Thai blockchain start-up Lightnet gains $31.2m in Series A funding
Lightnet plans to dislodge cross-border giants like Swift.
Digital
Exploring the ecommerce World of Asia with Cardpay
FinTech Futures sits down with Robert Ang, Cardpay’s general manager Asia.
Why start-up boards are here to stay
Start-up boards are often overlooked and underappreciated.
PayU nabs controlling stake in PaySense, plans merger with LazyPay
PayU splashes $185 million on new acquisition.
Indian challenger founded by Google Pay execs raises $13.2m
Former Google Pay execs aim to tap into India’s millennial market.
BNY Mellon Markets appoints Paresh Shah as global COO for FX
He joins BNY from HSBC, where he held the role of COO Americas for FX.
Pepper CEO: Banks should provide tools for users’ financial empowerment
Michal Kissos Hertzog speaks to FinTech Futures.
How telco VEON is tapping mobile payments in South and Central Asia
The telco’s off-shoot financial services are fast becoming serious revenue streams.
Three ways fintech can address the gender pay gap
Define inclusion and diversity as two very different things.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 11 January 2020
FinTech Future’s weekly news round-up.
Tencent brings third player UnionPay to China’s mobile payments arena
UnionPay’s QuickPass serves just 240m users, whilst 1.2bn use Tencent’s WeChat.
New challenges due to Open Banking and the benefits of instant payments
APIs are no longer seen as a difficult technical matter, but as a crucial building block.
The Philippines set for first digital-only bank as Tonik gets green light
Tonik Financial will set up the island nation’s first online bank.
Nets acquires Finnish firms Poplatek and Poplapay
Nordic payments group snaps up new firms to boost terminal services.
Signicat appoints new CEO and chairman
Signicat already works with DNB, Allianz and Saxo Bank.
Cautious optimism and a customer-first approach for financial services in the 2020s
Alessandro Tonchia gives his fintech predictions as we enter a new decade.
ATB Financial’s Holbrook steps down as chief transformation officer
He had been at the Canadian firm for nine years.
Fiserv wins two new deals with Wisconsin credit unions Landmark and Verve
Fiserv now powers half of all $1bn credit unions in Wisconsin for core account processing.
Central Bank of the Bahamas pilots digital Sand Dollar
Central bank says digital currency will help solve financial inclusion.
Tandem Bank to charge customers monthly membership fee
The bank will introduce a £5.99 monthly fee in March.
Signicat CEO: The internet has destroyed consumer trust
“On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.”
Saffron Building Society creates new savings app with DPR
Saffron manages more than £1bn in assets and has 90,000 members.
The Messy Middle Manifesto
Everything that matters happens because of those who stick it through the Messy Middle.
Payments app KogoPay crowdfunds £200k and hits £10m valuation
The London and Bangkok-based start-up tallied 281 investors.
Starling Bank eyes 2022 IPO and expects to break even by 2021
Starling CEO: “I didn’t do all of this to sell out to a big bank”
Singapore’s digital bank licence race heats up with 21 bidders
Roughly 50 companies are involved in the bidding.
Bank of England and FCA plot internal data analytics shake-up
UK regulators outline plans to improve their data handling capabilities.
Travelex ordered to pay $3m ransom by cybercriminals
The ailing FX firm is wrestling with a New Year’s ransomware attack.
BNP Paribas extends deal with Temenos
The two are agreeing to work together until 2028.
Financial management app Muse reveals £500k funding target
The fintech launched its app just a few weeks ago.
MyBucks Banking Corporation implements Flexcube core banking system
The new Malawi-based bank also took Oracle Banking Digital Experience for the front-end.
Mitigating network outages in the financial services sector
How poor service levels from IT vendors are reflected in network outages and how to fix it.
White paper: Next-generation acquiring in Mediterranean countries
What merchant acquirers should do to outperform increasing competition from new entrants.
Financing fintech Sezzle blocked from making loans in California
The Minnesota fintech deemed to be making “unregulated loans”.
The California Consumer Privacy Act kicks in
And it doesn’t look like anyone, even the state of California itself, is totally ready.
Sopra Steria completes acquisition of Fidor Solutions
Sopra on the hunt to boost its digital banking product portfolio.
Commerzbank to acquire block of Comdirect shares from Petrus Advisers
Commerzbank will hold over 90% of the shares of Comdirect once it’s completed.
Receipt Bank raises $73m in Series C funding round
Bookkeeping fintech will use funds to boost international growth.
Emirates NBD completes third phase of its core banking systems upgrade
The project sees the roll-out of the new core banking system for Emirates NBD Saudi Arabia.
Tokyo: fintechs welcome!
Japan is keen to turn Tokyo into the number one financial hub in Asia.
