Barclays to close Pingit after 10 years’ service
Long-serving payments app to be shut down by major UK bank.
UK
UK chancellor’s new visa scheme to attract fintech talent post-Brexit
Sunak wants to prioritise the UK’s £7 billion fintech sector.
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.
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.
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.
UK challenger OakNorth faces £97m in defaults from ten borrowers
All but two are down to property development loans gone bad.
DirectID hires David Freeman as new COO
Key to his new responsibilities at DirectID will be the emergence of a new data science team.
Introducing “it’s a matter of comms”
Welcome to #itsamatterofcomms! A new bi-weekly vlog!
Fintech funding deals globally 8-14 February 2021
Featuring Fraction, BharatPe, Agibank, Monzo, and Coinsquare.
Danish edtech Female Invest targets UK expansion with $1.6m fresh capital
“It makes a big difference when you see someone like you on a platform.”
Goldman Sachs re-opens Marcus in UK with 0.5% rate
0.5% is the highest paying easy-access rate in the UK.
ICYMI funding round-up: Trade Ledger, Mesh, Safepay, Globacap & more
We round up some of the funding rounds that may have slipped you by.
Equifax acquires AccountScore to boost open banking capabilities
Equifax wants higher rates of automation and verification.
TransferGo picks Thought Machine for core operations
Money transfer firm switches things up in the back office.
More than 90% of UK’s financial firms still rely on legacy tech, says FCA
Some 33% admit “most” of their technology is legacy.
Findr launches first crowdfunding campaign
Findr was launched at the end of October 2020 by resident FinTech Futures expert, Greg Watts.
United Fintech announces acquisition of German regtech TTMzero
UK scale-up has taken 25% stake with a view to nabbing 80% soon.
Monzo confirms £50m raise with help of new US backer
Monzo is on the cusp of five million customers.
Tandem Bank acquires £100m mortgage book from Bank and Clients
Private bank’s customers won’t notice the transition, claims challenger.
UK-Nigeria mobile wallet Sendit.Money goes crowdfunding
It has already exceeded its £100,000 target, having raised £146,006 at time of writing.
EXCLUSIVE: Wirex users hit by unexplained account restrictions and “disappearing” funds
A growing number of customers are fleeing Wirex.
Social impact app Tickr raises £2.5m
Tickr focuses on climate change, social impact and disruptive tech.
BlackRock-backed Scalable Capital closes UK consumer platform
The robo-adviser will focus on growing the business in Germany.
Boosting economic recovery by harnessing the power of payments
The other significant milestone the UK economy has to handle this year is life beyond Brexit.
Hapi rolls out UK savings and investments app for parents
The start-up is backed by Entrepreneur First.
UK carbon impact challenger Creed set to launch this year
Former Bank of America, UBS and Barclays exec Roshan George heads up Creed.
Cashplus lands full banking licence after 15 years as an EMI
The ability to lend on its deposits pits Cashplus directly against Starling.
SumUp acquires Lithuanian core banking firm Paysolut
SumUp continues its acquisitive spree, buying its fourth firm since 2018.
