Last week brought your further insights into the crypto market, cloud providers, insurance, investments, partnerships and collaborations, AI technology, regulatory frameworks and virtual accelerator programmes. We looked further into the new fintech trends and for this week, we bring you new content to dive in. The crypto market sees a further rise, with 2 new players launching debit cards. IPOs are on hold, further acquisitions and mergers are taking place, more rigorous regulations are expected, and cyber security tools are being implemented. Enjoy the reading!
Coinbase launches US debit card
Closely after PayPal’s announcement about entering the crypto market, allowing its users to purchase cryptocurrencies and use it for retail purchases, Forbes reports that Coinbase is launching its debit card in the US and starting a competitive crypto payments race with PayPal, considering that 80% of Coinbase users are also PayPal users. Read more
Ant Group’s IPOs on hold
Following last week’s news on Ant Group’s IPOs on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, the Chinese government suspended the activity due to regulatory concerns. As a consequence, the equity in sister-company Alibaba has suffered losses of approximately $60 billion in market capitalization in a single day. The details of the meeting between Ant Group and the regulators were not disclosed. Read more
ZenGo joins Visa to launch debit card
ZenGo, a crypto wallet provider, announced its plans to launch a Visa debit card in the US. By joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program, ZenGo intends to release its payment card in 2021. Operating as a non-custodial wallet, ZenGo provides its users with the possibility to be in charge of their crypto assets and security, acting as their own crypto bank. Read more
PAYMYNT Financial files for patent app
PAYMYNT Financial, a financial growth app that combines mobile commerce, investing, cash and crypto rewards all in one digital wallet, filed a patent application for its upcoming Universal Rewards System. With the new approval, the company plans to connect all consumer spendings into one app, while offering the users the opportunity to freely choose how they want to earn, save, spend or send rewards. Read more
Nordic Capital acquires BearingPoint’s RegTech division
Nordic Capital, a private equity investor, acquires BearingPoint’s RegTech division, a provider of regulatory reporting services in the DACH region. With the new purchase, Nordic Capital intends to further tackle the RegTech software and solutions field, while also taking advantage of BearingPoint’s RegTech market position, currently having 6,000 reporting firms including banks, insurance companies, supervisory authorities and financial services providers. Read more
Strive acquired GoSave “digital piggy bank”
Strive, a challenger bank designed for families, has announced the acquisition of GoSave, a digital piggy bank company, in an all-stock deal. With the new purchase, Strive plans on combining its savings accounts for children with GoSave’s offerings in order to provide a better financial awareness for the next generation. Strive intends to initially launch in the UK, with a crowdfunding campaign planned for the upcoming months. Read more
Australian Central Bank forms new partnerships to tackle CBDC
The Australian Central Bank announced that it’s partnering with Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Perpetual and ConsenSys in order to find possible usage and implications for the central bank digital currency (CBDC) using distributed ledger technology (DLT). The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) aims to first create a proof-of-concept for the issuance of a tokenized form of CBDC that can be used by the market participants for the funding, settlement and repayment of a tokenized syndicated loan on an ethereum-based DLT platform. Read more
Mastercard Cyber Secure Tool Suite
Mastercard has launched a new service designed for banks to evaluate cyber risks throughout their ecosystems. The AI-fueled Cyber Secure tool suite conducts a risk assessment, bringing together the various public, as well as proprietary information sources. The main purpose of the tool is to empower the banking sector into taking a proactive approach, preventing data compromise and constantly monitoring their cyber status. Read more
Chime challenger bank experienced a new outage
Chime, an US challenger banking service, reported an 8 hour outage with their mobile apps and website last week. With 3 similar experiences last year, customers complained and some reported they were switching to alternative providers, such as Varo. In addition, clients further claimed that even after Chime announced to have fixed the issue, they still could not see their deposit values. Read more
NerdWallet PFM provider acquired Fundera
NerdWallet, a company providing online tools to offer information, insights, and advice about personal finance to consumers, acquired Fundera, a marketplace for small business financial solutions. Fundera will operate as a subsidiary of NerdWallet, helping the company expand into the SMEs market. Read more
Logiq and KMSB partner to provide new mobile financial services in Indonesia
Logiq, a provider of AI-powered workforce intelligence, technology, and services, has partnered up with Koperasi Mona Santoso Berjaya (KMSB), Indonesia’s social security programme provider, in order to offer a new mobile financial services platform for the Indonesian market. With the new collaboration, Logiq will provide the technology, platform and management system, and KMSB will bring financial services for the microlending programme. Read more
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