Global FinTech | 2022 #15
Weekly news up to Tuesday, April 12th, 2022
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Apple doesn't want or need to be a bank to squeeze profit from the booming buy now, pay later trend. Its new payment moves could simply be to strengthen its hold on the vast iPhone user base.
When the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google do anything in the financial space, it’s a common reaction to think that the big techs are engaging in banking. Yes, they are doing banking things, but the purpose is frequently different than simply competing with legacy players.
👉Read the full Financial Brand article by Steve Cocheo here.
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📰 ARTICLE
Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments, and shopping service that helps consumers save time and money, be informed and be in control, revealed the new "Klarna-fied" brand identity of Stocard, one of the world's leading mobile wallet providers that enables consumers to gather all of their loyalty cards virtually in one single place and receive personalized offers.
The rebranding marks the next step of Stocard's integration into the Klarna ecosystem following its successful acquisition by Klarna in July 2021 and opens up the doors for commercial and technological synergies between the two company's offerings.
👉 Read the full Kron4 article here.
💬 INTERVIEW
Block-Afterpay lead at Cash App Anthony Eisen joins Bloomberg TV at U.K. Fintech Week to discuss the buy-now, pay-later boom, navigating the cost of living crisis and the plan for the future after Jack Dorsey's Block acquired Afterpay earlier this year. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: Europe."
👉 Watch the interview here.
💡INSIGHTS
Mobile money is a growing contributor to MTN Nigeria's income, and the new banking licence would allow the company to explore growth opportunities presented by the country's unbanked population.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said granting the final approval to commence the operations of MoMo bank was an "important milestone" for the company's Ambition 2025 strategy unveiled a year ago. Nigeria, the continent's populous nation, is MTN's largest market.
Mobile money is an electronic service that enables users to send and receive money, make payments and perform other transactions using their mobile phones.
👉 Link here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Check out the latest Singapore FinTech map by Fintech News Singapore here.
⭐️ Binance US raised over $200 million in its first external funding round, putting its pre-money valuation at $4.5 billion as it builds out a roadmap for an initial public offering. Link here
⭐️ “This industry will shrink” - Klarna’s CEO on his long-term strategy (it’s not just BNPL). Link here.
⭐️ Adyen, the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, is working with Apple to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone for its U.S. customers later this year. Link here.
⭐️ Uber is driving ahead with its plan to become a travel "superapp". Link here.
PAYMENTS
Egypt’s Paymob, a digital payments service provider for businesses, is expanding to Pakistan as its first international market. Link here.
Swedish fintech, Brite Payments, is set to launch its new ‘one-step’ Single Sign payment option eliminating the use of card input or personal data. Link here.
Paysend, the UK-based fintech with over 6.5 million customers, announces the launch of two new products to help customers improve their financial health: Credit Builder and Pay Later. Link here.
Global fintech platform Airwallex announced the launch of its global Expenses platform, providing a modern solution for businesses to manage their expenses in a fast, seamless, and hassle-free way. Link here.
I2C Inc., a leading provider of digital payment and banking technology, announced its partnership with PingPong, Hangzhou, China-based fintech unicorn providing business owners with modern, cross-border e-commerce payment solutions. Link here.
Designed to empower licensed MSBs all over the world, the soon-to-be-launched Arf Credit emerged as an idea when Arf co-founders noticed that most MSBs had issues with high pre-funding requirements and limited access to working capital. Link here.
BlueSnap, a global payment orchestration platform committed to helping B2B and B2C businesses accept and optimize payments around the world, has launched its Embedded Payments and Payfac-as-a-Service offering for software platforms looking to scale their customer base globally. Link here.
Mollie, one of the fastest-growing payment service providers in Europe, announced its partnership with leading subscription management solution, Recharge, to offer an API-first, end-to-end subscription solution that provides unprecedented support for recurring payments and subscription management. Link here.
Mastercard has completed the acquisition of Dynamic Yield, a Tel Aviv, Israel- and New York City-based provider of a personalization platform and decision engine company. Link here.
Fast is shutting down. It’s a stunning collapse for a FinTech company that had raised $120 million in funding from backers including payments giant Stripe, Index Ventures, and Lee Fixel’s Addition. Link here.
BNPL
Banking API provider outfit Codebase Technologies has launched a white-label BNPL offering for banks, fintechs, lenders, and merchants. Link here.
Meeting concerns over affordability checks in buy now, pay later loans, the UK's Zilch has partnered with Experian to begin reciprocal reporting of credit data. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
SOFORT, Europe’s market leader for online bank transfers, has announced a unique open banking partnership with the instant payment provider, Brite Payments. Link here.
Fintech company Brixo has chosen to partner with freemium open banking platform Nordigen. Brixo is a Swedish fintech company, that allows users to apply for digital credits up to SEK 30,000 (2,750 euros). Link here.
CRYPTO
Venture capitalist Peter Theil has set his sights on an "enemies list" of people he claims are trying to stop bitcoin, including Jamie Dimon and “the sociopathic grandpa from Omaha" Warren Buffett. Link here.
Following a number of not so cryptic tweets from Jack Mallers, CEO of the Bitcoin and payments app Strike, the charismatic founder is expected to announce a partnership between Apple and Strike to enable Bitcoin Lightning payments on the tech giant’s devices. Link here.
News this week of a package of reforms and initiatives in the digital asset space by the UK government came as a surprise to many – particularly as the cost-of-living crisis continues to rage and the uncertainty around regulation of crypto companies continues to build. Link here.
INVESTMENT
Amsterdam-based BUX, a neobroker that specializes in the fields of fintech, mobile apps, investments, stocks, and zero-commission, announced that its clients will be the first in Europe to invest in fractional European ETFs outside of an investment plan. BUX will enable the feature in partnership with ABN AMRO Clearing Bank. Link here.
GREEN FINANCE
CarbonPay, a sustainable fintech platform that offers the planet's most impactful payment cards and makes everyday climate action simpler, announced the launch of its corporate prepaid offering, CarbonPay Business Ctrl. Link here.
REGTECH
ComplyAdvantage, a global data technology company transforming financial crime detection, announced that Upgrade, a FinTech company that offers affordable and responsible credit, mobile banking, and payment products to mainstream consumers, has selected its award-winning Customer Screening and Monitoring and Transaction Risk Management solutions. Link here.
ThetaRay, a leading provider of AI-powered transaction monitoring technology, announced it is partnering with next-gen sanctions screening company Screena. Link here.
REMOTE WORKFORCE
Papaya Global, the global people management platform for the remote working era, and Mesh Payments, a leading provider in corporate payment and spend management, announced a partnership to meet the demand of global and distributed workforces for seamless spend and expense management. Link here.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Plaid has appointed Ripsy Bandourian as its first head of Europe after a period of significant growth for the company across the continent. Bandourian will lead the business strategy and operations for Plaid’s European arm out of Amsterdam as the company continues to grow. Link here.
Real-time payments provider Volt has announced the hire of Matt Komorowski, who previously led PayPal’s channel partnership business across APAC, LATAM, and MEA. Link here.
Varun Paul, the head of the fintech hub at the Bank of England, has said he has left to take up a role at Fireblocks, ending a nearly 14-year stint at the UK central bank. Link here.
Mastercard has brought in Julie Nestor from Manulife to be its new head of marketing and communications and SVP for Asia Pacific. Link here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Having raised on the largest seed rounds in Germany last year, ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) provider Mondu continues to grow with its latest senior hire, Miyu Lee. Link here.
FINTECH MAPS
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.