Peer-to-peer lending bosses split on whether to become a bank
UK’s largest peer-to-peer/marketplace lender CEOs outline two very different visions of the future. Funding Circle and Zopa don’t disagree on much. But when it comes to whether or not to launch a bank, CEOs Samir Desai and Jaidev Janardana have reached a divergence point. Both delivered keynote speeches at last week’s AltFi Europe Summit. Desai’s – which was entitled: “To be or not to be a bank” – left the audience in little doubt as to Funding Circle’s intentions. “We at Funding Circle have no plans to launch a bank,” said Desai. He went on to identify the three types of bank collaboration that have sprung up across the marketplace […]
Alphavend installs second bitcoin ATM in London
Bitcoin ATM specialist, AlphaVend is pleased to announce the installation of its second London ATM, (the third nationally) strategically situated between Euston and Kings Cross underground stations. The UK’s largest independent high street provider of foreign exchange services will play host to the ATM which is located at the No1 Currency store, 128 Euston Road. Customers can buy the digital currency from the ATM, as well as all availing of the 50+ foreign currencies offered over the counter by No1 Currency. The location of the Euston Road store, which is open 7 days a week, provides a unique business opportunity with annual footfall estimated to be in excess of 6million […]
Incumbents should now be scared of four biggest digital challenger banks
While the disruption of financial services has been going on for a number of years now, the capital banked by four of the most advanced digital challenger banks is hugely significant. Rewind only ten years ago, and if you asked someone on the street to open up their wallet (in a non-threatening way) there’s a pretty good chance it would be filled exclusively with cards from the major high street banks. Back then there was choice, but little to differentiate where you banked your savings, held a credit card or conducted business affairs. We accepted, like we do with energy suppliers, that our banking provider could pretty much dictate terms […]
Fintech startup Quantexa raises $3.3Mn to support international expansion
Quantexa Limited, a FinTech startup, has managed to rake in $3.3 million in a Series A round led by Albion Ventures and HSBC. The company, based in London, uses big data analytics to go head to head against complex financial crime. Its Entity Resolution and Network Analytics software makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to gather information from disparate data sets and create insights. Its applications include the following features: – Protection against financial losses and reputational damage with data analytics and entity and network based techniques. – Creation of an integrated, networked view of customers across disparate data sources, in order to support all areas of your […]
Funding Circle close further funding round, valued at $1 billion
Investor interest in the peer-to-peer lending industry shows no sign of slowing; British site Funding Circle have just closed another round of funding, taking their total raise to $380 million. Funding Circle recently closed another round of venture capital funding to the tune of $100 million, valuing the company at $1 billion. The new round was led by DST Global, BlackRock, and Temasek, a fund backed by the Singaporean government. Since its conception in 2010, Funding Circle have become ones of the world’s leading marketplaces exclusively focused on small businesses. The platform has raised approximately £300 million in equity capital, lending more than £2.5 billion to 25,000 businesses in the […]
Everledger uses blockchain to stamp out blood diamonds
Aussie-led blockchain startup Everledger is tapping Watson and other IBM technologies to underpin its tracking of the provenance of more than 1.2 million diamonds globally. The startup, which is led by Australian entrepreneur Leanne Kemp, is emerging as a showcase for blockchain’s capacity to verify the authenticity and origin of a range of high value goods. Globally, about $15 billion worth of rough diamonds is dug up every year, before being cut and sold into an industry worth $72 billion. But the controversial trade is marred by fraud and worse, as rough diamonds are often traded out of conflict zones to fund violent insurgencies in places like Sierra Leone, Liberia, […]
French officials are in London again wooing fintech and finance firms to Paris post-Brexit
The Vice-President of the Paris Region begins a two-day visit to London on Monday as French officials continue their aggressive courting of British businesses affected by Brexit. Othman Nasrou, Vice-President of the Paris Region in charge of international affairs and tourism, is visiting London on Monday and Tuesday to meet a selection of finance and fintech companies. Nasrou will pitch the companies on the attraction of Paris as a location for finance firms post-Brexit. Nasrou’s visit is part of an aggressive bid by French officials from both local and central government to lure businesses away from Britain in the wake of Brexit. The UK’s exit from the European Union is […]
Dublin startup Touchtech Payments makes plans for international expansion
One of the first financial technology companies in Europe to develop a solution which uses fingerprinting and retinal scanning to authenticate online payments, Dublin startup Touchtech Payments is making plans for international expansion. Operating in a market where an EU directive will require all banks to improve security by introducing a two-factor authentication by the end of 2018, Touchtech co-founder and head of products, Niall Hogan sees an opportunity to make the most of the early mover advantage. Up until now, the market has been dominated by major players offering payment authentication solutions using passwords and text messages. “There was very little innovation in this space until the fintech revolution […]
