Fintech funding deals globally 18-24 January 2021
Featuring PPRO, iSTOX, Indy, Mercado Bitcoin, and Brigit.
Financial Services/Finserv
Robinhood hires two execs from US regulator Finra
Former Finra execs Anthony Cavallaro and Josh Drobnyk join the fold.
Chris Brummer in line for CFTC chairman role as Tarbert steps down
President Biden’s reshuffle of regulatory top jobs continues.
Minna Technologies raises €15.5m in Series B funding round
Minna says the investment will be used for global expansion, “with requests from all continents”.
Singapore’s iSTOX lands $50m from heavyweight Japanese backers
n the past decade, global private equity returned 13.2% on average.
DNA Payments Group acquires Active Merchant Services
The deal brings DNA’s customer base up to around 30,000 merchants.
Plaid launches incubator FinRise for fintech founders of colour
The incubator is looking to accept just three-to-five start-ups.
Ten trends set to influence the payments industry
The financial services and payments sectors have a bright future, should these trends continue to develop.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 22 January 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Female-led tax reporting fintech KAWC takes tech into own hands
“We approached male investors, but they were so condescending,” says CEO.
RBI invests in Romanian open banking start-up Finqware
Finqware initiated account aggregation for seven Croatian banks last year.
Tom Blomfield exits Monzo and opens up about mental health
“COVID-19 just exacerbated things,” says Blomfield.
Spectrum Equity invests $51m in OTC firm Quantile Technologies
Spectrum’s MD joins the Quantile board of directors.
VC investment for UK’s female fintech founders up 6% in 2020
Female-led fintechs entered COVID-19 with the longest funding runway of the sector.
Santander hires HSBC’s Rakshit Kapoor as new chief data officer
Kapoor joins after three years at the major international bank.
Three new security strategies for financial services
Continuous compliance remains a challenge because many organisations lack contextual data.
The five p’s of banking
Banks have relied on the “five p’s” – people, physical cash, premises, processes and paper.
FinTech Futures Jobs: new year, new job – five tech companies that are hiring now
Featuring CGI, Cleo AI, Freetrade, Market Finance, and Monzo.
TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin adds payments app
Douyin Pay (Douyin Zhifu) has been added to the app’s options.
Under the hood of London payments platform Currencycloud
Currencycloud talks tech, structure, product development and bank relationships.
Pyypl’s regulation-first approach to MENA starts to pay off
“The options today are mobile money or banks,” says CEO.
Corporate credit card start-up Moss raises €21 million in Series A
Moss wants to change the way companies track expenses.
PPRO reaches $1bn valuation on back of $180m venture raise
Payments infrastructure firm plans “global expansion” with new cash.
Retailer Uniqlo cuts out middlemen with own payments integration
Uniqlo Pay has partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Czech BNPL Twitso nabs €16 million in Series C funding
Investors include Aussie BNPL unicorn Zip.
A thing apart
Teamwork, trust, and support come from a place of pure emotion.
What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 1 | Innovation in commercial lending
Innovation in commercial lending with special guest, Dean Snyder, EVP at AFS.
SME credit fintech Dinie lands dLocal deal one year into Brazil play
Dinie was founded in the UK, made in Germany, and designed for Brazil.
Aion Bank signs payments processing deal with Form3
Form3 to provide real-time payment processing, clearing and settlement.
The end to end benefits of cloud first transformation
Cloud has become a go-to technology for many in the financial services industry.
New York cash advance app Brigit reveals $35m Series A
Brigit’s CEO is a former Deutsche Bank and Infosys executive.
Prospective UK challenger Perenna lands $10m ahead of Q3 launch
The fintech lodged its banking licence in the last quarter of 2020.
SWBC picks Finicity Pay to meet new ACH requirements
Account verification needs a boost under new Nacha rules.
NAB signs SME payments deal with Eedenbull
Eedenbull is providing a handful of systems to the major Aussie bank.
Technology lies at the heart of the ethical banking revolution
We have a collective opportunity to lift our communities out of this dire situation.
UK fintech Just lands court backing to undercut bailiff industry
Currently, Just’s virtual offering is in beta.
Goldman picks Marqeta to power Marcus current account rollout
Marcus plans to launch its new accounts later this year.
Ant sets up working group to overcome Chinese regulatory requirements
Companies like Ant have until November 2021 to register a new financial holding.
Tide gears up for international expansion to India
The fintech says it will bring the exact same offering it has in the UK, to India.
ADQ’s unnamed neobank nabs new CEO from Emirates NBD
Patel joins the upcoming challenger after leading Emirates NBD’s challenger Liv.
