Allica Bank hires three fintech heavyweights
Business bank Allica Bank has continued its recent growth with a trio of senior fintech hires.
Santander takes big stake in UK FinTech
Spanish bank Banco Santander is acquiring just over 50 percent of the U.K. payments platform Ebury for £350 million ($453 million), Ebury announced in a press release on Monday (Nov. 4). The Ebury payments platform gives small and medium-size companies the ability to trade internationally. The acquisition is scheduled to close in the first quarter of next year and is intended to help boost Santander’s global payments business. “Small and medium-sized businesses are a major engine of growth around the world, creating new jobs and contributing up to 60 percent of total employment and up to 40 percent of national GDP in emerging economies,” said Santander’s Executive Chairman Ana Botín. […]
Nubank surpasses Revolut, Monzo and N26 combined with 18 million app downloads over the past year
If there was ever any doubt, you best believe that Nubank is growing exponentially fast and won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Making this all the more evident is the fact that the Brazilian fintech unicorn has seen over 18 million app downloads this past year. Based on a report from Apptopia, that’s more than Revolut, Monzo and N26 combined. While these neobanks are prevalent in Europe, Nubank continues to show immense mobile banking potential in developing markets. This is particularly true in Latin America. Like other fintechs, Nubank’s target audience is the region’s population without bank accounts. Latin America’s unbanked population Compared to the U.S. and European markets, Latin Americans […]
Fintech Raisin crosses the channel to offer services to UK Savers
Savings marketplace Raisin has launched in the UK. The Berlin based Fintech has been expanding across the European continent but today they have crossed the British Channel to offer their services to UK savers. Raisin provides an interesting service that leverages technology to help savers to save more. Users of their site can shop around for higher interest rates on their money – regardless of their geographic location. Working alongside its first partner bank BACB, Raisin.co.uk offers savers the convenience of a single registration process to apply for multiple savings products. Raisin reports that it is currently on-boarding additional UK banks to the platform and will build a marketplace with […]
Fintech start-ups continue to disrupt the established order
Fintech start-ups are developing innovative new solutions to shake-up the financial services sector; established banks are having to decide whether to collaborate or compete. Banks have been the dominant force in the financial sector for decades, but it is very possible that this is about to change. Emerging financial technology start-ups are challenging this authority, demonstrating levels of commitment to innovation and agility that long-established financial institutions cannot compete with. According to a recent report by PwC, more than 80 percent of existing fintech firms believe they are losing revenue to more innovative rivals. Much of the fintech-related discussion concerns how banks can compete with the new kids on the […]
Banks and Fintechs are duelling in a ‘War For Talent’
Banks may be losing the talent battle to London’s financial-technology industry, but the war for the customer is still to come. Europe’s financial technology startups are on hiring mode, fighting each other – and the incumbents — in what one executive described as a “war for talent.” Payments company GoCardless Ltd., which employs 170 people in London, will open a Paris office in February, said chief product and technology officer Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas. Online lender LendInvest Ltd. said it will make a “concerted effort” to hire additional engineers in London this year, while Salesforce.com Inc.-backed software company Anaplan Inc. says hiring engineering talent is its current priority. “Last year, we went […]
UnionPay International signs long-term partner agreement with global payment innovator Verrency
Verrency today signed a long-term agreement with UnionPay International (UPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of China UnionPay (CUP), to offer Verrency’s innovative value-added services to Union Pay’s issuing banks across Asia. Verrency’s services will be delivered via the UPI Wallet, Union Pay’s innovative API service. Signing the formal agreement were David C. Link, Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Chairman, Verrency, and Shuan Ghaidan, Product Director, UnionPay International. Shuan Ghaidan said: “We are very glad to be working with Verrency to offer further control, service, convenience and security to our customers. Verrency’s innovative services will further enhance the value of the UPI Wallet and the value that Union Pay enables for its issuers. […]
Standard Chartered creates fintech investment unit
Standard Chartered said on Wednesday it had established a business unit to invest in financial technology and promote innovation. Dubbed SC Ventures, it will include internal consultants to help the rest of the group solve problems with technology and a team to sponsor and oversee new disruptive technology ventures owned by StanChart. Another part of the new unit will focus on managing the bank’s minority investments in ‘fintech’ and seeking new ones to back. “As new technology continues to play an ever more important role in banking, there is a huge opportunity for us to promote more innovation,” said Michael Gorriz, group chief information officer. StanChart already backs Ripple, a […]
