FinTech Futures: Top five news stories of the week – 5 July 2024
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring Revolut, Project Nexus, the European Payments Initiative, Nationale-Nederlanden and more.
BlackRock to acquire private markets data provider Preqin for $3.2bn
BlackRock to acquire Preqin for $3.2 billion
US asset management firm BlackRock is set to acquire Preqin, a private markets data solutions provider headquartered in the UK, in a $3.2 billion (£2.55 billion) cash deal.
The transaction will merge Preqin’s data and research tools with BlackRock’s portfolio management platform Aladdin and its private markets solution eFront.
This will result in consolidated data, research and investment processes for fund managers and investors across fundraising, deal sourcing, portfolio management, accounting and performance, creating what BlackRock describes as a “preeminent private markets technology and data provider”.
As part of the acquisition, expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approval, Preqin founder Mark O’Hare will also join BlackRock as a vice chair.
Revolut announces record $545m profit for 2023
UK challenger Revolut has published its annual financial report for the year ending 31 December 2023, in which the company reveals it delivered record profits and revenue growth.
The report published this week indicates a 95% year-on-year surge in the challenger’s revenues, from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $2.2 billion in 2023.
This is in addition to a record profit before tax of $545 million, with a net profit of $428 million, signalling a net profit margin of 19% and marking Revolut’s third profitable year in a row.
According to Revolut’s CEO Nik Storonsky, the firm’s “exceptional financial performance” was fuelled by its “diversified business model” and expanding customer base.
BIS readies for live implementation of Project Nexus in Asia
Project Nexus by BIS readies to go live in Asia
Project Nexus, an initiative headed by the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) to enhance cross-border payments by connecting multiple domestic instant payment systems (IPS) globally, has delivered a “comprehensive blueprint” during its third phase of development, readying the way for a live implementation.
The project’s upcoming implementation and roll-out phase is set to engage Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Bank of Thailand, Bank Indonesia (as a special observer), the Reserve Bank of India and select domestic IPS operators.
Together they will work to establish a new entity called the Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO), which will be responsible for the management of Nexus.
EPI launches digital wallet solution Wero in Germany
The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has launched Wero, its digital wallet and instant account-to-account payments solution, with its initial rollout taking place in Germany.
The solution is now available for customers of the German Savings Banks Association (DSVG) and DZ Bank, the central institution of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network in Germany.
This will be followed by a similar launch with Postbank and the retail arm of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, “at the end of summer”.
Further down the timeline, the EPI says it plans to launch Wero in Belgium through bank-insurance group KBC by the end of July, followed by a go-live in France scheduled for either September or October.
These phased launches will lead up to a full-scale launch among the EPI’s member banks, which includes banks from the Netherlands, the UK, Spain and Italy, “within the next six months”.
Dutch insurer Nationale-Nederlanden to launch digital payment accounts in 2025
Nationale-Nederlanden to launch digital payment accounts
Dutch insurance group Nationale-Nederlanden is preparing to launch digital payment accounts in the Netherlands as it looks to further cultivate its financial services operations.
The group is “in the preparation phase of launching payment accounts, including joint accounts and individual accounts” for its retail customers, a spokesperson confirmed in an interview with FinTech Futures this week.
The payment accounts are to be made available exclusively in an app-only capacity, the spokesperson says, with the new offering due to launch “over the course of 2025”.
They describe the proposition as a “natural addition” to the group’s current financial services remit, which has been predominantly supported by its retail banking proposition, NN Bank (powered by Temenos), since its launch in April 2011.
