FinTech Futures: Top five news stories of the week – 5 January 2024
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring Tesco Bank, HSBC, Circle, Lloyds and more.
HSBC reportedly enters race to buy Tesco’s banking business
HSBC is reportedly eyeing up Tesco Bank
HSBC is reportedly interested in buying Tesco’s banking arm and has tabled an offer for the business, according to Sky News.
Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group are also believed to be participating in the race, which kicked off in February last year when Sky News first reported Tesco Bank’s interest in exploring a sale, with Goldman Sachs being roped in as an advisor.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tesco Bank employs over 3,500 people and claims to serve more than five million customers in the UK, offering savings accounts, insurance products and credit cards.
It’s not currently known when or how Tesco Bank will induce a sale, or whether it will accept any of the offers tabled. The industry awaits further announcements.
Monese aims to secure fresh funding after recording £30.5m annual loss for 2022
UK fintech Monese is hoping to attract more funding in 2024 after recording a £30.5 million loss over 2022.
In view of the financial results, Monese group founder and CEO, Norris Koppel, says the firm “is reliant on access to sufficient amounts of new funding to finance its current operations and growth plans”.
“The group faces the risk that should such funding not be available, the ability of the group to conduct its operations in their current form will be adversely and potentially severely affected,” Koppel says.
While Monese writes that there is “material uncertainty on the success of raising future fundraising and therefore the going concern status of the company”, Koppel adds that the company’s management believes it will “continue to be successful in obtaining the capital required to meet its future funding needs”.
HSBC unveils new international payments app Zing in the UK
HSBC launches new FX app Zing
HSBC launched its new international payments app Zing in the UK on 3 January 2024.
Zing is a free to download, multi-currency app and debit card that UK residents will be able to use in more than 200 countries and territories. Its target audience includes expats, business and leisure travellers, and international investors.
Features at launch include the ability to hold money in wallets with locked-in rates for up to 10 currencies and a multi-currency debit card with FX sweeping — which allows for currencies in other wallets to be automatically converted in order to complete a transaction at point of sale. Users can also send money across borders in over 30 currencies using local payment methods and Swift.
Banking veteran Helen Bierton leaves Starling Bank for Lloyds
After a five-year tenure with UK challenger Starling Bank, serving most recently as its chief banking officer, Helen Bierton has now joined Lloyds Banking Group as its director of everyday banking.
She previously oversaw Starling Bank’s product and partnership developments, as well as its third-party product marketplace and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering, among other areas. Now at Lloyds, she is expected to head the group’s everyday banking services across all of its divisions, including its provision of current and savings accounts.
A former Olympic archer for Team GB, Bierton says she is “really looking forward to working with my new colleagues across the group, and to working together to continue Helping Britain Prosper”.
Circle secures conditional DASP registration in France, appoints new country head
Circle receives conditional DASP registration in France
Fintech firm Circle has secured a conditional Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) registration from the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF).
Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, CEO and chairman of Circle, describes the registration as “a significant early milestone as we work towards establishing our European regulatory platform”.
As the registration is still conditional, Circle must secure approval as a payment services provider (PSP) or register as a PSP agent in order to kickstart its operation in France. This condition can be met by obtaining an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence, a licence the fintech says it is currently applying for.
To support its expansion endeavours, it also announced that it has appointed payments industry veteran Coralie Billmann as the new head of its French operations, subject to regulatory approval.
