Nigeria’s Xend Finance increases size of funding round to $2m
It initially launched its platform publicly late last year after raising $1.5 million in funding.
FinTech
Italian neobank illimity turns €16m loss into €31m profit in a year
The neobank’s best-performing arm, by a long way, was its NPL unit.
Goldman Sachs re-opens Marcus in UK with 0.5% rate
0.5% is the highest paying easy-access rate in the UK.
ICYMI funding round-up: Trade Ledger, Mesh, Safepay, Globacap & more
We round up some of the funding rounds that may have slipped you by.
Dublin’s ION Group snaps up New York trading tech firm Dash
ION Group has bought a handful of other firms to date.
Equifax acquires AccountScore to boost open banking capabilities
Equifax wants higher rates of automation and verification.
Klarna’s valuation set to triple to $30bln, says report
A report says Klarna is currently working on a half a billion new share issue.
San Fran fintech Zeta lands $1.5m for couples banking
Currently, the start-up makes money on partial interchange fees.
Nordic API Gateway lands nine new bank partners in Bankdata deal
The deal prequels Nordic API Gateway’s European expansion plans for 2021.
Not noise
Before obsessively pressing the send button: pause, rewind.
Banking Technology February 2021 issue out now
The roaring 20s.
Findr launches first crowdfunding campaign
Findr was launched at the end of October 2020 by resident FinTech Futures expert, Greg Watts.
BBVA sells Holvi business lender, invests $150m in VC fund
Spanish banking giant ditches Finnish business bank, sells back to founder
Challenger Climate First Bank to launch in Florida’s Tampa Bay Area in Spring
The start-up wants to become a full-service community bank.
Webinar: How to stop massive mobile banking fraud with app security and risk-based authentication
Approaches to eliminate the impact of fraud threats and strategies to protect mobile device users.
Monzo confirms £50m raise with help of new US backer
Monzo is on the cusp of five million customers.
UK-Nigeria mobile wallet Sendit.Money goes crowdfunding
It has already exceeded its £100,000 target, having raised £146,006 at time of writing.
EXCLUSIVE: Wirex users hit by unexplained account restrictions and “disappearing” funds
A growing number of customers are fleeing Wirex.
Bill.com edges closer to profitability, shares up 30%
Between last October and December, revenue was up 38%, to $54 million.
Nigeria’s central bank issues crypto shutdown throwing fintechs into disarray
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest users of virtual currencies.
Social impact app Tickr raises £2.5m
Tickr focuses on climate change, social impact and disruptive tech.
BlackRock-backed Scalable Capital closes UK consumer platform
The robo-adviser will focus on growing the business in Germany.
Fintech funding deals globally 1-7 February 2021
Featuring Stash, Built, LeaseLock, Valon Mortgage, and Metromile.
Hapi rolls out UK savings and investments app for parents
The start-up is backed by Entrepreneur First.
UK carbon impact challenger Creed set to launch this year
Former Bank of America, UBS and Barclays exec Roshan George heads up Creed.
Texan digital challenger Fair set to launch in Spring
This month, the start-up opened its waiting list.
Cross-border payments fintech Payoneer to IPO with $3.3bn Spac merger
Payoneer is reportedly profitable and expects to pull in $432 million in revenues this year.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 05 February 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Fintech funding round-up: UiPath, Narmi, Balance, GajiGesa, and more
The start of February has seen a whole host of funding rounds around the world.
What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 3 | Israel’s mobile lending tech scene
Featuring Shlomi Turgeman, founder and CEO of BTB Israel.
Sync. signs deal with Railsbank to power premium accounts
The smart banking app is looking to expand following a 2020 launch.
PayKey integrates investment and loan services on mobile keyboards
Clients include Standard Chartered, UniCredit, HSBC and ING.
A look inside MENA investor Global Ventures’ fintech portfolio
Global Ventures’ portfolio covers payment acceptance, digital wallets, credit and trading.
Crypto exchange Gemini furthers banking play with savings accounts
Rates of up to 7.4% annual percentage yield (APY) will apply.
HMRC awards Ecospend “largest” open banking contract valued at £3m
“Today marks a big step forward for adoption,” says OBIE.
This “new normal” looks pretty familiar to me
How about we choose a new normal, the one that fixes the fundamental ways of working, not just the tool we use.
Video: Remote onboarding – how banks are evolving and changing the game
Featuring Jumio’s Dean Nicolls, Fintrail’s Robert Evans, and banking consultant Neil O’Brien.
Robinhood raises $3.4bn, co-CEO set to face US politicians this month
Allegations allege Robinhood succumbed to pressure from big-paying hedge fund clients.
Goldman winds down Clarity Money to focus on Marcus Insights
Clarity Money is due to close on 5 March.
Ripple faces a new class-action lawsuit in Florida over unregistered XRP sales
Ripple has maintained that XRP is not a security and has vowed to fight the SEC charges.
