Dow Jones has released its European Venture Capital Report for the fourth quarter; shows venture capital investment in Europe increasing from the third quarter of 2016 and also from the comparable quarter in 2015; European companies raised approximately 2.93 billion euros ($3.11 billion) from 539 deals in the 4th quarter, a 35% increase from the previous quarter; the number of deals also increased by 9% from the third quarter; the UK was a market leader for investment with 122 deals totaling 754 million euros ($799.35 million). Source
Christmas shopping put on BNPL rose by £1billion in 2021, as banks, retailers & others continue to jump on the increasing popularity.
Core banking software vendor Thought Machine has raised $200 million in its Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to over $1 billion.
According to a report by Which almost 92 percent of consumers have not heard of open banking; slow adoption by banks is one reason for the low numbers; another reason is many people have started to use non bank services for payments or other tasks, the term open banking is still relatively new; banks are starting to innovate, by building or partnering, and open banking will only help to push innovation forward. Source.
Challenger bank, Masthaven, launched to offer savings and lending products that they say traditional lenders have ignored; they are the UK's first owner-owned bank where 80% of employees own the bank; the bank uses "smart technology" to help customers meet certain savings goals or decide on loan products they feel would be right for them; Masthaven has been around since 2004 as a specialty lender and will also break into the mortgage market in 2017. Source
Financial exclusion is a global problem, through strategic design and implementation, could CBDCs be the solution?
The world’s third-biggest economy wants the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation to protect investors and set up strict standards for stablecoin issuers.
Amsterdam-based challenger bank bunq announced that its plans to acquire Brussels-based fintech company TriCount, a mobile app to manage group expenses.
Thunes, is speeding up its global expansion with the setting up of a regional hub in Miami to expand into new Latin American markets.
Short-term marketplace lender 4Finance has originated over 4 billion euros ($4.27 billion) in loans with 1.1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in 2016; the firm is based in Latvia and was founded in 2008; it currently offers balance sheet lending activities in 17 countries. Source