ECB hires Claudia Plattner as new IT director
Plattner is CIO for Deutsche Bahn’s IT provider.
Financial Services/Finserv
Revolut applies for UK banking licence to boost primary account numbers
Fintech unicorn seeks to transition to full bank in the UK.
Fintech funding deals globally 4-10 January 2021
Featuring Grab, Mynt, Divvy, Mambu, and SimpleNexus.
EXCLUSIVE: Oracle wins Flexcube deal with Somalia entrant BB Bank
Upcoming Islamic bank picks Oracle FS to furnish its core operations.
PAYMYNT Financial buys crypto e-wallet LettucePay
LettucePay operates on top of Stellar Network, an open source blockchain platform.
BBVA shutters Simple after paying $117m for it in 2014
The bank is cutting out standalone entities which no longer make sense to operate solo.
UK Treasury calls for input on planned regulation of cryptoassets and stablecoins
UK’s finance ministry says “the landscape has changed” in a short time.
SoFi set to go public via merger with Palihapitiya’s fourth Spac
The IPO will value SoFi at $8.65 billion.
India’s Udaan lands $280m in Series D funding
B2B payments firm reaches total funding of $1.2 billion.
India plans new bank to support $1.5trn infrastructure revamp
Prime minister Modi is expected to announce the news next month.
How FIs can reduce friction and drive value in the payments system
FIs can help clients proactively identify and respond to potential problems.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 08 January 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Central Bank of Ireland urges firms to contact UK banks over Brexit
Creditors with direct debits in place for UK customers may need to provide their bank with additional info.
Mambu raises €110m to hit €1.7bn valuation
Cloud core banking vendor has raised over €150m since launch.
FCA: Thousands of financial firms risk failing as pandemic persists
Payments and e-money firms experienced an 11% decrease in available liquidity.
Standard Chartered goes live on Cobalt brokerage platform
Major bank signed up to Cobalt’s network last year.
CODE Credit Union implements Symitar’s Episys with MDT
The conversion occurred entirely virtually.
Customer service start-up Glia lands $78m to help banks and credit unions
The round was led by Shopify and Checkout.com backer Insight Partners.
Trump bans transactions through Chinese apps including Alipay
The applications have 45 days to prepare for the ban.
Mizuho Americas deploys Fenergo tech for automated client onboarding
Mizuho plans a global rollout of Fenergo systems afterwards.
Orange Bank acquires challenger Anytime to expand SME focus
Anytime to fall under the Orange brand as it looks to scale up for businesses.
N26 finally lands licence to operate in Brazil
The country’s central bank has granted it a SCD licence.
TagPay to boost its systems with €25m investment from Long Arc Capital
New York-based private equity firm takes majority stake in core banking vendor.
JP Morgan in talks with China Merchants Bank over another wealthtech venture
JP Morgan already holds a majority stake in a Chinese venture.
Nets acquires Checkout Finland through Paytrail subsidiary
Nets happy to continue a wave of consolidation across European payments.
Lock up your innovation department
Perfect the art of incremental business improvements in the cheapest and most efficient ways, before the competition.
PayPal investment lands SME fintech Divvy with unicorn status
The start-up announced a $165 million Series D funding round.
AvidXchange acquires TimberScan provider Core Associates
Firm now claims to be largest account payable firm in the construction sector.
Arab Investment Bank picks fresh batch of Temenos solutions
Egypt-based bank adds to existing portfolio of Temenos products.
UK challenger Cashplus buys icount’s current account portfolio
“I remember acquiring our first cardholder,” says icount founder.
HSBC signs multi-year AML partnership with Polish fintech Silent Eight
The bank’s global compliance division will deploy the Silent Eight’s resolution alert system.
San Francisco challenger Oxygen raises $17m in Series A
Runa Capital, S7V, EFG Hermes, and Rucker Park, took part in the investment.
InvestSuite raises €3m in third seed funding round
Wealthtech firm plans to take advantage of a digitising industry.
Fintech funding deals globally 28 Dec 2020-3 Jan 2021
Featuring Mission Lane, Narmi, Finja, CarPay, and ZipLoan.
Israeli remittance fintech Rewire targets one million customers by end of 2021
Rewire currently boasts more than 200,000 European accounts.
Unihomes snaps up Sheffield-based fintech Split the Bills
Unihomes, also based in Sheffield, bundles up university accomodations with bills.
UK challenger B-North raises £250,000 and signs deal with Channel 4
Channel 4 signed an advertising-for-equity deal.
Oxbury plans 2021 launch after fresh £15m injection
Challenger bank for farmers receives investment from Duke of Westminster’s estate.
Tamam to launch Saudi Arabia’s first digital microfinance service
Tanam give green light after 18 months of sandbox testing.
China’s central bank issues Ant Group ultimatum after blocked IPO
The Peoples’ Bank of China wants Ant to overhaul its business or face the consequences.
