With major players such as Plaid pushing forward the pay-from-bank-account ecosystem, it may not be too long before your supermarket QR-driven wallet will offer you double points for defaulting to that option and paying without cards.
Startup incubator Science is launching a blockchain incubation program, Science Blockchain, and will raise an ICO targeting $50 million to $100 million; the ICO will be SEC compliant as only accredited US investors will be able to participate; Mike Jones, founder and CEO of Science, tells the Wall Street Journal, "We believe that using an ICO as a vehicle and methodology for raising capital is the right way do it, it allows us to practice what you preach."; whether or not investors will make more money using this method of capital raising remains to be seen but the momentum in the blockchain space continues. Source
The value of investment into the NFT art market has increased significantly, jumping from $31 Million to $755 Million.
Yapily offers an open banking API that serves all sorts of enterprises including financial service providers, merchants, accountancy firms, payments...
BNPL credit models are growing in Latin America's fintech sector, with major investments recorded even as rising rates deter risk appetite.
deBanked spoke with ID Analytics and learned that the firm has increased its visibility into the consumer lending market to 85%; ID Analytics offers a tool which allows lenders to see where a borrower is at with other lenders which is only accomplished with this kind of visibility into the market; ID Analytics also helps lenders combat fraud by analyzing applications for credit; the company analyzes about 1 million credit applications a day. Source
Despite the sharp drop in value seen in the past weeks, financial technology players that have drawn millions to their wallets are now doubling down their bets on crypto.
A group of House Republicans has sent a letter to Comptroller Thomas Curry requesting his agency slowdown its plans for a fintech charter; the letter was signed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling and 33 other House Republicans; it primarily suggests that stakeholders are not receiving an appropriate amount of time to comment on the full details of the fintech charter and that there is potential for the fintech charter to be overturned by Congress. Source
The Federal Reserve released a report saying that P2P loans resemble predatory loans; the report cautions on the industry’s rapid origination growth and rising defaults; they also say the industry as a whole has the potential to destabilize consumer balance sheets; the research also shows taking out a P2P loan hurts credit scores and credit card balances increase; the report also points to the benefits of taking out a loan as well. Source.
The card brands have blocked Russia's large banks from their networks in response to the Ukraine invasion, a move that may dramatically limit retail transactions and cash availability at ATMs.