U.K. based personal financial management app Emma recently launched in December and has struck data sharing deals with Starling Bank and Monzo; the app also works across 17 banks to screen scrape data as the banks work towards compliance with open banking; Emma is a budgeting app that helps customers avoid overdrafts and sees a big opportunity with the open banking regulations; “We’re building a tech company, and we understand that the data [play] goes beyond just overdrafts — it’s about understanding when certain events happen, money can be saved or invested,” said Emma founder and CEO Edoardo Moreni to TearSheet. 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.
To join our newsletter community please subscribe here.
The recent regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency markets, specifically in China, has dropped the worldwide market cap to $98.95bn; as recently as two weeks ago the market cap was up around $180bn; while the size of the market continues to fluctuate, it remains to be seen where prices will head when regulatory crackdowns pass. Source.
During the week I share the latest marketplace lending news on Twitter...
Cambridge Blockchain provides enterprise software technology for regulatory transparency and privacy; the firm has raised $2 million through a convertible note; plans to accelerate sales to financial institutions seeking blockchain solutions for managing anti-money-laundering, know-your-customer and other regulatory initiatives. Source
FinSight Ventures, a global venture capital firm focused on fintech companies, is seeking a portfolio manager for investing in real estate loans; the position will first be on a consulting basis which may lead to a permanent role; the firm has invested in companies such as Earnest, Dianrong, Lending Club and Financeit.
Cleaver stated, “If we fail to act on fintech, we are setting ourselves up for problems down the road. Not because the fintech folks are evil…but because we are behind the curve.”; Cleaver also discussed the importance of understanding what is going on in fintech so the proper safeguards can be put in place; he proposed that fintech companies should speak before the Financial Services Committee and that more meetings should be held. Source
Ant Financial will create a joint venture this year with CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd to operate its payment app in Hong Kong, ending Ant’s solo management of the service; Ant holds an electronic payments license in Hong Kong, which allowed it to launch its payment services without a local partner; the venture will allow Ant’s Alipay to offer services via companies under CK Hutchison; the companies expect the venture to be completed by the end of the year. Source
Amazon is currently in the early stages of building a new checkout...
Alibaba-backed Ant Financial sold $578 million worth of securities backed against small loans granted to consumers on "Double 11" day, the festival to celebrate singlehood and the world's largest online shopping day; Chongqing Alibaba Small Loan provided the underlying loans for the asset-backed security through an online consumer credit portal, Ant Check Later ("Huabei" in Chinese); the Shanghai Stock Exchange approved the offering and allowed it to be privately placed last Monday to qualified institutional investors. Source
South African bank Capitec could be acquiring up to 49% of European online lender Creamfinance; the bank has structured an investment deal with three tranches totaling 21 million euros ($22.81 million) and an additional financing round which could include an additional 5.4 million euros ($5.9 million) if shareholders choose to sell an additional 9% stake in the company; Creamfinance provides online consumer loans in six global markets: Poland, Latvia, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Mexico and Denmark; Capitec says it has been analyzing international investments and sees Creamfinance as a good fit because of its business model and specifically its technology-driven approach. Source