Weekly Fintech Newsletter | 2021 #22
Hi, there! Welcome back to another Fintech Weekly Newsletter. In this newsletter, I cover all the major weekly news related to the fintech industry. The newsletter begins with recommended articles, reports, and Fintech maps. Thank you for subscribing!
NFTs seem to be everywhere, with people like Gary Vaynerchuk, Mark Cuban, and artists like Grimes getting behind the wheel and driving the hype. NFT stands for non-fungible token. But, what are NFTs?
👉 Read more here.
ARTICLE
Why are open banking companies being acquired? Open banking has led to not just collaboration between FinTechs and banks but also between FinTechs themselves.
Many companies have already been partners with open banking companies in order to access open banking data. The data access improves their services, expands their value proposition, and helps them stay competitive.
👉 Read more here.
ANALYSIS
Venture Capital in Latin America is soaring. Q2 alone almost eclipsed the previous FY historic record of 2019 VC Activity.
👉 Read more here.
PODCAST
The podcast recommendation of the week belongs to episode five of season 2 of Riding Unicorns.
A thrilling episode with guest Matthew Ford, a VC investor at Mouro Capital, which backs ambitious entrepreneurs and start-ups shaping the future of financial services.
👉 Read more here.
FINTECH MAPS
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S FINTECH SPACE
FINTECH SPOTLIGHT
Mexican financial authorities on Monday said that crypto assets are not legal tender in Mexico and are not considered currencies under current laws, warning that financial institutions that operate with them are subject to sanctions.
👉 Read more here.
FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
🇺🇸 Robinhood filed for one of the most anticipated initial public offerings of the year. Link here.
More than 45 million people ages 14 and older in the US will use buy now, pay later (BNPL) services this year, according to this inaugural user forecast for these financing options. Link here.
🇬🇧 Wise appears set to make its stock market debut in London early next month. Link here.
Investing in shares and cryptocurrency is rising in popularity in New Zealand and younger generations are taking it up at an even faster rate. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
🇫🇷 iBanFirst is further enhancing its services with the rollout of new open-banking capabilities. Link here.
🇺🇸 Banq announced the launch of their newest, app store, openbankingusecases.com, as part of the Open Banking Tracker. Link here.
🇩🇰 Pleo has teamed up with Salt Edge, for full compliance with PSD2. Link here.
INVESTMENTS
🇬🇧 Koia, a new investment app, is bringing alternative assets to Europe. Link here.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered 🇺🇸 Robinhood to pay nearly $70 million to settle allegations. Link here.
CRYPTO
🇬🇧 Revolut, has added Polkadot(DOT) cryptocurrency trading to its app. Link here.
Amid increasing rivalry in the payments vertical in Latin America, delivery company 🇨🇴 Rappi is rolling out credit cards for Brazilian users. Link here.
As the 🇬🇧 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently confirmed that more than 2.3 million people in the UK own cryptocurrencies of some kind, it comes as no surprise that another company has been added to the regulator’s crypto-assets register, with London fintech app 🇬🇧 Mode Global Holdings becoming the fifth company to be added. Link here.
🇩🇪 N26 plans to release its trading feature for the beginning of 2022, crypto trading should start at the end of this year. Link here.
Cryptocurrencies' overall market value is up 400 percent over the past year to around $1.4 trillion, and established financial firms have started offering services and trading in them. Link here.
🇺🇸 Rain Management said trading volumes grew 20-fold during the first half of 2021 to more than $1 billion for the first time. Link here.
Germany's financial market watchdog 🇩🇪 BaFin granted the cryptocurrency exchange 🇺🇸Coinbase permission to provide crypto custody services and proprietary trading, the first license it has issued for such business in Germany. Link here
🇳🇬 Naijacrypto, Dash Haiti, and Dash Core Group announced the first cryptocurrency market to launch in Haiti, a country beset with a lack of financial infrastructure. Link here.
PAYMENTS
Loft announced the purchase of 100% of Curitiba-based fintech CredPago, a leader in rentals without collateral in Brazil. Link here.
🇩🇪 OneFor has launched a cross-border money transfer and payments app aimed at migrant workers in Europe. Link here.
🇵🇪 Máximo has, with the support of 🇺🇸 Mastercard, launched “Máximo Teens” in the Peruvian market. Link here.
🇺🇸 Mastercard and Bahrain-based Eazy Financial Services B.S.C are working together to equip small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and micro-merchants with online payment technologies and access to financial services. Link here.
🇩🇰 MobilePay, 🇺🇸 Pivo and 🇳🇴 Vipps are joining forces to create a single payments app with a combined user base of 11 million consumers across Finland, Denmark and Norway. Link here.
🇺🇸 Credit Sesame announced a new credit building technology through its digital banking service, Sesame Cash, that allows consumers to use their cash to establish and build credit quickly and rewards them with cash when they do. Link here.
🇱🇺 SnapSwap International S.A. selected Banking Circle to deliver faster and lower-cost payments for its customers. Link here.
🇺🇸 Mastercard announced new support for small and medium-sized businesses in partnership with fintech platform upSWOT and travel booking app FinalPrice. Link here
Carbon announced a strategic five-year partnership with Visa. Link here.
BNPL
🇺🇸 Citi is planning to disrupt Australia’s buy now pay later (BNPL) players with the launch of its own offering. Link here.
🇸🇪 Klarna selected the business finance platform 🇬🇧Liberis to support its merchant clients. Link here.
🇺🇸 Splitit announced a partnership with tabby, the leading Middle East Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider. Link here.
FUNDING
🇫🇷 Bling announced it closed a seed round to grow its team and further develop its platform. Link here.
🇺🇸 Ripple has joined a $13 million funding round in 🇸🇬 Mintable. Link here.
🇮🇹 Young Platform has raised €3.5 million in a new funding round. Link here.
🇺🇸 Donut announced the closing of $2 million in a new funding round. Link here.
🇺🇸 Deserve announced it has raised a $50 million Series D funding round. Link here.
🇬🇭 Zeepay Ghana Limited announced the completion of a USD7.9 million Series A.0 funding. Link here.
🇩🇰 Pleo raised $150m at a $1.7B valuation, giving Denmark its eighth unicorn. Link here.
🇺🇸 Kikoff is launching this week with $42.5 million of funding in the bag. Link here.
🇦🇺 Qpay secured $1.15 million through an equity crowdfunding campaign. Link here.
Telcoin closed US$10 million in pre-series A equity financing. Link here.
🇺🇸 Imburse has raised €10 million to expand beyond Europe to the USA. Link here.
Riyadh-based fintech 🇸🇦 Tweeq | طويق raised an undisclosed amount of money in an investment round led by STV and Raed Ventures. Link here.
🇨🇭neon has raised five million CHF (£3.9 million) in a crowd investing drive that lasted less than an hour. Link here.
🇮🇳 slice raised $20 million in a new financing round and is adding new features. Link here.
🇧🇷 MercadoBitcoin raised $200 million USD from the SoftBank Group Corp. Latin America Fund. Link here.
🇨🇦 CAARY Capital raised C$4.1 million in a latte-seed equity round. Link here.
🇺🇸 Karat Financial announced a $26 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures with participation from GGV Capital and SignalFire. Link here.
🇸🇬 Gotrade (YC S19) raised $7 million in a seed round. Link here.
FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
Venture capital is pouring into fintech, with $105.3 billion invested across 2,861 deals in 2020 and two firms are taking things into their own hands. Link here.
🇺🇸 FinTech Acquisition Corp. VI announced the completion of its initial public offering of 25,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit. Link here.
🇺🇸 JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to buy OpenInvest. Link here.
🇺🇸 Aspiration announced that Drake has joined a list of Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, and more as an investor of the company. Link here.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS:
🇺🇸 Stash announced Adriel Lares as its new CFO. Link here.
🇸🇪 Qred AB, one of Sweden’s fastest growing companies, has during the past year hired more than 70 people. Link here.
🇬🇧 moneycorp appointed global payments expert Francesco Giovanni Ghizzardi as its new Head of Payment Solutions. Link here.
🇳🇱 BUX announced the appointment of Salim Sebbata as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BUX UK. Link here.
This ends my weekly digital fintech newsletter. Thank you for reading to the end! If you liked it, I invite you to like, share and/or leave a comment below. You may find more information regarding my newsletter here.
If there is anything else you think I’m missing, please don’t hesitate to reach out by email at bonjour@marcelvanoost.nl.
Let me know if there are any questions or news/insights worth mentioning in next week's newsletter. Until the next!
Regards,
Marcel van Oost
Follow me on Twitter, Linkedin, and Telegram.
Discover other newsletters by MVO.