Swedish FinTech Open Payments Secures €3M
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 28th of January 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Norwegian FinTech Neonomics has snapped up London-based open banking payments firm Ordo for an undisclosed sum as it looks to accelerate its expansion in the UK.
Neonomics says the acquisition forms part of its strategy to capitalise on the growing adoption of account-to-account (A2A) payments in the region, with Ordo serving as a “strategic partner” to enable the company to “expand its ability to offer services in the UK and beyond”.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Yuno appoints Miguel Duarte Fernandes, as SVP, Head of Growth and Commercial for Europe.
⭐️ Checkout.com achieves 45% growth and sets stage for return to profitability.
⭐️ Mollie announced a partnership with Originem.io.
⭐️ Swedish FinTech Open Payments secures €3M.
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FINTECH
Bank of Ireland shares rise as UK government weighs in on car finance crisis. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has launched a bid to protect motor finance providers from multibillion-pound payouts that could flow from a landmark supreme court case.
Wise: FinTech’s customers surge on back of payment deals boom. Wise said it continued to expect underlying income growth of 15-20 per cent in the full financial year on a constant currency basis, but reported growth is expected to be on the lower end of the range thanks to foreign exchange headwinds.
PAYMENTS
Mollie is introducing Alma, a buy now, pay later leader in France and Belgium. Alma enables businesses to offer their customers a flexible, seamless payment solution while ensuring secure cash flow and maintaining brand integrity. Find out more
BR-DGE partners with Brooklyn Travel to power payments modernisation. BR-DGE will maintain connectivity to its existing payment partners, add new acquiring connections for resilience and transaction routing options and will provide access to new payment methods.
Klarna ordered to halt In-Store Buy-Now-Pay-Later services. The Dutch government has expressed concerns over increasing consumer debt, especially among vulnerable groups like young people. Controversy arose over Adyen and Klarna’s plan to introduce BNPL services to physical retail stores.
IDEMIA launches smartphone enrolment for biometric payment cards. The company aims to deliver to its customers a reliable and convenient enrolment journey. These cards enhance security in the event of loss or theft, reducing the risk of fraudulent contactless payments.
Marqeta powers Trading 212’s expansion into continental Europe. Trading 212 aims to upend the status quo in financial services and democratize access to markets with free and easy to use apps, enabling anyone to start their wealth building journey. Read more
REGTECH
Gemini selects Malta as MiCA Hub. This strategic decision underscores the dedication to enhancing regulatory compliance and European growth. The company received the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Service Licence in Malta in December 2024, and the move will enable it to empower the next era of financial, creative, and personal freedom.
FCA proposes £100 contactless limit removal and calls for SME support legislation. The decision follows the success of digital wallets with biometric logins, which currently bypass the limit. The FCA plans to prioritize SME lending under new powers expected from the Data (Use and Access) Bill.
DIGITAL BANKING
Nubank CEO considers moving domicile to Britain, expanding in US. David Velez said President Donald Trump's new U.S. administration, which has signalled a likely embrace of regulation for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, should create a more favourable environment for Nubank to consider entering that market.
finmid expands SME financing to eight new European markets. The move marks a milestone in the company’s mission to provide scalable, compliant, and efficient cross-border financing solutions. The company provides a platform-powered financing network, enabling software platforms to become personalised and convenient points of finance for SMEs.
HSBC to close international payments app Zing a year after launch. HSBC plans to shut down Zing after struggling to restructure its compliance functions under Project Green, aimed at improving fraud controls, meeting regulations, and aligning with anti-money laundering policies, according to internal documents.
N26 makes trading free for all. The company aims to make investing even more accessible, offering a way to trade Stocks and ETFs without applying transaction, currency conversion, custody or inactivity fees. Its app allows eligible customers to buy and sell fractional shares of more than 4,000 US and European stocks and global ETFs in just a few taps.
CRYPTO
Lunar launches crypto in Norway. Lunar Block allows users to buy and sell digital crypto assets securely and transparently directly through the Lunar app. The launch provides Norwegians with an easy, user-friendly way to explore the crypto world while managing their traditional financial services, all in one place.
Ovoro launched AI-powered crypto trading platform. The startup is said to be the first fully automated crypto investing app, promising simplicity, safety, and transparency in an industry often overshadowed by volatility and scams. This app lets investors track investments in real time, transfer funds, and withdraw anytime.
Sygnum accelerates its expansion with Societe Generale-FORGE’s EURO Stablecoin. This parthership is a key part of Sygnum’s B2B internationalisation strategy as the Sygnum group builds on its network of partner banks in Switzerland to expand further into Europe with the MiCA regulation now in force.
PARTNERSHIPS
Visa strikes multi-year relationship with Disney Europe. The alliance with Disney will bring exciting opportunities for Visa’s customers in the region, including unique benefits and offers across Disney's products and services, access to pre-sales and priority bookings, and invitations to tailor-made events and experiences.
Worldline teams up with Wix to scale commerce and payment solutions. Through this collaboration, Wix merges its platform to create and manage an online presence and commerce tools with Worldline’s integrated payment acceptance enabled by localised acquiring features to equip merchants with an all-in-one solution.
Omnea partners with Thought Machine to transform procurement governance. The partnership allows Thought Machine to consolidate legacy vendors and unify its third-party risk management processes, procurement intake and approvals, and supplier management processes within a single platform.
Metzler Bank and Unique announce innovation partnership. This partnership will enable Metzler to integrate Unique’s state-of-the-art AI solutions into their operations, enhancing their decision-making processes, client engagement, and overall operational efficiency. Continue reading
BUX partners with State Street on bringing SPDR ETFs to EU investors. Through this collaboration, BUX will provide its clients access to SSGA SPDR ETFs as well as educational content on investments, which aims to equip investors with information on a wide range of topics in order to make decisions that better suit their investment needs.
Tandem Bank automates income verification with Sikoia partnership. "This collaboration aims to eliminate administrative burdens, ensure consistent and auditable decision-making, and ultimately enhance the customer experience," founder and CEO of Sikoia said.
DONEDEAL
MoneyHash banks $5.2M. The pre-Series A comes around a year after its last funding, when it announced a $4.5 million seed round in February 2024. In total, MoneyHash has raised over $12 million since Nader Abdelrazik and Mustafa Eid launched the Egyptian FinTech in early 2021.
Karmen secures $9.4 million for its revenue-based financing products. The startup has secured a small funding round so it can improve its instant financing products. The company offers short-term loans to small companies facing a working capital crunch. Read more
Qomodo raises $13.9M to expand BNPL for Italy’s main-street retailers. Qomodo claims to now serve 2,500 physical merchants. The idea is to let small businesses improve their cash flow and increase revenue with a BNPL solution that lets consumers make flexible, interest-free installments on items purchased in-store.
Tapline secures €20 million. This funding enables Tapline to scale its operations, expand its innovative platform, and support the growth of SaaS companies across Europe. It also secured a bespoke debt facility from WinYield to finance its debt portfolio in non-dilutive capital to SaaS and subscription businesses.
Aslan roars to life with £4m seed funding. Its new funding will enable Aslan to augment its rewards offering and expand its workforce. Aslan provides reward cards offering tax-efficient cashback on everyday spending for its clients' employees. Continue reading
Vertice bags $50M for its AI-powered SaaS spend platform. The startup has now raised around $100 million in total, and while it’s not disclosing valuation, sources close to the company said it is around $500 million. This Series C was an up-round, valuing it higher than the “several hundred millions” it was pegged at 12 months ago.
M&As
myPOS acquires Toporder. myPOS says the acquisition will enable the company to expand its presence in the French “retail, food and beverage sectors by providing integrated payment and cash register solutions tailored to streamline operations, improve efficiency and drive growth”.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Brite Payments hires George Parks Davie for Open Banking knowledge. In his new role, Davie will help expand Brite’s product offering across new and existing geographies and, in addition, will lead the newly-created ‘Payments Domain’ within Brite. Read more
Mangrove Capital installs Christopher Horne as CEO at The Bank of London. Catherine Brown, chair of The Bank of London’s UK Board, comments: “Christopher’s appointment reflects our commitment to building a leadership team that embodies excellence and vision. His wealth of experience will be instrumental in driving operational excellence and positioning the bank as a leader in the financial services sector.”
BBVA set to name new internal Chief for Banco Sabadell Deal. The bank has picked Jordi Garcia Bosch as the new head of so-called Integration Office. The team is in charge of coordinating how the bank will merge Sabadell if the takeover bid succeeds, the people added. Continue reading