Banking tech vendor Temenos has signed Optimus Cards, a UK-based white-label card and banking-as-a-service provider, as its new client.
Fidor Bank saw in 2016 that incumbent banks were beginning to buy up and partner with fintechs because they needed to stay competitive; other digital banks do not share this view as Starling Bank issued a report back in September saying that collaboration with main street type banks will help to erode what fintechs are attempting to disrupt; 2017 looks to be a pivotal year for partnerships as big banks, regional banks and community banks are all moving in the direction of utilizing different aspects of new innovation. Source
AltFi takes a look into the future at what the new Payment Services Directive will mean when it takes effect in 2018; companies will learn a great deal by trial and error as this is a new market and new markets need time to grow; client on boarding using KYC and AML requirements will be a key test for global banks who need to comply with the directive; open banking might also allow for banks to come across new customers that they might not have had access to in the past; ultimately client value is the biggest takeaway and open banking has the ability to deliver more to the client. Source
Although the final restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic have almost been lifted, its effect continues to mark the UK SME landscape.
UK consumer lender Lending Works has lent over GBP50 million ($62.68 million) to UK consumers, also reporting over 10,000 clients; the firm's success has been helped by the launch of its innovative finance individual savings account which reported investments of approximately GBP1.5 million ($1.88 million) in the first 24 hours and has accumulated investments of over GBP8.8 million ($11.04 million) since February 2017; the firm's chief executive says it expects to reach originations of GBP100 million ($125.36 million) very soon; business growth is also expected to be helped by a new loan offering partnership with Revolut. Source
Christopher Woolard, the FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition, said he would like to see a collaboration of global regulators to encourage fintech growth; this would be in the style of a global sandbox and would be quite the undertaking but as Mr. Wollard stated, they are up for it; this would allow companies to better understand the regulatory limits and help to stop global issues like money laundering. Source.
Robinhood announced plans to release a companion app to allow for users to store personal holdings of cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Banco Santander today announced Scuderia Ferrari. The bank’s logo will feature prominently on the team's cars, race suits and caps.
Terra entered the crypto scene as the poster child for creating a stablecoin and enabling decentralised finance. Its crash has left investors questioning the mechanism.
With a noisy market at the moment, the best advice for start-ups is often the most simple - take your time and commit to a long-term investment strategy.