How fintech is expanding the borders of financial inclusion
FinTech Futures takes a look at FS firms that are catering to vulnerable people or people with disabilities.
Payments
Paymob lands PSP licence from Oman’s central bank
Paymob now claims to be the first international fintech company to be fully licenced in Oman.
UK car finance fintech Carmoola lands £15.5m in equity funding
The start-up previously secured a £95m debt facility from NatWest and an £8.5m Series A round in February 2023.
Subscription billing fintech Recurly names Joe Rohrlich as CEO
Rohrlich previously served as CEO of Top Hat, a US-based higher education engagement platform.
Commerzbank forms joint venture with Global Payments for SME payment solutions
The new joint venture, Commerz Globalpay, is expected to launch in H1 2024 and will be based in Frankfurt.
Brazil’s Conta Simples plots product expansion following $41.5m Series B
The company last raised $24 million during a Series A round in December 2021.
JP Morgan Chase-owned WePay reportedly offboards a number of business clients
JP Morgan Chase bought WePay back in 2017 in a $400 million deal in a push to compete with Stripe.
European fintech funding round-up: Unbox, Rivero, ProjectPay & Ryft
Our weekly fintech round-up for you to get the latest funding news from across Europe.
Tobias Unger joins Sopra Banking Software as new chief operating officer
Unger brings more than two decades of financial services and fintech experience to his new role.
Social media platform X aims to deliver P2P payments this year
The social media platform has obtained a money transmitter licence in 14 US states so far.
Real estate fintech start-up Downpayments launches in Florida with $32.8m in debt and equity funding
The start-up seeks to provide property investors with interest-free down payments on their next home purchase.
Former Barclays managing director Simon Bladon joins PayPal as UK CEO
Bladon will also serve as vice president of global entity management for the payments giant.
National Bank of Oman partners PayMate to modernise B2B payments
Using PayMate’s tech, NBO plans to digitise, streamline and automate its B2B payment processes.
Thunes makes leadership changes, appoints Floris de Kort as new CEO
Thunes’ current CEO Peter De Caluwe has been promoted to deputy chairman.
Ant Group reportedly nearing deal to acquire Dutch payments firm MultiSafepay
The potential acquisition would value the Dutch payments firm at $200 million, Reuters reports.
National Bank of Iraq and Capital Bank of Jordan overhaul core banking with Temenos
The two institutions have gone live with the vendor’s Temenos Transact core banking solution.
Mastercard to launch virtual cards in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Rawbank’s Illicocash
According to IMF figures, only 26% of the active population in the DRC have a bank account.
Hitachi Payment Services snaps up cash management business from Writer Corporation
“Industry veteran” Anup Neogi has also been appointed as the new managing director and CEO of the acquired business.
B2B payments should have the same convenience as B2C payments
B2B payments have been neglected, cross-border B2B payments more so. It is time they caught up.
Indian paytech MobiKwik refiles draft papers for IPO, hopes to raise $84m
The company’s initial plans for a $255m IPO in 2021 were scrapped due to weakening market conditions.
Indian fintech PhonePe names Ritesh Pai as CEO of international payments
Pai joins PhonePe from TerraPay, where he served as president of product and solutions for three years.
ECB ramps up preparation phase for digital euro with calls for component providers
The ECB is issuing five contracts to vendors worth a total of €1.1 billion, with work due to begin in early 2025.
US fintech Talus Pay acquires Jobox and Clarus Merchant Services
Financial terms of both the acquisitions were not disclosed.
ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Fimple, Money Industries and Koree
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across the globe.
FinTech Futures: Top five news stories of the week – 5 January 2024
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring HSBC, Monese, Circle and more.
Form3 strengthens board with appointment of Anil Arora as non-executive director
Form3 hopes to leverage Arora’s “significant experience” in founding and scaling up fintech companies.
UK fintech Bumper raises $48m in Series B funding round
The round, led by Autotech Ventures, takes Bumper’s total funding to date to $64 million.
Circle secures conditional DASP registration in France, appoints new country head
Circle has appointed Coralie Billmann as head of French operations, subject to regulatory approval.
Blackstone set to acquire majority stake in Japan’s Sony Payment Services
Sony Bank will roll over a certain portion of its equity and continue to remain a minority investor in SPSV.
US paytech Kindcard eyes up OpenTransact acquisition
New York-based OpenTransact is a self-serve banking platform built to support high-risk businesses.
Monese aims to secure fresh funding after recording £30.5m annual loss for 2022
Monese says its services could be “adversely and potentially severely affected” if new funding isn’t found.
JP Morgan and Viva Wallet reportedly collide over board appointments
JP Morgan acquired a 48.5% stake in Viva Wallet in December 2022 for $800 million.
HSBC unveils new international payments app Zing in the UK
Zing is a multi-currency app and debit card that UK residents will be able to use in more than 200 countries.
2023: Top five fintech start-ups of the year
Here are five of the top fintech start-up stories from 2023.
2023: Top five funding rounds of the year
Capping off 2023, we take a look back at five of the top fundraising rounds of this year.
2023: Top five payments stories of the year
FinTech Futures takes a look back at some of the year’s top developments and stories in payments.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 22 December 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Fiat Republic, Hakbah, Payble and Spare
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across the globe.
BNPL fintech Tabby lands $700m debt facility from JP Morgan
Tabby has also extended its Series D funding round by $50 million to a total of $250 million.
Paysera launches in Georgia after securing banking licence
Paysera Bank has commenced operations in Georgia, opening its inaugural branch in Tbilisi.
