February 16, 2023 @ 4:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is expanding its relationship with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to develop a suite of solutions built on Microsoft Cloud and AI technologies “focused on reducing business travel friction for employees and businesses.” The first solution developed through this collaboration will “enhance the… Read More

February 16, 2023 @ 4:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) and global video game commerce company Xsolla announced plans to collaborate “on frictionless, secure, and rewarding payments for gamers — from enhanced checkout experiences using credit card loyalty points1 to simple in-game currency gifting to improved creator payout processes and more.” The… Read More

February 16, 2023 @ 1:37 am By Omar Faridi  |  

As part of its efforts to enhance financial literacy among the younger generation in ASEAN, Maybank’s Cashville Kidz financial literacy program has reached out to 37,020 students and 945 educators in over 113 schools in 2022. In a year that was recovering from the pandemic,… Read More

February 16, 2023 @ 12:43 am By Omar Faridi  |  

TD Bank Group (TD) takes another step toward positive change “to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination with the launch of the Black Entrepreneur Credit Access Program.” A lending program “founded on providing more equitable access to credit for Black entrepreneurs, who disproportionally face hurdles… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 3:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Given today’s changing rules and economic uncertainty, the need for robust, pre-transaction account validation and risk modeling is “more important than ever.” However, most companies “don’t measure Bank Account Validation (BAV) performance at all, leaving themselves unaware of risk management outcomes, return on investment, and… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 2:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

VRRB Labs, a decentralized protocol that combines speed, scalability, and decentralization without sacrificing security, announced that it has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding to support its development of “an innovative blockchain that will make it easy and financially sustainable for developers to build user-friendly… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 12:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Coinmetro has announced that their firm has acquired Ignium.io, a blockchain-native fundraising platform for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for EUR 4 mil.” Ignium was “created to address the pressing issue of 60 million small businesses world-wide lacking optimum financial services.” The… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 11:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Lutheran Life Communities, a not-for-profit system of continuing care retirement communities and senior services, has partnered with DailyPay—the provider of on-demand pay—as part of its effort “to continuously reciprocate support and care for its healthcare team members.” The decision to implement the on-demand pay benefit… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 11:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Wahed has acquired iWill Solicitors, the UK pioneers “in Islamic wills, in a seven-figure transaction.” iWill Solicitors will “become a pillar of Wahed’s financial platform—helping ethical investors to secure the next generation.” Wahed also “acquires True Wills, a pioneering online Islamic will-writing service.” Wahed, a… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 11:29 am By JD Alois  |  

The OurCrowd Global Investor Summit opened with Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressing the crowd at an event that claimed around 9000 registrations – the largest ever for OurCrowd. Attendees included over 1700 individual investors, 1000+ multi-national corporations, 630+ venture capitalists, and hundreds of members of… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 9:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Plaid, the data network that powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life, and Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA), the independent identity provider, announced a partnership and integration “to help thousands of banks and financial institutions adopt OAuth and APIs… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 8:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Comun, a Latino-founded neobank that provides modern banking solutions for Latino families, announced it closed a $4.5M seed round led by Costanoa Ventures with participation from South Park Commons and FJ Labs. The company plans “to use the funds to build a financial hub with… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 6:54 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has used its powers “to enter and inspect several sites around Leeds suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs.” The FCA gathered evidence from several sites “around the city as part of a joint operation with West Yorkshire Police’s Digital… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 4:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today the UK government announced its monthly inflation data which indicated the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 10.5% in December 2022 – a slight improvement. On a monthly basis, CPI fell by 0.6% in… Read More

February 15, 2023 @ 3:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Starling Bank is rolling out its first savings product for small businesses offering a competitive fixed interest rate of 2.5% “over one year on balances of £2,000 or more.” The new 1-Year Business Fixed Saver is “built seamlessly into the app.” Account holders can “transfer… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial technology company Saldo Bank UAB, formerly Saldo Finance UAB, has announced “the launch of banking operations in Lithuania in February 2023.” Having built regulatory readiness after obtaining a specialized bank license from the European Central Bank, Saldo Bank will “introduce term deposits and continue… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 11:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In this month’s Mintos Insight, the team at Mintos takes a look at how major asset classes performed in 2022 and how this has “impacted growth in January 2023.” For multiple asset classes, it was a year of “record lows.” Sanctions against Russia (due to… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 11:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Driverly is pleased to announce it has received direct authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “to sell car insurance after a thorough review of its processes and governance structure.” This is believed “to be the first successful FCA application centred solely around a monthly,… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 10:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

XS.com, the multinational global Fintech and financial services provider, has announced that it will be the Global Partner of “the first ever Fintech and crypto exhibition of its kind held in the Kingdom of Bahrain.” The Fintech and Crypto Summit is “organized by Smart Vision… Read More

February 14, 2023 @ 9:53 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

In line with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE’s (CBUAE) Board of Directors, the CBUAE launched its Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program (FIT program)… Read More