Global FinTech | 2022 #17
Weekly news up to Tuesday, April 26th, 2022
THIS WEEK’S FUNDING NEWS OVERVIEW
REPORT
Find out what are the cryptocurrency regulations by country in Thomson Reuters’ latest report. 👇
👉 Read the full article here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Yonder now offers a credit card *without* needing a credit score.
“With open banking, we’re bringing back fairness and equality to the credit industry. Yapily’s technology and open banking expertise are helping to make that vision a reality.”
👉 Read the full article here.
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💳 MVO - CARD COLLECTION
GoHenry, a neobanking fintech that offers prepaid cards for children aged 6-18, has said it is dumping plastic cards in favour of a biodegradable alternative.
The company made its first leap into the world of non-plastic cards with the launch of an 82 per cent bio-sourced non-petroleum-based polymer designed to break down in six months in May 2020.
👉 Read more here.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
The cost of acquiring and servicing emerging market FinTech customers:
Digital banking and payments FinTechs incur the lowest costs to acquire and serve customers; investechs spend the most.
👉Read the full Tellimer repost here.
📰 ARTICLE
Q1 2022 is now behind us, but while it has been quiet in terms of IPOs due to the market decline, the cross-border payment space has seen a significant number of funding rounds, as well as some landmark M&As.
Find out what were some of Q1 2022’s funding and M&A highlights in cross-border payments.
👉Read the full FXC Intelligence article by Joe Baker here.
💬 INTERVIEW
Mastercard's crypto boss Raj Dhamodharan explains why he's not afraid of the blockchain.
“The most mature one is crypto as an investment asset class. NFTs is the next one. And there are a few other technologies like on the identity side and the DeFi side coming up in different levels of maturity and cycles.”
👉 Read the full Protokol article here.
💡INSIGHTS
Funding Circle founder and ex-CEO launches new payments fintech.
Samir Desai, a co-founder and long-term CEO of Funding Circle has raised a $30m round to launch a new fintech Super Payments.
👉 Read the full article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Fintech Alif is raring to enter Pakistan’s ‘underbanked’ market. Link here.
⭐️ Financial Technology Partners / FT Partners Research released their Q1 2022 FinTech Insights report, providing the most comprehensive review of global FinTech deal activity with analysis across private company financings, IPOs, M&A, and SPAC transactions. Link here.
⭐️ Careem has expanded its presence in the UAE's FinTech sector, rolling out a digital wallet for its Careem Pay service. Link here.
⭐️ African Financial Technology Company changed its name to Nomba as it transitions into an omnichannel payment platform providing tools to enable businesses to grow. Link here.
PAYMENTS
Stripe will allow businesses to pay their users via cryptocurrencies, starting with Twitter. Link here.
After five years leading the business development at open banking provider Yolt and becoming a well-known face in the sector, Leon Muis today announced his departure. Link here.
Wave Digital Finance has been granted an e-money license by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), a central bank serving the 8 francophone West African countries. With this e-money license, the Sequoia- and Y Combinator-backed company can now independently and directly offer its current suite of financial products to customers without the support of third-party banks. Link here.
Businesses using Stripe in Singapore can now accept PayNow as a payment method. Stripe will also allow users outside Singapore to accept PayNow if they set up a Stripe account in the city-state. Link here.
Keyzy gears up for launch with a rent-to-own solution. Keyzy promises hopeful homeowners the ability to “move in now, buy later” with the upcoming launch of its rent-to-own solution. Link here.
NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) has said BHIM UPI is now live on NEOPAY terminals, across the UAE. Link here.
Online pension provider PensionBee released its gender pay gap figures again this year to reveal a just 1.6 percent median gap. Link here.
BNPL
Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) continues to sweep the globe, as Asian omnichannel BNPL platform hoolah partners with global payments software provider Primer to expand its BNPL services to merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Link here.
CRYPTO
Kraken has received a Financial Services Permission (FSP) license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to operate a regulated exchange platform in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Link here.
Russian users are limited from crypto trading as Binance introduces sanctions. The company has issued a notice of “changes of services to users in Russia” detailing that its services will be limited to Russian nationals, persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, with crypto assets in excess of €10,000. Link here.
Investment platform Scalable Capital is expanding further into Europe with its launch in Italy. Link here.
Arf running on stablecoins, announced the upcoming launch of its innovative product, Arf Credit. Link here.
Coinbase (COIN) is launching its long-awaited NFT marketplace with a focus on trying to create a social community for buyers and sellers. Link here.
Monneo has simplified the process of making and receiving online cryptocurrency payments. Link here.
INVESTMENT
A new UK-based fintech, Frost, is set to launch on 4 May, according to a statement from the start-up. Link here.
2C2P and Ant Group announced a strategic partnership to accelerate digital payment adoption and innovation. The partnership, upon completion, will see Ant Group becoming the majority shareholder of 2C2P. Link here.
Robinhood agreed to buy Ziglu, a London-based fintech app that allows users to trade bitcoin. The acquisition will help in its expansion plans in the U.K. and Europe. Link here.
GREEN FINANCE
Finastra teams up with EcoTree to provide a green offering for banks on the journey to net-zero emissions. Link here.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Amazon Payment Services has announced the appointment of Mona Alsemayen as the country head, strategy, and growth for Amazon Payment Services in Saudi Arabia. Link here.
Kippa announces the appointments of Toyin Albert as Executive Director of Payments Services, and Niyi Ajao as an Independent Non-Executive Director within Kippa’s Nigerian subsidiary. Link here.
KodyPay committed to advancing in-person payment acceptance, announces the executive hire of Joao Martins as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Pierre Baigts as Chief Product Officer (CPO). 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.