Pine Labs acquires digital payments start-up Fave in $45m deal
Indian payments firm snaps up Fave to introduce the latter to India.
Consumer/Personal Finance
Coinbase IPO values hits $99.6bn valuation with shares up 52% on debut
Shares closed below $330, up a lesser 32%.
LA fintech Ensemble is helping divorced parents navigate their kids’ finances
App features range from organising one-off expenses, to saving for college tuition.
Cuba’s only telco ETECSA granted payment provider licence
The firm can now convert customers’ balances into electronic money.
TSB taps ApTap to help customers manage bills
Deal follows trial period featuring 10,000 TSB customers, who saved an average of £150 a year using the service.
Fair CMO Toni Harrison: Oppressors can’t be the underbanked’s saviours
Instead of shrinking, the racial wealth gap has only continued to swell and expand.
Finder snaps up shuttered Singapore fintech GoBear
COVID-19 took a toll on GoBear’s capital reserves and certain financial products.
Dutch personal finance app Paynote goes live with beta
Unlike its rivals, Paynote launches without bank support.
Moneycorp continues exec shake-up with new ex-Vocalink vice chairman
Yates previously headed up Vocalink, the fintech Mastercard bought in 2017.
German challenger pockid targeting Gen Z launches this month
Users can either sign up to Neo Beginner, or Neo Pro.
France’s central bank warns fintech industry of rules when using term “neobank”
The industry has long called out the interchangeable use of the word “neobank”.
Acorns bags second acquisition of 2021 with AI start-up Pillar
Pillar helps students manage loan debt.
Swiss neobank Alpian lands $18m Series B ahead of 2021 launch
The raise comes less than a year after its Series A.
UK fintech TrueLayer lands $70m Series D led by NY investor Addition
TrueLayer claims payment volumes have grown by 600 times in the last 12 months.
Plaid announces $425m Series D with three new investors
“Mobile banking is no longer the realm of start-ups”.
Two UK towns to open all-in-one Banking Hubs pilot stores
The towns are two of nine across the UK to get one.
UK energy provider Octopus launches Moneycoach
It intends to invest £10 million into Moneycoach to scale the offering.
Airtel Africa sells 25% stake in mobile money arm to Mastercard for $100m
Airtel Africa hopes to list the mobile money business as a separate entity.
Clubhouse introduces tipping for content creators with Stripe
The one-year-old start-up has raised around $100 million to date.
WhatsApp Pay finally gets greenlight from Brazil’s central bank
WhatsApp is only allowed to do P2P payments in Brazil.
FTC shutters San Fran fintech Beam for not delivering on 7% interest rate
“Don’t lie about your customers’ ability to get their money when they need it.”
ICYMI funding round-up: Butter, Spiral, SadaPay, OVEX, Ensemble & more
We’ve put together an “In Case You Missed It” (ICYMI) funding list.
Global fintech M&A round-up Q1 2021
Whilst some big deals never closed in Q1, plenty others took their place.
Santander launches Prosper open banking-powered PFM app
Roll-out of Prosper has already started in Denmark.
Ripple snaps up 40% stake in Asian cross-border payments firm Tranglo
Tranglo’s global network spans more than 100 countries.
Box: Insurance isn’t just about premium rates, it’s about the entire user experience process
Vaneet Grewal, Box’s financial services managing director, talks to FinTech Futures.
Digital challenger Minna Bank to launch in Japan by May
Minna will offer both consumer-facing and white labelled products.
Spac led by ex-Commerzbank CEO trading on Amsterdam’s Euronext
The blank-check firm has already sold 41.5 million shares at €10 each.
Major US banks invest $40m in Black-owned challenger Greenwood
Backers include JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and Bank of America.
Challenger Oyster Financial launches credit offering for Mexico’s SMEs
Instant credit will range from $500 to $1,500.
Indian fintech lender KreditBee boosts record Series C with extra $70m
KreditBee’s fresh funding also saw the exit of Finnov’s Chinese investors.
Revolut applies for US banking licence days after Canada exit
Revolut’s US operations are led by banking veteran Ron Oliviera.
Freetrade raising £50m Series B for European expansion
Customers have been waiting years for European expansion.
Dallas fintech Stretch to offer former prison inmates bank accounts
The start-up’s aim is to help America’s formerly incarcerated people transition back into the country’s economy.
Wise considers rare direct listing on London Stock Exchange
This would see Wise circumvent the conventional IPO process.
Australia consults industry on more “sustainable” challenger bank licence
The APRA’s consultation closes at the end of April.
US fintech Sincere to target “pet parents” with debit cards
In 2019, Americans spent $95.7 billion on their pets.
UK fintechs B-North, DIEM, Encompass, and Lumio raise funding
A round-up of recent investments clinched by the UK fintech start-ups.
Wealthtech for asset managers FundSense launches in UK
FundSense licenses the platform on a per-user basis.
Ikigai launches in UK to disrupt the asset percentage pricing model
Ikigai is charging a flat £10-a-month fee to early access users.
