Stay up to date with the latest news from fintech! This week, we bring you updates on regulations, legislations, partnerships, and more. Enjoy reading!
Vortex Launches Fully Automated Online Weather Insurance Portal (prnewswire.com)
KS-based Vortex Weather Insurance has enhanced its parametric weather index insurance offerings with an all-new, fully-automated weather insurance portal. Launching this week, Vortex’s new Weather Insurance Portal is an industry-leading digital insurance platform that allows event organizers and insurance brokers to quote, bind, and insure outdoor events online in minutes. The Portal expedites the underwriting process for parametric weather insurance and offers a seamless user experience from logging in to binding the policy quickly. Event organizers simply enter their business name, event location, date and time(s), rainfall threshold, and the amount of revenue to insure and the policy is generated almost immediately. Read more
SEMPSA JP, LBMA Good Delivery Refinery Launches Tokenized Gold and Silver on the Blockchain in Partnership with Aurus (Yahoo! finance)
SEMPSA JP, the leading Spanish Good Delivery precious metals refinery, has partnered with Aurus to offer digital tokens backed by gold and silver to its network of bullion dealers. Five precious metals dealers working with SEMPSA JP are selling tGOLD and tSILVER tokens to the broader retail market via their e-commerce stores. The refinery has tokenized an initial allotment of 3 kgs. of gold and 25 kgs. of silver bullions using the Aurus blockchain protocol. Aurus is a decentralized global software platform that facilitates the tokenization of precious metals on the blockchain. tGOLD and tSILVER tokens are each backed by one gram of 99.99% gold and 99.9% silver, respectively. Free of recurring storage fees, Aurus tokens offer investors a convenient and affordable alternative to physical bullions, with the additional benefits of instant settlements and real-time 24/7 trading from any mobile device. Read more
EU Commission approves merger of MobilePay and Vipps (The Paypers)
The EU Commission has approved the merger of mobile payment companies MobilePay and Vipps into a new corporate group. Having as its basis an agreement between Danske Bank and the consortium of banks behind Vipps in Norway, the corporate group is expected to become a reality as of 1 November 2022, and to begin working towards the creation of a prominent Nordic and European mobile wallet. Vipps and MobilePay’s corporate group will have from the beginning approximately 11 million users, over 400,000 shops and webshops as customers, and around 900 million transactions on a yearly basis. MobilePay representatives have stated in the press release that with this merger, the group is looking to create a complete supplier of mobile payment services in Europe with a basis in growth and innovation to benefit their users and business customers. Read more
Central Bank Digital Currencies Introduce New Cybersecurity Challenges, Privacy Issues (Fintechnews Switzerland)
Interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has grown over the past few years in response to changes in payments and technology, as well as the disruption caused by COVID-19. A 2021 survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found that 86% of central banks polled were actively researching the potential of CBDCs, 60% were experimenting with the technology and 14% were deploying pilot projects. Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center research shows that about 100 countries and currency unions are currently exploring the possibility of launching a CBDC, either retail and issued to the general public, or wholesale and intended to be used primarily for interbank transactions. Read more
Mambu Extends Its Platform’s Suitability With Three New Cloud Providers (The Fintech Times)
Mambu is expanding its cloud approach and market reach having announced general availability across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) banking platform, which is supported by cloud technology, will now be hosted across its three chosen cloud providers. This will enable the platform’s customers to select the most appropriate cloud solution for their needs; be they geographical, regulatory or performance related. Mambu’s composable platform provides components that can be selected and assembled in various combinations. This variability enables financial institutions to modernise their infrastructure, meet rapidly changing customer behaviours and expectations, and drive business growth. Read more
Adyen powers the future of financial services by launching embedded financial products (prnewswire.com)
Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, has broadened its offering by taking live two new embedded financial products – Capital and Accounts – which are now available to platform and marketplace businesses in the US and Europe via Adyen’s single integration. Research conducted in partnership with Boston Consulting Group finds that 64% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are interested in financial services embedded within a platform. To capitalize on this banking-as-a-service opportunity, Adyen has developed an innovative suite of financial products comprising cash advances, business bank accounts, and card issuing. Together with embedded payments, these power the future of financial services by enabling platforms to deliver superior financial experiences to their SMB users. Read more
Eurosystem delays T2 wholesale payment system launch (Finextra)
The European Central Bank has delayed the launch of a new real-time gross settlement system and central liquidity management model, T2, by four months until next March in order to give some member states more time for testing. The go-live had been set for next month but, following an assessment by the ECB’s Market Infrastructure Board, it was concluded that there is a need to allow users more time to complete their testing in a stable environment. Read more
European Commission proposes law for EUR instant payments (The Paypers)
The European Commission has adopted a legislative proposal to make instant payments in euro, available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and in EEA countries, according to the official press release. Reportedly, the proposal aims to make instant payments in euro affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU. According to the European Commission, instant payments allow people to transfer money at any time of any day within ten seconds, making them much faster compared to traditional credit transfers, which are received by payment service providers only during business hours and arrive at the payee’s account only by the following business day, which could take up to three calendar days. Read more
MoneyLion Launches University to Tackle Financial Literacy Gap (The Fintech Times)
MoneyLion University (MLU) is launching at the end of the year, looking to address financial education gaps. To highlight the issue, the mobile banking app cited the ‘FINRA Foundation National Financial Capability Study‘. The study found that people with higher financial literacy were more likely to ‘make ends meet’. Those with lesser financial literacy struggled more to make the most of their income. The FINRA Foundation’s study found that those with more financial literacy spent less of their income. They also set aside three months’ worth of emergency funds at higher levels than those with lesser financial education. The new initiative aims to teach students how to make smarter decisions with their money. The content is to cover topics teaching MoneyLion customer’s about budgeting, planning for retirement, gross income, building credit, and investing. Beginning January 2023, the MLU are releasing long-form and short-form videos on this topic. The MLU will also be holding monthly live-stream webinars on MoneyLion’s mobile app to address the financial literacy gap. Read more
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