CleverCards to gain EMI licence via M&A, raises Facebook exec-led €10m round
Gareth Lambe, head of Facebook Ireland, has invested in CleverCards.
Business-to-Business/B2B
BukuKas raises $50m Series B just four months after Series A
BukuKas’ CEO Krishnan Menon previously worked at Alibaba-owned Lazada Indonesia.
Irish fintech Fenergo acquired by two private equity firms in $600m deal
Fenergo’s revenue grew 17% in the last financial year.
Safaricom mulls M-Pesa partnership with Amazon
A wider partnership with Amazon “is important”, says CEO.
HSBC launches multi-currency business wallet to rival fintech providers
HSBC says businesses can “pay like a local”.
Core banking vendor Temenos integrates with digital asset fintech Taurus
“Digital assets represent new opportunities for banks”.
Stripe acquires card verification fintech Bouncer
Both Bouncer’s team and its technology will join Stripe.
Cedar co-founder: Our biggest competition is status quo and inertia
Cedar acquired San Francisco-based OODA Health for $425 million last week.
FE fundinfo acquires cashflow planner CashCalc
“Cashflow planning is a key component of an adviser’s process”.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 14 May 2021
The FinTech Futures weekly round-up of the industry’s top stories and happenings from across the globe.
Bahrain’s central bank to pilot digital dollar with JP Morgan and Bank ABC
Bank ABC’s deputy group CEO calls this a “landmark pilot”.
eBay edges away from PayPal to offer cash advances with UK fintech YouLend
Ebay purchased PayPal back in 2002, before spinning it off in 2015.
OpenWrks, Tully, Payplan and PayLink merge under private equity firm
All four firms span the debt advice, credit risk and collections industries.
US challenger for freelancers Lili lands $55m and passes 200,000 users
Lili wants to be a go-to app for freelancers in the US.
NAB lands approval for 86 400 acquisition despite competition concerns
86 400 bagged its own banking licence back in 2019.
HSBC on track to hire 1,000 wealth managers in Asia before year end
In 2020, the bank’s Asian business reported $12.8 billion in profits.
What are the opportunities in open finance?
Envestnet | Yodlee hosted a discussion with FinTech Futures to find out.
UK P2P lender The House Crowd’s collapse a result of governance failings
The House Crowd had struggled to raise capital.
Curve goes crowdfunding five months after $95m Series C
Curve plans to grow its workforce by around 60% this year.
UK fintech Fronted raises £1m with backing from Monzo co-founders
The start-up launched back in February.
Digital challenger Arrow pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years
Digital challenger pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years.
Bank of America CTO: Cyberattacks on banks “surged” during pandemic
Cyberattacks have surged “dramatically”, says BoA exec.
Nuapay becomes Australia’s first open banking payments platform
Nuapay’s joint value proposition caters to both consumers and merchants.
Singapore pledges $32m to help regtechs take POCs to market
Welcome to “the Valley of the Valuable POCs”, says MAS chief fintech officer
Danish fintech Blocser launches Butterfly card for UK’s gig workers
“Think of us as a ridesharing service, but instead of rides, you sell your work,” says CEO.
Fintech funding deals globally 26 April – 2 May 2021
Featuring Brex, Paxos, Vena, Greenlight, and Current.
São Paulo fintech brokerage Warren lands $55m led by Singapore’s GIC fund
The fintech intends to use the fresh capital to hire more employees.
JP Morgan, DBS Bank and Temasek to form new payments platform
The platform will start by facilitating flows between Singapore-based banks.
Greek fintech Viva Wallet lands $80m from Tencent, EBRD
Viva is in the midst of launching a credit service for merchant customers.
Thought Machine plugs into Wise’s money transfer API
Thought Machine is plugging into via its own ‘Vault’ platform.
HSBC CEO Colin Bell joins board of AML fintech Quantexa
HSBC has used Quantexa to develop an AI solution to better identify financial crime.
Greenlight, Step and Current land “kids banking” industry collective $580m
Greenlight, Current, and Step all began with basic card-based offerings.
Blackstone to acquire additional stake worth $2.8bn in IT firm Mphasis
Blackstone intends to build Mphasis into a $10 billion-valued company.
Brex closes $424m Tiger Global-led round at $7.4bn valuation
“We have all types of businesses now signing up for Brex,” says co-CEO.
BNPL firm Affirm acquires Returnly in $300m deal
More than eight million shoppers have used the online return service.
Fintech funding deals globally 19-25 April 2021
Featuring Alan, Deel, Chargebee, Classy, and Tamara.
New Swiss fintech Klarpay targets digital entrepreneurs
The start-up aims to bridge the gap between business banking and e-commerce.
ICYMI funding round-up: Percent, Till Financial, Plooto, Nelo & more
More weekly funding deals which may have flown under your radar.
FIS expands payment processing in Malaysia, South Africa and Nigeria
“Emerging markets across Southeast Asia and Africa present fresh opportunities”.
Penta co-founder Jessica Holzbach exits fintech after four years
She exits “at her own request to seek a new professional challenge”.
