💬 INTERVIEW
HALA cofounders, Maher Loubieh and Esam Alnahdi, explain how the Saudi FinTech has evolved and how it plans to become the go-to bank for the region’s SME community.
👉 Read the full Forbes Middle East interview article here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
TymeBank says it is set to reach the 6 million customer mark in December, as the group completes its acquisition of business lender and fintech group, Retail Capital.
The acquisition is now complete after TymeBank was granted all the necessary regulatory approvals. The bank has acquired 100% of Retail Capital for R1.5 billion.
👉 Read the full BusinessTech article here.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
The Integrated solutions for startups and SMEs, with More than 45k Merchants, achieving more then 1 million transaction per day worth of $11million
💡INSIGHTS
Cloud-native Cores and Digital Banking Revolution;
According to a report by Celent and Mambu, banks worldwide can save up to $246B by switching to a cloud-native architecture, including a 76% decrease in core spending and a 15% reduction in total IT costs over a five-year period.
👉 Read the full overview article by WhiteSight here.
📰 ARTICLE
Read about the successful union between Klarna Kosma and Krea and how Krea used Kosma’s Open Banking to increase loan applications by 28%.
👉 Read the full Klarna Kosma case study here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ C6 Bank will be using core banking technology from Thought Machine for innovative products, which will be announced shortly. Link here.
⭐️ ZELF, the bank of the metaverse, is shaking up the financial world by introducing anonymous Visa cards, which can be replenished by crypto. Link here.
⭐️ Starling Bank is actively developing a mortgage product that it will offer directly to its retail customers. Link here.
⭐️ Goldman Sachs plans to spend tens of millions of dollars to buy or invest in crypto companies after the collapse of the FTX exchange hit valuations and dampened investor interest. Link here.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut customers wanting to earn interest on their Euros can now do so, as the fintech is adding savings Vaults specifically for Euro holdings. Link here.
Sopra Banking Software has been selected as a preferred supplier for Bevan Money. Link here.
The Bank of London joined the Bacs payment network, allowing account-to-account payments between UK banks. Link here.
GoHenry paired up with custodian and platform technology provider Seccl to power a junior individual savings account (ISA) on its app. Link here.
Zopa vowed to not only continue hiring but to raise its minimum salaries by more than 20 percent. Link here.
Starling Bank is introducing virtual cards for its customers free of charge, which will let users better track and control their spending. Link here. Over a third of Covid support loans issued by Starling at risk of default. Link here.
The FCA fined Metro Bank PLC £10,002,300 for breaching the Listing Rules by publishing incorrect information to investors. Link here.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Contis completed a significant step in becoming further integrated within the Solaris Group, with the Contis brand being retired. Link here.
USA 🇺🇸
Wells Fargo unveiled a new digital banking platform, Vantage, to more effectively service its commercial, corporate, and investment banking clients. Link here.
First Fidelity Bank launched a comprehensive digital wealth management solution with Unifimoney, a multi-asset digital investing platform. Link here.
CANADA
EQ Bank launched its EQ Bank digital banking platform into the Quebec market, making it available coast-to-coast to all Canadians. Link here.
LATAM
Ualá starts giving personal loans in Mexico Company launching loans via partner bank ABC Capital. Link here.
ASIA
The five digital banks licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore are now members of the island state’s credit bureau. This brings the Credit Bureau Singapore’s (CBS) members to 36. Link here.
Tide announced the launch of the Tide app in India. Link here.
Prime Bank begins commercial roll out of Agam credit scoring tech. Link here.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
ANZ Bank revealed plans to offer digital mortgages starting in 2023 in a bid to expand its new digital banking platform. Link here.
National Australia Bank’s venture capital fund invested in a London-based fintech Banked to bring new “pay by bank” options to Australian retailers. Link here.
MIDDLE EAST
First Iraqi Bank launched Iraq's first digital banking services to provide further opportunities for the banking sector in the country. Link here.
AFRICA
Finclusion Group has raised an additional $2 million in equity financing as it officially rebrands to Fin. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.