REPORT
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Papaya Global makes it possible for companies to manage far-flung employees taking advantage of remote work’s globetrotting possibilities. Founded in 2016, Papaya built momentum during the pandemic, leading to a $250 million Series D that it raised from investors, including Tiger Global Management and Insight Partners in 2021.
Since then, the company has continued building out its platform, which combines payroll and expense reimbursement and enables almost any type of employment in more than 160 countries and currencies (for a monthly fee per employee).
📰 ARTICLE
💡INSIGHTS
It was April 2020 when Sujata Bhatia decided to say goodbye to her 16-year career at American Express.
Within six weeks of leaving the business, Bhatia joined City FinTech Monzo as chief operating officer. Like many changing jobs during the height of the pandemic, she did so without having a single in-person interview.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Italy's Azimut Eyes Partner for Planned FinTech Bank.
⭐️ Core banking provider Vilja enters UK through Mast deal.
⭐️ Montonio names Johan Nord chief revenue officer.
⭐️ Paysend and Currencycloud ink global expansion deal.
FINTECH
UK wealth-building app Belong emerges from stealth. It has created a new low interest ‘Boost loan’ feature, which allows more money to be invested upfront, thus magnifying the effect of compounding over time.
London Stock Exchange eyes crypto ETN listings in late May. Issuers will have until April 15 to submit such proposals if they want to have the securities listed on May 28.
Oaknorth posts jump in profit as challenger bank targets US expansion and mulls public listing. The business-focused bank reported a 23 per cent increase in pretax profit to £187.3m in 2023 from £152.3m in 2022.
Qonto rolls out its in-house financing offer 'Pay later'. This launch is another important milestone for the company, which has so far relied on strategic partnerships to provide financing to its customers.
Currensea hits100k cardholders. The Currensea card saves at least 85% on every overseas transaction by cutting out the normal fees leveraged by banks and other providers.
Juni Moves to Direct Issuing With Mastercard. Juni can now issue Mastercard cards directly to its European customers removing its dependence on third parties and strengthening its existing payments tech stack.
GoCardless eyes profitability in 2025 despite increased losses. Cofounder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi remains positive about the results and says the company is focused on achieving profitability within the next 12-18 months.
PAYMENTS
Riverty and Adyen Partner up to Offer 14-day Invoice Solution in DACH. The partnership between Riverty, part of the Bertelsmann Group, and Adyen provides large scale e-commerce merchants with the expertise of two strong financial companies, both advocates for responsible business and long-term growth.
Worldline first global online payment service provider to be authorised by the Turkish Central Bank for international payments in partnership with Lidio. The strategic partnership will help global online businesses to gain competitive advantage in Turkish expanding e-commerce.
OPEN BANKING
Tink and Payop partner to roll out Pay by Bank across Europe. Payop and Tink are working together on promoting and growing the adoption of this payment method across Europe.
DIGITAL BANKING
Paysend and Currencycloud Sign Major Global Expansion Deal. The deal means that Paysend customers now have access to multicurrency wallets, which let users hold up to 34 currencies in the same app.
CRYPTO
Zero Hash Secures Virtual Asset Service Provider Registrations in both the Netherlands and Poland. Zero Hash has established a local European team and on-shore presence, including compliance staff, in the Netherlands.
With Bitcoin’s upcoming halving in April 2024, financial firms like Robinhood and Revolut are preparing for potential market shifts.
Tempo France claims it is the first FinTech in the money transfers market to suspend classical remittances in order to focus exclusively on decentralised finance (DeFi).
US and UK Probe $20 Billion of Crypto Transfers to Russian Exchange. The payments under scrutiny went through Moscow-based crypto exchange Garantex using the dollar-pegged cryptocurrency Tether.
DONEDEAL
Buy now, pay later on a Porsche? Zaver now has $30M to make it a reality. The company has now closed a $10 million extension to its Series A funding round, bringing its total Series A to $20 million.
M&As
Paynetics Acquires Novus Neobank to Amplify ESG Mission. Through its innovative approach, Novus has upgraded traditional banking by empowering conscious consumers to make a difference while seamlessly integrating financial services with event-driven positive impact initiatives.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Tide appoints George Schmidt UK/Europe CEO. George has played a key role in Tide’s growth in the UK, which now serves over 575,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), more than 10% of the market.