The project will help to connect multiple digital wallets to process money transactions; they say this will allow different currencies to flow through wallets like HTTPS, SMTP and SIP information goes between web browsers according to Banking Technology; this would allow an individual making a payment through WeChat to send money to a friend who uses PayPal. Source.
News Roundup
This page contains an archive of the Global Newsletter summaries and the weekly fintech news roundups.
Every day the Fintech Nexus news team scours the globe for the most important stories of the day to include in our daily newsletter.
Then every Saturday we bring you our weekly news roundup of the top 10 fintech stories of the week with commentary from Peter Renton.
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Oakam has originated more than 420,000 loans and over $275mn to customers with little or bad credit; the UK based lender uses credit bureau data and alternative data including network associations, behavioral data and chat data between potential customers and their agents; the combination of the data sources has allowed them to better asses risk to a client base mostly ignored by traditional financial firms. Source.
Business Insider caught up with ID Finance co-founder and CEO Boris Batin at LendIt Europe; the company hopes to raise around $100 million through bond issuances over the next year; to date ID Finance has raised $10 million in equity and $70 million in debt; the startup is based Barcelona and lends in Russia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Poland, Brazil and Mexico; ID Finance has lent $300 million so far. Source
The Singapore based investment firm together with Chinese investment firms Tiantu Capital and Xindahanshi Capital invested more than $72mn into the Chinese fintech Tongdun according to DealstreetAsia; Tongdun is a risk control and anti fraud service provider for financial services firms, online shopping companies and social networks; the capital will be used for research & development and expansion overseas in search of fintech partnerships. Source.
Tom Blomfield of Monzo was recently interviewed on City A.M.’s Unregulated podcast; Blomfield said that he has been approached by big banks and tech companies and that the firm receives a takeover offer every month. Source
Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair writes in the FT that in light of the recent hack to Equifax should regulators be providing more entry points to customer data; she goes on to explain past bank hacks are typically done using a third party who has gained access to a customer’s data; other key points include can these service providers cover potential losses and are regulators forcing service providers into the most secure process. Source.
During a keynote panel at LendIt Europe Funding Circle CEO Samir Desai wondered if incumbent banks who build fintechs are attempting to pull a fast one on customers; the discussion talked about banks building fintech platforms and delivering better customer experiences; they also touched upon some misconceptions in online lending and the main customer lead channels. Source.
While speaking as a keynote at LendIt Europe 2017 Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said old school banking was a zero-sum game; he explained how Zopa is looking to build what he thinks will be a fairer bank based on customer needs; they are currently about halfway through the licensing process. Source.
Overstock.com plans to launch their new regulated token exchange with its own initial coin offering; launched under Overstock.com's capital markets arm, tØ, the token offering will be the first listed event on the new exchange; CoinDesk reports that Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said the company will be able to raise between $200mn and $500mn easily. Source.