How to be human
The things you know are important really are. So don’t forget to do the right thing. And for the rest: be human.
FinTech
Payroll and benefits start-up Catch shutting down
Accounts will be closed on 6 April 2023, with customers instructed to withdraw all funds before that deadline.
FinTech Futures Jobs: 10 inspiring women leaders who are blazing a trail in tech
Some of the most successful tech and fintech organisations around the world have women at their helm.
Canada’s Versapay names Carey O’Connor Kolaja as new CEO
O’Connor Kolaja replaces former CEO Craig O’Neill, who is set to move to an advisory role within the firm.
US student debt fintech Candidly raises $20.5m in Series B funding
The funding round was led by Altos Ventures, with existing investor Cercano Management also participating.
Introducing the PayTech Awards USA 2023
Nominations for the awards are open until 2 June 2023.
Indonesia’s Bank BTPN taps Surecomp for trade finance solution
Bank BTPN says the partnership with Surecomp means “we can future-proof our trade finance business”.
Allica Bank taps SurePay for Confirmation of Payee solution
With Confirmation of Payee, Allica customers will be protected from fraud and misdirected payments.
Green fintechs are redefining gender representation in finance
As more women move into sustainable roles, the green economy can grow along with female representation.
Equiniti unites trio of businesses under new lendtech brand, Lenvi
Lenvi is a combination of Equiniti’s EQ Credit Services, EQ Riskfactor, and EQ KYC Solutions.
Business banking fintech Moniepoint names Pawel Swiatek COO
Swiatek joins Moniepoint from Capital One, where he served as managing vice president for over four years.
Wearable paytech Digiseq names Angela Davies as head of partnerships
Davies will use her expertise and connections to promote Digiseq services to banks, issuers and processors.
French fintech Aria bags €50m debt facility
Founded in 2020 and based in Paris, Aria offers an API-led B2B financing solution.
AIOps transforming service assurance for banking and financial services
A progressive disclosure approach builds trust and instils confidence as allows the user to drill into WHY.
US regtech Droit lands $23m Series B funding
The round was led by Pivot Investment Partners and UBS via its venture arm UBS Next.
Blockchain trade finance firm Marco Polo reportedly enters insolvency
According to The Irish Times, the firm’s liabilities have outstripped its assets by €2.5 million ($2.6m).
Griffin secures UK banking licence with restrictions from PRA
Griffin will now be able to operate as a bank in the UK with deposit-taking restrictions.
ChatGPT and generative AI – what does banking have to do with it?
Ready or not, the generative AI genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back.
Nationwide Building Society in retail payments tech revamp with Form3 and Accenture
Nationwide will migrate all types of retail payments from an on-premise platform to the Form3 cloud.
French fintech N2F lands €24m funding to fuel expansion plans
N2F is looking to expand across Europe and will recruit 200 new employees over the next five years.
Executive panel: key banking cybersecurity developments for 2023
Ten executives from top firms, including Wells Fargo, Microsoft, TransUnion, and RBC, share their expert views.
Brazilian central bank gives Meta the go-ahead to launch WhatsApp business payments feature
Customers will soon be able to make payments to small businesses directly from WhatsApp.
RBI fines Amazon Pay’s India unit $374,000
The central bank claims Amazon Pay India didn’t comply with “certain provisions” of KYC and PPI directions.
PayTech Awards nominations close in two weeks!
The deadline for nominations is Friday 17 March, so don’t leave it too late!
US challenger Varo Bank reportedly raising funds at reduced valuation
Fintech Business Weekly reports the firm is raising $50m at a $1.8bn valuation, a 28% decline in value.
Budgeting app Buddy taps Klarna Kosma for automatic expense tracking
The partnership has resulted in 52% more monthly active users for Buddy, Klarna Kosma says.
The B-word
I have never known a technology to divide opinion as much as blockchain.
FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 3 March 2023
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
German challenger N26 loses its chief risk officer
Thomas Grosse has quit the firm citing personal reasons. A successor has yet to be named.
TrueNorth appoints Doug Woolridge as new chief growth officer
Woolridge joins from EPAM Systems and brings over 25 years of experience to his new role.
Aussie BNPL firm Zip reportedly set to retreat from 10 international markets
Zip expects “significant” amounts of cash to roll in due to these exits, with positive cashflow expected by 2024.
Intesa Sanpaolo partners IBM to upgrade its IT infrastructure
Intesa Sanpaolo will utilise the IBM z16 platform to bolster its cybersecurity operations.
Dogs Trust taps Currensea to launch debit cards and boost donations
Customers will be able to make donations to the charity by rounding up spending from the card.
FinTech Futures Jobs: Can a four-day week succeed in fintech?
Explore thousands of open roles on the Fintech Futures Job Board today.
ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Archway, Finway, iLex and more
A handy round-up of all the latest funding endeavours by fintech companies across the world.
Aussie central bank reveals participants and use cases for CBDC pilot
The selected industry players will participate in use case proposals over the coming months, the central bank says.
Transforming transformation
According to McKinsey, 70% of digital transformation projects fail. So what is going wrong?
Thunes appoints Victor Lucena as new head of Latin America
Lucena has previously worked for financial services firms including Binance, Rapyd, Worldpay and PayU.
Canadian insurance and investment fintech Equisoft lands $125m in funding
The funding saw participation from new investors Investissement Québec and the government of Québec.
BNPL giant Klarna posts £1bn loss for 2022
Despite the loss, the firm says it is edging towards profitability thanks to growth in its gross merchandise volume.
