FCA boosts data strategy with new executive hires
Stephanie Cohen, Jessica Rusu, Sarah Pritchard, and Emily Sheppard all join the watchdog.
Financial Services/Finserv
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.
US credit builder Petal closes $125m debt facility
Petal has closed $440 million in debt and raised $100 million in equity.
Pension builder Vantik signs card partnership with Mastercard
German fintech to issue new debit card for users in 2021.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: AFS – COVID-19 Response by Fintech
An innovative approach to urgently find solution to accommodate the US government’s Payroll Protection Program.
What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 5 | Rising to the top
Featuring Alexandra Boyle, head of strategic client group for Europe at OpenFin.
Report: The power of data analytics in fintech solutions
A deep-dive industry report focused on the priorities and use of data analytics at financial institutions.
Landmark pan-European payment system EPI calls on fintechs for build phase
European payment giants Worldline and Nets became shareholders in the EPI last year.
Western Alliance Bank splashes $1bn on mortgage firm AmeriHome
Arizona bank diversifies its book by branching into mortgages.
US fintech for gamers Zytara signs payments partnership with i2c
The deal follows Zytara’s launching of its own stablecoin.
Tyme lands $110m in Series B funding, plans Asia-Pacific expansion
TymeBank looks to expand beyond its South African headquarters.
You called me
How a company treats you through the recruitment process tells you everything you need to know about its culture.
ACI and Mastercard partner to provide Peruvian real-time payments
Peruvian clearing house CCE is deploying a collection of systems from the two companies.
Penta Bank raises €7.5m in extended Series B funding round
German challenger bank brings total raised this round to €30 million.
Moneycorp hires Barclays exec Tarashev as new CFO
His final role at the UK bank was as CFO of its private banking operations.
BBVA deploys Google Cloud security analytics platform
Spanish bank is first in Europe to implement Google Cloud’s Chronicle
US corporate card provider Brex applies for banking licence in Utah
SVB’s former chief digital officer Bruce Wallace will head up Brex Bank.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: BTB – Best Use of IT in Private Banking/Wealth Management
BTB’s business model has brought annual average returns of 7% in the last seven years with low defaults.
Barclays to close Pingit after 10 years’ service
Long-serving payments app to be shut down by major UK bank.
UK chancellor’s new visa scheme to attract fintech talent post-Brexit
Sunak wants to prioritise the UK’s £7 billion fintech sector.
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.”
TransferWise rebrands as Wise to push platform capabilities
It’s dropping the first part of its name in a bid to underpin its expansion as a platform player.
Aviva breaks into cash savings market with help of German fintech Raisin
Savings accounts via partner banks offer interest rates of up to 0.64% AER.
Bank of Queensland splashes $1bn to challenge Big Four with ME Bank purchase
Australian lender seeks to make up ground on country’s largest lender.
Alpha Bank finalises €10.8bn loan portfolio sale
US fund Davidson Kempner takes on largest portfolio sale of its kind in Greece.
Fintech funding deals globally 15-21 February 2021
Featuring Public, Webull, Blockchain, GoCardless, and Personetics.
Fintech funding round-up: SeedFi, Libeo, Ember and Finch Capital
A round-up of some of the recent investments in fintech, paytech and tax tech firms.
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.
Oraan CEO: Women in finance weren’t welcomed in Pakistan
Oraan’s research found that savings – particularly for women – just wasn’t tapped into.
Vanquis signs credit building partnership with Loqbox
Loqbox to help Vanquis customers unable to get credit cards.
Capital Group hires Marta Zarraga as new CIO
Zarraga has 25 years of industry experience at firms like Aviva, Vodafone and BT.
NBA star Russel Westbrook leads $63m investment in Varo Bank
Westbrook also joins the bank as an advisor on communities of colour.
UK Black-owned challenger Atmen to launch in March
The start-up is now looking to raise £5 million from institutional investors.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: UBS – Best Use of Cloud
How UBS’s innovative hub helped 60,000 work remotely with virtually no downtime during the pandemic.
B2B financial software marketplaces: the bridge to market transformation
B2B financial software marketplaces connect players across the breadth of an industry.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 19 February 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
ICYMI funding round-up: FlexxPay, Raqamyah, and JustUs
A trio of funding rounds that may have passed you by last week.
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.
