Denmark based Saxo Bank announced a partnership with Microsoft to host the bank’s entire technology stack on the Microsoft Azure cloud; the bank said the partnership will allow them to ensure scalability, flexibility and security in the digital infrastructure; Kim Fournais, the bank’s founder and CEO, tells Banking Technology “Saxo Bank was a fintech long before the term was created, and it is a natural step for us to also pioneer cloud-based solutions in financial services.” Source.
Toku raised $7 million to expand digital collection services in Latin America. The fintech will boost its current Mexico strategy.
Partech Ventures has raised 100 million euros for its Partech Entrepreneur II investment fund; funds are used to invest in seed funding for startup companies; investment was raised from 90 entrepreneurs, business angels, senior managers of tech groups, and public and private participants; the fund invests in disruptive companies with the potential for major technological innovations; the company plans to use the funds to invest in 80 startups with company investment averaging three per month; the firm has been an active investor in marketplace lending companies. Source
At Lang Di Fintech (LendIt's Chinese event), Peter Renton, the founder of Lend Academy, conducted an interview with ZhongAn Insurance CEO Jeffrey Chen; they talked about how the biggest insurtech company uses big data and artificial intelligence to measure risk, the scale of ZhongAn's business, regulatory issues and the future of the company; the article provides five key takeaways from the interview. Source
PayPal has 426 million accounts registered on its platform, acquiring 120 million of those within the last two years. With the emergence of new payment methods and processors, the firm has been going through a phase of slowing growth.
FedNow is almost here. Some are concerned innovation for the new payment rail may cause the divide between small and larger banks to widen.
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
Back office banking infrastructure needs updating; fintech companies and banks want to work with companies that can provide a customizable,...
The revolving door to the office of the head of Google Pay is welcoming another new executive with Google’s appointment of former PayPal executive Arnold Goldberg. Offering cryptocurrency services won't fix what ails the division. First rule of order: Restoring trust.
Noah Holdings Limited, a wealth and asset management services provider in China, has announced its fourth quarter and full year results for 2016; the firm has two leading services including asset management and internet finance; net revenues for the full year 2016 were RMB 2,513.6 million (US $362.0 million), an 18.6% increase from 2015; for the year the firm reported an operating margin of 26.5%, compared to 26.4% for 2015; the firm's internet finance business is led by Mr. Kenny Lam, who reported that the company was pleased with the results, also stating that, "Our newer businesses – asset management and internet finance – are bringing impactful results to the group." Source