GB Bank receives full banking licence, set to lend £3bn over five years
The bank will support the creation of more than 100,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes.
Savings
Zopa founder Giles Andrews joins Hoares as non-exec director
Andrews founded Zopa in 2004 and is currently a member of the fintech unicorn’s board.
Bank Islam taps Kestrl to offer financial management tools in Be U app
The firm will incorporate Kestrl’s personal financial management tools into Be U by the end of the year.
Timberland Bank taps Plinqit for financial wellness and savings tools
Customers can now access digital tools designed to improve financial literacy and establish saving habits.
Passive micro-investing app upnup launches in South Africa
The company says micro-investing is a good first step into the space, providing “investment on auto-pilot”.
Great Western Credit Union completes merger with Stroud Valleys Credit Union
GWCU says it now has a combined total of over 21,000 members.
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad launches new banking app, Be U
The fully cloud-native digital banking app aims to broaden financial inclusion in Malaysia.
Rabobank selects US fintech InvestCloud for financial planning tools
Goal-based financial planning features will be made available to Rabobank’s customers.
Pennyworth partners Moneyhub for financial planning tool
The offering is targeted towards those with salaries between £40,000 and £150,000.
How Zolve is helping US immigrants land on their feet
Zolve helps immigrants accelerate their financial health through products that build wealth in the long run.
Gen Z financial assistant app Cleo raises $80m at $500m valuation
Cleo will use the funds to shore up and expand its services as a global economic winter begins to bite.
Canadian wealthtech Wealthsimple sheds 12.6% of workforce due to market volatility
As well as the layoffs the wealthtech will be “laser-focused” on core businesses investing, banking and crypto.
Allegacy FCU taps enterprise tech provider NCR for data analytics solution
Allegacy FCU says partnership will “make data actionable, unlock predictive insights and drive innovation”.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 20 May 2022
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
UK challenger Atom hires Andy Sturrock as CTO
Atom Bank’s new CTO wants to take the bank’s technology “to the next level”.
Nude partners GoCardless to deliver VRP inter-account payments
Via the GoCardless network Nude will be among the first in the UK to leverage Variable Recurring Payments (VRP).
UK fintech start-up Tumelo raises $19m Series A
Tumelo helps investment platforms, robo-advisors and pension providers engage investors with shareholder voting.
US fintech MainStreet lays off 30% of employees
CEO Doug Ludlow cites “today’s incredibly rough market” as the reason for the layoffs.
Salt Edge partners Azimut to launch investment app Beewise
The partnership will enable Beewise users to connect their existing bank accounts securely to the new app.
Truist snaps up Gen Z-focused personal finance app Long Game
Under the deal, Long Game’s engineers, designers and business leaders will join Truist’s innovation team.
Another brick in the wall: how Bloom is helping teens build financial literacy skills
Bloom enables teenagers to start building wealth by investing in the stock market and learning about finances.
Fintech app for teens Copper secures $29m Series A
The latest round takes Copper’s total capital raised to date to $42.3 million.
Robinhood announces layoffs, sheds 9% of full-time workforce
CEO Vlad Tenev cites duplicate roles and job functions and “more layers and complexity than are optimal”.
Fintech start-up Valor set to launch in US for Latino and Hispanic communities
The company was founded by WePay alumni Parag Gupta (CEO) and Sankate Sharma (CTO).
US financial services super-app Multicent gears up for launch
Multicent will offer personal and business accounts, a crypto exchange and merchant services.
Investment management platform FundGuard lands $40m Series B
The round saw participation from Citi, State Street, Blumberg Capital, LionBird Ventures and Team8 Capital.
Nigerian digital bank Umba raises $15m Series A funding
Following the Series A, Umba has now raised a total of around $17.5 million to date.
Savings and retirement wealthtech Lilly set to launch in US
Billed as “the world’s first retirement debit and credit card”, the service will cost from $5 a month.
UK savings app Moneybox lands £35m Series D
The investment brings Moneybox’s total funding raised to date to £95 million.
RBC set to acquire UK wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin in £1.6bn deal
The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by Q3 2022.
New German fintech SaveStrike aims to help millennials invest and save
The upcoming SaveStrike app is designed to make spending, saving and investing more straightforward.
Goldman Sachs snaps up retirement robo-advisor NextCapital
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 25 March 2022
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
USAA hit with $140m fine from FinCEN for Bank Secrecy Act violations
USAA admitted to failing to accurately report in a timely manner thousands of suspicious transactions to FinCEN.
US fintech Acorns lands $300m investment to boost growth
The funding comes after the fintech abandoned its planned IPO in January.
Oklahoma’s First National Bank & Trust taps CSI for core banking upgrade
The bank will deploy CSI’s NuPoint core banking platform.
Youth-focused fintech FinZi set to launch in Colombia
FinZi has already secured a pre-seed capital raise worth $350,000.
Payroll API fintech Atomic secures $40m Series B funding
Atomic wants customers to be able to invest, save and accrue wealth by “unlocking the power of their paychecks”.
Ireland’s An Post partners Tink to provide money management services
Tink’s technology provides insights to help An Post customers improve their financial health.
Canada’s TD Bank snaps up First Horizon for $13.4bn in US expansion push
The combined entity will become a top six US bank, serving 10.7 million customers across 22 states.
