Video: Top fintech stories this week – 15 May 2020
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Financial Services/Finserv
Westpac discloses AML breaches and due diligence failures
Australian bank has set aside AUD 900 million for an expected fine.
Monzo’s valuation plummets 40% to £1.25bn in latest fundraising
The fintech was valued at £2 billion last June.
Aegean Baltic Bank of Greece selects Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX
The bank picks Wolters Kluwer to meet Basel IV and CRD V requirements.
Commonwealth Credit Union picks Jack Henry to automate lending
The Kentucky-based CU wants to boost its lending capabilities.
Green Dot bags Walmart exec as part of bigger strategic overhaul
The firm also appointed a new CEO in March.
Deutsche Bank appoints Kamran Khan as head of ESG for Asia Pacific
He also served as head of global investments and operations at the US Millennium Challenge Corporation.
MoneyGram and Federal Bank tie up remittance partnership
The partners will offer direct-to-account crediting.
Ghana becomes first African country to introduce universal QR code
Both smart and ‘yam’ phones can pay through QR codes.
Ecosystems evolution
Five focus points on how organisations can coexist and grow in the ecosystem.
NICE Actimize and Infosys extend cybersecurity partnership
Technology firms tie up new collaboration.
Agora Services launches white label teen account for Finastra
Agora’s CEO says the app launch is “related to” the Revolut Junior launch in the UK.
Insurance financer Bexhill UK applies for banking licence
Founded in 2000, Bexhill UK works with roughly 250 brokers.
Diebold Nixdorf’s corporate network hit by ransomware attack
ATM provider detected the attack in April, which is says has been dealt with.
Will COVID-19 drive mortgage transformation up a gear?
The market needs to step up its efforts to better engage borrowers on their mortgage options.
Starling Bank and Funding Circle team up to provide £300m in CBILS loans
The fintechs say the partnership will help more than 4,000 small businesses.
Marcus cuts easy-access saver rate again to 1.05%
On 19 March, the Bank of England cut its base rate to 0.1%.
Singapore launches $4.2m grant scheme for its fintechs
Applications for the grant scheme will open on 18 May 2020.
Niche Global picks Volante to underpin European entry
Hong Kong payments firm plans market expansion with Volante.
Featurespace raises £30 million in venture funding
Anti-fraud company nabs new injection to support growth.
High school jocks living their best lives
Those who feel the place you are offering them into the future is not shiny enough, can and will be left behind.
Aussie fintech Verteva lands $21.4m to digitise home lending market
The start-up is headed up by two former Westpac execs.
Fidor Bank loses O2 mobile banking contract
The contract began back in 2016.
Partnerships to drive industry forward in post-COVID world
The coronavirus pandemic has caused immediate changes to the financial services industry.
Modulr lands £18.9m in growth funding to fuel market expansion
The latest investment takes Modulr’s total funding received to £53.3 million.
Vise lands $14.5m Series A led by Sequoia Capital
“This is one of the biggest markets on Earth,” says Sequoia.
Global fintech sees worst Q1 since 2016 for VC-backed deals
The quarter saw just 404 deals and ended on $6.1 billion.
Addition Financial picks Backbase to provide customer personalisation
The Florida credit union shuns a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Ask the expert: to outsource lead generation or not – that’s the question!
If you are a fintech undertaking lead generation for the first time, where do you start?
Fintech bridges and risk in the UK
These are seen by some to be a post-Brexit policy to ensure that the UK does not lag behind.
Swedish financial regulator picks BearingPoint to boost data analysis
The Financial Supervisory Authority plans to digitise EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA reporting data.
IBM signs payments modernisation deal with 75 Canadian credit unions
Big Blue to outfit Canadian CUs across three provinces.
Thai payments start-up Digio raises $4 million in Series B funding
The round featured Thailand’s interbank payments provider.
Merchant payments fintech Primer raises £3.8m
The newly-launched fintech has secured investment from Balderton Capital.
Fintech Dapi takes on MENA’s scattered open banking landscape
“The region is super scattered,” says co-founder, Mohammed Aziz, regarding open banking regulations.
UBS vies for Chinese digital bank licence
The rules are designed to ease foreign access to China’s financial market.
Swiss private bank Lombard Odier launches fintech strategy
An active portfolio of 50 well-diversified stocks will be put together.
Path Solutions deploys business intelligence solution at Al Baraka Bank Sudan
Sudanese bank implements iMAL*BI solution.
Pandemic forces corporations to balance technology investments on risk and agility
125,000+ staff working remotely, 3m chat messages, 780,000 video & internet calls a day – how did Santander do it?
Citizens Bank taps Teslar Software to improve portfolio management
The Arkansas-based bank turned to Teslar following a recommendation from a compatriot lender.
