UK based digital bank Revolut launched disposable card numbers form within the app; the disposable nature of the number can help to reduce card fraud, one of the main areas of financial fraud; the move is part of a wider trend in banking to make the online shopping experience more secure and tailored to millennial customers; Revolut also allows users to freeze/unfreeze cards and disable functions like contactless and swipe payments. Source.
News Roundup
This page contains an archive of the Global Newsletter summaries and the weekly fintech news roundups.
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Cash flow is often a challenge for businesses; with Square’s Instant Deposit merchants can access bank deposits much faster for a 1% fee; Square hopes this will help attract even larger merchants and boost revenue; the service has already seen success in the US market. Source
The franchise will be in Seattle’s Central Region; Lendio franchises help businesses understand their financing options and apply for loans; Lendio currently has partnerships with more than 75 lenders across SBA loans, startup loans, equipment loans and commercial real estate; Lendio surpassed $300 million through the platform last year. Source
One of China’s largest online lenders has shelved their IPO because of the regulatory crackdown on online lending; the FT reports that Lufax is waiting until the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) required online lenders to apply for a license; the current thinking is the government will approve licenses in April, though the time frame could be a bit longer; Lufax wants to ensure they get it right instead of rushing to be first. Source.
Naspers is the most valuable listed company in Africa and is now selling $10 billion worth of shares in Tencent to invest in fintech, classified and online food delivery businesses; Naspers stake in Tencent is estimated at $545 billion; this is the first time the company has sold shares in the company after initially investing in 2001. Source
UK based digital bank OakNorth reported an annual profit of $149mn, becoming the first digital bank to do so; in their second year of full operations the bank has seen their loan book triple in size and deposits double in size; Rishi Khosla, OakNorth chief executive, told the Financial Times, “we build them for profit and on strong foundations so as you grow you’re scaling a real business rather than what happens to a lot of fintech where you just keep building for top-line or number of customers, but don’t necessarily have the strongest business model.” Source.
The CFPB handles more than 84 thousand debt collection complaints in 2017; consumers also downloaded advice on settlement negotiations more than 800 thousand times; "From now on we will be working closely with the FTC to enforce the FDCPA while protecting the legal rights of all in a manner that is efficient, effective, and accountable,” acting Director Mulvaney said in a press release reported by American Banker; the CFPB and FTC filed more than 14 enforcement cases as a result of collections last year. Source.
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will announce the creation of a task force focused on cryptocurrencies; the task force will include the Treasury, the Bank of England, and Britain's financial watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority; the task force will help manage the risk surrounding cryptocurrencies and better understand how blockchain technology can be implemented. Source.
Punjab National Bank in India recently was the victim of a fraud that cost the bank more than $2bn; some have argued that if the system in which the bank used was on the blockchain the fraud would not have happened or it would have been detected quickly; banks still operate on systems that don’t always connect or still involve a lot of paper; enlisting blockchain will help to make the process more efficient, transparent and safe; when this could be implemented is a different question as banks have started testing the new technology, it has yet to be widely adopted across the globe in banking. Source.