Solving the cybersecurity puzzle
FinTech Futures speaks to City University of London’s Raj Muttukrishnan and Crossword’s Stuart Jubb.
Europe
UK fintech funding round-up: Omnio, Landytech & Sikoia
A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across the UK.
Zopa acquires DivideBuy in “BNPL 2.0” push
Zopa’s “BNPL 2.0” offering will allow consumers to spread the cost of purchases worth between £250 and £30,000.
UK fintech Deko hires Joseph Tucker as new CFO
Tucker joins from NewDay, which acquired Deko in January 2020.
UK government lays out plans for BNPL legislation
The UK government is looking to bring BNPL into the regulatory sphere “in a proportionate way”.
NewDay taps Checkout.com to streamline debit card payments
The partnership, which is already live, gives NewDay access to Checkout.com’s full suite of payment products.
FCA clamps down on unregistered crypto ATM operators in Leeds
The FCA will review evidence gathered during the visits and consider further potential enforcement action.
New “cross-border neobank” in India: moneyHOP
FinTech Futures sits down for a chat with Mayank Goyal, founder and CEO of moneyHOP.
New app Tapeeno turns Android phones into card readers
Tapeeno “significantly” reduces the funding delay most businesses experience, the firms claim.
Digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus lands $65m Series B
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group and Arab Bank Switzerland all participated in the round.
NatWest Group snaps up UK fintech Cushon for £144m
The acquisition will enable NatWest to offer its commercial customers a suite of financial wellbeing products.
Ex-Plaid exec Keith Grose joins Sequence as COO
Prior to joining Sequence, Grose served as head of UK for Plaid for four years.
Paysafecard CEO Udo Mueller departs firm
Mueller will focus on “helping other companies and entrepreneurial fintech enthusiasts in their growth ambitions”.
Swiss digital asset fintech Scrypt names Marc Wäckerlin as CTO
Most recently, Wäckerlin was CTO and executive director at Swiss crypto bank Sygnum.
Banking Tech Awards 2022 Winner: Updraft – Best Digital Initiative for Lending
Reinventing financial planning and disrupting unsecured lending markets.
Ziglu founder and CEO Mark Hipperson resigns
Hipperson will remain on Ziglu’s board as a part-time non-executive director.
UK building society Nationwide to cut around 450 jobs
Nationwide confirmed it is cutting around 450 jobs as it looks to “streamline” its non-customer-facing teams.
Digital asset exchange Gate.io taps Coinfirm for AML/CFT platform
Gate.io says the Coinfirm partnership will give the firm “a solid foundation” and shore up its compliance.
Digital asset security firm Coincover bags $30m in funding
The funding will be used to boost recruitment, forge new partnerships and develop new products.
Lunar lands €35m in fresh funding to boost Nordic expansion
Most of Lunar’s existing investors took part in the funding round, the neobank says.
Europe fintech funding round-up: Kennek, Mazepay, Uniify and Snab
Our weekly fintech round-up for you to get the latest funding news from around the world.
Deutsche Börse inks 10-year strategic partnership deal with Google Cloud
Deutsche Börse will leverage Google Cloud’s capabilities to develop its digital securities platform D7.
UK’s FCA names first members of its new innovation advisory group
The Innovation Advisory Group (IAG) will meet for the first time in February, the FCA says.
European Parliament outlines plans for an EU-wide digital wallet
The use of the EU wallet will “always be voluntary”, MEPs say.
Carbonplace lands $45m seed funding, names new CEO
With the new funding, Carbonplace plans to scale its platform, expand its team and forge partnerships.
FNZ to acquire Luxembourg-based B2B fund platform Ifsam
FNZ says the acquisition will strengthen its client proposition and build out its presence in Luxembourg.
SME lender Merchant Money scores £115m in funding
The funding will grow Merchant Money’s lending books across its secured and unsecured product offerings.
Bank of England and HM Treasury outline case for digital pound
The Bank and HM Treasury plan to “accelerate” work on the technology and policy architecture for a digital pound.
Nokia aligns growth and financing strategy with ESG targets
The firm is aiming to maintain its growth in data traffic while reducing its energy consumption.
The Bank of London bags $40m in Series C extension
The round was co-led by Mangrove Capital Partners and 14W Venture Capital.
Arab Bank Switzerland taps InvestGlass for digital onboarding solution
Arab Bank says the solution will boost client experience while maintaining high levels of security.
Target Group names Katherine Bowen as new CFO
Bowen joined Target Group nearly five years ago as a finance business partner.
Lloyds Banking Group appoints Martyn Atkinson as CIO, consumer relationships & mass affluent
Atkinson moves from merchant bank Close Brothers, where he was COO for four years.
Virtual card paytech Conferma Pay names Jason Lalor as CEO
Lalor most recently served as CEO of Square’s European business.
Digital financial crime platform Themis names Matthew Hurn as chairman
Hurn has been a Themis investor and board member since June 2020.
Fraud prevention platform Seon acquires AML firm Complytron
Thanks to the acquisiton, Seon will be able to offer “a vital single source” to fight fraud holistically.
UK’s Shawbrook Bank taps Cashflows to streamline payments
Cashflows will enable Shawbrook to process its e-commerce business finance collections through a virtual terminal.
European Central Bank to stress test 99 eurozone banks in 2023
The testing forms part of the 2023 EU-wide stress test coordinated by the European Banking Authority.
Detected names Mike Ainslie chief financial officer
Ainslie brings a “wealth of experience” within the financial and operations industry, Detected says.
Banking Tech Awards 2022 Winner: Finova – the mortgage market is in a tangle & we need new tools to fix it
Combine algorithmic price optimisation with powerful ML techniques, and you’ll have a robust tool for performance analytics.
