For this research piece, we dive into the 100 most important cross-border payment companies, look at the latest M&A from fintech, analyze the primary factors that could drive the economic climate towards financial and social inclusion across Europe, review the Latin American start-ups landscape, find out key considerations for payment platforms, regard the importance of cybersecurity for virtual banks, and explore AI tools. Enjoy the selection!

The 2021 Cross-Border Payments 100 (FXCintelligence)

This article ranks the 100 most important cross-border payment companies based on certain criteria: scale and size, customer base, and whether cross-border payments is the primary activity or a substantial revenue. Read more

2020 Annual Fintech Almanac Global Financing and M&A Statistics (FT Partners Research)

This report gives an overview of the Fintech landscape in 2020 in terms of financing and M&A volume transactions. Despite the impact of COVID-19, 2020 was still the most active year ever with robust Fintech financing activities. Read more

EIF Working Paper: Financial and social inclusion in Europe (EIF)

This research investigated whether financial and social inclusion can coexist in the same country. It shows that microfinance will promote financial inclusion of the poor, support entrepreneurs and generate employment. Read more

Startup Continent: The Most Well-Funded Tech Startups In Latin America And The Caribbean (CBInsights)

This report categorized the top-funded companies in latin America and the Caribbean based on total disclosed equity funding, and only included companies that have raised since 2016 and excluded startups that have raised Read more

Cut through the noise: 5 key considerations when selecting your payments platform (Finextra)

This article provides insights about payment platforms to assist financial organizations in their long-term digital transformation and offering. The findings show what solutions financial institutions must make to effectively deploy their strategy, such as avoiding outdated assumptions, outlining clear objectives, steering clear of industry buzzwords, and asking the right questions in order to enhance or transform their digital offering. Read more

Branching off: The outlook for Hong Kong’s virtual banks (Quinlan & Associates)

The report reveals the importance of data privacy and  cybersecurity for the virtual banks, which is an essential characteristic in building credibility with customers. An appropriate cloud strategy – be it private, public, or hybrid – will also be critical in driving scalability and platform stability, as well as accelerating product launches. In addition, the virtual banks will need to double down their efforts on delivering an effective talent management proposition, given some early warning signs from current and former employees in relation to staff retention issues. Read more

Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2021 (AI Index , Stanford University)

The findings of this report show the effects of COVID-19 on AI development from multiple perspectives. The Technical Performance chapter discusses how an AI startup used machine-learning-based techniques to accelerate COVID-related drug discovery during the pandemic, and the Economy chapter suggests that AI hiring and private investment were not significantly adversely influenced by the pandemic, as both grew during 2020. Read more

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