Uber, the driving service, has launched a debit card product in Latin America, in conjunction with innovative bank, Bankaool; the continent as a whole demonstrates 1.1 mobile phone connections per capita, yet only 14% of the overall population has a traditional savings account; it's difficult to obtain a debit or credit card without being able to link it to a bank account with savings; Bankaool claims to be the first Mexican-based bank where you can fully open a bank account or obtain a card via an online application; Uber acknowledged that a payment card was essential for riders using its service. Source
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French casino and hotel business, Groupe Partouche, has partnered with MeReal Biometrics for use of the company's smart cards; the smart cards from MeReal Biometrics are a featured product at the Web Summit this week; employees of Groupe Partouche will begin using the fingerprint identity cards in select locations and expansion is expected to more locations and guests if successful. Source
FastPay is an online lender and credit provider for digital businesses in the US and UK; the company has partnered with Hitachi Capital America Corp. for a new FastPay for Enterprise product; the new product will provide working capital loans of $10 million or more to digital media enterprises. Source
Pemberton has received investment of 1.2 billion euros for its European mid-market debt fund; the fund will invest in private debt of European companies with a turnover between €75 million and 1 billion euros; investors in the fund include insurance companies, pension funds, family offices and foundations from Europe, Asia and the US; strategy was launched due to high demand from European mid-market companies seeking financing; Keith Jones, chairman of Pemberton, says, "As the private debt market matures, we are very well-placed to play a significant role in this increasingly important asset class." Source
Funding Circle's, Samir Desai discussed his platform's business model at this week's Web Summit; Desai provided details on how his platform categorizes small business loans and makes credit approval assessments, noting that approximately 80% of businesses funded would likely be approved by traditional banks; also highlights the benefits of diversification for investors who can invest in multiple loans through a single platform; says 90% of investors are earning over 5% a year. Source
Santander Consumer USA Holdings describes itself as a technology-driven consumer finance company; they focus on vehicle finance, and have been originating retail installment contracts since 1997; company announced originations for the quarter of $5.2 billion; "Fewer originations are in part due to our disciplined underwriting standards as we are committed to driving originations at the right price and structure, and in part due to increased competition in the prime space," said Jason Kulas, president and chief executive officer. Source
The financial markets were slightly surprised by the presidential outcome with Dow futures down approximately 250 points on Wednesday morning; uncertainty over some big changes specifically in financial services from Donald Trump will be a factor for markets and the industry going forward; in financial services Trump looks to deregulate the industry easing many of the controls implemented by Dodd-Frank; another factor for fintech will be Trump's position on net neutrality which could limit open source internet development; overall, speculators see increased volatility and uncertainty for the near-term. Source
Folk2Folk has announced it will be using Microsoft Azure to support its loan management system; use of Microsoft Azure follows recent plans to significantly increase the firm's branch offices over the next two years; firm's business facilitates peer-to-peer lending through branch office locations. Source
UK millennial banking app, Loot, has raised $2.5 million from backers that include SpeedInvest and Global Founders Capital; Loot is an app for millennials to monitor spending and transactions; an account is setup using a photo, ID/passport and a UK address. Source
Marketplace lender, Bitbond, has been an industry leader, providing the first global P2P lending platform for small businesses and now known as the world's first P2P lender allowing transactions with digital currency; Radoslav Albrecht, Bitbond's founder, sees digital currency, and specifically Bitcoin, as an opportunity to expand lending availability to borrowers and help returns for investors; Bitbond is able to offer digital currency transactions through its licensing from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority which took three years and required in-depth investigation of the company's operations including their know your customer and anti-money laundering procedures. Source