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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Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched its Crypto app in the European Union (EU), allowing eligible customers to engage in crypto trading with the added incentive of earning Bitcoin rewards. Customers stand to receive up to 1 BTC as a reward when signing up and can earn an additional 1 BTC for each successful referral. The platform claims to be the sole custodial crypto platform in the EU offering customers a percentage of their trading volume back every month, paid in Bitcoin.
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More Stories on FinTech
Digital Assets: Stripe Returns To Crypto With A Focus On Business Solutions
Stripe CEO John Collison announced in a tweet last week that the company was back in the crypto arena and supporting crypto businesses including exchanges, on-ramps, wallets, and NFT marketplaces. “Not just pay-ins but payouts, KYC and identity verification, fraud prevention, and lots more,” he added.
FinTech: India’s PayTM Engulfed In A Maelstrom Of Bad News
PayTM (NSE: PAYTM), the Indian fintech, made waves with its November listing of shares issued at INR 2150. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder, was in joyful tears at the conclusion of the IPO. In the four months since, the IPO the stock has been on a one-way ticket downhill, and today it gapped down at the open and closed at an all-time low.
FinTech: Lloyds To Acquire Stake In Loyalty App Bink
Lloyds Banking Group (LON: LLOY), Britain’s biggest mortgage provider, will acquire a minority stake in loyalty app Bink, according to a report by Sky News for an undisclosed amount that may run into millions of pounds. It was also not known how much the transaction valued Bink.
FinTech: Tencent Backs Monzo’s Latest Funding Round, Buys Undisclosed Stake
Monzo, the fast-growing digital challenger bank in the UK, has roped in Tencent Holdings (HKG: 0700) as an investor in its $600 million funding round that had its first close earlier this month. Existing investors Accel and General Catalyst participated in that round, which valued Monzo at $4.5 billion.
FinTech: Cross-Border Remittances Alleviate Poverty; But They Must Be Easier, Cheaper
Worldwide remittances to low and middle income countries (LMICs) of a cumulative $4.7 trillion helped lower the global rate of extreme poverty (defined as people living on less than $1.90 per day) from nearly 36% to 10% during the years 1990-2015. Ruben Salazar Genovez, Global Head of Visa Direct, writes in a blog – The human impact of cross-border remittances – that global, cross-border remittances must be simplified and made cheaper to drive financial inclusion and build wealth where there is poverty.
FinTech: Indian Fintech SaveIN Brings “Pay Later” To Healthcare
Indian fintech SaveIN has launched a “care now pay later” offering in healthcare across the dental, veterinary, optical, dermatology, diagnostics, and physical therapy practices. The service is available offline at over 100 healthcare centers and covers over 300 products and treatments. Users can unlock a credit limit in 60 seconds when at a SaveIN partner physical outlet, and pay for the services availed over time.
Reputation And Trust Platform MetaMap Raises $70M Series B
MetaMap, a company that allows entrepreneurs to engage with customers and talent on the basis of “merits,” announced the close of $70 million Series B funding round led by Tribe Capital, with participation from Craft Ventures, Alameda Research and Titan Capital, as well as angel investors including Jerry Murdock of Insight Partners.
Venture Capital: iCapital Network Raises $50M At More Than $6B Valuation
iCapital Network, an alternative investment platform having platform assets of over $104 billion, announced its close of a $50 million funding round led by PE firm WestCap. Venture capital firms Apollo Global Management and Temasek also participated in the funding.
FinTech: CFPB Shuts Down Payday Lender LendUp For Unfair Practices
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took fintech and payday lender LendUp to task for repeated deceptive marketing and other fair-lending violations. It imposed a $100,000 penalty, and directed the lender to stop issuing new loans and halt collecting on some outstanding ones.
FinTech: Mastercard And Google Pay Team Up To Offer Tokenized Card Payments In India
Through a tie-up between Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and Google Pay for tokenized card services, Google Pay users can now pay safely through Mastercard debit and credit cards. G-Pay users can also use tap-to-pay at POS terminals and online, as well as make in-app purchases through the Mastercard cards.
Digital Assets: Manasquan Bank Enables Crypto Transactions Via Bakkt
Manasquan is a New Jersey-based mutual community bank established in 1874, currently having assets of $2.7 billion. Manasquan Bank will soon allow its clients to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through its mobile banking app via an arrangement with digital asset platform Bakkt Holdings (NYSE: BKKT). Bakkt’s platform allows banks to easily integrate a crypto…
FinTech: Indian Fintech Razorpay Offers Instant Settlements To Amazon Sellers
Razorpay, the fast-growing Indian fintech, announced Razorpay Instant Settlements, a facility designed to ease working capital woes for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) sellers by paying out digital settlements within 10 seconds at any time of the day, even holidays.
FinTech: Rocket Companies Buys Personal Finance App Truebill For $1.275B
Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) announced today its acquisition of Truebill, the personal finance app, for $1.275 billion in cash. The deal will bring Truebill’s 2.5 million members as potential clients to the Rocket platform, and add $100 million in annual recurring revenue to Rocket’s $1.3 billion of annualized servicing fee income.
FinTech: “Instalments By Barclays” Available To Amazon UK Customers Effective Today
British bank Barclays (LON: BARC) announced today a tie-up with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) offering a pay-later option to the e-commerce giant’s customers in the UK. The new flexible payment method, dubbed “Instalments by Barclays,” is available to finance purchases of £100 or more on amazon.co.uk through a reusable credit account from Barclays.
FinTech: Deal-Making In The LatAm Payments Space
The Latin American fintech industry saw two acquisitions this week, one each in Chile and Brazil. Santiago, Chile-based Mercado Libre (NASDAQ: MELI), a POS market player in Latin America, acquired Redelcom. In Brazil, Sao Paulo-based, Advent-backed Ebanx acquired Brazil-based international money transfer firm Remessa Online for $229 million.
FinTech: Chime Partners With Walgreens To Allow Free Cash Deposits
“That’s more walk-in locations than you’d have using any bank in the US,” proudly claims Chime in an announcement. Customers can make free cash deposits into their Chime Spending Accounts at any Walgreens (NASDAQ: WBA) outlet.
Venture Capital: Fix-Now-Pay-Later Platform Bumper Snags $12M
London-based, car repair funding platform Bumper has raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Autotech Ventures and which included participation by Porsche Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures fund, and a host of angel investors. The round brought Bumper’s total funding till date to $17.5 million.
FinTech: Circular Economy-Focused Twig Buys Loopster, A Marketplace For Pre-Loved Clothing
London-based fintech Twig describes itself as “the next generation banking, powering the circular economy,” that enables you “to turn your things into cash, instantly.” In a strategic move designed to broaden its offerings, Twig announced Friday its acquisition of Loopster, a marketplace that pays upfront for clean, unwanted clothes. Like Twig, Loopster encourages customers to join the circular economy and close the loop between use and reuse of clothes.
FinTech: Mambu Scores Largest Private Fundraise For A Banking Platform
Mambu is valued at more than $5.3 billion after $266 million Series E raise. SaaS banking platform Mambu raised €235 million (about $266 million) in a Series E round led by EQT Growth that valued the company at €4.9 billion post money (~$5.3 billion). The funding marked the largest ever financing round for a banking…
Venture Capital: Israeli Fintech Tipalti (“I Handled It”) Nabs $270M At $8.3B Valuation
Tipalti, an Israeli startup that automates accounts payables and processes over $30 billion in total annual payments volume, announced a $270 million Series F funding led by G Squared. New investors Marshall Wace and funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), in addition to current investors Zeev Ventures, Durable Capital Partners, 01 Advisors and others also participated in the funding.
FinTech: Digital Neo Bank Monzo Is Closing On A $500M Raise At $4.5B Valuation
British digital bank Monzo has turned around its fortunes this year after a surge in the number of new customers took its user base to 5 million and doubled its revenues this year. The bank has pivoted from a situation in 2020 when its auditors expressed doubts over its ability to continue operating as a going concern. The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Monzo is in the midst of closing a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $4.5 billion – a far cry from February, when it was valued at £1.25 billion.
FinTech: Amex-Backed Kabbage Offers Flexible Funding For Small Businesses
Kabbage, which is backed by American Express (NYSE: AXP), announced Wednesday the launch of its Kabbage Funding product aimed at small businesses looking for funding including for working capital. Eligible small businesses may avail of flexible lines of credit in the range of $1,000 and $150,000.
FinTech: UK Fintech Butter Launches BNPL Card
Butter, the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech based in the UK, has announced the launch of its BNPL card in a bid to take the battle into the courts of the traditional credit card issuers. Credit cards are already on the back foot and BNPL as a payment option has caught on globally. The new BNPL card from Butter is aligned towards brick-and-mortar shoppers, however.
FinTech: Now, Cash Back With BNPL, Thanks To Rakuten-Afterpay Tie-Up
Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) leader Afterpay (ASX: APT) and shopping rewards and cash back program Rakuten have come together to launch BNPL with the added incentive of cash back. Savvy shoppers looking to make this holiday season a bit easier on their budgets can receive elevated incentives along with the convenience of paying in installments.