Instant payments, BaaS and GenAI: A fintech industry review of 2023
FinTech Futures takes a look back at the key industry developments and trends to emerge over 2023.
Challenger Bank
US neobank Chime appoints Shara Chang as chief compliance officer
Chang brings 15 years of financial services, fintech and consumer protection experience to her new role.
Banking Technology Magazine Dec 2023 / Jan 2024 issue out now
Cover story: THE BEST OF BANKING TECH – Winners and pictures from an amazing night.
Monzo co-founder Jonas Templestein departs after nine years
Templestein shared a letter he sent to his co-workers announcing his departure last week.
Italian competition authority interrupts migration of 2.4m Intesa Sanpaolo accounts to Isybank
The watchdog says more than 5,000 of Intesa Sanpaolo’s own customers sought its intervention.
UK challenger Aldermore Bank enters strategic partnership with Mambu
Aldermore joins 18 regulated UK banks and 22 non-bank lenders and EMIs which run on Mambu.
ASR Nederland explores sale of digital bank Knab
ASR first acquired the brand in July this year after buying up Aegon’s domestic operations in the Netherlands.
Funding Circle and Atom Bank to provide an additional £150m in financing to UK SMEs
The third such partnership between the two firms takes Atom’s total lending with Funding Circle up to £800m.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 24 November 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Scottish challenger Alba Bank taps nCino to power SME lending
The SME-focused challenger landed its UK banking licence with the FCA and PRA in March.
Google parent company Alphabet in talks to seize major stake in UK challenger Monzo
Monzo could close its latest round of funding before the end of the year as it eyes up a potential IPO.
WeLab launches Bank Saqu as its second digital bank in Asia
The newly launched digital bank aims to target the younger generations, with a focus on solopreneurs in Indonesia.
Regulators should greenlight more M&A among banks and fintechs to avoid bankruptcies
Consolidation and M&As can create an environment where dynamic regional banking ecosystems can flourish.
Demystify Podcast: Demystifying embedded banking success with Chris Dean and Chris Tremont
Grasshopper and Treasury Prime are thriving at a time when so many neobanks and BaaS providers are struggling.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 10 November 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
FCA calls for “robust frameworks” to detect fraud and support victims
The regulator recently reviewed how firms tackle fraud and handle complaints from customers.
OakNorth taps Coconut founder Sam O’Connor to lead business banking unit
O’Connor joined the bank five months ago following GoSimpleTax’s acquisition of Coconut.
UK challenger Monument Bank completes £40m Series B raise, eyes more funding
Dubai Investments has acquired an additional 7.68% equity stake in the bank.
CFPB targets US fintech firms with proposals for increased regulatory scope
The proposals will target 17 companies who control 88% of the market share.
N26 to cease operations in Brazil within the next two months
The challenger bank wants to focus its efforts on its “core markets”, namely Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
Monzo hires Brolly founder Phoebe Chibuzo Hugh to lead its “charge into insurance”
Hugh founded digital insurance platform Brolly in 2016, which was acquired by Direct Line Group in 2020.
ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Funding Societies, Fero, Kroo and Zilch
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across the globe.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 3 November 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
UK agriculture-focused challenger Oxbury Bank lands £100m from British Business Bank
Oxbury Bank provides flexible lending and asset finance solutions specifically for the needs of farming businesses.
Walking the talk with composable banking
Composable architecture creates real flexibility for banks looking to make changes to their cores.
Atom Bank on track for balance sheet growth following £100m equity raise
The bank’s “long-term” shareholders, BBVA, Toscafund and Infinity Investment Partners, participated in the raise.
Revolut appoints former Molo chief Francesca Carlesi as new UK CEO
Carlesi will lead Revolut NewCo UK, the entity that has applied for the fintech’s UK banking licence.
Israel’s One Zero digital bank seeks to raise up to $100m led by Deutsche Bank
The start-up plans to use some of the funding to fuel its expansion across Europe.
Kuwait Finance House launches new youth-focused digital bank Tam
Tam offers a digital savings account, prepaid cards, student allowance management and local transfer services.
US fintech for older Americans, Charlie, secures $23m Series A
The funding round includes $16 million in equity and $7 million in debt.
UK challenger Monzo reportedly in talks to sell £300m stake at £3.5bn valuation
According to Sky News, Monzo is in discussions with a number of blue-chip investment funds over a share sale.
Scottish challenger Alba Bank taps ClearBank for SME payment management
With the ClearBank partnership, Alba Bank aims to offer “near real-time payments” to its customers.
Íkualo to launch next month as neobank for Europe’s financially excluded immigrant community
The licensed electronic money institution will be able to onboard new customers with just a passport.
Is this the end of banks as we know them?
Let’s be realistic. “Digital” banking alone is not going to kill off “legacy” or incumbent banks anytime soon.
Puerto Rico’s Arival Bank names Nishi Gupta as chief compliance officer and general counsel
Gupta joins Arival Bank from US-based consumer fintech company Eco, where he served as head of compliance.
UK’s FCA certifies paytech Viva Group as e-money institution
The company describes the licencing as “a significant step forward” for its position in the UK neobanking market.
Scottish challenger Alba Bank to migrate to Mambu’s core banking platform
Alba Bank says the migration will enable it to build products at speed to meet evolving market demands.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 6 October 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Monzo hires former Cash App exec Conor Walsh to lead renewed US expansion push
Walsh previously spent over six years as head of global product at Square’s mobile payment service Cash App.
Revolut reportedly in talks with the UK’s FCA over AML failures
The fintech reportedly allowed funds to be released from accounts which were flagged as suspicious by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
