Digital Banking | 2023 #22
Weekly news up to Monday, 29th of May 2023
REPORT
⚫APAC Digital Bank Landscape
This report serves as an invaluable guide to digital banks in APAC on current market dynamics from both supply and demand perspectives, offering valuable insights on achieving profitability through optimising client fulfilment across the end-to-end value chain.
⚫UK Mobile Banking Apps: Branching Out (3 years on from lockdown) by Optima Consultancy.
The summary is based on an on-going research study comprising:
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Frost, the innovative personal finance app, has announced the expansion of its automated provider switching tool 'Save Assist' to include broadband switching services.
📰 ARTICLE
⚫Fintech R&R- NatWest's Digital ID innovation and BAaaS (Banking Authentication-as-a-Service)
Whilst all components of the anti-money laundering process are critical to adhere to the AML laws imposed by countries, KYC and the Customer Identity Verification process are slightly more important.
Read the while article by Jas Shah on this very important subject in FinTech and Banking here.
⚫London loses crypto ‘mojo and momentum’ as Revolut hints at Paris move.
Could London lose its crypto crown to Paris?
That possibility is rising after hints that Revolut, the UK’s biggest fintech firm and a major crypto provider to retail investors, plans a bigger French presence amid struggles to win a bank licence in the UK.
Read the complete DL News article here.
👨💻 BLOG
New entrants have gained a share in the core banking market, but sales volume has not changed much over the last 5 years, suggesting banks remain reluctant to take the risk of changing core systems.
Read the complete insightful deep dive blog post by Ben Robinson.
💬 INTERVIEW
Revolut’s offer of 30% off car insurance is likely “smoke and mirrors”, a leading transport commentator has said.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show transport commentator Conor Faughnan said having spent 30 years working in insurance, he was hesitant to buy into Revolut’s promise.
🎤 PODCAST
Alex Bank understands part of the key to its success is appreciating the foundation of banking while offering the market something sometimes fails to do – meet the needs of its customers.
“We started Alex Bank in a shed near the Brisbane airport,” said CEO Simon Beitz on the iTnews Podcast.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Thunes partners with Saudi Arabia’s new digital bank “D360” to power instant cross-border payments across MENA and key global markets.
⭐️ Toqio announced a new Vice President of Sales. With over 14 years of experience in finance and technical sales, Michael Pierce joins Toqio to lead its commercial and marketing teams.
⭐️ Starling Bank chief Anne Boden to step down amid record profit.
⭐️ Daylight, a banking platform catering to the LGBTQ+ community, is set to shut down on June 30, according to its co-founder and CEO, Rob Curtis.
⭐️ JPMorgan is developing a ChatGPT-like A.I. service that gives investment advice.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut may only win a UK banking licence if it gets rid of preference shares held by investors including Japan’s SoftBank Group.
NatWest launched Tap to Pay on Android, a new service for customers to accept in-person contactless payments on their own phone devices.
Chase UK hits £15bn, reaches 1.6m customers.
Monese joins Starling in creating a new subsidiary for banking-as-a-service push.
Atom Bank plans chair change in September, with Lee Rochford’s arrival.
GoHenry partnered with Snowdrop Solutions to improve transaction location capabilities.
Starling Bank’s long term CEO Anne Boden does not have a direct replacement yet but the bank’s COO is stepping in, at least in the short term, to lead its 2000-strong team.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
UniCredit and Mastercard expand payments partnership.
N26 launched new insurance services for ‘You’ and ‘Metal’ personal and business account holders. Exec churn and cash burn leaves N26 a long way from IPO.
Bitpanda is teaming with Coinbase to connect the U.S.-listed exchange giant with banks in Europe who are looking to offer digital assets to their customers.
Qred is to become Europe's newest bank, having been granted a full banking license by the country's financial regulator.
USA 🇺🇸
Venmo is introducing a new service that allows parents to open a Venmo account for children between the ages of 13-17 to send and receive money via the app.
JPMorgan Chase is forecasting $84 billion in net interest income this year, a $3 billion increase from its forecast prior to its First Republic Bank acquisition.
Customers of Dave have collectively earned more than $1 million from Dave’s new in-app survey-taking feature.
Onyx Private announced $4.1 million in new funding to provide private banking and investment services specifically tailored to high earning Millennials and Gen Zers.
LATAM
Nubank released a new feature called Extra Limits, which allows bank users to perform transactions via Pix in the credit method.
Nubank recognizes cryptocurrencies as a significant engagement driver for its customer base. In the short to medium term, the company is focusing on this asset class, citing high demand from its customers, many of whom prefer investing in cryptocurrency over stocks.
Citigroup plans to pursue an initial public offering of its Mexico business, Banamex, scuttling a 16-month effort to find a buyer for the unit.
ASIA
Wing Bank and UnionPay International team up to enhance outbound money transfer and digital payment experience.
MIDDLE EAST
Islamic banks in Asia-Pacific will outgrow conventional banks despite economic pressures, according to S&P Global Ratings.
AFRICA
TymeBank raised $77.8m as Chinese conmglomerate Tencent increases its stake to become the group's third-largest shareholder.
TymeBank reached 7 million customers in South Africa, with group claiming to add 200,000 new customers each month while carrying a 70% 30-day account activity rate.