Digital Banking: | 2023 #37
Weekly news up to Monday, 11th of September 2023
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Ripple has bought the Fortress Blockchain Technologies subsidiary for an undisclosed sum. Fortress Trust also holds a Nevada Trust license, adding to Ripple's NY BitLicense, more than 30 Money Transmitter Licenses across the US, and an in-principle Major Payment Institution License in Singapore.
📰 ARTICLE
Banking as a Service has taken the financial world by storm. Diverging from traditional white-labeled banking services, BaaS offers an innovative model built upon a plug-and-play API platform. But what does this mean for the financial sector, brands, and consumers alike?
Metro Bank and Atom founder Anthony Thomson talks to City A.M. about the retail banking revolution – and why he won’t be stopping anytime soon.
🏦 Open Banking is gaining impressive traction around the globe.
Initially championed by Europe's PSD2 and the UK's Open Banking Standard, conceived three years ago by the Competition and Markets Authority, it's exciting to see that now over 50 nations are embracing the potential of open banking.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of finance, banks are facing the imperative to become AI-first institutions. To achieve this, they must adopt a comprehensive strategy that touches upon all aspects of their operations. This transformation requires a shift across four interconnected layers:
Read the full article here.
SME lenders have warned MPs that proposed regulatory changes would be a “dramatic backward step” and impose significant constraints on the growth of SME-focused banks.
Under proposals being considered by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) as part of the Basel 3.1 regulations, favourable treatment for SME lending will be removed.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ J.P. Morgan payments partners in Middle East with Network International.
⭐️ Fed-backed project validates exchange framework for e-remittance information.
⭐️ Credit unions snap up community banks.
⭐️ Zopa hits 1M customers and raises another $93M.
⭐️ FDIC acknowledges ‘too generous’ view of First Republic’s liquidity.
⭐️ After withdrawing bank application, Rakuten seeks Credit Union charter.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
wamo announces that it is partnering with Modulr as its new Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider.
Monzo has rolled out an in-app 'status call' feature that helps customers discern whether they're being called by a genuine bank staffer or a fraudster running an impersonation scam.
Kroo Bank is gearing up for a fundraise of up to £70m and is to launch a current account tracker rate, as it rails against traditional banks’ “cryptic” interest rate levels.
Perenna secures banking licence from the FCA and PRA. Full FCA and PRA approval will enable the firm to introduce its long-term fixed rate mortgage products to the UK.
LHV Bank has rolled out a new loan system for its SME Lending division, transitioning to the cloud-based banking system of its SaaS partner, Tuum.
HSBC is collaborating with Terra Quantum on an experiment to test the use of quantum technology for optimising capital allocation.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Viva.com now enables Dutch merchants to seamlessly and securely accept in-person contactless payments with Tap to Pay on iPhone and its Viva Terminal iOS App.
Temenos has developed a generative AI tool for automatically classifying customer banking transactions, helping clients to provide personalised inisghts and recommendations.
Revolut is introducing compatibility with bitcoin SegWit addresses and new on-chain withdrawal and receipt options.
USA 🇺🇸
FutureBank has partnered with IDVerse to further its digital transformation and accelerate customer onboarding through swift and secure digital identity verification (IDV).
Bluevine announced expanded FDIC insurance coverage of up to $3 million through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, and program banks in a sweep network, automatically offering Bluevine account holders coverage of up to 12x the industry standard of $250,000.
Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic failures caused shift in startups’ deposits. JP Morgan Chase’s gambit to onboard startups won market share, but fintechs Mercury and Brex also benefited.
Finotta uses gamification to increase banks’ user engagement. The embedded fintech says its personalized financial guidance platform has helped boost user engagement on banks’ mobile apps, with sessions averaging 13 minutes per month.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is in the early stages of exploring a blockchain-based digital deposit token for speeding up cross-border payments and settlement.
BNY Mellon has teamed up with Trustly to launch an open banking-based service that makes it practical for organisations to support consumer payments directly from bank accounts.
Solid will accelerate and strengthen the onboarding and monitoring of its fintech clients, in full compliance with Lewis & Clark Bank's rigorous risk and compliance standards.
LATAM
Dimo is Banco de México's new digital payment tool that enables real-time money transfers using only a cellphone number. Jaime Márquez Poo, emphasized that Dimo stands out due to its speed and simplicity, eliminating the need for long bank account or card numbers.
Scotiabank México has forged a strategic partnership with online platform Lamudi and digital broker Morgana to streamline real estate purchases via mortgages in Mexico.
Klar, accumulated over 1.25 billion pesos in deposits, projecting approximately 3 billion pesos by the end of the year. Along with these deposits, they recorded an annual return between 10% to 14%.
Nubank announced the launch of personal loans for the Mexican market, aiming to boost its financial services portfolio in the region's second-largest economy.
ASIA
GX Bank Berhad (GXBank) has been granted approval to begin operations by the Minister of Finance and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Toss Bank mulls introducing house mortgage loans.
MIDDLE EAST
Saudi Awwal Bank has entered into an agreement with Wise with the aim to provide “SAB’s” customers with fast, secure, and cost-effective solutions for sending and receiving money internationally.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.