FinTech
Digital payments alone could become a $100 trillion industry, according to PwC. And that’s just one component of the global Fintech industry. This channel tackles the lenders and buyers, the obstacles and achievements, and the trends and trend makers leading the ongoing technological evolution in global finance.
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A study by the U.S. Fed found that around half of all non-cash transactions in the U.S. in 2018 were conducted using a debit card. Neo-bank Chime found from its own survey that younger customers tend to prefer to use debit cards. Nearly 67% of the survey respondents from the demographic class known as millennials said debit cards are better for their security and inbuilt cap on overspending. These customers did not want to be saddled with debts that they would struggle to repay. Chime has now introduced the Chime Credit Builder Visa Credit Card, a kind of hybrid between a credit and debit card.
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More Stories on FinTech
FinTech: WhatsApp Overcomes Antitrust Hurdle to its Brazilian Payment Service
CADE, Brazil’s antitrust regulator, has lifted its embargo on the payments service launched recently by WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) in partnership with Brazilian card processor Cielo SA. It said that clarifications provided by the two companies appeared to confirm that their deal does not limit the entry of rivals nor does it reduce consumers’ choice.
Venture Capital: Banking-as-a-Service Provider solarisBank Scores $67.5M
solarisBank raised €60 million ($67.5 million) in a series C round led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, and supported by founding investor yabeo. New investors coming on board are Vulcan Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Storm Ventures. Existing investors who participated included BBVA, SBI Group, ABN AMRO Ventures, Global Brain, Hegus and Lakestar.
FinTech: Facebook’s WhatsApp Talking to Brazilian Regulators for Rollback of Payments Suspension
Reuters reported Thursday that WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) is hoping that Brazil’s central bank may allow it to resume its newly-launched payments service in the country.
WhatsApp said that the central bank was working with Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) to find a way to restore the service. Further, both Facebook and payments processor Cielo SA have made a representation to Cade, the Brazilian anti-trust regulator, to reverse its suspension
FinTech: Zerodha, India’s Largest Discount Broker, Turns Bootstrapped Unicorn
Nithin founded Zerodha in 2010 along with brother Nikhil Kamath to overcome the hurdles he faced during his decade long stint as a trader. Zerodha bootstrapped its way to becoming India’s biggest broker in terms of active retail clients and has just turned ten years old. It’s a suitable occasion to break out the champagne – because it also achieved unicorn status.
FinTech: FinMason Brings Muni Bond Analytics to Wealth Managers
FinMason, which is committed to building the largest analytics engines for financial services platforms, announced Thursday its launch of municipal bond analytics. Previously, the firm launched coverage of the entire global government and the corporate bond universe.
FinTech: Facebook’s WhatsApp Payments Service Hits Regulatory Wall in Brazil
Banco Central Do Brasil (BCB), the Brazilian central bank, has ordered Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to suspend payments transactions through the payments service newly introduced by Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) WhatsApp message application. Brazil’s anti-trust regulator, Cade, also blocked Cielo S.A, the payments processor partnering the WhatsApp events service, from continuing the arrangement.
FinTech: Mastercard Acquires Finicity for $825M
Global payments processor and cards provider Mastercard (NYSE: MA) will pay $825 million to acquire Finicity, a fintech startup specializing in real-time data aggregation and provider of insights. If certain targets are met, Mastercard will pay an additional amount of $160 million. The purchase gives Mastercard technology that will help banks take faster credit decisions and improve account verification processes using Finicity’s platform. It allows access to financial data for businesses and individuals.
FinTech: Global, White-Label, SaaS-on-Cloud Banking Platform Mambu Now on Google Cloud
Mambu, which calls itself the only true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking platform, and the industry leader in cloud banking, has teamed up with Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Cloud. Mambu’s cloud-agnostic banking platform will now be available end-to-end, and around the world, to customers in 50 countries. Expansion into new locations now becomes very easy for Mambu customers.
Digital Assets: Paypal and Subsidiary Venmo May Allow Users To Transact Cryptos
According to a report by Coin Telegraph, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is looking to recruit digital experts such as a Crypto Engineer and a blockchain research engineer. Significantly, the first posting describes the role to include “designing, developing and maintaining key crypto products/features targeted towards availability, performance, and scalability of PayPal services.” These job ads have popped up simultaneously with rumors in the crypto world that payments giant PayPal and digital wallet subsidiary Venmo are about to make a splash in cryptocurrencies.
FinTech: UK-based Checkout.com Lands $150M at a $5.5B Valuation
Checkout.com has done it again. Last year it made waves with its Series A round worth $230 million, gatecrashing the unicorn party with a valuation tag of $2 billion. Today, it followed that up with an announcement of a Series B round, picking up $150 million at a stunning $5.5 billion valuation.
FinTech: The Newly-Launched PayId Global Alliance Will Disrupt Cosy Payments ‘Silos’
Industry leaders across finance, technology and the non-profit sectors have come together to launch PayId, a simplified payment ID process for global remittances. The Open Payments Coalition, an alliance of leading companies such as GoPay, Ripple, Blockchain.com, BitPay, Brave, Flutterwave, Mercy Corps and others, will develop PayId.
FinTech: Investors Beat a $102M Path to Pagaya’s AI-Driven Asset Management
Global fintech Pagaya, which uses artificial intelligence in asset management and institutional investment, notched up $102 million in a Series D round led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. With the latest funding, Pagaya has raised $147 million since its launch in 2016.
FinTech: Credit Sesame Acquires Canadian Neo Bank STACK After Resounding Success of Sesame Cash
In late 2019, Credit Sesame and Canadian challenger bank STACK joined hands to offer Sesame Cash, a checking account service that put users in control of their banking and credit in one place. Since mid-May, when Sesame Cash became available to the general public, more than 200,000 customers signed up in less than a month. Over 62% of Credit Sesame’s 15 million members are interested in the Sesame Cash service. Credit Sesame announced Tuesday its acquisition of STACK.
FinTech: Facebook’s WhatsApp Kicks Off Mobile Payments in Brazil; India to Follow?
WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has launched a facility to make digital payments for users in Brazil. The announcement came Monday on the WhatsApp blog. Users can now send money to other users, or local businesses, from inside a chat.
FinTech: Digital Islamic Investment Platform Wahed Invest Lands $25M
Wahed Invest, a digital Islamic investment platform aimed at Muslim investors with a sharia-compliant offering, has raised $ 25 million. Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures (also known as Wa’ed Ventures) led the round. Existing investors such as BECO, CueBall Capital, Dubai Cultiv8, and Rasameel also participated.
FinTech: Top-Flight Banks Line-up To Invest in H4
A consortium that included JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Barclays (NYSE: BCS), and Linklaters has invested about $27 million in digital documentation start-up H4.
H4, which is headquartered in London, specializes in the creation of legal and compliant documents used by the capital markets. It has approximately 120 employees, including investment bankers, technologists, corporate lawyers, and product designers. Four leading global banks as well as 14 of the world’s leading law firms have successfully utilized H4’s technology.
FinTech: Amazon Launches Credit Line for Small Businesses In Partnership With Goldman Sachs
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has launched a new digital credit line for U.S.-based SMB merchants that sell on its platform. The eCommerce giant will offer the facility in collaboration with Goldman Sachs’ Marcus brand (NYSE: GS), according to exclusive information obtained by CNBC
FinTech: Citi Tackles Abandoned Shopping Carts With Mastercard’s “Click to Pay”
In an Exclusive, PYMNTS.com revealed Tuesday that Citi’s Consumer Bank (NYSE: C) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) were working together to remove the frustration from the checkout process in e-commerce transactions. Shoppers abandoned the transaction at this ultimate stage simply because it was too cumbersome, time-consuming, or required usually-forgotten passwords.
Fintech: Platform for Muslim Investors Raises $25 Million
Wahed, the ethical investment fintech for Muslim investors, announced that it has raised $25 million in venture funding. The proceeds will be used to ensure people can invest their money into a diversified portfolio consisting of stocks, commodities, real estate, and Halal-focused asset ownership certificates known as Sukuk. Wahed Prepares for Mainstream The funding round…
FinTech: Arival Launches Banking Product for “Abnormal” Customers (BETA)
Are you one of the following and struggling to get a bank account? Freelancer, tech startup, crypto or blockchain-related business, e-Residency business, a charity organization, blogger, influencer, expat? Well, worry no more. Digital bank Arival will help you (because the bank reads abnormal as above-normal). Digital bank Arival announced its beta launch on Thursday of an online bank account that caters to the above kinds of abnormal customers that are sometimes shunned by the legacy banking system.
FinTech: Varo, Soon-to-be a National Bank, Scores $241M Fundraise
Challenger bank Varo, raised a further $ 241 million in a series D funding round co-led by existing investor The Rise Fund, and new investor Gallatin Point Capital. Other investors included movie producer Jeff Skoll, HarbourVest Partners, Progressive Insurance and U2 lead singer Bono.
Venture Capital: Fintech and Healthtech Startups To Get a Leg Up From London Stock Exchange and Global Accelerated Ventures
ELITE, the London Stock Exchange Group’s (LON: LSE) international business support platform, and Global Accelerated Ventures have launched a post-Covid-19 fundraising program. It will help fintech and healthtech firms with additional capital needs that may arise after the end of the pandemic.
FinTech: Mastercard Launches Fintech Express for Emerging European Startups
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) announced Tuesday the launch of its Fintech Express, a program to facilitate the launch and expansion of emerging European fintechs through tailor-made solutions.
FinTech: Western Union Is Looking to Acquire MoneyGram International
A Bloomberg report says Western Union has made a takeover offer for MoneyGram.
If the transaction succeeds, the two biggest players in the money transfer business in the US would combine. However, the matter is not yet officially public, and Bloomberg quoted a person who asked not to be identified.