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Global FinTech News - 9th April

Global FinTech News - 9th April
By Holland FinTech  • Issue #93 • View online
Dear news reader,
This week, while the UK and the US are marching ahead with vaccinations and subsequently, lockdowns are being relieved, Europe is scrutinized by the WHO for its slow vaccination rate. Fortunately, in fintech things keep on moving forward at a fast pace. Please find our latest curated news, investments, research and opinions below.
Want to get more background insights? This morning our CEO, Don Ginsel, explored in a new Flash Friday edition fintech insights with Russell Curzon, General Manager and Head of Sales for UK & Europe at Nium. Check out the video recording here.
And don’t forget to check out Amsterdam Fintech Week from 4 to 11 June, or find out everything you need to know about the European AML directive in our practical webguide!
From the Holland FinTech Team, we wish you a wonderful weekend!

Highlights from last weeks news related to fintech
This week we are covering fintech partnerships, mobile money, NFT protocol, payment methods, ID verification and much more:
  • Mastercard will invest US$100million (€84m) in Airtel Africa’s subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV), which drove the valuation of Airtel Africa’s mobile money arm at US$2.65bn (€2.23bn)
  • ConsenSys, the Ethereum studio behind MetaMask, Treum, and Infura, has announced a new NFT protocol called Palm, with accompanying $PALM token
  • Celonis, a fast-growing process mining software startup, has struck a strategic partnership with IBM, a multinational tech company, to help companies make the most of the digital transformation
  • Atos, a French IT consulting firm, witnessed a sharp decrease in its shares after the company disclosed that auditors had found accounting errors at two of the firm’s US units
  • Microsoft is working with a host of ID verification firms such as Jumio, Onfido, and Socure to use the technology to make it possible to verify an identity once and present it to anyone
  • Clubhouse, an audio-based social media startup, has enlisted Stripe to add a feature that lets users send money to speakers. The sender will be charged a small fee but recipients will receive 100% payment
  • Allfunds, the Spain-based B2B WealthTech platform, is to list on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange
Read more about this week’s news HERE.
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The largest funding rounds we found from across the world
We explore the most prominent rounds and transactions of the week including various sectors such as banking, insurance, payment, startups, neobanking, blockchain, AI, credit marketplace. Enjoy the materials selected from 31 March to 7 April:
  • Plaid (San Francisco, California, US), a unicorn company that helps connect consumers’ bank accounts to financial applications, has raised a $425M (€357M) Series D
  • Next Insurance (Palo Alto, California, US), a digital insurtech company, raised $250M (€210M) in funding, boosting the company’s valuation to $4Bn (€3.3Bn)
  • CRED (Bengaluru, India), a credit card platform, has raised $215M (€ 181M) in a new funding round
  • OneStream (Rochester, US), a corporate performance management solution provider, has raised $200M (€168M) in primary equity and is valued at $6Bn (€5.06Bn)
  • Paidy (Tokyo, Japan), a payment service provider, completed the Series D round of funding and raised a total of $120 million (€101M)
  • StashFin (New Delhi, India), a neobanking startup, has raised $40M (€33M) in a Series B equity round
  • Other fundings which we thought interesting for this week: ImToken (€25M), Cora (€22.4M), Butter (€18.3M), Auditoria (€13.05M), SadaPay (€6M), FinanZer, (€5.8M), Ovex (€3.3M)
Read more about the funding news HERE.
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A selection of recent research reports and papers worth reading
Dive into the latest research pieces on Open Banking, AMLD5, fintech sub-industries, investments in the fintech ecosystem, liquidity management, tax and legal measures:
  • “Cognito research highlights challenges that booming media coverage of ESG poses for asset managers” via Cognito - The findings report that media outlets are focusing on broad stories around ESG investing (portfolio composition, performance/risk and regulation) that involve commentary from a range of managers
  • “Open Banking: Rearchitecting the Financial Landscape” (Financial Technology Partners) - As more access is given to customer data through application programming interfaces (APIs), and other data sharing methods, a great number of companies will be able to compete in the financial services landscape, which should in turn speed up the innovation pace in the market
  • “Impact of the European Union’s 5th AML Directive” (Kyckr) - The findings of the paper shows implications and some solutions for obliged entities in the context of Corporate CDD, the enhanced expectations on the adequacy and currency of Beneficial Owner data (UBO), disclosures of discrepancies, and the importance of Ongoing Monitoring of corporate entity and associated person data, following recent enforcement actions
  • “The most innovative fintech companies in 2020” (HowMuch.net) - The overview shows a representation of the most popular sub-industries within fintech with the most funding in 2020
  • “Here’s Where Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, And Other Top Banks Are Investing In Fintech — And Why” (CB Insights) - Since 2018, banks have had an increased interest in investing in the fintech ecosystem in order to advance their strategic goals. The sectors receiving most investments are capital markets, wealth & asset management, SMB, blockchain & cryptos, and payments
  • “Industry Spotlight: Real Time Intraday Liquidity Management” (Finextra & Montran) - The findings of the paper explore the increasingly dynamic industry focus on the importance of intraday liquidity management, and the benefits to banks who tackle this head on
  • “The coronavirus effect on global economic sentiment” (McKinsey) - The results of this survey highlight that despite the wavering global economy due to Covid-19, three-quarters of executives expect improved conditions in the next six months
  • “Navigate Tax and Legal Measures in response to COVID-19” (PwC) - The findings urge companies to consider the broader economic, political and societal climate and to make informed decisions on their operational level
Read more about the research news HERE.
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Background information and insights from opinion leaders and experts
Find out the most recent opinions and leadership thoughts from fintech. Topics of interest for this week: e-commerce strategies, small-business credit cards, stock market for fintech, digital currencies, privacy policy, RegTech and more!
  • “Google has a long way to go to become the anti-Amazon of e-commerce” via BusinessTimes - This analysis highlights that after Google’s many attempts during its two-decade quest to compete with Amazon, it achieved little success by the small amount of goods bought
  • “Cautionary Advice About Small-Business Credit Cards” via Next Avenue - Gerri Detweiler, Credit Card Expert, advised that businesses should look into which kind of controls the issuer provides if they plan to let one or more employees use their small business cards
  • “The Public Markets Are Sizzling Hot – Here’s Why Stripe Is Skipping The Party” via Forbes - Jeff Kauflin, writer at Forbes, explained why Stripe is staying private while the stock market has gone wild for newly public fintech companies
  • “Why digital currencies will make the economy more inclusive” via Fortune - Dan Schulman, CEO at PayPal, emphasized that the adoption of digital currencies would expand accessibility, particularly for those who are underrepresented and have lower incomes
  • “Google Says It’s Committed to Privacy. What It Isn’t Saying Should Worry You” via Business Watch Network - Jason Aten, writer at Business Watch Network, revealed that Google will no longer track users across the web using unique identifiers. That comes after the announcement that the company will stop supporting third-party cookie tracking in Chrome
  • “How Can Firms Use RegTech to Their Advantage?” via Finextra - Angela Good, Content Partner and Social Media Manager at Waymark Tech, explores the benefits of RegTech solutions for companies including expense savings, efficiency and time saving, operational risk reduction, and data optimization
  • “Financial services are internet-reliant, so how do you prevent downtime?” via Fintech Futures - Atony Finn, president of EMEA North at ThousandEyes, highlighted that after the pandemic, organisations will enter recovery strategies and re-assess their technology needs considering 3 types of working: fully remote, hybrid, office
Read more about these analyses and opinions HERE.
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Connect with the fintech ecosystem at some of the upcoming events
Our Holland FinTech Online Meetups allow the international Fintech ecosystem to gather together and allows for the companies of our Network to stay at the Forefront of Innovation. If you are looking for exposure, new customers, investors, team members or cool startups, you will surely meet them here!
Register HERE.
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In this workshop, we will be addressing the most pressing challenges when it comes to open banking in an interactive environment with great moderators from Holland FinTech and industry experts from Isabel Group. The goal of the event is to generate insights into where the industry will be heading after PSD2.
Register HERE.
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What’s Next: The path to Europe’s digital future - 21st April
Join The Economist Events for The path to Europe’s digital future, a virtual dialogue featuring frank and forward-looking debates about the trajectory of European digital sovereignty, the practical implications for businesses, and the strategies they can use to quickly adapt to an evolving digital economy.
Register HERE.
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Fintech Week Tel Aviv - 19th-22nd April
Now in its 5th year, Fintech Week Tel Aviv brings together key players from a host of global fintech and financial services hotspots to engage with the Israeli ecosystem, and see Israeli innovation first-hand.
Register HERE.
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eMerge Americas | The Premier Tech Event in Miami - 26th-27th April
In light of safety precautions imposed in Miami-Dade County to continue curbing the spread of COVID-19, the global eMerge Americas tech conference will not be hosted this April 26-27, as previously rescheduled, but will return to the Miami Beach Convention Center in March 2022.
Register HERE.
www.innovatefinance.com  •  Share
Ready to get involved? Click here to find out more.
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