REPORT
On Wednesday, January 18, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament agreed on new Anti-Money Laundering Rules across 27 countries bloc.
These impactful regulations touch various sectors, including the crypto industry, where due diligence measures are now mandated for Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs). Furthermore, football clubs and luxury goods traders find themselves categorized as obliged entities, reflecting a broadening scope of accountability.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Zilch Technology Ltd. is close to becoming profitable and is looking to pursue an initial public offering next year, according to its Chief Executive Officer Philip Belamant.
The British buy-now-pay-later platform expects to turn cashflow positive “within months” and be profitable on a monthly basis as soon as its next financial year, which starts in April, Belamant said in an interview on the sidelines of Citigroup Inc.’s DisrupTech.
💡INSIGHTS
The legislation, which was met with some opposition, aims to restrict both cash and cryptocurrency payments to increase transparency and financial oversight.
The new regulations, which were greenlit by the majority of the EU Parliament’s lead commission on March 19, establish specific limitations on cash transactions. Notably, any cash payment exceeding €10,000 will be prohibited, while anonymous cash transactions above €3,000 will also be outlawed.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Ameetee has raised a $1 million seed round to launch the first B2B FinTech platform.
⭐️ Nsave gets $4M to enable people from unstable economies to open offshore accounts.
⭐️ Snoop partners with Equifax for free credit score service.
⭐️ Ex-chancellor Hammond's FinTech Railsr eyes merger of Equals.
FINTECH
Robinhood launches to UK customers. This is the first step outside the US for the firm, after it shot to global infamy in 2021 as the central player in the so-called meme stock frenzy.
Defacto is now officially the first B2B FinTech lender licensed by the French Banking Supervisor. This key milestone allows them to join the small group of licensed FinTechs, such as Klarna, Younited and Alma, which have also undergone a rigorous evaluation.
FCA hires chief internal auditor who has no audit qualifications. Treasury committee asked to scrutinise the City regulator’s appointment of an insider, as doubts are raised about his ‘objectivity and independence’.
Thredd Announces Expansion Into the United States Card Issuing Processing Market. Thredd has announced its official entry into the United States debit and prepaid card issuing market with long-standing partner, B4B Payments.
Crypto-Friendly Neobank Meld to Launch Tokenized RWAs for Retail Investors. Neobank Meld is going to create tokenized financial products to offer retail investors the opportunity to lend and borrow digital assets against the RWAs.
PAYMENTS
Lloyds Bank and Paypoint have announced they are expanding their existing partnership, with the lender set to become the main processor of card payments for Paypoint’s 60,000-strong network of small businesses and retailers.
UK set for soaring digital wallet adoption. Projections also estimate that digital wallet usage will more than double at UK point-of-sale, rising from 14% to 29% of transaction value over the next three years.
Apple Faces Legal Protest From Meta, Microsoft, X, Spotify and Match. Five Big Tech companies filed legal petitions protesting Apple’s new app store policies related to Payments for services.
ING and Mastercard partner to make payments easier and safer for consumers when shopping online through Click to Play, a simple and intuitive way of paying. Click to Pay is now available on ING´s app and website in Spain and will be rolled out in other European countries later this year.
BLIK, Poland’s most popular payment method, is now implemented in Mangopay. The solution allows users to make instant payments via a mobile banking app and also make online transfers by choosing to pay with BLIK during the ordering process at an online store.
Micropayment and Tink combine for Pay by Bank. Pay by Bank is now live for Micropayment merchants across the DACH region with plans to leverage Tink’s pan-European connectivity even further in the future.
Klarna is now serving more than 600,000 users in Portugal and 2 million users in Spain. Just over two years after entering Portugal, Klarna has a "balance" of 600,000 users and a "coverage" of 3,000 brands (national and international).
CRYPTO
Alexey Pertsev, the Tornado Cash developer who has become a symbol of state overreach on crypto crime, laundered more than $1.2 billion in dirty money, according to an indictment by Dutch prosecutors obtained by DL News.
N26 Crypto Arrives: Broadening Investment Options for French Users. The introduction of N26 Crypto signifies the company's focus on providing accessible and efficient cryptocurrency investment options to its clientele.
DONEDEAL
Solaris SE raises EUR 96 million in funding. Solaris will use the funds to onboard the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club) credit card program, strengthen its core capital and invest in the resilience of its platform.
Bezahl.de receives capital from Paypal. The Cologne-based company behind the Payment platform Bezahl.de, has raised €22 million in funding from investors including PayPal Ventures.
AccessPay secures $24m in funding. This latest round of capital will be instrumental in driving AccessPay’s focus on profitable growth while bolstering its commitment to increasing revenues in a sustainable manner.
Flowpay raises over €2 million to make SME financing more accessible through embedded finance. This newly acquired investment will allow Flowpay to scale beyond the Czech Republic, enhance its technological capabilities and offer its services to a wider range of SMEs.
M&As
Fractible, after only two years of operation, has been acquired by the Irish group Konvi, a leading platform in the fractional investment of luxury assets, boasting over 40,000 users and an international presence.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Crédit Agricole and Worldline announce the launch of their joint-venture and at the first Board meeting, held on 19 March 2024, Laurent Bennet, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole des Savoie, was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors and Meriem Echcherfi was appointed Chief Executive Officer.
Digital bank N26 announced the appointment of Mayur Kamat as its new Chief Product Officer. Mayur has a proven track record leading product teams and building new solutions at some of the world’s biggest technology companies.
Paynetics Appoints Hana Rolles as UK CEO. Hana’s expertise includes managing commercial and product teams while crafting go-to-market strategies for new payment launches in regions spanning Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Finom is set to open an office in Barcelona, Spain, as part of its expansion strategy to become a key player in the European market. The company plans to grow its Barcelona office to 100 employees by the end of the year, seeking talents in backend engineering, data engineering, and customer support.