Interview: Darryl Twiggs, SmartStream – the time is right for blockchain
Now is the right time to embrace blockchain.
Innovation
Top fintech stories this week – 6 July 2018
Catch up on FinTech Futures’ top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Crypto gold rush: regulations and the next trillion dollar tug of war
Bitcoin won’t look anything like it is today. It will have a different name, if it exists.
Macro analytics firm Quant Insight feeling bright with funding
It has also expanded further into the US and Asia.
Canadian financial data firm Flinks fuels up with $1.75m funding
With Luge Capital making its first investment.
Between a rock and a hard place: navigating strategy conversations with cynics and pessimists
Spend time finding the right time to bring the cynics and the pessimists onto your journey.
Planck Re yanks in $12m for insurance plans
Israeli insurtech offers AI-powered commercial underwriting services.
Cyber solution provider ThetaRay gets $30m funding
Investment takes company’s total equity capital to more than $60 million.
Three ways health insurers can win over millennial small business owners
Sally Poblete, CEO of Wellthie, explores three key strategies.
Paysend gets $20m funding godsend
Led by MARCorp with help of existing investors.
Automation Anywhere scores $250m to globalise bot workforce
Its software robots can take over manual tasks such as insurance claims processing.
11:FS Podcast: death is no excuse
11:FS Fintech Insider podcast featuring FinTech Futures’ Tanya Andreasyan.
Startupbootcamp’s InsurTech Accelerator opens doors to applicants
Selected start-ups will relocate to Hartford, Connecticut.
Assembler Labs aims to get Detroit entrepreneurs out of their shells
Start-ups are not being formed in Detroit at the same rate as other US metropolitan areas.
JP Morgan Chase’s mobile app Finn goes nationwide
Finn by Chase is designed for millennials in the US.
Finserv not ready for blockchain yet, McKinsey says
The industry’s complexity makes it harder for blockchain to be implemented.
39 firms complete KYC trial on R3’s Corda blockchain
Four-day collaborative trial and 300 transactions.
Andreessen Horowitz unleashes $300m crypto venture fund
It’s called a16z crypto and seeks to tap into the latest craze.
Social savings firm InSpirAVE offers early access to platform
US firm unveils new look and multi-screen experience.
Sensory’s biometric tech powers 24 banking apps
Banks iclude Alior, Axis, Banorte, ICICI, Maybank, Mizuho Bank, and Qatar Islamic Bank.
DefenseStorm goes down a cyber storm at NAFCU
US-based National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions makes its choice.
Yet, blockchain hasn’t provided business with real benefits. Why?
In reality, most blockchain attempts end up with failure. What’s the problem?
US mobile app Mezu fires up with privacy promise
Lets people give and get money without sharing personal information.
US mobile start-up AeroPay preps for lift off
Chicago fintech firm will launch beta version soon.
Blockchain Summit 2018: the role of banks and how not to get lost in the hype
Banks seek to define their role amidst all the new kids on the block.
Banking Technology Awards 2018: celebrating most innovative projects of the year!
Enter the awards by 31 August.
Report: State of digital sales in banking
The results are in! Read the third annual Digital Sales Report.
Don’t be that guy: cautionary tales for banking and life
You’ve been warned.
Largest start-up class yet enters UC Berkeley’s accelerator
More than 100 start-up teams begin the programme.
SoftBank’s humanoid robot Pepper comes to HSBC USA
Robots relish retail banking.
Gusto turns payday into any day with Flexible Pay
Workers can get paid outside of their employer’s standard payroll schedule.
Investment marketplace Newchip lands $2m in funding
Participants in round include JadeValue Fintech, Yeoman’s Capital and Polymath.
Biometrics firm Veridium touched by $150,000 grant
The grant is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Fintech sandboxes: bring your own sand
The importance of full-featured sandboxes for the next generation of fintech.
PayPal gets anti-fraud ability with $120m acquisition of Simility
Buys fraud prevention and risk management platform.
Better Fintech launches for financial equality
Former Green Dot employee wants to foster financial literacy and equality in the US.
Crypto firm Fantom menaces rivals with $40m funding
Will build directed acyclic graph-based smart contract platform.
Webinar: Banking reimagined – building an integrated digital ecosystem
Join Capgemini and FinTech Futures on Wednesday, 11 July for a live webinar!
Financial sector organisations must forge ahead with video or risk getting left behind
Fantasy has quickly become reality.
Luxoft smashes it with Smashing Ideas acquisition
Smashing, lovely, super. Purchase bolsters digital research, strategy and design.
