Is Southeast Europe fertile ground for digital banking challengers?
While the popularity of neobanks has surged in Western Europe, the Southeast remains relatively free of competition.
Financial Services/Finserv
Egypt’s Faisal Islamic Bank taps iGCB to power its digital banking services
The bank will deploy iGCB’s cloud-native CBX Retail (CBX-R) solution.
Lebanese start-up Purpl launches digital wallet offering powered by Mambu
The fintech selected banking tech vendor Mambu to power its products last summer.
Norwegian B2B paytech Two nabs €18m Series A funding
The Series A funding brings the total capital raised by the firm to €28 million.
Eastnets migrates Swift and sanctions screening infrastructure to Microsoft Azure
Eastnets is one of the first Swift bureaus to migrate its full infrastructure for the Americas to the cloud.
Bluestone to sell UK specialist mortgage business to Shawbrook
The deal is expected to close in Q2 2023 and the business will continue to trade under the Bluestone brand.
Al Busairi Bank opts for ICS Banks core banking system
The new microfinance bank will implement the ICS Banks Islamic core banking system from ICSFS.
UBS buys Credit Suisse in government-backed deal
The new business entity will be worth more than $5 trillion, with invested assets worth more than $1.5 trillion.
Vietnamese digital bank TNEX seeks new CEO as Bryan Carroll steps down
Carroll says he will instead take up a position on the company’s board.
Last chance to shine: PayTech Awards 2023 nominations deadline extended
The nominations deadline has been extended to 24 March 2023. Submit today!
India’s PhonePe secures additional $200m from Walmart
The fresh funding forms part of PhonePe’s ongoing fundraise of up to $1 billion in capital.
Central banks of UAE and India partner for cross-border CBDC testing
The central banks will conduct joint proof of concept and pilots of bilateral CBDC cross-border transactions.
How fintech can reshape global trade and the supply chain
Fintech innovations combined with 5G advancements could completely transform the way we conduct trade.
SVB Financial Group files for bankruptcy protection in the US
Subsidiaries SVB Securities and SVB Capital are not included in the filing and continue to operate.
Video: FinovateEurope 2023 highlights
Take a look at our highlights video from FinovateEurope 2023 in London.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 17 March 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Open banking start-up Archie launches to support UK businesses
The firm claims it can enable businesses to streamline their payments and save on transaction fees.
South Africa rolls out PayShap, a new real-time digital payments service
With PayShap, consumers will have access to instant, real-time payments across participating banks.
FinTech Futures Jobs: Did you know learning Python is a great idea for your fintech career?
Explore thousands of open roles on the Fintech Futures Job Board today.
ABN Amro deploys Infosys Finacle’s liquidity management solution for corporates
ABN Amro’s corporate customers can now better identify, manage, and enhance liquidity positions “on the go”.
ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Synctera, Natech, Basiq, Payabli
Our weekly fintech round-up for you to get the latest funding news from around the world.
Loyalty matters… enter embedded banking
Many big brands are now looking at embedded banking as a way to boost customer loyalty.
Dominican Republic’s first neobank launches on Temenos Banking Cloud
Qik’s CEO says they chose Temenos owing to its “successful track record” across Latin America.
Trade finance industry body ITFA sets up fraud prevention working group
The group will be co-chaired by representatives from the banking sector as well as from fintech firm MonetaGo.
UK Spring Budget 2023: the fintech sector reacts
FinTech Futures hears from UK business leaders on how the Spring Budget impacts the fintech sector.
BNP Paribas and Hokodo team up to launch new B2B BNPL offering
The solution will enable large corporates to provide payment alternatives to their business customers.
Swiss start-up Grow Bank aims to bring crypto and fiat currencies under one roof
Grow aims “to link the traditional banking structure with a product of the decentralised finance ecosystem”.
Consumer finance firm JIVF taps OpenWay for credit products platform
This is the first OpenWay installation of its Way4 platform on Oracle Cloud in Southeast Asia.
Crypto paytech Wirex launches multi-currency card in Australia
With one of the highest levels of crypto adoption in the world, Australia is an “important market” for Wirex.
A day at the circus
The last few years have shown us that the arrogant, ‘I will take over the world’ founder… didn’t.
Mexican fintech Clara secures up to $90m in debt financing
The fresh financing follows a $150 million debt facility from Goldman Sachs in August last year.
Amidst legal troubles in Kenya, Flutterwave lands two licences in Rwanda
The unicorn’s latest push in Rwanda follows its bid to expand across East Africa.
Anchorage Digital to cut 20% of staff as part of “strategic realignment”
Despite a “robust and growing” business, Anchorage says the cuts are a necessary part of a “strategic realignment”.
Take the wheel: the future of payments in driverless cars
Customers’ desire for frictionless and convenient payments will drive innovation in the in-car paytech space.
Hong Kong’s Livi Bank launches Livi Business for SMEs
Livi Business offers SMEs and entrepreneurs access to “fast, simple and personalised” financial services.
Nigerian fintech FairMoney acquires PayForce for undisclosed sum
FairMoney is looking to expand its offering to include features for merchants as well as retail customers.
Rain partners Tarabut Gateway for open banking API
Rain will make use of Tarabut’s open banking payment solutions to facilitate on and off-ramp transactions for users.
How to collect your outstanding debt in a few steps
Avoid incremental bad debts by adopting few recommendations that will bring quick wins and improvement in your collection’s activities.
Bloomberg to acquire fintech solutions provider Broadway
Bloomberg says Broadway’s solutions “will fill a gap” in its product portfolio.
UAE lendtech Ezra appoints new chief risk officer, Andrew Goodrich
Goodrich will lead the data engineering, predictive analytics, credit risk and fraud functions across Ezra.
