UniCredit Completes Acquisition of 90.1% Stake in Alpha Bank Romania
Weekly news up to Monday, 11th of November 2024
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Alkami Technology has achieved the top position in credit union market share among digital banking providers, according to FI Navigator data. The company's success is evidenced by superior performance metrics of their credit union clients, who showed stronger deposit, loan, and revenue growth from January 2020 to June 2024 compared to peers.
Additionally, Alkami's Mobile Platform recently received J.D. Power certification for 'An Outstanding Mobile Banking Platform Experience,' outperforming industry benchmarks across 146 best practices in mobile app development, design, and operational performance.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
Banks face numerous challenges when it comes to merchant acceptance. Dive deeper in this comprehensive article from Flagship Advisory Partners for further information.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Thunes Founder and Former Visa Europe Director Join FINOM's Supervisory Board, Signaling Growth.
⭐️ Hong Kong Monetary Authority fines Fubon Bank HK$4m.
⭐️ UniCredit completes acquisition of 90.1% stake in Alpha Bank Romania.
⭐️ US central bank boss says Trump can't fire him.
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🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Santander UK faces new hit after years of lagging behind. Banco Santander’s frustrations with its British business are piling up, with job cuts and an expensive car finance review last week just the latest headaches for executives as they make other countries more of a priority.
NatWest and Mastercard launch mobile virtual card solution for business. NatWest plans to enable companies to issue virtual cards for their employees worldwide, eliminating the need for physical cards and enhancing flexibility, control, and security in corporate payments.
NatWest and Capco partner to navigate the future of payments. The collaboration facilitates customer, operational and infrastructure opportunities through the development of Bankline Direct Digital, which ensures long-term regulatory compliance among other benefits.
Equifax unveils an open banking-based system to simplify utility and telecom social discounts. The solution, Tariff Connect uses a digital application form and Open Banking technology to automatically assess eligibility, removing the need for manual documentation and reducing processing time from weeks to minutes.
Marygold & Co join forces with Griffin to promote financial wellness. This relationship allows Marygold & Co. to include savings accounts in its app, which will be released later this year and empower users in the UK with a variety of tailored wealth-building tools.
Chase’s new UK credit card won’t offer rewards as bank aims for top five in Europe. JP Morgan Chase’s UK head has clarified reports of plans to launch a UK credit card, stating it would not be a rewards-based card, though stopped short of confirming the launch. Find out more
EUROPE 🇪🇺
The Banque de France (BDF) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced the completion of a joint experiment in post-quantum cryptography (PQC) conducted across continents. The PQC experiment aims to enhance communication and data security against cybersecurity threats from quantum computing.
BBVA to train top executives in GenAI. The course focuses on the use of GenAI to improve productivity among top executives by optimising their strategic decision-making and daily operations. Learn more
BNZ acquires BlinkPay to grow Open Banking in New Zealand. According to BNZ, the investment will enable BlinkPay to accelerate and scale its innovation and product development through access to the bank’s resources and expertise. Financial details of the investment have not been disclosed.
Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse lose challenges against EU cartel fines. The companies lost their appeals against EU antitrust regulators, which stated that the cartel operated in the European secondary trading market for U.S.-denominated supra-sovereign, sovereign, and agency (SSA) bonds.
UniCredit and Commerzbank square off with target hikes amid takeover battle. Both banks raised their outlook on Wednesday with third-quarter results, while markets await whether UniCredit will pursue its takeover bid for Commerzbank after building a stake in September.
Wolt partners with Revolut to bring Wolt+ membership to its Premium, Metal, and Ultra Paid Plan subscribers. Through this partnership, Revolut customers on a paid plan can now enjoy the convenience and savings of Wolt+ for free, making their everyday lives simpler and more affordable.
USA 🇺🇸
JPMorgan to offer instant Dollar-Euro settlement via blockchain. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will soon offer instant settlement for foreign-exchange conversions between the dollar and the euro via its Kinexys blockchain platform and plans to add sterling to the service over time.
Goldman, JPMorgan eye crypto clients as IPO prospects surge. The bankers hope to score some lucrative IPOs that cryptocurrency companies could launch following the U.S. presidential election. Find out more
ASIA
Spire and Salt Edge come together to empower Bahrain's Corporate Banking future with Open Banking. The Central Bank of Bahrain now requires all licensed banks to expose APIs for corporate accounts, with mandates on customer consent, authentication, disclosures, and API performance reporting.
ANEXT Bank, Schroders to launch investment funds to MSMEs. Through its partnership with Schroders, Singapore-based ANEXT Bank will expand its product suite to include investment funds, offering MSMEs more wealth growth options alongside its Fixed Deposit product.
KakaoBank partners with SCBX to open an internet bank in Thailand. The collaboration is expected to start a local launch of branchless banking solutions amid a digital push. KakaoBank and SCBX will combine their expertise and suite of solutions to establish a local virtual bank.
Crypto.com set to launch banking access, credit card and stocks services. This will be supported by its most significant benefit, Level Up, which offers customers the most comprehensive crypto and finance rewards through a single brand, Crypto.com.
Jeel and audax to roll out BaaS, open banking solutions in Saudi Arabia. The partnership will enable Saudi banks and financial institutions to rapidly transition from outdated legacy systems and embrace flexible business models such as Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), digital banks, and open banking solutions.
Nium and Kinexys partner to enhance cross-border payment accuracy. This partnership enables financial institutions to verify beneficiary account details before payments, reducing errors, misrouted transactions, and fraud. Read on
AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
CBA launches owned media network: CommBank Connect. This will offer relevant content to retail and business customers, enhancing their experience while giving partners and advertisers access to engaged audiences. Read on