FinTech Futures: Top five news stories of the week – 29 March 2024
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring Robinhood, Co-operative Bank, Mastercard, Visa, Ant Group and more.
US merchants reach landmark settlement with Visa and Mastercard to lower swipe fees
US merchants settle lawsuit with Visa and Mastercard
Mastercard and Visa have reached a landmark settlement with merchants in the US that will see credit interchange rates lowered and capped for the next five years.
Law firm Hilliard Shadowen, which represented the merchants involved in the case, says that the settlement “stems from a 2005 lawsuit which alleged that merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard credit cards, and that Visa and Mastercard and their member banks acted in violation of antitrust laws”.
The settlement will see swipe fees lowered and capped until 2030, which Hilliard Shadowen estimates will result in $29.79 billion in savings for US merchants over the next five years.
Robinhood’s Baiju Bhatt departs to “pursue other entrepreneurial interests”
US-based online trading platform Robinhood has announced that its co-founder and chief creative officer (CCO), Baiju Bhatt, is to step down after ten years at the company to “pursue other entrepreneurial interests”.
Bhatt, who also served as co-CEO of the company until November 2020, will remain a member of Robinhood’s board of directors.
Speaking on his departure, Bhatt says that “Robinhood has been my life”, adding that “I will have more to share about my next steps soon but know the future has never been so bright”.
Vlad Tenev, CEO and fellow co-founder of Robinhood, says that Bhatt, who he describes as a friend of over 20 years, has played a “pivotal role in opening access to the markets for millions of new investors”.
UK’s Co-operative Bank to cut 400 jobs as part of cost reduction programme
Co-operative Bank to cut 12% of workforce
The Co-operative Bank in the UK is set to cut around 400 jobs across its business as part of a cost reduction programme.
The Manchester-headquartered bank says a consultation for the proposed job cuts has now commenced, with the action expected to impact 12% of its total workforce.
Effective from 7 May, the move forms part of a broader effort by the bank to “simplify processes, reduce our cost base and make efficiency improvements”.
“The decision has not been made lightly, and the bank will continue to work closely with our trade union and to support impacted colleagues,” the bank says in a statement.
Anext Bank in Singapore reportedly receives another $148m investment from parent company Ant Group
Anext Bank, a digital wholesale bank based in Singapore, has reportedly received another SDG 200 million ($148.5 million) investment from its parent company, Ant Group.
This is according to filings made with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) in Singapore, which were first reported on by DealStreetAsia.
The investment follows a previous $188 million commitment made by Ant Group in March 2023, with DealStreetAsia reporting that the firm has now invested over $500 million in total in the digital wholesale bank.
Anext Bank specialises in providing business and dual-currency deposit accounts to local and regional micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with a strong focus on supporting the growth of clients’ cross-border operations.
Bulgaria’s Paynetics acquires UK neobank Novus
Paynetics acquires Novus
Bulgaria-based embedded finance firm Paynetics has acquired Novus, a B-Corp certified digital bank in the UK, for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2020, Novus, a self-described “impact neobank”, enables users to monitor their carbon footprint and earn cashback for sustainable purchasing choices through its app, where customers can obtain rewards from 130 ethical brand partners.
Paynetics says the deal will enable the firm to “enhance further such offerings while expanding the ESG ecosystem across Europe”, while also helping its clients to advance social and environmental initiatives through the use of its embedded finance solution.
