February 2025: Top five fintech partnership stories of the month
The global fintech industry delivered a range of compelling partnerships over the month of February. Here, we’ve selected five of the top partnership stories of the month, featuring NatWest Boxed, Wells Fargo, IBM and more.
Sixth Street and First Citizens Bank launch equipment financing platform Sixty-First Commercial Finance
First Citizens Bank and Sixth Street launch joint venture
First Citizens Bank has come together with US investment firm Sixth Street to launch a new platform designed to increase middle-market companies’ access to capital equipment financing options.
Sixty-First Commercial Finance will seek to provide “mid- and large-ticket capital equipment financings ranging from $5 million to $100 million”, according to a statement on the joint venture.
The new solution will leverage Sixth Street’s Asset Based Finance platform and be managed by First Citizens Institutional Asset Management, while being funded through a $300 million facility with Bank of America.
First Citizens Bank has appointed Ryan Berlage, its current director of underwriting, to managing director, chief credit officer and portfolio manager of the joint venture.
Papua New Guinea’s central bank successfully completes CBDC trial with Japan’s Soramitsu
The Bank of Papua New Guinea, in partnership with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Tokyo-based fintech Soramitsu, has completed a proof of concept (PoC) for its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), named the Digital Kina.
The trial involved users in the central bank and local businesses in Port Moresby conducting real-time payments and P2P remittances through a mobile app.
Soramitsu, which lent its blockchain technology to the project, supported by the SORA v3 Hub Chain, says the PoC created a “secure payment infrastructure that could operate 24 hours a day”, which “demonstrated instantaneous payments and international remittances”.
Moving forward, the parties say they plan to “expand the pilot to more users to refine the system and gather feedback”, with the next phase focused on enhancing the platform’s “speed, security and regulatory capabilities”.
Wells Fargo launches new commercial banking platform with Q2
Wells Fargo debuts commercial banking platform
Wells Fargo has developed a new commercial banking platform designed to “improve bankers’ ability to serve commercial clients, and increase collaboration and efficiency” in partnership with Texas-based digital banking solutions company Q2 Holdings.
The solution is expected to leverage Q2’s Catalyst suite, which supports tools for data-driven pricing, automated treasury management onboarding, and self-service account opening and loan origination.
The initial phases of Q2’s implementation have now been “successfully completed”, according to Wells Fargo EVP and head of commercial banking specialised industries, Mary Katherine Dubose, who adds that the new commercial banking platform “enables our teams to serve our customers with the agility and insights required in an increasingly dynamic market”.
Saudi Arabia’s Alinma Bank partners IBM to power new API platform
Alinma Bank, one of the largest banks in Saudi Arabia with $63.1 billion in assets, has partnered with IBM for its hybrid cloud and AI integration tech to upgrade its IT infrastructure and launch a new API platform for its fintech and SME clients.
The new offering will provide Alinma’s clients with easy access to integrate a range of the bank’s digital solutions via API.
To support the platform’s deployment, the bank is utilising IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI technologies to support the platform’s deployment.
These include IBM API Connect, which leverages generative AI to manage the API lifecycle, IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, as well as IBM DataPower Gateway and Red Hat OpenShift for deployment on IBM Cloud.
The AA set to launch instant access savings accounts through NatWest Boxed partnership
NatWest Boxed was established in 2022
The AA, the UK’s largest roadside assistance provider, has teamed up with NatWest’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) business, Boxed, to offer own-brand financial products to millions of its members “as well as the wider market”.
The deal marks the first known partnership for NatWest’s BaaS venture, which launched in 2022 through a partnership between NatWest and European fintech Vodeno.
The AA will leverage Boxed’s embedded finance platform to launch an instant access savings account by the “end of March 2025”, which will be “closely followed” by unsecured personal loans.
