Digital Banking | 2022 #44
Weekly news up to Monday, October 31st, 2022
Q&A with Arjun Vir Singh
Today I have an interesting Q&A to share with you. Meet Arjun Vir Singh. One of the leading LinkedIn voices for the Gulf Region, he’s an avid commentator of the FinTech scene and a Partner with Arthur D. Little (ADL) based in Dubai, UAE 👇
REPORT
Forcing banks across the European Union to offer instant payments in euros is a "seismic" shift to make the economy more efficient and reap savings for businesses and customers.
👉 Read the full Reuters source article here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Revolut and Sweatcoin partner for free premium account promotion.
The two fintech powerhouses have partnered to offer six months of Sweatcoin premium and three months of Revolut premium, all for free.
👉 Read the full Altfi article here.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
Mark your calendar on the 14th – 15th November at The Brewery, London for this 2-day, must-attend festival of visionary ideas, practical innovation and deep dives into solving industry problems from a wide spectrum of financial services.
Featuring over 2,000 festival goers including global financial institutions, merchants, brands, marketplaces, digital platforms, technology enablers, innovators and fintechs, represented by C-level executives, founders as well as innovation and digital transformation leaders from across the UK and Europe.
📰 ARTICLE
It’s been more than 15 years since American Banker questioned whether turnkey “bank-in-a-box” products were too rigid.
The article, “Weighing Customization Against ‘Bank-in-a-Box’ Solutions,” describes the frustration of financial institutions that wanted flexibility.
“If a community bank requires major platform changes, switching the technology altogether can be less cumbersome than modifying the existing platform.”
👉 Read the full Fintech Talents article here.
💡INSIGHTS
A new survey into banking habits and products reveals different age groups prefer different banking technology.
Only 45% of 18-24s use online banking, compared to 83% of 55-64s.
78% of 25-34s use banking apps monthly, compared to 35% aged 65 and over.
67% of 18-24s use Apple Pay, compared to 10% of 55-64s and only 3% aged 65 and over
Savings accounts more popular among women (83%) than men (77%).
👉 Read the full Australian Fintech article here.
🎤 PODCAST
FinTech Podcast Alert: In this episode of "The Banking & Payments Show" with host Rob Rubin and Dan Van Dyke, they dive deep into SuperApps:
In "The Headlines" they discuss recent SuperApp developments. Then for “Story by Numbers” they highlight four numbers and reveal where SuperApps are heading.
👉 Listen to the full Behind the Numbers: The Banking & Payments Show podcast episode here.
🎤 PODCAST
In the latest edition of the FTT Chats series, Fintech Talents took the opportunity to sit down and speak with Nikhil Batheja, Executive Director, CIB Technology, API Architecture & Strategy at J.P. Morgan. about what he sees as some of the exciting trends in the financial services sector 👇
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Wise set to expand investment services across Europe with Estonian license. Link here.
⭐️ Northmill, which has the vision to improve financial life, connects to Swish. Link here.
⭐️ Raisin partners with ClearBank for embedded banking. Link here.
⭐️ The BaaS space is expected to reach $74.55 billion by 2030, and has emerged as an enticing revenue stream for community banks. Link here.
⭐️Revolut allows customers to make purchases with crypto balances. Link here.
⭐️ Solaris is aiming to triple its revenue to €300mn in the next two years despite job cuts, struggling clients and a recent rebuke from its regulator. Link here.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut boss renounces Russian citizenship as his father is sanctioned by Ukraine. Link here.
Novus is shutting its consumer-facing debit card product, and pivoting to B2B to support larger companies with “their ESG transformation journeys”. Link here.
Ashman Bank partners with nCino to bolster its tech platform, after being awarded first UK banking licence of the year. Link here.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Mambu announced general availability across three leading cloud providers Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, expanding its global market reach. Link here.
Temenos launches carbon emissions calculator on Temenos Banking Cloud. Link here.
Marqeta announced a partnership with Raiffeisen Centrobank to power the new brand Raiffeisen Digital Bank. Link here.
Marqeta introduces Marqeta for Banking. Link here.
ABN Amro merges PFM app Grip into mobile banking app. Link here.
USA 🇺🇸
Synctera announced the launch of two products that will allow FinTech builders to launch a wider range of products. Link here.
Cross River Bank expands card issuing with American Express. Link here.
JPMorgan Chase merchants can now receive payments through Meta Pay. Link here
Moven and upSwot form partnership. Link here.
Zenus Bank signs with Finxact. Link here.
Visa profit beats as payment volumes surge on travel demand. Link here.
US regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is setting up a financial technology unit to help it keep up with the "rapidly changing banking landscape". Link here.
Marqeta rolled out Marqeta for Banking, a new banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for customers. Link here.
LATAM
Covalto announces the closing of two credit lines for $200M. Link here.
ASIA
UOB Malaysia has announced the launch of the UOB SME app. Link here.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has rolled out an app that enables charities to accept digital, contactless donations. Link here.
AFRICA
Chipper Cash launched a new card product that allows customers in Uganda to make international transactions without the need for a bank account. Link here.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Michael D’Arcy confirmed he left his role as an independent director of Revolut because the fintech’s Irish business was being “wound down”. Link here.
OPPORTUNITIES
Starling has grown its headcount by 20% this year to reach 2000 employees, with plan to recruit a further 200 staff before the year is out. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.