Video: Top fintech stories this week – 15 January 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Financial Services/Finserv
Digital lender Blend raises $300m in Series G funding round
Lending firm plans to expand team and grow its products with the substantial raise.
Fostering a growth mindset is key to getting through challenging times
Mastering an ability to deal with tough times will strike a path towards growth.
DXC sells Fixnetix trading system to Options Technology
Options looks to expand its product suite.
Canadian challenger Koho appoints new CTO
Jonathan Klein joins the neobank from Wayfair.
My mother was right about everything
What good are the choices, if you don’t act?
Visa and Plaid call off $5.3bn merger after US regulatory pressure
The two had initially intended to close the deal by June 2020.
2021 predictions: don’t overlook the phone call
Due to the explosion in illegal robocalls, many consumers have simply stopped answering the phone.
FLEX moves 13 US credit unions to its core tech in 2020
Another 12 credit unions are scheduled to go live with FLEX’s core processing tech in 2021.
IHS Markit acquires compliance firm Cappitech after year-long partnership
Cappitech had provided its platform for Markit’s SFTR system.
Stripe cuts off Trump campaign for inciting violence
Payments processor strips Trump for encouraging violence.
Fintech funding deals globally 4-10 January 2021
Featuring Grab, Mynt, Divvy, Mambu, and SimpleNexus.
PAYMYNT Financial buys crypto e-wallet LettucePay
LettucePay operates on top of Stellar Network, an open source blockchain platform.
BBVA shutters Simple after paying $117m for it in 2014
The bank is cutting out standalone entities which no longer make sense to operate solo.
SoFi set to go public via merger with Palihapitiya’s fourth Spac
The IPO will value SoFi at $8.65 billion.
How FIs can reduce friction and drive value in the payments system
FIs can help clients proactively identify and respond to potential problems.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 08 January 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
Mambu raises €110m to hit €1.7bn valuation
Cloud core banking vendor has raised over €150m since launch.
Standard Chartered goes live on Cobalt brokerage platform
Major bank signed up to Cobalt’s network last year.
CODE Credit Union implements Symitar’s Episys with MDT
The conversion occurred entirely virtually.
Customer service start-up Glia lands $78m to help banks and credit unions
The round was led by Shopify and Checkout.com backer Insight Partners.
Trump bans transactions through Chinese apps including Alipay
The applications have 45 days to prepare for the ban.
Mizuho Americas deploys Fenergo tech for automated client onboarding
Mizuho plans a global rollout of Fenergo systems afterwards.
Lock up your innovation department
Perfect the art of incremental business improvements in the cheapest and most efficient ways, before the competition.
PayPal investment lands SME fintech Divvy with unicorn status
The start-up announced a $165 million Series D funding round.
AvidXchange acquires TimberScan provider Core Associates
Firm now claims to be largest account payable firm in the construction sector.
San Francisco challenger Oxygen raises $17m in Series A
Runa Capital, S7V, EFG Hermes, and Rucker Park, took part in the investment.
Fintech funding deals globally 28 Dec 2020-3 Jan 2021
Featuring Mission Lane, Narmi, Finja, CarPay, and ZipLoan.
Jamaican central bank plans electronic payments regulation revamp
Jamaicans sent $4 billion in electronic payments in 2019.
Embedded insurance: a $3tn market opportunity, that could also help close the protection gap
All players should look carefully at this space and define strategies of “where to play” and “how to win”.
What the Fintech? Season one | Fintech Jail
Here’s a list of all the buzzwords in our What the Fintech podcast game, “Fintech Jail”.
2020 in review: Top core banking stories
We run down the most interesting core banking stories from this year.
2020 review: A year which saw fintechs cut jobs, pay & business arms
A number of fintechs have still been tested during COVID-19, some to the brink of collapse.
Independent broker-dealers: keep reps and build on fund-family partnerships
Let’s get the lay of the land with a quick industry-evolution review and where it’s left IBDs.
2020 review: 10 largest regulatory fines this year
The fines kept flowing even in a year as turbulent as 2020.
2020 review: 10 largest bank job cuts this year
This year has seen several job cut announcements.
Banks and bad actors: the race to digitally adapt
Financial services are far from reaching a “new normal”.
SoftBank aims to raise $525m with Spac IPO
Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup are managing the deal.
2020 review: Top 10 fintech and bank M&A deals
Despite COVID-19, the financial sector has still enjoyed some notable M&A deals.
Coinbase files for IPO listing amidst racism scandal
The start-up has long struggled with its management of Black employees.
