HSBC Launches Market-first cross-currency Netting in China
Weekly news up to Monday, 20th of January 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Ozuma has launched as a crypto neobank in Europe, offering a platform designed to integrate traditional financial services with cryptocurrency solutions, in partnership with Striga.
The company has partnered with Striga, an EU-licensed financial infrastructure provider, to offer a range of services that include Euro and cryptocurrency account management, as well as a crypto card for spending in both currencies.
📰ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Gate City Bank Selects Lama AI to Transform Business Lending with GenAI-Powered Origination Platform.
⭐️ Knowit collaborates with Backbase to enhance digital banking services in the Nordics.
⭐️ Malaysia grants licences to two new digital banks.
⭐️ HSBC launches market-first cross-currency netting in China.
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🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut founder Storonsky lands £350m windfall from the disposal of shares in the FinTech giant after the company extended a deal to allow existing investors to offload part of their holdings. Sources close to Revolut said on Monday that the final proceeds to Mr Storonsky could be even higher once the secondary round closes.
Moneyhub launches savings tool. The company introduced a new API (Application Programming Interface) ‘recipe’ that uses Open Banking to assist users in visualising and reaching their savings objectives, enabling providers to improve their clients’ financial security.
Barclays sustainability Chief exits in latest bank reshuffle. Barclays group head of sustainability Laura Barlow has stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Barlow was responsible for leading Barclays' efforts to align with the world's goal of limiting climate change and other sustainability objectives.
10x Banking has partnered with DLT Apps. This partnership offers a fast and convenient migration journey from legacy and non-legacy systems onto 10x, that prioritises data integrity and quality with DLT Apps’ TerraAi. By combining the capabilities banks can better address modern data migrations.
Revolut launches in-app calling feature to tackle impersonation fraud. The new feature targets impersonation scams in which criminals pretend to be a representative of a bank to gain access to sensitive details about their victim’s account, compromising their savings.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Jamie Dimon wants to take JPMorgan Chase to Germany and beyond. Dimon’s plan is to sweep through Europe’s major economies, capturing enough customers to generate a new profit engine. The company plans to launch Chase in Germany in late 2025 or early 2026.
Bank of Ireland reports record Christmas digital banking usage, as ATM use falls 12%. Tracking customer behaviour from December 14 to 24, the bank recorded a higher login rate than any other peak holiday or shopping period. It also reported an increase of 45 per cent in December 2024 compared to December 2023.
Romania’s CEC Bank selects Temenos to power retail and corporate banking. This transformation will enable CEC Bank to drive faster time to market, operational efficiency and business agility as it looks to further strengthen its position in the Romanian banking market.
USA 🇺🇸
nbkc Bank partners with NCR Atleos and Allpoint to expand access to self-service banking. “Our collaboration with Atleos effectively extends our branch network by providing greater access to self-service banking through an expanded ATM network,” said the Chief Deposit and Operations Officer at nbkc bank.
CFPB sues Capital One for cheating consumers. The CFPB alleges that Capital One promised consumers that its flagship “360 Savings” account provided one of the nation’s “best” and “highest” interest rates, but the bank froze the interest rate at a low level while rates rose nationwide.
Block (SQ) was fined $80M for anti-money laundering violations. Block agreed to pay a fine to 48 state financial regulators after the agencies determined the company had insufficient policies for policing money laundering through its mobile payment service, Cash App.
Apple is in talks with two new partners to take over Apple Card. A report from Reuters cites sources familiar with the matter and says Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony Financial about taking over the Apple Card agreement. Find out more
Bank of America profits boosted by loan growth and robust trading. BofA more than doubled its net profits from the same period in 2023 to $6.7bn. The increase was flattered by the payment to top up the federal deposit insurance scheme in 2023 in the wake of the regional banking crisis, and excluding that cost earnings were 14% higher.
Goldman Hands $80M retention awards to Solomon and Waldron. The company. handed its top two executives retention awards valued at $80 million each and introduced a new program to give its leaders a slice of carried interest earned on private equity funds as it tries to compete on pay with top alternative asset managers.
LATAM
Nu México signed an agreement with the retail chain OXXO. “This agreement with OXXO allows us to promote financial inclusion in areas underserved by traditional financial institutions. It strengthens our commitment to making financial services accessible,” said the General Director of Nu Mexico.
ASIA
ABBANK invests in Backbase to launch digital banking platform. With this launch, ABBANK provides business owners with enterprise-grade technology and digital banking capabilities, leveling the playing field and delivering a seamless, secure platform for business growth and financial management.