FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 26 May 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Banking
Crypto app Tap Global appoints David Hunter as chairman
Tap Global aims to reach £4.2 million of revenue by mid-2024.
Why is Apple taking a bite out of banking?
For Apple, maybe banking is just another brick in the wall, not the wall itself.
US banking tech provider Nymbus bags $70m Series D funding
With the funding, Nymbus plans to expand and advance its core banking system, and diversify its product portfolio.
Swedish fintech Qred lands full banking licence
Qred operates an AI-led financing platform to offer loans, credit cards and factoring for small businesses.
Rammis Bank live with iMAL core banking system from Azentio
Phase one of the implementation project at Rammis Bank was completed in 30 days.
Anne Boden to step down as CEO of Starling Bank
Boden will remain on the board as a non-execu director, with COO John Mountain taking over as interim CEO.
UK challenger bank Atom appoints new chairman, Lee Rochford
He will replace Bridget Rosewell when she steps down in September this year.
A radical logical conclusion
If you want to be rescued by the government, then you need to be operating as a public service utility.
US fintech Episode Six secures $48m in Series C funding
The round was led by Avenir, with participation from existing investor Anthos Capital.
US LGBTQ+ neobank Daylight to close down
The final day of Daylight’s banking operations will be 30 June.
FinovateSpring 2023: The top trends shaping the future of financial services
This year’s FinovateSpring conference has put digital transformation and innovation at the top of the agenda.
Digital banking group Tyme lands $77.8m in pre-Series C funding
Existing investor Tencent also increased its stake to become Tyme’s third-largest stakeholder.
Monese to offer “coreless” banking platform through new entity, XYB
XYB is available in the UK and Europe, with plans to also launch in North America and Asia Pacific.
HSBC unveils AI Markets for institutional investors and corporates
AI Markets “has been built from the ground up with user experience in mind”, HSBC says.
Restaurant365 lands $135m funding at unicorn valuation
The round takes the Restaurant365 valuation to over $1 billion.
NatWest buys back shares worth £1.26bn from the UK government
The sale is the sixth block sale of shares since it rescued the bank during the financial crisis of 2008.
Sonata Bank taps Plinqit to help restaurant workers meet savings goals
Through the partnership, Sonata will provide customers with ways to save and plan for future financial needs.
Airbnb taps Stripe to enable bank payments for US customers
The feature will be available for customers with a US bank account.
Sonata Bank aims to boost quick service restaurant employees’ financial health
The challenger has raised more than $20 million in its initial round of funding.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority kickstarts e-HKD retail CBDC pilot
A total of 16 firms have been chosen from across the financial, payments and technology sectors to take part.
American Bank & Trust taps Marstone for digital wealth management offering
With the partnership, the bank aims to retain existing client deposits and attract new retail bank customers.
Singapore’s Whampoa Group selects Bahrain as HQ for new digital bank
Launching end of 2023, the new digital bank aims to support the adoption of digital assets worldwide.
Bank of England reportedly planning to reject Revolut banking licence
The PRA reportedly intended to issue a warning notice to Revolut over its balance sheet.
Meridian Bank taps Corserv to launch business credit card programme
With Corserv, Meridian Bank will be able to offer credit cards with a variety of APRs, rewards and features.
Spain’s CaixaBank partners Google Cloud to drive digitalisation
The partnership will see the bank leverage Google Cloud’s cloud computing, data analytics and AI/ML capabilities.
Low-code AI integration platform AI Squared names Michelle Bonat as new CTO
Bonat will be responsible for software engineering, data science, AI research, IT and product management.
Banking on data
As a coder, I always thought that software was key, but I soon realised the value was really in the data.
Bank of America launches new accelerator programme for fintech start-ups
The programme aims to help entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities scale-up their businesses.
Westpac New Zealand taps Finastra to accelerate ISO 20022 compliance
Finastra says its tech will enable the bank to leverage the benefits of ISO 20022’s data-rich MX messaging format.
North East Small Finance Bank migrates to new core, Turing CBS from M2P
Turing CBS is understood to have replaced FIS’ Profile core banking system at NESFB.
Credit union North Carolina SECU selects NCR for digital banking upgrade
Using NCR Digital Banking, SECU will be able to upgrade its mobile and online banking capabilities.
Standard Chartered partners Worldpay from FIS to expand payment collections offering
With the partnership, the bank aims to expand the footprint of its solution across Asia and other markets.
BKN301 Group taps Finastra for digital payments solution Essence
BKN301 Group’s long term strategy is to bring a BaaS payments solution to corporates in the MENA region.
Of convertibles and agile rituals
With agile, like with most things in life, the lesson is: do it right, or don’t do it at all.
Aussie banks launch new digital platform to stop fraudsters from receiving payments
In its trial phase, the platform cut down the time taken to resolve scam cases by more than half.
Norwegian paytech EedenBull names Eilin Schjetne as CEO
As CEO, Schjetne aims to scale the firm in a bid to make EedenBull Norway’s first fintech unicorn.
German challenger N26 to cut 71 jobs, around 4% of total workforce
N26 says the cuts are a result of the firm “sharpening its focus on its strategic priorities”.
Intapp acquires employee compliance software firm Paragon Data Labs
Intapp says the acquisition will augment its risk management and compliance offering.
Save the Date: FinTech Futures’ 40th Anniversary Summer Party – 6 July 2023
Hear Julie Ashmore-Dann about her journeys to the North and South Poles and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
