Mastercard has launched their in house content studio to help broaden the institution’s brand; the idea is to make themselves look as if they are a tech company; they have hired a content team and have already started making Storylabs in series; the move is part of a wider trend in financial services as companies like JPMorgan Chase, WealthSImple and Acorns have all been producing content; they also recently started a podcast named “Fortune Favors the Bold” by journalist Ashley Ford. Source.
There was a lot of anticipation of what might happen in the UK as lawmakers put in place the Payment...
Since its seed round, Aplazo grew its total processing volume more than eight times and in less than a year has partnered with over 1,000 merchants.
Payments fintech Stripe announced three major upgrades to their payments platform to help users increase revenue, direct connectivity to major...
Bitcoin's growing e-waste issue is even more concerning that its bloated energy consumption. Unlike the energy, it's not yet being addressed.
ConsenSys has hired Tyler Smith as its new director of energy and consulting; the firm has its headquarters in New York and focuses on global blockchain development; Smith joins the firm from BHP Billiton where he was the head of blockchain for the world's largest natural resources company; he has also been involved with numerous activities involving blockchain development; his work at ConsenSys will focus on Ethereum blockchain solutions for the energy industry. Source
Robinhood’s Struggles Continue: Its Cofounders Are No Longer Billionaires, Shares Down 60% Since IPO
Robinhood shares have lost more than half their value since the company’s IPO last summer.
Ping An Insurance has seen their market value double in the past year due to new business and their growing affiliate brands; online lender Lufax is valued at more than $18.5bn and Ping An Good Doctor is valued at more that $5.4bn; their growing portfolio is getting investors to ask if they are really an insurer or are they a technology company. Source.
The startup will open up their new bank to 10,000 "co-founders" to begin using their banking services with hopes of a public release in 2017; the bank is looking to help people manage their money and not bombard them with product sales; founder and deputy CEO, Ricky Knox, says this is its "first step" and that it plans to "grow into a full-service bank" in 2017. Source
According to the Financial Times 2018 Global Alumni Survey graduates explained they thought finance was taught the best but fintech was near the bottom of the 18 subjects; one of the main reasons for the bad scoring is that fintech is not offered at many schools; Schools are trying to grapple with how to cover the term fintech as it could mean many different things; Schools that do teach courses on fintech see that students want to learn about it and hopeful to see it offered more. Source.