💡A European neobank is looking for a fraud prevention expert. If this sounds like you and you'd like to learn more please fill out the form below.
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REPORT
The rise of embedded finance🚀
Embedded finance is a growing trend across payments, banking, lending, wealth, insurance, and payroll verticals.
Download Finch Capital's latest report here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Revolut debuts crypto 'earn and learn' education courses.
Revolut’s new ‘Learn & Earn’ courses have been created to help customers improve their knowledge of cryptocurrencies and related topics, including blockchains, and the most popular tokens and protocols.
👉Read the full article here.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
Burgopak delivers award-winning innovative packaging solutions for some of the world's leading Banks and Fintechs. Creating a positive user experience with beautiful design drives customer engagement, elevating your brand and increasing card activation.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
Revolut juggernaut: in search of a new world order in finance.
👉Read the full article here.
📰 ARTICLE
How banks can compete in the post-neobank era.
👉Read the full Forbes article by Ron Shevlin here.
💡INSIGHTS
In response to Russia’s aggression, the West slapped Russian entities and individuals with a number of sanctions with unprecedented scope and speed.
The payments sector became a tool used to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s exclusion from SWIFT and the suspension of operations by international card schemes have become a cautionary tale for the rest of the world.
👉Read the full FlagShip Advisory Partners’ deep dive article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️Mambu announced a global partnership with Visa in order to utilise Visa DPS – one of the largest processors of Visa debit transactions globally. Link here.
⭐️ Plum has announced the launch of its degradable debit card, consolidating its position as a comprehensive money app. Link here.
⭐️ Revolut is making its first venture into physical devices with the launch of a card reader for shops and restaurants. Link here.
⭐️ Yonder is launching travel insurance for all its members, to support its customers “at a time when they need it most”. Link here.
⭐️A Kenyan court froze more than $40m in accounts belonging to FinTech firm Flutterwave under the country’s anti-money laundering laws. Link here.
⭐️GoHenry has expanded into Europe for the first time with the acquisition of French startup Pixpay. Link here.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Oxbury has raised £20 million to continue the development of its proprietary AgTech core platform. Link here.
Tide partners with Transcorp to roll-out RuPay powered Expense Card. Link here.
Payl8r is calling for open banking to be adopted as a legal requirement for credit assessment. Link here.
Stripe announced that Revolut will use Stripe to support payments in the UK and Europe and accelerate its expansion into new markets. Link here.
Coconut has launched new Construction Industry Scheme subcontractor features designed to help capture gross income and withholding tax. Link here.
Allica Bank has announced that it has reached its largest milestone yet with over £1 billion in loans to Britain’s SMEs. Link here.
Griffin, has scored $15.5 million in funding. Link here.
Starling Bank is now offering its ‘Bills Manager’ feature to small businesses to help them streamline their finances. Link here. Starling’s Engine CEO doesn’t plan to “follow the Revolut path” into Europe. Link here.
11Onze has successfully launched El Canut in the UK. Link here.
PayPoint announces the launch of a next business day settlement service for PayPoint One customers signing up to integrated card payments with a PayPoint-preferred acquirer. Link here.
Plum is making a big move into ‘spending’ today, with the launch of a debit card which will let customers tap into the cash in their account. Link here.
One of Monzo’s directors Phillip Riese has stepped down from the company’s board. Link here.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
BKN301 has raised EUR15 million in a Series A funding round led by Abalone Group. Link here.
The Commonwealth Bank is facing a $2 billion hit on its investment in Klarna, with the Swedish group’s valuation set to be slashed by up to 85 percent in its latest capital raising. Klarna is finalising plans to raise up to $US650 million. Link here.
Klarpay AG has signed a global partnership with Visa on becoming a Principal Member of the Visa network. Link here.
LATAM
Nubank announced a partnership with Shopee that offers cashback of up to BRL 50 per purchase. To have access to the cash return, customers need to access and activate the benefit from the Nubank Mall. Link here.
PagSeguro has just launched a credit card linked to investment in CDBs in Brazil. Link here.
Alt.bank wants to play a part in the complex Brazilian fintech arena. Link here.
Fiinu is readying to introduce a world-first plugin overdraft after joining the London Stock Exchange with a £53m valuation. Link here.
ASIA
Astra International together with Welab Sky, a consortium led by Hong Kong digital bank WeLab, plans to jointly acquire Indonesia’s PT Bank Jasa Jakarta. Link here.
NPCI has SWIFT alternative for 32 million Indian expats. Link here.
Delio, has launched the country's first cryptocurrency bank, offering a money market deposit account that enables crypto deposit and withdrawal at any time. Link here.
UNOAsia announced it has built the UNO Digital Bank in the Philippines in less than one year using Amazon Web Services, an Amazon.com company. Link here.
26% of Indian adults currently have a digital-only bank account, up from 22% in 2020. 46% of Indian adults will have a digital-only bank Account by 2027. Link here.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
The Islamic Bank Australia has been licensed and will begin beta testing with a small number of customers in 2023.The Islamic Bank Australia will be the first Australian bank to offer a full suite of retail and business banking services – all without interest and will be Shariah-compliant. Link here.
Till Payments has announced its partnership with Alipay+ to provide a payment solution for Australia’s higher education sector, Till Education. Link here.
MIDDLE EAST
Zand announced that it had been granted a banking license from the Central Bank of the UAE to become Zand Bank, a fully licensed bank. Link here.
AFRICA
M-Pesa virtual Visa card is undercutting Kenya’s commercial banks with lower foreign exchange rates in the race to get a larger share of the country’s cross-border payments market. Link here.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Neon announced the appointment of André Madeira as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.