Three things banks must do to thrive in 2021
It is the banks who invest now and execute effectively, that will come out on top.
Banking
The US market: are EU-based challengers coming to rustle up some feathers?
A deep dive and step-by-step comparison of US banks’ and EU challengers’ capabilities.
US federal agencies probe Amex’s SME and consumer cards sales practices
Several US federal agencies are probing American Express, according to a regulatory filing.
UK challenger OakNorth faces £97m in defaults from ten borrowers
All but two are down to property development loans gone bad.
Jakub Jurek joins Varo Bank as chief data officer
He brings over 18 years of data expertise in academia and fintechs.
MoneyLion set to go public via $2.9bn Spac deal
The fintech anticipates year-over-year growth of around 88%.
IKEA buys 49% stake in financial services partner Ikano Bank
Lending to IKEA shoppers accounted for about a quarter of the bank’s total business.
Fintech funding deals globally 8-14 February 2021
Featuring Fraction, BharatPe, Agibank, Monzo, and Coinsquare.
Swiss start-up Valour recruits former HSBC exec Diana Biggs as CEO
Biggs began working in blockchain back in May 2015.
Monzo appoints Carol Kobuke Nelson as new US president and CEO
Nelson spent 23 years at Bank of America.
Is 2021 the year to inspire better banking?
Sanat Rao says the time is right to invest in back-end systems change.
BNY Mellon to finance crytpo and signs Google Cloud deal
The bank cites “growing client demand for digital assets”.
US core banking vendor Nymbus lands $53m top-up led by existing backer
Nymbus is gearing up to launch “Nymbus Labs”.
Six Black-owned banks receive funding from Well Fargo’s $50m MDI pledge
The banks will have access to a dedicated Wells Fargo relationship team.
Italian neobank illimity turns €16m loss into €31m profit in a year
The neobank’s best-performing arm, by a long way, was its NPL unit.
Raiffeisen Bank to buy Czech Republic’s consumer lender Equa bank
In 2020, Equa bank’s consolidated net profit fell by 55% to $8.5 million.
Goldman Sachs re-opens Marcus in UK with 0.5% rate
0.5% is the highest paying easy-access rate in the UK.
Huawei to acquire Xunlian Zhipay for its payments licence
The deal is yet to be officially announced.
How brands are becoming the banks of tomorrow
To understand what the bank of tomorrow looks like, we must first understand how they developed.
The core wars
This battle is for core banking software, challenging the likes of SAP, Finastra and Temenos.
Regtech insights from Accuity
Featuring Dalbir Sahota, VP Bankers Almanac KYC at Accuity.
Klarna’s valuation set to triple to $30bln, says report
A report says Klarna is currently working on a half a billion new share issue.
San Fran fintech Zeta lands $1.5m for couples banking
Currently, the start-up makes money on partial interchange fees.
BankPlus replacing 30-year-old core system with Jack Henry’s SilverLake
Southwestern US bank picked SilverLake after feedback from its peers.
More than 90% of UK’s financial firms still rely on legacy tech, says FCA
Some 33% admit “most” of their technology is legacy.
Nordic API Gateway lands nine new bank partners in Bankdata deal
The deal prequels Nordic API Gateway’s European expansion plans for 2021.
Banking Technology February 2021 issue out now
The roaring 20s.
United Fintech announces acquisition of German regtech TTMzero
UK scale-up has taken 25% stake with a view to nabbing 80% soon.
BBVA sells Holvi business lender, invests $150m in VC fund
Spanish banking giant ditches Finnish business bank, sells back to founder
Challenger Climate First Bank to launch in Florida’s Tampa Bay Area in Spring
The start-up wants to become a full-service community bank.
NCR acquires digital onboarding start-up Terafina
Terafina marks NCR’s third acquisition this year.
Tech CU picks Backbase to revamp digital processes
Silicon Valley-based institution looks to the future with digital vendor.
New direction, same destination for ISO 20022
Despite the extra time, there is little scope for market participants to relax.
Webinar: How to stop massive mobile banking fraud with app security and risk-based authentication
Approaches to eliminate the impact of fraud threats and strategies to protect mobile device users.
Tandem Bank acquires £100m mortgage book from Bank and Clients
Private bank’s customers won’t notice the transition, claims challenger.
Philippines neobank Tonik signs credit assessment deal with FinScore
The challenger wants to extend loan applications to more underbanked Filipinos.
EXCLUSIVE: Wirex users hit by unexplained account restrictions and “disappearing” funds
A growing number of customers are fleeing Wirex.
Nigeria’s central bank issues crypto shutdown throwing fintechs into disarray
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest users of virtual currencies.
Boosting economic recovery by harnessing the power of payments
The other significant milestone the UK economy has to handle this year is life beyond Brexit.
Fintech funding deals globally 1-7 February 2021
Featuring Stash, Built, LeaseLock, Valon Mortgage, and Metromile.
