Daily Fintech Newsletter | Mar. 12th
Hi!
In case you missed it, please see below today's most relevant fintech news.
Klarna chief executive and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski told the BBC News it upsets him when his company is compared to defunct payday loans firm Wonga. Buy now, pay later services were used by five million people in the UK last year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to be given powers to regulate the sector. Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up To Money programme, Mr Siemiatkowski said: "To me it's slightly surprising to see the concern with buy now, pay later... I'm emotionally upset when I hear comparisons to Wonga. Klarna is very different. We've been fighting the bank establishment for years. I'm surprised to see that there's not a more positive response." Wonga, which collapsed in 2018, was once the UK's biggest payday lender but its practices attracted intense scrutiny. Link here.
SoFi the digital personal finance company, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Golden Pacific Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Golden Pacific Bank. Link here.
The proliferation of fintech services across Africa remains in full swing as investors remain bullish about the opportunities that abound in the sector. Link here.
Nethone, a Machine Learning-based fraud prevention company, and Nissho Electronics Corporation, have announced a business collaboration on delivering cutting-edge online fraud and account takeover detection and prevention solutions in Japan. Link here.
Lydia, one of the fastest-growing financial services super-app in Europe, chooses PayLead, the leader in payment marketing in France. Link here.
WorldRemit, an international money transfer service based out of London, is considering taking its $1.5 billion listings to the US. According to The Telegraph, the FinTech has – in recent weeks – held talks with an unnamed US-based special purpose acquisition company (Spac). This would see WorldRemit merge with the Spac before going public. Link here.
Sustainable investing app tickr has enjoyed meteoric growth during the pandemic, closed a £2.5m funding round, and will now welcome one of Monzo’s founders to its board. 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
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