Start-up


BBVA taps into biometrics with new firm Veridas

BBVA and start-up Das-Nano have formed Veridas, a new firm specialising in biometrics for client identification and authentication systems. Veridas, which will be directed by Eduardo Azanza, who is also co-founder of Das-Nano, will research and develop software for the digital verification and authentication of personal identity, through facial, voice, image or document recognition, or […]

Investors to the rescue for UK’s Co-op Bank?

The UK’s Co-operative Bank’s life may not be over just yet as it reveals it is in advanced discussions with existing investors over a rescue package. As reported in February, the bank was put up for sale – with the minority investor Co-op Group saying it is “supportive of the plan to find the bank […]

HSBC unveils £10bn fund for UK SMEs

HSBC has launched a £10 billion lending fund for SMEs in the UK as it looks to tap into this lively market. The bank says it continues to be open to lending, having approved 91% of small business lending applications in the last year. Ian Stuart, UK CEO, HSBC, says: “We want to put SMEs […]

Monese debuts direct debits to challenge traditional banks

Mobile-only bank Monese has unveiled direct debit functionality for its customers – a move designed to offer services closer to that of a traditional high street bank account. Alongside this, it has also gained access to Faster Payments, so customers can send funds to accounts outside or within the UK with a “quicker transfer”. In […]

UK regulator reveals second wave of sandbox start-ups

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled the second wave of firms that have made it into its regulatory sandbox. As reported in 2015, the sandbox allows businesses to test out new products and services without “incurring the normal regulatory consequences”. The move is part of the FCA’s Project Innovate, which aims to boost […]

Fintech outside London – part 3

Our tour of the UK fintech scene concludes in this third instalment of the report. We started from the south of the country, then travelled west and are now travelling through the northern England and Scotland.

Bahrain’s central bank creates sandbox for fintech start-ups

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has announced new regulations to create a regulatory sandbox for fintech start-ups and firms to test and experiment their banking ideas and solutions. The framework provides a “virtual space” and it is open to existing CBB licensees and other local and foreign firms. The testing duration is nine months, […]

Revolut launches multi-currency service across Europe

UK-based payments start-up Revolut has unveiled its new business service across Europe for multi-currency accounts, transferring money and corporate cards. Called Revolut for Business, it will enable companies to hold, exchange and transfer in 25 currencies with the interbank exchange rate, issue employees with corporate cards for “global fee-free spending” and manage their transactional activity […]

Moneythor at heart of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa’s fintech start-up

French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa has chosen Moneythor’s analytical engine to be at the heart of “Max”, a personal finance assistant app for its new start-up Nouvelle Vague. Max is a mobile-only initiative of Nouvelle Vague, which operates in several cities in France (Paris, Bordeaux, Brest, Rennes etc). It will be available on 1 September […]

Fintech funding round-up: 8 June 2017

It felt like only yesterday (7 June) that we published a fintech funding round-up. In fact, we did. But this latest version features Kasikornbank, Lmrkts, International Finance Corporation and Entersekt. Kasikornbank (Kbank), one of the largest banks in Thailand, has launched its “Beacon Venture Capital” investment unit with $30 million on hand to support start-ups […]

RBS joins forces with RocketSpace UK for new tech campus

San-Francisco based RocketSpace, with the support of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest, has opened its campus in London for fintech and tech start-ups. Housed in NatWest’s (a subsidiary of RBS) Regents House in London, the campus is the “first of its kind” in the capital and RocketSpace’s only international location. The campus occupies […]

UK challenger Bank of Lambeth preps for launch

London-based Bank of Lambeth is getting ready to enter the UK’s highly competitive challenger bank arena. The community bank is the brainchild of Duncan Law at Transition Town Brixton. The latter is an initiative that looks to new ways of dealing with climate change, and energy and financial issues. In a report in the Brixton […]

Maybank launches fintech sandbox

Malaysia’s largest bank, Maybank, has unveiled its fintech sandbox to let ASEAN start-ups develop and test new ideas. As the “first in ASEAN”, the Maybank FinTech Sandbox offers a place “free of charge” to help developers throughout the region. The bank is keen to tap into ideas around cloud, the internet of things (IoT) and […]

Fintech funding round-up: 7 June 2017

Fintech funding can be an intense blur of money, jargon and unerringly similar expansion plans. Here’s a round-up that gets to the heart of the matter. Features Plynk, IHS Markit, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and Wahed. Ireland’s Plynk, a money messaging app, has revealed a Series A raise of €25 million. Led by […]

Turkey’s Garanti Bank wins BBVA fintech ideas challenge

Turkey-based Garanti Bank’s new mobile app has won BBVA’s “Open Talent Ideas” fintech competition. BBVA launched the competition in February, and yesterday (5 June) the ten finalists presented their idea to experts from BBVA’s senior management. The winning idea was GarantiStore, a mobile app able to identify products automatically. Through image recognition techniques or by […]

Scale360 powers TPBank digital branch network in Vietnam

It’s another farewell to tradition as Vietnam’s TPBank has opted for Scale360’s “Digital Branch” network across the country. The digital option from Scale360, a UK-based fintech start-up with a development centre in Bangkok, replaces the usual brick-and-mortar branch with a video link. The bank plans to open 50 such branches across Vietnam. Branded as TPBank’s […]

Saving and investing service Moola launches

After 18 months of development, UK-based online saving and investing service Moola has launched. The firm says there are 5.4 million “mass affluent people in the UK who have no access to financial advice, but disposable income and a desire to save and invest”. It wants to tap into that market by doing the “hard […]

Nationwide bowled over by cloud software from Cutover

The UK’s Nationwide Building Society has opted for release management software from cloud technology start-up Cutover. The deal means London-based Cutover will be the “first completely cloud-based tool with no footprint within Nationwide’s infrastructure”. Cutover’s software lets teams plan, rehearse and execute events. It also offers real-time status visualisation and communications across SMS, voice and […]

Payments firm Tilt wilts

Following Airbnb’s acquisition of crowdfunding and social payments start-up Tilt in February, it is now being wound down. Tilt (formerly Crowdtilt) was built with the aim to allow groups and communities to collect, fundraise, or pool money online. It was founded five years ago with high hopes. Its co-founder and CEO James Beshara said at […]

Interview: Daniel Schreiber, co-founder and CEO of Lemonade

Ask most people about their experience with insurance, grudge purchase par excellence, and they’ll say it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Enter Lemonade, the New York-based insurtech combining the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and an approach founded on behavioural economics and customer centricity to offer homeowners and renters protection with a difference.

UK payments firm Helixion is liquidated

It’s not only the end of the working week but the end of the line for Edinburgh-based payments firm Helixion. The company has gone into liquidation and intellectual property (IP) firm Metis Partners has been appointed to support the marketing and sale of its assets. On Metis’ website, it says the deadline for offers has […]

Six Startupbootcamp stars secure sweet deals in India

Six graduating start-ups from Startupbootcamp FinTech Mumbai have secured pilots with banks and corporates such as RBL Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI). At Startupbootcamp’s demo day at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai, 11 start-ups showcased technologies in financial services to more than 400 guests. Propositions included SME banking, blockchain, digital […]

Fintech funding round-up: 2 June 2017

The money’s rolling in for fintech – as this round-up follows hot on the heels from 30 May. This latest report features Zopa, RateSetter and Niyogin Fintech. The plans of peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Zopa to launch a new digital-only bank in the UK are going well as it has completed a £32 million funding round […]

Hong Kong launches IPO support system for start-ups

Hong Kong is looking to boost its fintech scene with an initiative to help tech firms take the right road for their initial public offering (IPO). Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) have launched their “Road to IPO” platform. It’s not purely for fintech as the […]

ING’s Yolt money app beta launches in UK

With an intended jolt and volt of energy, Yolt, a new money platform backed by ING, has launched its open beta for iOS and Android in the UK. The app has been tested in closed beta since October last year, and is now ready to invite more people to the platform. Yolt enables users to […]

Fintech funding round-up: 30 May 2017

It’s all go for money flow. Our latest fintech funding round-up, featuring NetGuardians, Banco BNI Europa, Raize and Wave. Swiss fraud prevention vendor NetGuardians has reported a Series C investment of CHF 8.5 million ($8.7 million). The investors in this round are Swisscom Ventures and Freemont Management. The financing will be used to fund NetGuardians’ […]

Malaysia’s central bank unveils fintech sandbox

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the nation’s central bank, has approved four fintech start-ups to operate within its regulatory sandbox. As Banking Technology reported last month, BNM called out to fintech start-ups for ideas to improve the financial services sector. The bank’s Financial Technology Enabler Group (FTEG) announced it was open to concepts through its “Fintech […]

Mizuho ventures deeper into fintech

Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group will start a venture next month to create new fintech businesses and catch up with its rivals, according to Reuters. As Banking Technology reported last month, Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – and so edged commercialisation ever forward. So […]

Form3 teams with Apply Financial for payments validation

Form3, a cloud-based fintech firm launched last year, has partnered with payments validation company Apply Financial. The deal enhances Form3’s Payments-as-a-Service platform with “automation services to validate, enrich, and fix single and bulk payments”, Form3 says.

UK challenger CivilisedBank gets banking licence

UK digital bank CivilisedBank has received its banking licence from the Bank of England, paving the way for it to build its infrastructure and launch to customers in early 2018. As Banking Technology reported in June last year, the bank submitted its banking licence application and had planned to open for business in early 2017. […]

R3 hits jackpot with $107m investment for DLT

Blockchain consortium R3 has completed the first two of three tranches in its Series A fundraising round, securing $107 million in the “world’s largest distributed ledger technology (DLT) investment to date”. The consortia contest is heating up as this handy cash injection follows on from yesterday’s (22 May) announcement from the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) […]

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