FOMO Pay Teams Up With Mastercard to Enable Contactless Card Acceptance Through FOMO SoftPOS
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 12th of November 2024
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
According to Corriere, the new capital injection comes again from the three funds involved in the last major funding round: Addition, Greyhound Capital, and Lightrock. More info here
📰 ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
🎤 PODCAST
In my latest Q&A, Kent Henderson, VP, Product Management at Mangopay, discusses key challenges businesses face in cross-border payments, including hidden fees, FX rate fluctuations, and slow transactions, all of which impact profitability and growth. Dive into our conversation to learn more about his insights and strategies for optimizing cross-border payments.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Block Earnings Show Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin and Banking Ambitions.
⭐️ Caruso and Fidel API Renew Partnership to Enhance Consumer Experience with Innovative Card-Linked Offers.
⭐️ Ebury Expands Its Presence In International Football With C.d. Leganés Sponsorship.
⭐️ Capital.com set to double technology team amid strong growth.
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FINTECH
Germany reinforces sustainable finance leadership with updated Green Bond Framework, supporting its “Twin Bonds” model, offering green and conventional bond options. DZ BANK AG and Deutsche Bank will serve as joint ESG coordinators for the 2025 Framework revision.
Accept Cards introduces cash processing tech for SMEs. The UK payments broker has launched Accept Cash, an innovative cash payments solution to meet SME demand for instant, affordable cash deposits that support cash flow stability. Link here
US-focused AI FinTech Cleo hits $150m ARR and eyes return to the UK. CEO Barney Hussey-Yeo says the company is eyeing a fundraise early next year to fuel its expansion plans, especially its anticipated return to the UK. Click here to learn more
Additiv expands UK presence with new London office, appoints Pierre Dufauret as UK Market Head. These strategic moves underscore additiv’s commitment to strengthening its presence in the UK market and supporting its growth ambitions in the region.
PAYMENTS
FOMO Pay teams up with Mastercard to enable contactless card acceptance through FOMO SoftPOS. The solution provides customers with more payment options while giving merchants greater flexibility and mobility as multiple smartphones can be activated for use as needed.
Sure and Checkout.com partner to improve payments for digital insurance. By partnering with Checkout.com, Sure optimizes authorization rates, strengthens fraud prevention, and increases customer retention with hands-on, performance-focused support.
Thunes and GCash launch innovative, cross-border digital wallet top-up solution. This ground-breaking initiative enables GCash users to top up their wallet balances directly within the app using funds from their U.K. and European bank accounts.
Klarna now available at John Lewis & Partners. The companies are committed to making it easier for customers to manage their budgets with a range of flexible and secure ways to pay. Continue reading
Bluecode introduces contactless NFC payments alongside existing barcode and QR code technology. This will enable users of Bluecode partners, such as issuing banks, to make secure, contactless payments simply by tapping their smartphones at payment terminals.
British FinTech firm Wise posts 55% jump in profit on expanding market share. Revenues at the money transfer platform climbed 19% year-over-year for the period, to £591.9 million, the company reported. Continue reading
Finseta enhances payment security with launch of Confirmation of Payee service powered by tell.money. This service will ensure that payments are directed to the intended recipients promptly and with enhanced security measures to ensure the accuracy of transactions.
GoCardless expands partnership with Big Red Cloud for payment solutions. Big Red Cloud is integrating GoCardless' payment solutions into its platform, enabling users to collect and reconcile recurring payments via Direct Debit, simplifying the process for accountants and SMEs.
Adyen shares slide as payments giant’s transaction volume growth slows. Adyen reported third-quarter net revenue of €498.3 million, marking a 21% YoY increase. Despite strong sales, shares dropped over 6% off the back of a slowdown in transaction volume growth.
EU questions retailers in Visa and Mastercard fee controversy. The European Commission has reportedly launched a probe into whether Mastercard and Visa’s fees are harming merchants. Responses from questionnaires sent to retailers and PSPs could help build an antitrust case, potentially leading to fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue.
DIGITAL BANKING
Big banks denying UK SMEs vital cash as the savings gap grows again. UK SMEs are losing thousands in interest due to low big bank rates. Allica Bank’s Monthly Savings Tracker shows a widening gap, with big banks offering just 1.35%, 3.02% below challenger banks. More on that here
Standard Chartered taps Wise Platform for cross-border payment service upgrade. Through this collaboration, StanChart states that SC Remit customers in Asia and the Middle East can transfer funds internationally in 21 currencies, including EUR, GBP, USD, CAD, SGD, JPY, and HKD, "in seconds."
GSMA and UK Finance team up for API based anti-fraud initiative, offering a ‘collaborative framework’ for UK operators and banks to roll out Scam Signal, delivered via an Application Programmable Interface (API).
Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse lose challenges against EU cartel fines. The companies lost their appeals against EU antitrust regulators, which stated that the cartel operated in the European secondary trading market for U.S.-denominated supra-sovereign, sovereign, and agency (SSA) bonds.
CRYPTO
Bitpanda to deploy Eventus' Validus platform. This move follows Bitpanda's review of its trade surveillance providers, leading to the selection of Eventus to automate the detection and prevention of market abuse, manipulation, and insider trading.
UBS pilots blockchain-based payment system. UBS announced it has successfully piloted its blockchain-based UBS Digital Cash system to enhance cross-border transaction efficiency. The pilot involved transactions with multinational clients and banks, including domestic Swiss and cross-border payments in USD, CHF, EUR, and CNY.
PARTNERSHIPS
Flexys partners with Moneyhub to ‘revolutionise’ collections industry. The partnership leverages Flexys' collections expertise and Moneyhub's Open Banking tech to create a more transparent, efficient, and customer-focused collections process.
Ottu announces strategic partnership with Keyloop to enhance automotive dealers digital payments. The partnership with Keyloop will enhance Ottu's expertise in dealership payment management through an incorporated and secure payment gateway.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Monument Technology grows leadership team with key appointments. Diptesh Mishra has been appointed as CTO and Nick Lawler as CCO. Both executives are two critical hires who each bring market leading capability and experience to Monument Technology’s leadership team.