M&S Bank closing all bank accounts and 29 in-store branches
M&S has moved towards retail-focused solutions in recent times.
Digital
Square buys majority stake in Tidal for $297m as Jay Z joins board
Tidal is the latest in a few sales Jay Z has made in recent weeks.
ING-backed Countingup lands £9.1m Series A with help of new investor Sage
The fintech has acquired 14,000 customers in the last 12 months.
Codat secures investment from Amex and PayPal
Codat gains big backers as it gears up for US launch.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: Bank BRI & Infosys Finacle – Best Use of IT for Lending
Revamping customer lending through partnerships and back-office change.
Wipro signs off on $1.45bn acquisition of Capco
Indian IT giant wants to grow in Europe and Asia.
FinTech Futures Industry Survey & Report 2021
A deep-dive into the trends defining 2021 and beyond, based on a comprehensive survey of the industry.
Orange seeks buyer for loss-making banking unit
Orange’s banking ops in trouble despite an income of €79 million last year.
Trulioo hires new CTO in OpenText’s Hal Lonas
Lonas joins to spearhead the firm’s product development.
“Cloud first” emerging at the heart of end-to-end transformation
81% of FIs future-proofed their technology infrastructure by moving to the cloud, 63.6% reduced cost.
Payments Canada picks Interac for real-time infrastructure
Interac will use its e-Transfer service in the design, construction and maintenance of the system.
Why the BNPL sector is growing like crazy
There is plenty of room for experiments in BNPL, and many customer segments are yet to be addressed.
Budget 2021: What does it mean for UK fintech?
FinTech Futures scrolls through the UK chancellor’s new budget to pick out the fintech impact.
Piraeus Bank extends Antelop partnership for digital payments
The Greek bank has worked with Antelop since 2018.
Crypto.com signs first-of-its-kind F1 sponsorship deal with Aston Martin
Aston Martin wants to be at the “forefront” of the crypto boom.
London calling
City firms can still access EU market despite no financial services deal.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: au Jibun Bank – Best Use of AI
Rebuilding consumer confidence in investments with an AI-driven market forecasting capability within a banking app.
It’s a matter of comms | Episode 2 | Strategy
The corporate comms strategy is the spine that would hold start-ups accountable to their investors.
ECB wants final say on stablecoin issuance under new EU regulation
This new regulation won’t apply in the UK following Brexit.
UK Finance plans future revamp for Open Banking body
The OBIE is morphing into a new organisation to support innovation.
Branch closures mount with latest Bank of Ireland and TD Bank cuts
Latest branches following the pandemic-induced shift to digital channels.
Croí Laighean Credit Union signs for Temenos SaaS platform
Temenos wins another Irish credit union for Community Banking platform.
Philippines-based neobank Uno boosts AI services with Xebia deal
The prospective bank is pushing its AI capabilities as a unique selling point.
Indian start-up Zaggle registers new fintech ZikZuk to offer SMEs credit
In the next two years, ZikZuk intends to take itself across the globe.
Goldman’s consumer head Omer Ismail leaves for Walmart’s fintech venture
Ismail architected the firm’s move into consumer digital banking.
Ben Davey departs from Barclays Ventures CEO role
Davey steps down to focus on independent investing and advisory services.
Regtech: watching personal mobile devices in financial services, but why?
The best policy is one which works. Soft policies, by their very nature, do not work as intended.
Fintech funding deals globally 22-28 February 2021
Featuring Chargebee, Tyme, TypTap Insurance, Anchorage, and Earnix.
Klarna is Europe’s highest-valued fintech after $1bn raise
Klarna claims its round was oversubscribed four times over.
Robinhood pushes on with IPO plans despite facing 49 GameStop lawsuits
Robinhood has held talks with underwriters about filing “within weeks”.
Ethical challenger algbra banks on tech to define it in “fintech gold rush”
“We’re building a backend on a global level,” says co-founder.
Black-owned First Boulevard bank secures $5m ahead of its official launch
Part of its goal with the new capital involves building out a Black business marketplace.
Banque Misr kicks off digital transformation plans with Atos
Atos to deliver new digital banking experiences for Egyptian bank’s customer.
UK challengers Monument, Pockit and TreeCard bank funding
Three UK banking services start-ups have landed investment recently.
Orenda plans BaaS shake-up with heavyweight banking execs at helm
Orenda says it’s as much as an “eighth” of the price of its competitors.
Insurance software: choosing wisely
Here’s how to navigate the abundance of insurance tech offerings to choose from.
Banking Tech Awards 2020 Winner: TMRW – Best UX/CX in Finance Initiative
Exclusive interview with Kevin Lam, head of TMRW Digital Group.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 26 February 2021
FinTech Futures’ weekly news round-up.
The big fight: banking vs technology companies
In over 30-years of banking, I have never seen a more complex and competitive landscape as there is now.
Atom Bank plans £40m shareholder fundraise in prep for future IPO
The bank has raised £429 million to date from eight funding rounds.
