Banking Technology Magazine February 2024 issue out now
Cover story: PLANT LIFE – Talking flora and quantum computing.
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Welcome to the February edition of the Banking Technology Magazine, now in its 41st year of existence and going from strength to strength!
The same, it seems, cannot be said for the banking and fintech industry at the moment – as 2024 has started with mass layoff announcements. From the incumbents like Citigroup to the challengers like Brex the workforce trim is in thousands of people (see p7 for more details).
There have also been news of tech firms throwing in the towel. UK-based Paysme, a financial services app for small businesses founded in 2010, has closed down. Founder and CEO Derek Stewart attributed it to the challenges during and post Covid.
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It is joined by another UK hopeful, Kikapay. Established in 2018, it operated an open banking payments platform. Twig, a UK-based circular economy fintech, has entered liquidation, two years after securing $35 million in a Series A and making a number of acquisitions.
In Ireland, PFS Card Services Ireland Ltd (PCSIL) is being liquidated as its business is “no longer commercially viable and sustainable”. Its parent, Australian paytech EML Payments, claims PCSIL, the pre-paid card provider it acquired in 2019, would burn a $13.1 million hole in its pocket during FY24 if the business continued to operate in its current form.
In India, buy now, pay later (BNPL) start-up ZestMoney has gone to DMI Group in a fire sale. Once valued at $450 million, with backers such as Goldman Sachs and Ribbit Capital, it was reported to be on the brink of collapse in December. Reports suggested the potential buyer, Indian payments giant PhonePe, abandoned the deal after due diligence checks. This was followed by the departure of all three original founders of the company.
And the year has just begun… Be sure to check our online news (and sign up for our free daily newsletter) for the latest trials and tribulations – but also success stories! – of the fintech sector.
Click here to read and download the free digital edition of Banking Technology Magazine February 2024
