REPORT
The FinTech Report provides a comprehensive overview of the tech-overlay platforms for banking solutions, whether to licensed banks or to non-banking clients that want to launch such banking products to their end clients.
AI stands at the forefront as a transformative technology that can aid banks in navigating this complex landscape. It promises rapid product development, scalability at reduced costs, and advanced credit risk assessments. Yet, with great power comes great responsibility.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
The European Payments Initiative, a bank-backed venture that was initally set up to build a rival to Mastercard and Visa in Europe, has selected 'wero' as the commercial name for its forthcoming digital wallet solution.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
Its average monthly app download total of just over 2.5m for 2023 through the end of August is around four times higher than the second in line, Monzo, which averages just over 522,000 monthly downloads in that period.
💡INSIGHTS
Banking as a service: The role of banks in powering the fintech industry
In the US, this runs the gamut from issuing cards and opening bank accounts to holding deposits and accessing a Federal Reserve account. Banks that enable these services on behalf of fintechs are generally invisible to fintech providers' end users, operating quietly behind the scenes. In this report, we discuss the trend of fintech partner banks and the different approaches emerging in the marketplace.
EU mandates instant payments from end 2024: early movers to gain advantage
This draft law is expected to be placed before the European Parliament before May 2024 and, subject to ratification, will be implemented by the end of next year.
🎤 PODCAST
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Joust and Lendela partner to bolster personal loans offering.
⭐️ Tarabut Gateway rebrands as 'Tarabut.
⭐️ SC Ventures launches new BaaS solutions provider audax Financial Technology.
⭐️ Varo aims to displace Venmo, Cash App volume with new P2P feature.
⭐️ Monument announces the expansion of its savings proposition with the launch of its new Notice Accounts.
⭐️ Axel Weber joins advisory board of Raisin as deposits soar to €50bn.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut Business has announced the launch of ‘RevTag’, its instant and free payments ecosystem, to Revolut Business customers.
Revolut has been granted an extension for its annual results for the second year in a row, as the company awaits a final decision on its UK banking licence.
Revolut set to enter mortgage market for first time.
Temenos announced that Libra Internet Bank has selected Temenos to modernize its payments capabilities using Temenos Payments to facilitate ISO 20022 cross-border payments and reporting on the Swift network.
Temenos has announced that Temenos Payments Hub, a payments solution, is available as the first of its kind on IBM Cloud for Financial Services.
Temenos unveils POC for CBDC wallet integration.
Wamo has raised a $1.5m seed extension round. The cah will be used to expand the Wamo team as well as for the development of a suite of credit products, expansion into new markets and applying for an electronic money institution (EMI) license in Finland.
Monzo clients rush to sign up for BlackRock offering. More than 200,000 Monzo customers have joined a waiting list to use a BlackRock investment offering when it launches in the “coming weeks”.
Allica Bank has offered £2bn in commercial mortgages to businesses introduced by brokers since it launched in 2020.
Starling Bank has raised its interest rates on its one-year fixed saver account.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Cashplus filed its full-year 2023 results this morning, which included the bank’s first after-tax profit since being awarded its full banking licence in 2021.
Cashplus says to expect a wave of acquisitions in the space, including traditional lenders buying their online-first rivals, and that his firm has already seen interest.
N26 has achieved one million customers in Spain. This significant growth was especially notable over the past four months, where deposits skyrocketed after the launch of their saving account with an interest rate of 2.26%.
Solaris SE is encountering roadblocks in its fundraising endeavors.
USA 🇺🇸
FedNow, the instant payments service launched by the Federal Reserve in July, aims to help individuals and businesses with cash flow and expense reconciliation.
Citigroup announced the launch of a digital token service for institutions.
Goldman Sachs is in advanced discussions to sell its specialty lender, GreenSky, to a group of investment firms, in a major step away from the Wall Street bank’s failed experiment in consumer lending.
Goldman Sachs Group’s asset management arm has amassed more than $15 billion across vehicles dedicated to acquiring private fund stakes on the secondary market.
LATAM
Kapital has acquired Banco Autofin México S.A. (BAM). BAM, a renowned bank, primarily serves the retail and SME market.
Conta Simples plans to enter credit market with SCD licence in Brazil.
Layup has raised $2.3 million in a seed round led by Chicago’s Continental Investment Partners.
ASIA
The National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan announces the publication of a status report on the implementation of digital currency in the Republic of Kazakhstan “Digital Tenge: implementation plan for the first phase.”
Fujitsu is to conduct trials into the use of generative AI (gen-AI) for banking operations.
NICE Actimize announced that it has finalized the implementation of its financial crime solutions with GoTyme Bank, a partnership between the Gokongwei Group and Tyme.
ZA bets on city's blockchain goals.
Axis Bank has launched a transaction banking platform for the Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) called NEO for Business.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
nCino announced that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, a leading Australian bank, has selected nCino to enhance and simplify their business banking operations.
Backbase combines with FrankieOne to provide Aus banks with faster onboarding.
AFRICA
TymeBank rolls out medical insurance aimed at domestic workers.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.