Аsia
Visa and LianLian Global launch Yueda Card to streamline cross-border business payments
Fintech Global, Posted November 28, 2024
Visa, a global leader in digital payments, and LianLian Global, a prominent cross-border payment solution provider, have announced the launch of the Yueda Card.
This collaboration aims to enhance cross-border payment experiences for businesses, particularly SMEs and corporates, by leveraging Visa’s global network and LianLian Global’s innovative technology.
The partnership is driven by the growing demand for efficient, secure, and seamless cross-border payment solutions in the Chinese e-commerce and foreign trade sectors. Data from the General Administrator of Customs highlights China’s cross-border e-commerce market growth, with import and export volumes reaching 1.88 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, up 11.5% year-on-year. However, challenges persist, including payment security, unpredictability in transaction times, and high fees.
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BSNL Partners with SBI for Payment Gateway Services
APAC News Network, Posted December 1, 2024
BSNL has chosen the State Bank of India (SBI) as its new payment gateway partner. This means that all the transactions made on the official platform of BSNL will be routed through the payment gateway of SBI. The telecom company has assured that these transactions will be safe and go through a portal that is expected to process almost all of them with a very low fail rate.
This partnership allows customers to make seamless payments for their landline and mobile bills using various modes, including UPI, net banking, credit/debit cards, and wallets. BSNL emphasized that this move aims to reassure customers about the safety of their transactions and associated data.
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MobiKwik’s IPO will value it at $250M, 73% less than its last private valuation
TechCrunch, Posted December 5, 2024
MobiKwik, an Indian financial services startup, has cut the size of its planned IPO for the third time, setting a price band of ₹265-₹279 ($3.1-$3.3) that values it at $250 million — down sharply from its last private valuation of $924 million in 2021.
The Gurugram-based fintech, backed by Peak XV and ADIA, is seeking to raise about $69 million in the IPO, well below the $255 million it initially targeted back in 2021. The IPO opens on December 11, and the stock will start trading on December 18.
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Snowdrop Solutions partners with BigPay to expand into Thailand
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 6, 2024
Snowdrop Solutions, a provider of transaction data enrichment services, has announced the expansion of its partnership with BigPay, a prominent financial and money management app in Southeast Asia.
Following a collaboration in Malaysia, Snowdrop Solutions is now extending its services to Thailand. Through enriched transaction data, Snowdrop Solutions will empower Thai users with advanced financial management capabilities.
With Snowdrop Solutions’ API integrated into the BigPay platform, the banking experience for Thai users will be transformed by addressing key challenges in tracking and understanding spending habits. Snowdrop’s transaction enrichment API, the MRS API™, provides users with clearer insights into their finances, simplifying money management and enhancing the overall user experience. This integration demonstrates BigPay’s commitment to improving how Thai consumers manage their financial lives.
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Europe
Zopa, the UK neobank, snaps up $87M at a $1B+ valuation, eschewing the IPO route
Tech Crunch, Posted December 5, 2024
Some believe Klarna’s planned IPO in 2025 could set the stage for other fintech startups to go public. But with the tech IPO market still sluggish, one of the candidates hotly tipped to follow suit has instead just announced a fundraise, and its CEO says going public is “not a priority.”
Zopa, the U.K. neobank that provides loans, credit cards and savings accounts to some 1.3 million customers, has raised €82 million ($86.8 million based on current exchange rates) in equity funding. The company is not disclosing an exact valuation, but from what we understand it is an upround and values Zopa at well over $1 billion.
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Revolut UK builds out its Board with two new appointments
Revolut, Posted December 6, 2024
Fiona Fry, a qualified chartered accountant, has built a career spanning more than 40 years in professional services. Fiona was a Partner at KPMG for over 23 years, where she focused on governance and culture, primarily in the retail banking sector. She also spent two years on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Consumer Panel.
Sir Peter Estlin, who served as Lord Mayor of the City of London in 2018/19, qualified as a chartered accountant in 1985 and became a Partner at Coopers & Lybrand in 1993. He has held senior positions across the banking sector including at Salomon Brothers, which became part of Citigroup, before moving to Barclays as Group Financial Controller and later CFO of the Corporate and Retail Bank, as well as Acting Group CFO.
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Mambu acquires French PayTech provider Numeral
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 6, 2024
Mambu, a cloud banking platform, has announced the acquisition of Numeral, a payment technology provider for banks and FinTechs.
With Numeral’s platform, Mambu aims to drive new value from wider audience segments that will increase its overall share of the market. It also offers a strategic fit to the foundation of the cloud banking firm’s long-term expansion efforts.
“This acquisition marks a considered move to deliver a more modern, comprehensive payment offering, which is now an integrated part of Mambu’sproduct portfolio. Numeral’s advanced payments platform will enable us to address changing customer demands, strengthen existing product lines and expand our market reach while offering businesses advanced capabilities to meet an extensive range of needs,” said Fernando Zandona, CEO of Mambu.
Cash use in the UK increases for the second year in a row
Insider media, Posted December 5, 2024
Cash accounted for nearly one in every five retail transactions last year, according to a trade association, as households made smaller purchases to eke out their budgets.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) recorded a rise in the use of cash for the second year in a row, accounting for 19.9% of transactions in 2023, up from 18.8% in 2022.
Debit cards remained the most common method of payment, making up nearly two-thirds (62.0%) of transactions in 2023. Debit and credit cards combined made up over three-quarters of transactions.
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NatWest Launches Growth Program for UK FinTech Startups
PYMNTS, Posted December 4, 2024
British bank NatWest is launching a program to help scale the country’s FinTech startups.
The lender’s FinTech Growth Program, announced Wednesday (Dec. 4), is designed to give fledgling companies the resources, networks and expertise of a large bank, with the hope that participants will help bolster NatWest’s innovation efforts.
“This program lays a pathway to create better outcomes for our customers,” David Grunwald, director of NatWest Innovation, said in a news release. “Working this closely with FinTechs and UK entrepreneurs strengthens our ability to be future focused, while supporting the growth of the innovation economy.”
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ECB publishes second progress report on the digital euro preparation phase
ECB, Posted December 2, 2024
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its second progress report on the preparation phase of a digital euro, which was launched on 1 November 2023 and is laying the foundations for the potential issuance of a digital euro.
Since the publication of the first progress report, the ECB has updated its digital euro scheme rulebook, aimed at harmonising digital euro payments across the euro area. This followed an interim review carried out by members of the Rulebook Development Group, representing the views of consumers, retailers and payment service providers. The updated draft also includes input from seven new workstreams, launched in May 2024 to further develop key sections of the rulebook, including minimum user experience standards and risk management.
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USA
Inbenta, Posted November 26, 2024
Inbenta, a global leader in AI-powered customer experience and employee engagement solutions, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with ebankIT, a leading omnichannel digital banking platform provider. This collaboration aims to revolutionize the way financial institutions interact with their customers by offering Inbenta’s advanced AI technologies through ebankIT’s platform.
ebankIT provides a comprehensive omnichannel banking solution that encompasses web and mobile banking, onboarding, personal finance management, and front and back office tools, among other things. This solution empowers financial institutions to meet the evolving needs of their account holders. Through this partnership, ebankIT integrates Inbenta’s industry-leading AI tools into its digital banking suite, enabling financial institutions’ employees and customers to operate more efficiently and enhance the digital user experiences.
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Affirm Expands Merchant Network Ahead of Final Holiday Shopping Push
Affirm, Posted December 3, 2024
Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM), the payment network that empowers consumers and helps merchants drive growth, today announced the launch of new merchant partners just in time for the peak of holiday shopping season. Eligible consumers in the US can now find Affirm at checkout and pay over time at:
These retailers are some of the latest to join Affirm’s global network of over 320,000 merchant partners, which has seen a more than 20% increase year-over-year. In the US, Affirm is integrated with over 60% of e-commerce, giving consumers a seamless checkout experience across a broad range of merchants. Additionally, consumers can access Affirm’s flexible payment options through the Affirm Card, the Affirm App, and top digital wallets, offering them access to Affirm anywhere they shop.
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LatAm
Nubank partners with Puntored to enable cash deposits across Colombia
Latam List, Posted November 29, 2024
Nu Colombia announced a partnership with Puntored to allow customers to make free cash deposits into their Nu accounts at over 15K locations across the country.
Puntored provides financial services to underbanked individuals in rural and isolated communities in Colombia, and its network of banking correspondents expands Nu’s coverage to 100% of Colombian municipalities.
With this partnership, Nu aims to strengthen its position as a transactional account provider by integrating cash deposits, PSE payments, and Nu Placa into its offering. Nu Placa a six-digit identifier linked to Nu savings accounts that allows instant, free, and secure transfers between Nu accounts without sharing personal information.
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The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service debuts in Latin America with Sympla and Yuno
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 5, 2024
Mastercard has partnered with Sympla, the leading events platform in Brazil, and Yuno, a global payments orchestrator based in Latin America, to bring its Payment Passkey Service to the region and accelerate secure online checkout for shoppers. Beginning in January, Sympla and Yuno will be the first partners in the region to offer this innovative solution to their customers, followed by a wider roll out.
The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service streamlines e-commerce and revolutionizes the consumer journey. Using device-based biometrics, such as fingerprints or facial scans, payment passkeys replace other authentication methods like one-time passwords (OTPs) to make online transactions not only faster and more convenient, but also more secure against fraud and scams.
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CloudWalk raises $444M to fund merchant payment advances
Latam List, Posted December 5, 2024
Brazilian fintech CloudWalk raised $444M through a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC) structured by Itaú BBA, with participation from Bradesco BBI, BTG Pactual, BB Investimentos, and Banco Safra. The funding comes 6 months after a $313M FDIC in May 2024, and is the largest in CloudWalk’s history.
CloudWalk provides payment solutions for merchants through its InfinitePay platform, offering features like next-day payments and instant payouts to help businesses access funds quickly and manage cash flow effectively.
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Mexican fintech start-up R2 secures $50m debt facility and $9m in fresh equity
Fintech Futures, Posted December 3, 2024
Mexico-based embedded financing start-up R2 has secured a new debt facility of up to $50 million from Community Investment Management (CIM) alongside $9 million in fresh equity funding in a round led by Hi Ventures and Cometa.
The company says the equity injection is an extension of its $15 million Series A round from 2022 led by Gradient Ventures, a fund launched by Google targeting AI-focused start-ups.
Gradient Ventures also participated in the extension round along with fellow existing backer Y Combinator and new backer Endeavor Catalyst.
Founded in 2020, R2 offers an API-first embedded lending platform built to enable companies to offer revenue-based financing to their small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers in Latin America.
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Sinatra Raises $800K in Pre-Seed Funding
The SaaS News, Posted December 3, 2024
Sinatra, a Brazil-based AI startup focused on developing an AI co-pilot system for e-commerce and omnichannel retail, has raised $800,000 in a pre-seed round.
The round was led by Grupo Quality Digital, with support from a16z Scout and angel investor Mario Augusto Sá, co-founder of NG.CASH.
The company will use the funding to support its team expansion and R&D in AI and machine learning.
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