Temenos Makes Two Leadership Appointments In The US
Weekly news up to Monday, 29th of July 2024.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
NatWest has bought Metro Bank’s £2.4b mortgage book, while also admitting to being forced to spend £24m on cancelled “Tell Sid” campaign by the previous government.
The Bank will acquire the portfolio of prime UK residential mortgages, expecting to gain around 10,000 customer accounts who will continue to be serviced by Metro Bank.
Following this announcement, and their Q2 results announcement, NatWest shares went up by 8%.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ CRED launches personal finance manager for India’s affluent.
⭐️ BofA’s CashPro® App Surpasses $500 Billion in Payment Approvals.
⭐️ HSBC India partners with Open Financial Technologies to launch FinConnect for business clients.
⭐️ Small businesses can now get 5.15% interest on their cash with Lightyear.
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🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Revolut secured a UK banking license, ending a three-year long regulatory battle in a move that will boost the FinTech's status in its home market. The London-based company said on Thursday it had received a banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority with restrictions that will allow it to build out its banking operation before launching it.
Customer complaints over fraud reimbursement by Revolut surge. The UK's Financial Ombudsman has fielded a 35% surge in customer complaints about requests for reimbursement over scam thefts being denied by Revolut.
Revolut is nearing a deal to sell about $500 million worth of employee-owned shares at a valuation of $45 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Revolut customers in the UK can now deposit cash directly into their accounts. Revolut, the global FinTech with over 9 million UK customers and 45 million globally, has announced the launch of cash deposits for all UK customers.
FCA to lift customer onboarding restrictions for Modulr. The company agreed to temporarily pause onboarding certain new customer segments in the UK, due to the many new and revised UK regulations coming into force in 2023 and 2024.
UK open banking hits 10 million users. The milestone comes six-and-a-half years after the rollout of open banking in the UK, building an ecosystem worth more than £4 billion to the economy and creating around 5000 skilled digital jobs, claims Open Banking Limited (OBL).
PayDo selects ClearBank to enhance service offerings to their UK customers. The partnership with ClearBank will allow PayDo customers to convert their transactions into 12 different currencies and gain access to the faster payments network. This step in the partnership means PayDo will now process all GBP clearing through ClearBank.
Monzo Bank has launched a new product calles 'Monzo Pension', aimed at simplifying pension consolidation by bringing old pensions together into one fund within its app.
Zopa Bank Partners With D•One for Open Banking Services. The integration will see Zopa Bank add D•One to its roster of partners that provide open banking connectivity and transaction categorisation intelligence. D•One will initially be focussing on Zopa’s loan origination journeys.
Kroo clarifies transaction data with Snowdrop geolocation tech. This strategic collaboration brings enhanced user experience to the forefront of Kroo's mobile banking app.
UK neobank app users are on track to surpass legacy banks for the first time by Q1 2025, according to research conducted on the Google Play Store by SplitMetrics. If this trend is repeated in the second half of the year, neobanks will reach 71.5 million app users versus 72 million for legacy banks.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Revolut Launches Personal Loans in Italy: "IBAN, Credit Cards, and Buy Now Pay Later Coming Soon" The online bank will offer loans ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 euros to its two million users starting this fall.
Online accounting FinTech Keez is now connected to all banks in Romania through the new "Online Statements" service. The new "Online Statements" service launched by Keez is carried out under the PSD2 (Payment Service Directive 2).
Rabobank Selects Zafin Platform to Power Digital Transformation Efforts with Optimized Product, Pricing and Billing Capabilities. This unified approach reduces revenue leakage, provides real-time insights into customer banking needs, and elevates the digital banking experience for Rabobank’s diverse clientele.
Banking Circle and Fundcraft partner together on account openings. The partnership, announced in a press release issued on 23 July 2024, means that fund managers will be closely connected to national clearing schemes, thus enabling accounts to be opened more quickly.
Finom launches Sepa direct debit B2B. This new feature complements FINOM’s existing SEPA Direct Debit Core offering, providing a more comprehensive suite of payment options for businesses of all sizes.
UniCredit announced that it has entered into a binding agreement for the acquisition of the entire share capital of Vodeno and Aion Bank. The combined purchase price is around €370m.
Cash Plus has gone live with Profile Software’s Finuevo Suite to address its end-to-end loans management needs comprehensively and provide full online services to its clients.
Banks and building societies will need to weigh up if local communities lack access to cash services, like branches and ATMs, and plug significant gaps, under new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
First Global Bank Partners With Profile Software For Its Banking Solution. The solution meets the bank’s need for a modern end-to-end solution, providing front-end, digital onboarding and loan origination facilities.
USA 🇺🇸
US Bank Mercury to close accounts of startups in 13 African countries after internal compliance changes. Mercury, a San Francisco digital bank that became the preferred banking partner for African startups after Silicon Valley Bank went under in March 2023, will close the accounts of users in thirteen African countries by August 22, 2024, leaving them scrambling to find alternatives.
MANTL Announces Integration With Q2’s Digital Banking Platform. This enables financial institutions to work with these partners, purchase their solutions, and rapidly deploy their standardized integrations to financial institutions.
i2c and Beyon Money Launch Corporate Card Partnership. The collaboration, will see the firms launch a corporate expense card program for the small to midsize enterprise (SME) sector, targeting businesses in Bahrain before eventually expanding to the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
U.S. Bank introduced a comprehensive accounts receivable (AR) platform to help suppliers accelerate cash flow, cut costs through automation and deliver better payment experiences.
LATAM
BBVA opens global cybersecurity centre in Mexico. The new site will mirror the bank's existing Spanish cybersecurity hub and will incorporate technologies in artificial intelligence and process automation for the detection and prevention of cyber crime.
ASIA
Egypt's Banknbox join forces with CSC Jordan to drive financial inclusion. The partnership aims to drive financial inclusion and offer joint advanced services to customers of both companies, through the extension of diverse banking solutions and innovative payment services.
UAE-based FinTech start-up myZoi has launched a financial inclusion-focused digital wallet complete with “one-to-many” transfer capabilitie. The start-up’s ongoing commitment to financial inclusion and literacy is further supported by an interactive gamified financial education programme called MoneyTips.
Bank of Israel selects 14 teams to present use cases for digital shekel. The teams that proposed use cases in an initial challenge conducted earlier this year represent veteran financial companies, FinTech firms, technology firms, and private teams.
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
Australian FinTech start-up Chipkie was recently unveiled to the public as it set its sights on providing services to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ sector in Australia.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Temenos, the banking software company, announced two key executive appointments to accelerate business growth and capture the market opportunity in SaaS and in the US.