Weekly Fintech Newsletter | 2021 #40
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INTERVIEW
Be sure to check out Sifted’s interview with Nordigen CEO Rolands Mesters, as he weighs in on the three big obstacles standing in open banking’s way.
“Open banking is literally just the pipes that allow the free movement of data,” says Rolands Mesters, CEO of Latvian open banking platform Nordigen, the first European fintech to offer free access to raw open banking data in the hopes of making it more accessible.
“There are loads of use cases that will be unlocked in the future, but they’re locked today because open banking hasn’t been adopted widely enough,” Mesters tells Sifted.
A McKinsey report from June estimates open banking could contribute 1 to 1.5% of Europe’s GDP by 2030. But it also found that only 10% of that value is unlockable today.
👉 Read more here.
FINTECH MAPS
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S FINTECH SPACE
FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
Delivery mobile application 🇨🇴 Rappi wants to get regulatory approval to operate as a digital bank in Colombia in the first quarter of next year, executives said Monday. Link here.
🇺🇸 Cash App became the latest fintech to aim its services at the Gen Z demographic when it announced last week that it would open the app to 13- to 17-year-olds. Link here.
🇺🇸 Apple is making U.S. states foot part of the bill and provide customer support for its plan to turn iPhones into digital identification cards, according to confidential documents obtained by CNBC. Link here.
Africa’s fintech startups are rapidly expanding beyond their host countries’ borders to tap into the anticipated surge in trade and investments with the opening up of the world’s largest single market, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA.) Link here.
The grit, tenacity, and veritable variety of FinTech lessons are bound to place Vijay in the pantheon of the world’s great FinTech entrepreneurs. Link here.
🇧🇷 Nu’s IPO is coming into closer focus after the Brazilian neobank filed privately to list its shares in both the United States and its home market, later releasing a public IPO filing. Link here.
PAYMENTS
🇬🇧 Rapyd, a global Fintech as a Service company, announced a new partnership with consumer shopping app nate, a consumer payments company with social distribution, powered by intelligent automation. Link here.
🇲🇽 Stori announced that it has closed one of the largest Series C equity financing rounds in Latin America to date, accompanied by a debt raise that will be used to fund Stori's rapidly growing credit card portfolio. Link here.
In February, 🇳🇬 Disha, a Nigeria-based platform that allows digital creators to curate, sell digital content, create portfolios, and receive payments from their audience globally, announced that it was closing shop. Link here.
🇺🇸 Flexbase, the automated payment platform for contractors and the construction industry that delivers faster and more efficient payments, announced the first-ever credit card specifically for construction companies, targeting small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Link here.
🇺🇸 DriveWealth, LLC announced a partnership with 🇺🇸 Chipper Cash, the fastest growing African FinTech startup enabling peer-to-peer money transfers and cross-border payments for nearly four million users. Link here.
🇺🇸 Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments, has announced Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank), one of the leading financial institutions in the country, as its newest direct bank account payout partner for inbound money transfers in the Philippines. Link here.
🇦🇺 Airwallex, a global fintech platform, announced at Singapore FinTech Festival that its Singapore entity, 🇸🇬 Airwallex (Singapore) Pte Ltd, has been granted a Major Payment Institution License by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act. Link here.
As part of its 🇬🇧 Meta rebrand, Facebook has renamed its financial services and payments group from F2 to Novi Financial. Link here.
🇧🇷 Zak, an all-in-one management tool that offers digital and financial capabilities to the foodservice market at zero fixed cost, received a cash infusion of $15 million in Series A funding, led by Tiger Global Management, to take its technology mainstream across Brazil into Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Brasília, and Salvador. Link here.
BNPL
It’s not just 🇸🇪 Klarna’s investors and founders profiting from the FinTech’s success — its employees are also cashing in. At least 75 past and present employees own shares in Klarna worth seven figures, according to a Sifted analysis of its shareholder book. Link here.
Also, 🇸🇪 Klarna announced it is expanding its solutions for US consumers and retailers by offering flexible payments for subscriptions, one of the fastest-growing and largest sectors of the Services economy. Link here.
🇺🇸 Affirm said on Wednesday it had expanded its partnership with Amazon and reported quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates, boosted by growth in active consumers and merchants on its buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform. Link here.
Regional payment gateway provider 🇲🇾 iPay88 announced that it has formed a partnership with buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Atome. Link here.
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform 🇦🇺 Afterpay on Wednesday (Nov. 10) announced it has expanded its offering to retailers including Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack, J.Crew, Madewell, American Eagle, Aerie by AEO, Inc., Tillys, Morphe, Alo Yoga, Parachute Home and Le Creuset Signature Boutiques and Outlet Stores. Link here.
Sandeep Malhotra, executive vice president at Mastercard and head of its products and innovation for Asia Pacific, says the firm has the technology to meet any kind of payment situation. Mastercard has announced a new BNPL service that it expects to be marketable today, while building out crypto-related products aimed at growth expected tomorrow. Link here.
As would be expected as 🇺🇸 PayPal posted its latest Q3 results, eCommerce remains a key driver of top and bottom lines and double-digit volume momentum. And in its commentary: no acquisition of Pinterest, but a key tailwind in place with Buy Now, Pay Later offerings. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
🇲🇽 Belvo and Visa have partnered to support the acceleration of Open Finance products and solutions in LatAm, according to the official press release. Link here.
As 🇨🇳 Huawei continues to identify new routes for innovation in the financial services industry, it has announced plans to enable Open Banking services on AppGallery through a new partnership with 🇳🇴 Neonomics – the leading pure API platform provider. Link here.
INSURTECH
The Brazilian insurance innovation ecosystem started to grow in 2016. Large companies in the sector started initiatives to modernize and further develop their corporations, while seeking to change their culture and follow the transformations created and promoted by insurtechs. Link here.
🇺🇸 Lemonade the insurance company powered by AI and social good, and 🇺🇸Metromile, the data science company focused on auto insurance, have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which 🇺🇸Lemonade will acquire 🇺🇸Metromile in an all-stock transaction that implies a fully diluted equity value of approximately $500 million, or just over $200 million net of cash. Link here.
CRYPTO
Brazilian Fintech 🇬🇧 RecargaPay receives approval from the Central Bank to operate an SCD. Link here. London-based fintech 🇬🇧 Mode is a next-gen app for your money and Bitcoin. The fintech announced its partnership with 🇬🇧 Payescape, one of the fastest-growing payroll providers in the UK. Link here.
In partnership with 🇺🇸 Mastercard, three leading cryptocurrency service providers in Asia Pacific will be launching crypto-funded Mastercard payment cards. Link here.
According to early reports, Coinbase is testing out a subscription service known as Coinbase One. Before being released to the general public, the biggest crypto exchange in the US plans to test the new features of the service with a selected number of users. Link here.
In a presentation made during the 🇸🇬 Singapore FinTech Festival, Annerie Vreugdenhil, chief innovation officer of 🇳🇱 ING, announced the firm is working on a trial of its decentralized finance, or DeFi, peer-to-peer lending protocol with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Link here.
INVESTMENTS
Personal finance and investment platform 🇦🇪 Sarwa ثروة has officially launched Sarwa Trade. Link here.
🇺🇸 Circle Internet Financial, LLC announced the launch of Circle Ventures to invest in compelling, early-stage blockchain projects and companies that further Circle's mission to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value. Link here.