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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FinTech: Digital Payments Fired Up By The Pandemic Propel PayPal To Its Strongest Year Ever
PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) had a superlative fourth quarter fueled by the ongoing shift to digital payments following the pandemic. Its total payment volume (TPV), or the value of transactions made across the platform, rose to $277 billion, up 39% from $199.4 billion in the year-earlier period. PayPal beat analysts’ estimates of TPV of $268 billion. Active accounts surged to 377 million after the platform added 16 million in the fourth quarter.
Digital Assets: Visa Launches Crypto Pilot Program With Black-Focused First Boulevard
Visa (NYSE: V) announced today the pilot launch of its new suite of crypto APIs in collaboration with digital neobank First Boulevard. The APIs will enable the bank’s customers, which are predominantly from the Black community, to purchase, custody and trade digital assets.
FinTech: Ant Group Agrees With Regulators To Become A Financial Holding Company
The Ant Group, which had to shelve its $35 billion IPO in November following a scrap with China’s regulators, has agreed with them to restructure its operations. According to Bloomberg, Ant will now house all its operations, including the tech-heavy food delivery and blockchain, in a financial holding company. This company will be subject to capital requirements akin to banks.
FinTech: Robinhood Rides Gamestop Tumult To $3.4B Debt Financing
In a sprint to gain scale after the Gamestop (NYSE: GME) episode showed the massive adoption of trading by retail investors, Robinhood raised $3.4 billion from top-notch investors. The firm, which charges no commissions, said it intended to “fuel record customer growth.”
FinTech: Brazilian Fintech Nubank Pulls In $400M At Massive $25B Valuation
Nubank, the Brazilian fintech bank that promised to serve the country’s vastly underbanked population has delivered. The bank now has 34 million customers today, and that number is more than three times its 2019 base of 12 million. After the latest G Round funding of $400 million, Nubank is valued at a solid $25 billion.
Alternative Investments: BMO Launches 11 New ‘Megatrend’ ETFs
BMO announced Tuesday the launch of 11 new Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Five of these ETFs form part of an Innovation suite, while the other six focus on clean energy, covered calls, fixed income, and ESG.
FinTech: Stilt, The Loan Provider To Immigrants, Raises $100M Debt
Stilt provides loans and financial services to immigrants and people underserved by the banking system. The five-year old startup announced Wednesday its raise of $100 million as a warehouse lending facility from Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB). With this loan, Stilt has raised in aggregate $225 million of loans for onward lending to its customers.
FinTech: Infinity Maritime Names Four Shipbrokers For Its Alternative Ship Finance Platform
Infinity Maritime aims to provide a sustainable solution for maritime finance by digitizing ship portfolios on its platform. This enables fractional ownership, secondary trading in ships, and the financing of environmentally sustainable fleets. The London-based platform announced Wednesday a collaboration with four major shipbrokers to source ships for the creation of a sustainable fleet.
FinTech: Kamath’s Rainmatter VC Incubator Mulling Alternative Investment Fund
Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, who achieved fame and fortune by bootstrapping Zerodha, India’s first discount broker, to unicorn status, is setting up a fund for investing in fintechs. Rainmatter, Kamath’s VC arm, is considering the launch of an Alternate Investment Fund that would be open to Gulf investors, and as well invest in startups in that region.
FinTech: MoneyGram Offers Money Transfers In Real-Time In Europe
Moneygram’s (NASDAQ: MGI) highly successful cross-border transfer service from the United States using Visa (NYSE: V) Direct, which launched in 2019, is now rolling out in Europe. Customers in 25 European countries can now use Moneygram’s website or mobile app to transfer funds instantly to Visa debit cards.
FinTech: China Tightens Antitrust Regulatory Screws On Fintechs
The People’s Bank of China published a draft set of rules on Wednesday for anti-trust regulation of the non-bank payment providers in the fintech sector. The draft is in the public opinion domain until February 19.
FinTech: TransferWise Appoints Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley For IPO
According to an exclusive report by Sky News, Wall Street investment banks Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) will lead the floatation of Transferwise’s IPO in London.
FinTech: Jack Ma is Back! Alibaba Stock Soars 8.52% In Hong Kong
Fears that Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) was missing were laid to rest after he participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event today, January 20.
FinTech: On Rebound From Failed Gojek Merger, Grab Mulls $2B U.S. IPO
Reuters said in an exclusive report on Monday that Southeast Asian ride-hailing, food delivery, and fintech giant Grab was considering a US IPO this year. The news agency quoted three sources familiar with the matter, saying the IPO could be worth as much as $ 2 billion.
FinTech: “Absolutely, We Should Be Scared S—less” – Jamie Dimon On Fintech Threat
On a conference call on Friday, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon made no secret of his apprehensions about the threat from fast-growing fintechs and tech giants across the globe. He was responding to analysts who said that fintechs’ leap-frogging valuations showed their rising ascendancy over traditional banks.
FinTech: Goldman Sachs’ Twin Moves To Advance Consumer Banking Ambitions
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is continuing moves to boost its presence in consumer banking. The Wall Street giant is already the issuer for Apple Cards. Today it announced a multi-year partnership with General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) along with Mastercard (NYSE: MA) for co-branded reward-based credit cards.
FinTech: Warburg Pincus Invests $125M Preferred Equity In LendingPoint
Fintech and loan originating platform LendingPoint today announced an investment by Warburg Pincus of $125 million in preferred equity. With this financing, the fintech has raised over $325 million equity to date.
FinTech: Capitol Riot – Fintechs (And Techs) Hit Back At Trump
Fintechs took the lead in castigating President Trump for egging on a crowd of his supporters to attack and ransack the U.S. Capitol building last week. The horrific incident left five dead. Voices, and actions, from big tech followed with even Republican politicians welcoming the impeachment of Trump.
Venture Capital: Checkout.com Triples Its Valuation…Again
Fintech and online payments firm Checkout.com announced a Series C fundraising of $450 million led by Tiger Global Management. The valuation tag of $15 billion makes Checkout.com Europe’s most valuable fintech startup and the fourth most valuable globally.
FinTech: Walmart Will Partner With Ribbit Capital To Create New Fintech
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced Monday its launch of a new fintech startup to be created jointly with Ribbit Capital, the investment firm whose mantra is innovation in financial services. Ribbit is a backer of renowned fintechs such as Robinhood, Credit Karma, and Affirm. The new venture will deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to Walmart’s customers and associates.
FinTech: How The Pandemic Stifled Use Of Cash In Saudi Arabia
The pandemic triggered a significant shift in the way Saudis used money during 2020. They wholeheartedly embraced online shopping, resulting in a 75% jump in digital payments. On the other hand, cash drawn from ATMs, and its use at payment points, fell sharply by 30%.
FinTech: SaaS Banking Platform Mambu Scores €110 Million In New Capital
After reporting 100% year-on-year growth, SaaS banking platform Mambu announced a new funding round of €110 million. This round was led by TCV, while additional investment was received from Tiger Global and Arena Holdings, as well as existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Runa Capital, and Acton Capital Partners.
FinTech: Green Dot’s New Mobile Bank To Help Financially Challenged Americans
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) announced Wednesday the launch of GO2bank, a new mobile bank that is FDIC-insured. The new bank will address the problems faced by those Americans that have limited financial means. Typically, these families are forced to eke out their lives from one payday to another.
FinTech: European P2P Lending Platform Robo.cash Reports Surge In Loan Offtake
The year 2020 ended with a flourish for European P2P lender Robo.cash. In November, the platform funded € 9.2 million – a monthly record. In December, it chalked up a cumulative lending of € 200 million, the highest total ever.