Mastercard Launches Cryptographic Debit Card For Self-Managed Wallets In Europe With Mercuryo
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 10th of September 2024.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
The European Central Bank (ECB) welcomes the decision by Seðlabanki Íslands (Central Bank of Iceland) to begin a feasibility assessment to explore the possibility of joining the Eurosystem’s T2 real-time gross settlement system and its TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) retail payment system.
By joining T2 and TIPS, market participants in Iceland will be able to settle payments in central bank money in both euro and Icelandic króna. On behalf of the Eurosystem, the ECB is ready to facilitate this process and continue working with Seðlabanki Íslands during the next steps in the feasibility assessment.
📰 ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
💡INSIGHTS
Three men have pleaded guilty to operating a subscription-based Web service in the UK that enabled criminals to circumvent One-Time-Passcode (OTP) anti-fraud checks. Here is how they did it: Click here
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Kazakhstan's FinTech startups have quadrupled since 2018.
⭐️ Klarna Criticized by FSA Over Risk Assessment, DI Says.
⭐️ Michel Barnier named French PM; Trump taps Musk to help on economics.
⭐️ Mastercard and Visa face £4 billion lawsuit over multilateral interchange fees.
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FINTECH
Aspire Commerce launches Muloot Money. New financial services brand, Muloot Money, co-created by UK banking expert, Adam Rigler, is a simple and powerful solution developed to streamline day-to-day money management and revolutionise international transactions for UK-based businesses and individuals.
Robinhood now offers stock lending for British customers, part of the platform’s ongoing U.K. expansion. Introduced Wednesday (Sept. 4), the offering lets customers lend out any fully paid stock in their portfolio, with Robinhood taking care of finding interested borrowers.
Deliverect and YouLend launch business financing solution for restaurants in Spain to offer revenue-based financing to their thousands of small and medium-sized (SME) customers. This innovative approach provides businesses with direct access to funding right at their point of need.
Froda and Juni, two prominent Swedish FinTech firms, have formed a partnership to advance embedded finance solutions. This collaboration aims to tackle the financing challenges of European SMEs by leveraging Froda’s embedded finance expertise to offer more accessible, scalable solutions.
Ant Group launches AI-powered ‘life assistant’ app Zhixiaobao. As an AI-native application powered by Ant Group’s BaiLing foundation model, Zhixiaobao is designed to make everyday tasks easier through user-friendly interactions. Read more
Funding Circle UK reports solid business performance with focus on profitability. The firm says that they delivered “a solid financial performance, stronger than expectations, and made good progress to simplify the business and deliver profitability as set out in their Full Year Results in March.”
Avaloq rolls out digital asset platform at Zürcher Kantonalban. The Avaloq platform enables digital asset trading, settlement and custody while ensuring that banks can efficiently manage risk, optimize transaction costs and comply with regulations.
FDIC eyeing plan to protect customers from FinTech failures. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to propose a rule requiring banks to maintain ledgers of “for benefit of” accounts opened by third-party FinTechs to track end-user funds, according to sources familiar with the matter.
PAYMENTS
Zilch surges to profitability, surpasses $130M in revenue, and welcomes Mark Wilson to the Board. Zilch has reported its first month of operating profit and a revenue run rate exceeding $130 million (£100 million). These achievements come within four years of launching its innovative consumer payment platform. Read on
UNIPaaS and American Express Partner to Boost B2B Card Payments for SaaS Platforms. The partnership will enable more small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to offer their customers the option of paying invoices with Amex Cards through its platform.
Satispay connects with Stripe. Through this collaboration, selected Italian online merchants using Stripe will be able to accept payments with Satispay and will join the already growing community of more than 350.000 retailers that are powering their day-to-day sales operations with Satispay.
Qliro launches new checkout with SEK 1 million conversion guarantee for new enterprise merchants. As part of the launch, Qliro is offering a time-limited conversion guarantee to new merchants who process more than SEK 10 million per month, reflecting the company's strong belief in the new product.
Stripe-backed FinTech warns of Europe’s over-reliance on US payment systems. Europe should reduce its reliance on US payment systems as the prospect of a Trump presidency increases risks around the critical infrastructure’s resilience, the chief executive of Stripe-backed UK tech group TrueLayer has warned.
OPEN BANKING
Banked selected to support Visa A2A launch, an open system to boost consumer protection with smarter bank transfer payments. Banked will use Visa's A2A platform to facilitate variable recurring payments (VRP), enabling automatic transfers from payer to merchant for seamless one-click or scheduled payments.
Comertbank partners with Salt Edge for PSD2 compliance in Moldova. This collaboration will allow the bank to offer both existing and potential customers an improved experience with its banking products and services.
DIGITAL BANKING
Poland’s BLIK payment system looks to expand abroad with Revolut. Blik, the payment system that has taken Poland by storm, is reportedly working on making its instant payment services available to Revolut’s banking clients in Poland and subsequently roll out its service internationally with the help of the U.K.-based financial platform. Continue reading
CRYPTO
Mastercard has announced the launch of a new crypto debit card in Europe through a partnership with Mercuryo. This innovative card allows users to spend over 40 different cryptocurrencies directly from their self-custodial wallets at more than 100 million merchants across the continent.
Mastercard partners with Mercuryo to launch a euro-denominated crypto debit card, enabling users to spend crypto from self-custodial wallets at over 100 million merchants. Mastercard's collaboration introduces a euro-denominated debit card enabling users to spend cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin from self-custodial wallets.
PARTNERSHIPS
Santander to become an official partner of Formula 1®. The partnership will reinforce the bank’s visibility within its main markets, showcasing the Santander and Openbank brands. Keep reading
DONEDEAL
User data storage startup Medront has raised INR 1.06Cr in a Pre-Seed Round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funds will be allocated to product development, growth efforts, user acquisition, onboarding DAAS clients, and miscellaneous expenses, ensuring efficient user acquisition and strong retention.
UK-based AI investment platform Stratiphy secures £350K pre-seed funding. The funding will enable the startup to accelerate its growth and continue its mission of transforming wealth management through innovative technology.
VC market in Czech Republic is "getting more professional", says Jaroslav Ton, founder and CEO of Malcom Finance. He said: “It is not just about one or two funds anymore like it used to be 10 years ago. Right now, there are plenty of venture capital funds out there. I think that is great news."
M&As
Danish FinTech start-up MyMonii has closed down and has been acquired by new owners, bringing to an end its eight-year stint on the market. CEO and founder Louise Ferslev stated that MyMonii has been given a "second chance" through its acquisition by new owners, whose identities and plans for the company remain undisclosed.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Swiss FinTech Yapeal appoints Michael Eidel as new CEO and secures fresh capital. Eidel brings extensive experience from listed financial institutions and technology companies. He already played a role in shaping Yapeal's strategic realignment over the past year.