And we’re kicking off the week with new details on banking, partnerships, funding, credit unions, open banking and more. Dive into the latest fintech insights and have a great start of the week!
A three-way fight to shape the future of digital finance has begun (Economist)
Finance is becoming ever less the domain of sharp-suited bankers and credit-card executives. Instead, a ragtag cast of characters is overseeing an explosion of innovation that seeks to cut out the incumbents altogether. From established tech firms and fintech startups on America’s west coast to developers of various “decentralised-finance” (DeFi) applications, they are jostling to reshape digital finance. In 2022 regulators must respond and start setting out their stalls. Read more.
Fintech and insurtech innovation in Brazil set to take off on regulatory tailwinds (Techcrunch)
Brazilian instant payment system Pix ended 2021 having powered more than 8 billion transactions, according to statistics from the country’s Central Bank. This is quite an impressive figure for an offering only launched in November 2020 and goes to show how ubiquitous Pix has become in the country. You could describe Pix as “a government-built version of Venmo,” as João Pedro Thompson, founder of fintech Z1,. However, the analogy doesn’t fully capture the fact that Pix appeals to many more than just digitally savvy teenagers repaying friends for coffee. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be used by six of 10 Brazilians. Read more.
Follow the Money: Cybersecurity for banking and financial (Global Banking and Finance)
If you were to watch any crime series, the chances are you have heard of the term “follow the money”. Cybersecurity is the same. As with most criminal groups, the chief driver is financial gain, be it by performing payment fraud or manipulating the stock market after sowing dissent amongst shareholders. Most crime motifs include a bank heist of some description, and cybercrime is no exemption. Banks and other financial institutions handle some of the most valuable information that cybercriminals can monetise, from account and credit card data to sensitive PII (personally identifiable information). As such, these organisations remain at the forefront for risk as cybercriminals become increasingly sophisticated and malicious in their methods. Read more.
Fintech (Financial Technology) Market Expected to Witness a Sustainable Growth over 2026 | Ant Financial, Kabbage Inc., Avant LLC, Social Finance, Inc. (SoFi), Square (CSZ)
The latest research on “Global Fintech (Financial Technology) Market Report 2021” offered by Adroit Market Research provides a comprehensive investigation into the geographical landscape, industry size along with the revenue estimation of the business. Additionally, the report also highlights the challenges impeding market growth and expansion strategies employed by leading companies in the Fintech (Financial Technology) market. Proceeding further, the business intelligence report of Market incorporates segmentation studies including product and application categories, and Regional-level analysis of the top geographies. Moving to the market competitive scenario, product and service offering of the prominent organizations along with business strategies employed by them to maintain a strong hold in this marketplace are reviewed thoroughly. Read more.
Fintech leaders press PM Boris Johnson for further IPO reforms (AltFi)
2021 was a bumper year of public debuts by tech companies with the likes of LendInvest, Wise and PensionBee all listing on the London market. The founders of some of the UK’s largest privately-owned fintech businesses are the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today to for reforms aimed at encouraging more tech firms to list on the London market. Founders from Checkout.com, Bought by Many and Oaknorth were set to conduct a face to face meeting with the PM alongside digital minister Chris Philp and economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen. At the last minute, however, reports have come through that Johnson will not attend the meeting owing to the imminent publication of the Sue Gray report into breaches of lockdown rules at Number 10. Read more.
Should UK Fintech Companies be wary of London listings? (Capital)
Private equity and venture capital (VC) investment in UK fintech enjoyed a sevenfold year-on-year increase to £27.5bn ($37.15bn, €32.46bn) last year, according to KPMG data, as per a report by the Financial Times (FT). It is generally accepted that the UK is a world leader in fintech, so why isn’t the UK attracting the lion’s share of fintech initial public offerings (IPOs)? As David Kness, investment director at Rathbones Investment Management, explains, “Fintech (technologies supporting the financial services industry) is the largest class of unicorns, and the UK has been successful in creating them. Read more.
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