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
The National Bank of Ukraine plans to use blockchain and distributed ledger technology in the country to move to a cashless economy; the bank's board has created a roadmap which includes plans to begin issuing e-money (the cashless payment instrument) no later than the fourth quarter of 2017; new payment method will compete with card payments. Source
Marketplace lender, China Rapid Finance, has now surpassed the one million mark in terms of borrowers; they are considered the largest consumer lender in China in terms of loans facilitated; the company has lent out 8.8 million individual loans since inception and believes their focus on emerging middle-class mobile active consumers, or EMMAs, sets them apart; the EMMA population typically has no credit history and is estimated at around 500 million people in China, the world's largest untapped consumer credit market. Source
UBS has partnered with Amazon to utilize Amazon's Alexa artificial intelligence (AI) for a pilot program with wealth management clients in the UK; Alexa will provide answers on inquiries about wealth management topics and the economy for clients through several devices; the partnership follows a trend toward use of artificial intelligence in the wealth management industry and a deal by UBS with robo adviser SigFig for account services; Alexa's AI capabilities offer a cost efficient way to provide information and standardized advice for wealth management clients. Source
Citi announced the launch of a new global API Developer Portal (developer.citi.com) to connect with developers and enable them to build innovative client solutions; the open architecture will help facilitate collaboration and partnerships with fintech companies and consumer brands worldwide; Citi will grant developers access to APIs across six usage categories: account management, peer to peer payments, money transfer to institutions, Citi rewards, investment purchases and account authorization; Citi plans to add more categories over time and developers are encouraged to register with Citi to use this portal. Source
Blackmoon has secured $2.5 million in equity funding from Target Global, A&NN Group, Flint Capital and several private investors; company provides a technology platform for institutional investment in loans from balance sheet marketplace lenders; will use the funds for technology development and further expansion in the US. Source
ReadyForZero has notified users that the site will shutdown on November 12; the platform was acquired in 2015 by Avant to provide debt management and credit monitoring services for consumers; Avant is a marketplace lender focused on personal loans; users were notified of the consumer finance website's closing by an email from ReadyForZero and Avant has not provided any further details on the closing. Source
PayPal has announced new capabilities that allow for international person-to-person payments in 30 countries with Siri; PayPal's Siri iPhone users can direct international payments to individuals using voice activated prompts; the solution evolved from Apple's iOS 10 operating system; the new offering is part of a focus by PayPal on mobile, a category that reported a 56% growth rate in the third quarter of 2016. Source
The World Economic Forum has elevated its interest in blockchain technology by forming a working group featuring two dozen prominent executives and innovators; the group meets in Dubai for the first time this week; it will begin with issues of governance of the technology's direction and development protocols; members include the chief economist for the People's Bank of China's research group, the head of the Bank of England's fintech startup accelerator, the former President of Estonia and representatives from startups including BitPesa, Everledger, Ripple and Chain as well as Barclays and Deutsche Bank. Source
In its first Fintech Conference, New York University's Stern School of Business discussed some key topics in the industry including regulations to public policy, equity crowdfunding, marketplace investing and blockchain technology; Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, was the keynote speaker; panel discussions included, "Marketplace Investing Versus Venture Capital" and "Beyond Blockchain and the Decentralized Autonomous Organization." Source