Sterling National Bank, the principal subsidiary of Sterling Bancorp, introduced its new Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) system. The Baas program helps fintechs and non-bank institutions to digitally deliver customised banking and payment capabilities, and enhance their customer experience. For SMEs, this launch can bring a lot of benefits in terms of products, payments and back-office capabilities. BaaS partners will be able to secure access to the Sterling banking solutions via a set of reliable and easy to implement APIs.
New strategic cloud deal was signed between HSBC and Amazon Web Services to create a more personalised banking experience for its millions of customers worldwide. HSBC will use the technology and implement it in projects such as customer-facing applications and application modernisation in its Global Wealth & Personal Banking business. The cloud services will also be put to use for supporting security and compliance standards.
European fintech unicorn Revolut has partnered with Paxos Crypto Brokerage to offer crypto trading services in the U.S. As part of the deal, Revolut will handle the front-end experience for clients and Paxos will serve as the backbone of its crypto trading offering as it handles all of the regulatory and technical complexity involved in crypto trading. Revolut claims to have an “active crypto clientele” in Europe, with more than 1 million customers.
A number of high-profile Twitter accounts were simultaneously hacked by attackers who used the accounts — some with millions of followers — to spread a cryptocurrency scam. Apple, Elon Musk and Joe Biden were among the accounts compromised in a broadly targeted hack. Those accounts and many others posted a message promoting the address of a bitcoin wallet with the claim that the amount of any payments made to the address would be doubled and sent back — a known cryptocurrency scam technique.
A new partnership is seen between Standard Chartered Bank and Universities Space Research Association (USRA), who are conducting quantum computing research and developing quantum computing applications. For the practice field, the main benefits of quantum computing technology lie in clients having higher quality services such as faster execution, better risk management and the development of new financial products.
At the beginning of July, Instagram started testing the navigation of its Instagram Shop app. The app is a platform where users can browse for the products of their favorite brands and creators, as well as curated collections published by the Instagram-run @shop account. The company is moving forward with its plans to promote Instagram as a place to shop with the launch of its new Instagram Shop app, as well as the launch of Facebook Pay for purchases and donations in the U.S.
For Amazon, third-party sellers are the dominant driver of sales, accounting for 58% of its total marketplace (and growing). Q1 2020 has been profitable for Amazon, which has reported net sales in Q1 up by 26% year-over-year, given that much of the world has reverted to ordering online. Start-ups such as Payability and InstaPay provide financing to suppliers in Amazon’s marketplace.
For the EU lawmakers, the Internet of Things posits threats in terms of market competition distortion. The EU antitrust lawmakers are planning to conduct a report in which the aim is to find data-fuelled competition risks in the space before they lead to irreversible market distortion. The data for the report will be collected from hundreds of companies operating in the smart home and connected device space, from big to small, across Europe, Asia and U.S.
Currencycloud, cross-border payments engine for leading fintechs and financial institutions, secured an e-money license from the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank), allowing it to continue operating across the EU. Being one of the seven non-banks that managed to get a licence from the Dutch Central Bank, Currencycloud can expand its European footprint and thus deliver faster and more transparent cross-border payments.
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Read here our other sections of this week:
- Weekly funding highlights 17 July 2020
- Weekly opinion & analysis highlights 17 July 2020
- Weekly research highlights 17 July 2020
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