Chase Pay merchant integration officially winds down this month
The Chase Pay button was used by retailers such as Walmart.
Business-to-Business/B2B
UK’s CMA launches consultation into OBIE successor
The CMA asks firms to send in suggestions before 29 March.
Starling raises £272m to land unicorn status with £1.1bn valuation
The capital will boost Starling’s lending, launch Starling in Europe, and underpin M&A.
Xero makes second acquisition in eight months with Planday
Xero plans on closing its latest acquisition in March 2022.
Greensill in crisis as regulators step in to freeze payments
BaFin ordered Greensill’s Bremen-based bank subsidiary to freeze all payments.
ING-backed Countingup lands £9.1m Series A with help of new investor Sage
The fintech has acquired 14,000 customers in the last 12 months.
Orange seeks buyer for loss-making banking unit
Orange’s banking ops in trouble despite an income of €79 million last year.
Square finally launches bank after filing first application in 2017
Previously, Jack Dorsey’s fintech partnered with Celtic Bank for banking products.
Kenyan start-up Powered by People raises $1.5m seed funding
The round was led by Matt Kalish of DraftKings and TBD Angels.
It’s a matter of comms | Episode 2 | Strategy
The corporate comms strategy is the spine that would hold start-ups accountable to their investors.
UK chancellor to reveal £22bn infrastructure bank in 2021 Budget
The bank will offer loans to local authorities at lower rates to support new projects.
Indian start-up Zaggle registers new fintech ZikZuk to offer SMEs credit
In the next two years, ZikZuk intends to take itself across the globe.
Brex raising at $8bn valuation following banking licence application
Tiger Global Management is reportedly backing the round.
Orenda plans BaaS shake-up with heavyweight banking execs at helm
Orenda says it’s as much as an “eighth” of the price of its competitors.
Supporting business leaders during COVID-19
Pressures have taken a toll on businesses and the mental health of their leaders.
Kalifa report says UK’s fintech crown at risk from waiting competitors
To mitigate the risks posed to UK fintechs, the report lists a number of recommendations.
India’s central bank to stop digital platforms from storing card details
It will affect players as large as Amazon, Google, and Flipkart.
Subway standardises its payments over all 42,500 restaurants globally
Subway claims it is one of the first in North America to standardise payments on this scale.
US corporate card provider Brex applies for banking licence in Utah
SVB’s former chief digital officer Bruce Wallace will head up Brex Bank.
AI fintech Earnix becomes Israel’s latest unicorn with “pre-IPO” round
The fintech’s $75 million raise marks its first funding round since 2017.
Russian challenger Tinkoff launches “one-stop shop” checkout product
“Some of our services can be activated within a day.”
Indian challenger Open buys Optobizz, banks another 800,000 SMEs
By the end of this year, Open wants to turn 1.8m into 5m customers.
UK Black-owned challenger Atmen to launch in March
The start-up is now looking to raise £5 million from institutional investors.
B2B financial software marketplaces: the bridge to market transformation
B2B financial software marketplaces connect players across the breadth of an industry.
Newly licensed UK bank Cashplus is raising £50m
It intends to raise the funds from growth investment firms.
Stripe valuation rises to $115bn according to investors
The $115 billion figure is more than threefold its $36 billion valuation.
Low-code fintech OutSystems bags $9.5bn valuation in $150m raise
It claims to tackle the shortage of developers across 22 industries.
Norwegian web browser Opera launches fintech “Dify” in beta
Opera made two fintech-focused acquisitions last year.
Marqeta files for IPO with SEC targeting $10bn valuation
The fintech’s current valuation sits at $4.3 billion.
Dutch unicorn Mollie expands to UK for post-Brexit opportunities
Molllie says it wants to help merchants with European growth post-Brexit.
Yolt Technology Services lands UK PSD2 licence
The fintech will no longer rely on ING’s licence.
UK government unveils digital identity plans based on wallet tech
The government likens a digital identity wallet to a bank card authorising a payment.
HSBC France sale to land this month, AnaCap goes back up against Cerberus
The French unit moved to the shelf back in September 2019.
Neobank hopeful 11Onze to offer Catalans a non-Spanish alternative
The start-up intends to be a true representation of the country’s 7.6m population.
Aussie challenger Cape bags ex-Funding Circle CRO Rahul Pakrashi
Pakrashi says his wants “to get back” to his roots at Cape.
UK challenger OakNorth faces £97m in defaults from ten borrowers
All but two are down to property development loans gone bad.
Introducing “it’s a matter of comms”
Welcome to #itsamatterofcomms! A new bi-weekly vlog!
Fintech funding deals globally 8-14 February 2021
Featuring Fraction, BharatPe, Agibank, Monzo, and Coinsquare.
Swiss start-up Valour recruits former HSBC exec Diana Biggs as CEO
Biggs began working in blockchain back in May 2015.
BNY Mellon to finance crytpo and signs Google Cloud deal
The bank cites “growing client demand for digital assets”.
