FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 1 July 2022
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Challenger Bank
Video: SmartStream at Money 20/20 Europe – Levelling the playing field
We chat with SmartStream about how the firm is helping financial institutions keep up with new tech developments.
Aussie challenger Volt to shutter
The firm says it is “closing its deposit-taking business and intends to return its banking licence”.
UNO Digital Bank taps Businessnext to boost customer experience
Businessnext’s automated AI solutions will support the bank’s customer-facing managers.
Sustainable neobank Ashman lands UK banking licence
Birmingham-based firm plans on achieving full regulatory approval before starting operations.
UK neobank Kroo gains full banking licence
Kroo can now offer depositors protection for up to £85,000 through the FSCS.
Lithuania’s SME Bank partners kevin. for A2A e-commerce platform
The new offering is a unified payment infrastructure enabling account-to-account (A2A) payments across the Baltics.
Marygold acquires Tiger Financial & Asset Management for UK expansion
Tiger’s core business is managing clients’ financial wealth across a range of products.
UK challenger bank Recognise appoints Sahil Thapa as CTO
Recognise says Thapa “has the vision and ability to lead the Bank’s technology strategy”.
State of play: Money 20/20 Europe
Fintech analyst Philip Benton recaps key themes and trends at Money 20/20 Europe.
What the FinTech? | S.3 Episode 9 | Smart applications for AI and ML
We are joined by Jethro MacDonald, product manager, artificial intelligence and machine learning at SmartStream.
The Bank of London invests in Belfast and creates over 200 new jobs
The Bank of London says it is making a “multi-million pound” investment in Belfast.
US fintech Wahed Invest to receive $50m in Series B funding
The Series B round will support the start-up’s plans to launch an ethical neobank.
Revolut teams up with Salesforce to help grow business
Revolut says it will make use of Salesforce technology to power Revolut Business operations.
German fintech Upvest raises $42m in Series B round
Upvest says the funds will be used towards building out its investment API, expansion plans and hiring talent.
New banking app Chippit launches in beta in Australia
Founded in May this year, Chippit calls itself a “social banking app”.
Challenger bank for UK SMEs, Allica, secures additional £55m funding
The total funding raised by Allica Bank now stands at £285 million.
New trade finance bank Neotrade launches in the UK
Neotrade provides financing for SMEs using an AI-based scoring system.
Challenger banks Allica and Plazo turn to Mambu for tech
Allica Bank is live with Mambu’s core, while Plazo will use the vendor’s tech to support its lending business.
German neobank Nuri becomes latest firm to announce layoffs
The challenger bank laid off 45 of its employees last month.
The future of fintech and insurtech is DeFi and Web3
Financial institutions must start allowing access to DeFi functionality through their banking and insurance services.
Video: Lead Bank at FinovateSpring 2022 – Digital transformation for community banks
We chat with Josh Rowland of Lead Bank to discuss how community banks can compete in a digital world.
Stephen Lancaster appointed CEO at GB Bank
Lancaster will be responsible for leading GB Bank as it gears up for launch in Q3 2022.
Neobank Kroo lands £26m in Series B funding round
Kroo says it will use the funding to further its growth and development.
Sentinels tapped by Dutch neobank Brand New Day to scale its AML controls
Brand New Day has partnered with Sentinels to build a “future-proof” compliance infrastructure.
Mastercard partners HyperPay to boost digital payments across MENA
As part of the deal, Mastercard has also invested in HyperPay, leading a $40 million funding round.
Webinar: How to keep up with the card payments industry upstarts and capitalise on the opportunities
Lessons from neobanks, start-ups and paytechs to exploit these substantial revenue opportunities.
North America fintech funding round-up: equipifi, PayEngine & Moves
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across North America.
Moneybase partners Compass Plus Technologies for new app and cards
Moneybase has built its new offering on Compass Plus Technologies’ TranzAxis platform.
Finovate Spring 2022: Starling CEO Anne Boden on what big banks can do better
Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden delivered a keynote speech at the Finovate Spring conference in San Francisco.
Europe fintech funding round-up: Findity, Recognise Bank, Moneybox, Circit & Klarpay
Our weekly fintech round-up for you to get the latest funding news from around Europe.
UK challenger Atom hires Andy Sturrock as CTO
Atom Bank’s new CTO wants to take the bank’s technology “to the next level”.
BforBank taps Temenos for Google Cloud-supported future expansion
BforBank is the fully digital banking offering from French international banking group Crédit Agricole.
Brazilian fintech Nomad raises $32m in Series B funding
Nomad previously raised a $20 million Series A round in July 2021.
FinTech Futures Jobs: Changing jobs can boost your bank balance as well as your career
Exciting open vacancies at Monzo, Hazy and Tandem Bank. Apply today!
Oracle FS gains core banking tech clients in Europe and Africa
Oracle FS has landed new-name deals for its Flexcube core banking system in Portugal and Nigeria.
Oracle FS lands two new core banking tech deals in Uzbekistan
Ziraat Bank and a challenger bank will implement a broad range of Oracle FS tech.
UAE neobank Wio hires Salem Al Nuaimi as chair and Jayesh Patel as CEO
The hires at Wio follow the digital bank’s licence approval by the Central Bank of the UAE.
MDI aims to become Egypt’s first fully digital bank
MDI aims to drive financial inclusion within Egypt.
Developer infrastructure bank Column launches to cut middleware bloat
Column is the only nationally chartered developer infrastructure bank in the US.
