, a fintech company founded in 2013, saw users soar by 20% year over year in 2020, bringing its accumulative user base to 50 million. Link here.
A compilation of funding deals across the fintech sector worldwide for the week of 1-7 March 2021. Featuring Klarna, Papaya Global, TaxBit, BeamTechnologies LLC, and Xendit. Link here.
A new consumer lender Fintern has launched to provide loans of up to £5,000 using open banking functionality to customers excluded by banks. Fintern, which received its FCA authorization as a regulated consumer credit lender in February 2021, uses high-frequency transaction data. 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!