UK millennial banking app, Loot, has raised $2.5 million from backers that include SpeedInvest and Global Founders Capital; Loot is an app for millennials to monitor spending and transactions; an account is setup using a photo, ID/passport and a UK address. Source
Folk2Folk has announced it will be using Microsoft Azure to support its loan management system; use of Microsoft Azure follows recent plans to significantly increase the firm's branch offices over the next two years; firm's business facilitates peer-to-peer lending through branch office locations. Source
The financial markets were slightly surprised by the presidential outcome with Dow futures down approximately 250 points on Wednesday morning; uncertainty over some big changes specifically in financial services from Donald Trump will be a factor for markets and the industry going forward; in financial services Trump looks to deregulate the industry easing many of the controls implemented by Dodd-Frank; another factor for fintech will be Trump's position on net neutrality which could limit open source internet development; overall, speculators see increased volatility and uncertainty for the near-term. Source
Santander Consumer USA Holdings describes itself as a technology-driven consumer finance company; they focus on vehicle finance, and have been originating retail installment contracts since 1997; company announced originations for the quarter of $5.2 billion; "Fewer originations are in part due to our disciplined underwriting standards as we are committed to driving originations at the right price and structure, and in part due to increased competition in the prime space," said Jason Kulas, president and chief executive officer. Source
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
Uber, the driving service, has launched a debit card product in Latin America, in conjunction with innovative bank, Bankaool; the continent as a whole demonstrates 1.1 mobile phone connections per capita, yet only 14% of the overall population has a traditional savings account; it's difficult to obtain a debit or credit card without being able to link it to a bank account with savings; Bankaool claims to be the first Mexican-based bank where you can fully open a bank account or obtain a card via an online application; Uber acknowledged that a payment card was essential for riders using its service. Source
In a move that seems quite surprising, Citibank Australia has stopped taking notes and coins at their branches; data shows that less than 4% of their customers used cash at the branches and so to keep up with digital headwinds the bank has decided to go cashless; there has been a trend in Sweden and Iceland of cashless banks, but there has not been any worldwide trend in that direction; the bank will still keep ATMs going and teller services will also remain intact. Source
Finnovista is a research and industry 'catalyst' firm that is tracking fintech growth across Latin America and Spain; in a recent report on Brazil, they track 219 fintech startups in the country, making it the most prominent Latin American country based on that metric; Mexico follows with 158 startups, then Colombia, Argentina and Chile each having 55 to 80 such startups; an infographic indicates that 26% of Brazil's fintech startups are in the payments sector, 10% in balance sheet lending (with some web presence or other innovation), 2% in true P2P lending and 8% in crowdfunding. Source
UK Bond Network has received authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); allows UK Bond Network to offer investors access via the innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA); the FCA is now authorizing both crowdfunded lenders and bond platforms. Source
Toast aims to make cross-border payments easier and cheaper for migrant workers living overseas; the Singapore-based startup closed the $2.5 million pre-Series A round with Aetius Capital, 1776 and Pepper Group; historically, migrant workers have relied on services like Moneygram or Western Union to send money back to their families; company works with existing local remittance stores and kiosks and originally set out to use blockchain and bitcoin to power the service; CEO Aaron Siwoku stated they aren't going to replace banks and traditional lenders, but want to be meaningful partners with people who have distribution. Source