FCA boosts data strategy with new executive hires
Stephanie Cohen, Jessica Rusu, Sarah Pritchard, and Emily Sheppard all join the watchdog.
Europe
Kalifa report says UK’s fintech crown at risk from waiting competitors
To mitigate the risks posed to UK fintechs, the report lists a number of recommendations.
Lloyds spends big on tech projects as profits slump 72%
The bank spent around £1.2bln on tech in 2020, equivalent to the profit it generated for the year.
Pension builder Vantik signs card partnership with Mastercard
German fintech to issue new debit card for users in 2021.
Bank of England governor brands EU relocation wishes a “very serious escalation”
The EU granted the UK temporary equivalence last September for derivatives clearing.
Report: The power of data analytics in fintech solutions
A deep-dive industry report focused on the priorities and use of data analytics at financial institutions.
Landmark pan-European payment system EPI calls on fintechs for build phase
European payment giants Worldline and Nets became shareholders in the EPI last year.
What did the GameStop saga expose about UK trading regulation?
FinTech Futures unpacks the FCA’s published response to trading restrictions on 29 January.
Penta Bank raises €7.5m in extended Series B funding round
German challenger bank brings total raised this round to €30 million.
Moneycorp hires Barclays exec Tarashev as new CFO
His final role at the UK bank was as CFO of its private banking operations.
BBVA deploys Google Cloud security analytics platform
Spanish bank is first in Europe to implement Google Cloud’s Chronicle
HSBC explores options for loss-making US arm as profits dip 34%
Asia delivered HSBC a $13 billion adjusted profit before tax in 2020.
Barclays to close Pingit after 10 years’ service
Long-serving payments app to be shut down by major UK bank.
UK chancellor’s new visa scheme to attract fintech talent post-Brexit
Sunak wants to prioritise the UK’s £7 billion fintech sector.
Russian challenger Tinkoff launches “one-stop shop” checkout product
“Some of our services can be activated within a day.”
TransferWise rebrands as Wise to push platform capabilities
It’s dropping the first part of its name in a bid to underpin its expansion as a platform player.
Aviva breaks into cash savings market with help of German fintech Raisin
Savings accounts via partner banks offer interest rates of up to 0.64% AER.
Alpha Bank finalises €10.8bn loan portfolio sale
US fund Davidson Kempner takes on largest portfolio sale of its kind in Greece.
The dawn of central bank digital currencies: will they take over the cash?
The ECB plans to announce whether it will launch the project in the middle of 2021.
Fintech funding deals globally 15-21 February 2021
Featuring Public, Webull, Blockchain, GoCardless, and Personetics.
Fintech funding round-up: SeedFi, Libeo, Ember and Finch Capital
A round-up of some of the recent investments in fintech, paytech and tax tech firms.
Vanquis signs credit building partnership with Loqbox
Loqbox to help Vanquis customers unable to get credit cards.
Capital Group hires Marta Zarraga as new CIO
Zarraga has 25 years of industry experience at firms like Aviva, Vodafone and BT.
UK Black-owned challenger Atmen to launch in March
The start-up is now looking to raise £5 million from institutional investors.
ICYMI funding round-up: FlexxPay, Raqamyah, and JustUs
A trio of funding rounds that may have passed you by last week.
Newly licensed UK bank Cashplus is raising £50m
It intends to raise the funds from growth investment firms.
Manchester Credit Union signs payments deal with ClearBank
ClearBank and incuto give credit union access to Faster Payments.
Low-code fintech OutSystems bags $9.5bn valuation in $150m raise
It claims to tackle the shortage of developers across 22 industries.
Learning to safeguard vulnerable customers in a digital world
What’s needed is an industry-wide effort to stamp out poor practice and make services inclusive.
Sopra Steria invests in Parisian fintech Particeep
Banking software firm picks up minority stake in SaaS fintech.
Norwegian web browser Opera launches fintech “Dify” in beta
Opera made two fintech-focused acquisitions last year.
Dutch unicorn Mollie expands to UK for post-Brexit opportunities
Molllie says it wants to help merchants with European growth post-Brexit.
Yolt Technology Services lands UK PSD2 licence
The fintech will no longer rely on ING’s licence.
UK government unveils digital identity plans based on wallet tech
The government likens a digital identity wallet to a bank card authorising a payment.
HSBC France sale to land this month, AnaCap goes back up against Cerberus
The French unit moved to the shelf back in September 2019.
Neobank hopeful 11Onze to offer Catalans a non-Spanish alternative
The start-up intends to be a true representation of the country’s 7.6m population.
Swedish neobank Northmill raises $30m to power European expansion
The first stop along the way is a new product launch in Norway.
Lombard Odier picks NetGuardians for AI-based risk tech
Swiss private bank wants “cutting edge” fraud prevention.
UK challenger OakNorth faces £97m in defaults from ten borrowers
All but two are down to property development loans gone bad.
IKEA buys 49% stake in financial services partner Ikano Bank
Lending to IKEA shoppers accounted for about a quarter of the bank’s total business.
