FinTech Europe | 2023 #15
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 11th of April 2023
Hi There!
Before we dive into this weeks news overview, I would like to shine a light on the ‘Connecting the Dots in Payments’ newsletter that I launched this week together with my friend and fellow FinTech Geek Wouter de Vries.
Many thanks for your support and enjoy this newsletter!
Cheers,
Marcel
WEEKLY FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY
Last week we saw 14 European FinTech deals for a total of 194m€ raised
REPORT
Barclays and Money2020 surveyed hundreds of FinTech business leaders to develop their latest #fintechreport on the state of play in the FinTech sector.
The report reveals what’s driving innovation for the sector, spotlights new technologies and outlines strategies for growth, promoting customer loyalty and attracting new talent.
REPORT
🇩🇪Germany has several card payment systems, most of which are international such as Visa and MasterCard, but there are also local systems such as Girocard.
Girocard is widely used in Germany and is operated by the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, as well as other local systems such as the Sparkassen-Card operated by the German savings banks. Read the complete #fintechreport by NORBr here
REPORT
Check out the The Forrester Wave: Open Banking Intermediaries, Q1 2023 #fintechreport 👇
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Tandem Bank made its first acquisition of 2023 with the takeover of the recently-launched money-sharing app Loop Money.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
At Klarna Kosma, we want to make accessing open banking solutions as smoooth as possible for our potential partners. So, we’ve brought everything you need to start plugging into the power of open banking together in one place.
Whatever stage your business is at, whether it’s:
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🟣 Wanting to play around with our products (for free)
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It’s all here for you 👉
📰 ARTICLE
In March 2022, FinTech Scotland, the independent cluster body, published a strategic FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap, identifying industry priorities for the UK to accelerate its fintech ambition through research and development and targeted innovation.
Now, a year on from publishing the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap, FinTech Scotland announced that it is on track to hit its targets for economic growth.
📰 ARTICLE
Embedded finance is rapidly gaining traction in the financial services industry. It will have a profound impact on the distribution of financial services, hence this article dives deeper into its benefits and applications.
💡INSIGHTS
It’s time to wrap up what happened in the Nordic FinTech and financial industry in March. After a quiet couple of months, March saw a clear rise in the number of funding rounds, with Sweden🇸🇪 leading the pack.
In partnerships, Klarna has hopped on the AI craze and partnered with OpenAI to bring #smoooth shopping to ChatGPT.
WEBINAR
Want to learn more about the disruptive potential of blockchain technology in finance?
Join us on April 12, 2023, at 10 am CEST / 4 pm PST at our upcoming webinar, "Digital Currencies: Unraveling the Future of Finance".
🎤 PODCAST
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Verto acquired a quarter of Silicon Valley Bank customers from Africa and the MENA region.
⭐️ Members of the European Parliament voted in favour of stricter rules to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and evading sanctions in EU.
⭐️ Ryft has just secured its UK Financial Conduct Authority licence.
⭐️ UnitPlus announced seven-figure sum from Martin Zielke, the former CEO of Commerzbank, and Claus Budelmann, the co-owner of Berenberg Bank.
PAYMENTS
Cardstream Group announced the arrival of its significant new white label PayFac-as-a-Service to the market.
Rodeo raised $5m in an investment round led by LocalGlobe.
Mastercard is stepping up its sustainability efforts, vowing to ditch all first-use PVC plastics from its newly produced cards by the beginning of 2028.
Tappy Technologies joined hands with Curve to offer Tappy-enabled payment wearables to Curve’s customers in 31 countries across the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Hahn Air announced the launch of FinMont which uses cloud-native technologies to integrate acquiring banks, payment, fraud, forex, and chargeback providers and offer a fully automated and seamless payment solution.
OPEN BANKING
Moneyhub announced its APIs are now available through the Amazon Web Services marketplace.
DIGITAL BANKING
British Business Bank is supporting an investor readiness programme for Welsh startups, run by Tramshed Tech.
AGAM International and SBK Foundation partnered and launched the first Sharia-based digital microcredit in Bangladesh to provide financial access to unbanked and underserved communities.
Bitpanda Technology Solutions partnered with Mambu to provide financial institutions with a secure way to offer investment options to customers.
CRYPTO
BUX announced that all its BUX Zero customers will receive a 2.01% per annum interest compensation on their uninvested cash balances.
REGTECH
AMLYZE established a new partnership with Skaleet to bolster FinCrime prevention to the new level among financial institutions.
Clausematch signed an agreement with strategy, risk and governance consulting firm Várri Consultancy.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Token GmbH announced the appointment of Dr. Lea Maria Siering as its new Managing Director.
Viva Wallet appointed Dimitris Mavroyiannis as its new group chief operating officer.