Japanese banks are looking at digital payments due to a recent regulatory change which may bring in more competition; the law will be introduced in phases which makes it easier for depositors to give third parties access to both their accounts and data; it is part of a government push to reduce high cash use in the country; Projects around QR codes, blockchain and digital currencies are currently in the works. Source
The whole of finance has felt SVB's ripples. Crypto is no exception. Some are evaluating DeFi as a influencer of changes to the system.
Lebashe Financial Services is increasing its stake in RainFin a South African lender previously backed by Barclays Plc. RainFin, the...
While Amazon is unlikely to buy a bank in 2018, they are still a threat to banks and other fintech companies; the company is already involved in payments, cash, debit cards, small business lending and consumer credit; Tearsheet shares how retail and financial services companies are becoming more intertwined and how this is a trend that will continue into 2018; the way consumers interact across various apps and accounts is also having a significant effect on banks. Source
A recent report by Bain & Company just shares how successful Amazon could be if it were to enter banking; according to the report: "We could imagine Amazon's banking services growing to more than 70 million U.S. consumer relationships over the next five years or so — the same as Wells Fargo, the third-largest bank in the US. Although many retail bankers and observers have pegged the nimble fintech start-ups as the likely disrupters, it has become clear that established technology firms pose a bigger threat.”; the CNBC article shares several of the advantages Amazon would have in banking, products they could expand into and some of the talks that are already taking place with banks. Source
In an op-ed in American Banker the CEO of Synchrony, Margaret Keane, discusses artificial intelligence and the impact it can...
65% of Amazon Prime respondents are willing to try a free online bank account offered by Amazon. This data is...
The UK has launched their borrower referral scheme which came about as a government initiative; businesses who apply for loans at the nine largest UK banks and are rejected will be referred to aggregator platforms Funding Xchange, Business Finance Compared and Funding Options; the aggregators will pass information to alternative finance providers who will be able to provide quotes to the business. Source
Orange is a large French telecom company and recently announced plans to launch their own bank; the company is hoping to capitalize on the movement to online banking and is the first telecom company to launch a bank; they are targeting 2 million clients in ten years which would represent 25% of the online banking market; 25,000 of their current customers have expressed interest in the new offering (out of its 21 million mobile clients). Source
Penta is a Berlin-based business bank which also has operations in Italy; RTP Global led the round with investors HV...