View profile

Global FinTech News - 4th of December

Global FinTech News - 4th of December
By Holland FinTech  • Issue #75 • View online
Hello, fintech news seeker!
In the week of DIA and Web Summit, we bring you the latest developments from the ecosystem, newest collaborations & partnerships, and most intriguing views. Start your winter season with your favorite fintech updates - news, funding rounds, research reports, analysis and opinion! Don’t forget to check out interesting global events to attend, and see the list at the bottom.
Earlier today, for Holland FinTech’s Flash Friday, our founder Don Ginsel discussed developments from fintech in our weekly live show, co-hosted by by Robert Leclercq, Co-Founder Lender & Spender and Alison Harwood, Head of London branch, Varengold Bank. In case you missed the event, check out the recording on our YouTube channel here!
From the Holland FinTech Team, we wish you a nice weekend!

Highlights from last weeks news related to fintech
Our selection of remarkable news from the industry.
  • Stripe, an online payment processing for internet businesses, will start offering banking services as part of a new deal with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup
  • Metromile, an US pay-per-mile insurtech, announced its plans to go public via a SPAC
  • Humm, an Australian fintech formerly known as Flexigroup, is launching a US line of credit marketed as a Buy-Now-Pay-Later solution in the highly competitive US market, in collaboration with Douugh, a challenger bank
  • With the new economic context provided by Covid-19, Amazon’s business has seen record numbers in terms of orders, thus, also record numbers in terms of hiring new workforce
  • Revolut announced earlier this week that it’s launching a web app for its regular users - not just business users, and also that it has partnered in the UK with payments platform for businesses Modulr
  • Lloyds Bank in the UK has become the first bank to switch on Swift’s new gpi instant connection service
  • The Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) and SIA launched a new real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) and instant payment platform
  • Visa and BlockFi partnered to release the Bitcoin Rewards Visa Credit Card, which is the first credit card to offer Bitcoin rewards
  • Non-banks will be able to have access to Singapore’s state’s banking system’s retail payments infrastructure, which was granted earlier this week by Singapore’s Central Bank
  • With the new official announcement that Starling Bank has reached profitability, JP Morgan and Lloyds Banking are expressing their interest in the challenger bank
Read more details about this news and sources HERE.
hollandfintech.com  •  Share
The largest funding rounds we found from across the world
We have again looked across all oceans to find all investments that are relevant for the financial industry and listed the largest below. Remember, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we found in the week going from 25th November to 2nd December.
  • Stripe (San Francisco, CA, US), a private financial technology, is planning on raising a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion (€29.76bn)
  • Monzo (London, UK) online bank closed another £60 million (€66.18m) in funding
  • CRED (Bengaluru, Karnataka), a members-only app that rewards users with exclusive rewards for paying credit card bills, has raised $80 million (€66.13m)
  • EclecticIQ (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), a provider of cyber threat intelligence technology, has raised €20 million in Series C financing
  • Limepay (Sydney, Australia), an enterprise payments, has raised $21 million (€17.36m) in the first phase of its pre-IPO capital raise
  • Glasswall (London, UK), a cybersecurity technology company, raised £18m (€19.86m) in additional equity funding
  • Primer (London, UK), a fintech that wants to help merchants consolidate their payments stack and easily support new payment methods in the future, has raised £14 million (€15.44m) in a Series A funding round
  • Other funding rounds which caught our eye this week: Bitwala - €15 million, Pier- €11.99m, Floww - €5.54m, Sleek - €3.31m
Read more about this funding news HERE.
hollandfintech.com  •  Share
A selection of recent research reports and papers worth reading
Please check out these research reports and white papers we discovered this week.
  • In a recent analysis by Fintech Global, it is emphasized that the top 10 RegTech deals in the first nine months of 2020 raised in aggregate $1.8bn, making up 38.2% of the total funding in the sector for the period
  • “2020 Fintech Vietnam Report and Startup Map: Fintech Startups Tripled since 2017” (Fintech News Singapore) - This report shows an overview on the Vietnamese domestic fintech landscape, key industry trends, and the local fintech startups ecosystem
  • The e-book: “The dawn of end-to-end AML compliance” (Jumio) explains that the pressure put on firms to avoid compliance mistakes and meet their regulatory obligations is a challenging task
  • “Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation” (BIS) - This report explores whether CBDCs and other initiatives could in fact provide more effective solutions to fulfil the functions that stablecoins are meant to address
  • “Digital KYB – a springboard to customer onboarding success” (Fintech Futures) - This paper highlights why financial institutions continue to struggle when it comes to topics such as AML and KYC
  • “The United States Of Startups: The Most Well-Funded Tech Startup In Every US State” (CB Insights) - This report shows a complete mapping for the US tech hotspots
  • “Insurance Outlook Report 2020/21 East Africa” (Deloitte) - This outlook emphasizes that the impact of Covid-19 on insurance companies’ profitability is still uncertain
  • The “Economic and social opportunities of AI for the Netherlands” (McKinsey) report explains that while AI is a valuable tool for the financial sector, the economic potential still remains uncertain for countries such as the Netherlands
Read more about the research sources and download pdf’s HERE.
hollandfintech.com  •  Share
Background information and insights from opinion leaders and experts
We are keeping track of what opinion leaders across the world have to say about everything that is happening in and around financial services and technology. Below, you can find the ones that stood out this week.
  • “Google Pay on the web will soon kill off peer-to-peer payments” (XDA) - In this analysis, Brandon Russell pinpoints that Google Pay is moving ahead into the US market, with only an app format from 2021 onwards
  • “How to improve CX without sacrificing security” (Fintech Futures) - For this outlook, Dustin Maxey highlights the importance of accommodating clients’ needs within the retail banking sector
  • “From CeFi To DeFi: How Banking And Investing Are Evolving At Warp Speed” (Forbes) - Lawrence Wintermeyer emphasizes in this analysis the upcoming shift for financial markets, with millions of people leaving the traditional centralized financial institutions (CeFi) for decentralized finance (DeFi)
  • “Brexit: what next for Open Banking?” (Bobsguide.com) - For this article, Paul Marcantonio identifies the uncertainties lying ahead for the UK firms in a post-Brexit world
  • “2020 has proven that fintech integration will gather pace” (Fintech Bulletin) - This overview by Steve Taklalsing emphasizes a growing trend in terms of fintech, which regards technology adoption rates among different target groups
  • “Less regulation, better supervision” (Eiopa) - In this interview overview, Fausto Parente explained at the Annual Conference of the Associazione Europea per il diritto bancario e finanziario that more soft regulatory tools and better supervision tools to check how regulation is applied are needed in today’s economic climate
  • “EIOPA Q&A: Interview Gabriel Bernardino for European Pensions” (Eiopa) - This opinion piece explores the highlights given by the chairman of EIOPA, Gabriel Bernardino, on topics like a Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP), improved data harvesting, and the organisation’s future projects
  • “How Much Debt Is Too Much?” (Project Syndicate) - Raghuram G. Rajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, describes in this opinion piece why governments have now the upper hand when it comes to today’s ultra-low interest rates to borrow and spend without limit in order to support the economy
Read more about these analyses & opinion pieces HERE.
hollandfintech.com  •  Share
Connect with the fintech ecosystem at some of the upcoming events
AFR Innovation Summit - 7th December
The event goes beyond buzzwords by interrogating what needs to be done to create the capabilities, industries & mentalities Australia needs for the future.
Register HERE.
www.nationalpolicyseries.com.au  •  Share
Digital Banking 2020 - 7th-9th December
This new virtual format of discussions, panels, on-demand channels, and 1:1 meetings will provide you with access to truly independent, unbiased voices and the industry’s most influential minds as they look towards the future of banking.
Register HERE.
conference.americanbanker.com  •  Share
Singapore FinTech Festival - 7th-11th December
Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) is the largest fintech festival in the world and a knowledge platform for the global FinTech community. SFF is organized annually by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings
Register HERE.
www.fintechfestival.sg  •  Share
FinTech Investor Series - 9th December
There has never been a better time to invest in early-stage FinTech. In this 3-part series we’ll cover everything from the basics of what vehicles to consider, how and where to start, all the way to deep dives in emerging sector trends to support and inform your diligence process.
Register HERE.
empirestartups.com  •  Share
Virtual Cybersecurity Summit - 12th-13th January
ISMG global events are a must-attend for any IT or security executive tasked with protecting an organization from today’s evolving information security threats.
Register HERE.
events.ismg.io  •  Share
InsurTech Conference - 21st January
4th Insurtech Conference entitled “post-Covid Insurance – Rewriting the Rules” focuses on the fast emerging Insurance-as-a-Service era.
Register HERE.
www.insurtechconference.gr  •  Share
Ready to get involved? Click here to find out more.
Did you enjoy this issue?

Global Fintech News

If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe here.
If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.
Powered by Revue
Amsterdam