Stay up to date with the latest news from fintech! This week, we bring you updates and developments on partnerships, lending, banking, crypto, NFT and more. Enjoy reading!
Marqeta and Klarna join hands to build alternative credit card Klarna Card (The PayPers)
Global card issuing platform Marqeta has announced it works closely with Sweden-based BNPL platform, Klarna, to power its new Klarna Card. The new partnership will enable Klarna customers in the US to pay anywhere using the company’s ‘Pay in 4’ unique solution, both online and in-store. The popular four-installment service from Klarna will be available on a physical Visa card, allowing customers to divide their payments in four interest-free tranches for any in-store and online purchases. Read more.
Razer Fintech Acquires Indonesian Digital Payments Firm E2Pay (Fintech News)
Razer Fintech, the financial technology arm of Razer, announced the acquisition of PT E2Pay Global Utama (E2Pay), an Indonesian B2B2C digital payment facilitators and e-money player. Founded in 2012, E2Pay provides a breadth of payment solutions to merchants and financial institutions, including payment gateway, e-money, and remittance services licenses in Indonesia. These services complement Razer Merchant Services, Razer Fintech‘s business-to-business arm regionally, as it facilitates cross-border payments for its 60,000 merchants to Indonesia. Read more.
Enforcement Directorate orders freeze on accounts of 100 fintech firms (Indianfoline)
New Delhi-headquartered the Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes and violations of the provisions of foreign exchange, has told payment gateways and banks to freeze the accounts of around 100 fintech firms. According to the media reports, ED has frozen 100 fintech firms’ accounts without ascribing any reason, halting operations at these platforms and putting some of them at risk of closure. Further, the directorate has been cracking down on loan apps in particular for the past two years on charges of violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. There have been complaints that the fintech firms are putting undue pressure on borrowers for repayment, as per the news published on Moneycontrol website. Read more.
Apple Pay Later Just Crushed Affirm’s Dreams, but It’s a Nice Win for 2 Fintech Giants (fool.com)
Apple gets the world’s attention when it holds its developers’ conferences, as consumers, suppliers, and tech professionals all look forward to the latest innovations from the iPhone maker. Yet while many pay the closest attention to the latest product releases, the announcement on Monday of its Apple Pay Later service sent shockwaves across the fintech space. Buy now, pay later (BNPL) specialists like Affirm Holdings (AFRM -9.22%) were the most obvious targets of Apple’s move. Indeed, Affirm’s stock fell 5.5% on Monday, with much of the decline coming after the conference announcement. However, Apple Pay Later further cemented a key partnership between the technology pioneer and two leading players in the financial industry, and that could pay big benefits for them for years to come. Read more.
ComfortDelGro Partners Alipay+ to Accept Mobile Payments From Malaysia, S. Korea (Fintech News)
Singaporean taxi operator ComfortDelGro Taxi has partnered with Alipay+ to enable mobile payments from Malaysia and South Korea through Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Kakao Pay respectively in all its Comfort and CityCab taxis. Users of these mobile wallets can pay for the cab fare through the wallet apps without the need to exchange currency. Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ is a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions designed to enable businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods. Read more.
Ximedes acquires fellow Dutch fintech Ginger for European expansion (Fintech Futures)
Ximedes, a Dutch software firm, has acquired Ginger, an Amsterdam-based online payment platform provider. Established in 1998, Ximedes builds bespoke software focusing on open banking and open public transport systems. On the fintech front, the firm says it “helps banks to build new services that are on par, or exceed, the offering of fintech players”. The company has grown across Europe over the past few years via acquisitions – among its recent purchases are Vayapay, Tapconnect, and Pecunda. Read more.
FINTECH STARTUP EDGE RELEASES FIRST CONFIDENTIAL BITCOIN MASTERCARD (Bitcoin Magazine)
San Diego-based startup Edge released the first “Confidential” bitcoin Mastercard which does not require know-your-customer (KYC) data used for collecting information related to identity, via an announcement from the company. “There is no name or address associated with your Edge Mastercard, making for completely private transactions when your card is used,” stated the companys’ website. “We protect your privacy while complying with all requirements for issuers, card associations, regulations, local, federal and international laws.” Read more.
Binance Pay Picks TripleA as Its Global Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway (Fintech News)
TripleA, a digital payment token licensee, has been selected as the global cryptocurrency payment gateway for Binance Pay. Binance Pay is the bridge between Binance, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, and the retail world. This partnership with TripleA gives merchants access to Binance’s large crypto user base. This news follows the recent announcement that TripleA will be one of the five participants selected to join the Visa Accelerator Programme for startups that have launched successful solutions in their home markets and are looking towards their next stage of growth. Read more.
Razer Fintech acquires Indonesia’s E2Pay (FX Compared)
Razer Fintech, a sector of leading gaming and lifestyle company Razer Inc., has just announced the acquisition of one of Indonesia’s leading B2B2C companies – PT E2Pay Global Utama (E2Pay). Razer Fintech was founded in 2018 in Hong Kong and has grown into one of the leading O2O (offline to online) companies, providing fintech services to emerging global markets. Read more.
Backbase raises its first funding, $128M at a $2.6B valuation, for tools that help banks with engagement (TechCrunch)
Backbase — an Amsterdam-based startup that provides a platform that banks and others can use to better structure and leverage the data that they have, and to then use that to build more personalization and other new features into those banks’ customer-facing services — has raised €120 million ($128 million at today’s rates), money that it will be using to continue investing in its technology, as well as expanding its teams into more geographies. The funds — coming from a single investor, Motive Partners — values Backbase at €2.5 billion ($2.6 billion). Read more.
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