October 4, 2024 @ 4:45 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Safaricom and Mastercard have signed a partnership to accelerate the adoption of payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services in Kenya. This collaboration focuses on more than 636,000 merchants using M-PESA, Safaricom’s leading mobile money service. Kenya’s payment acceptance market continues to grow, with mobile wallet… Read More

October 3, 2024 @ 6:21 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The number of contactless payments in Canada increased by 17% in 2023 to reach 63% of all in-store payments, according to the recently released Canadian Payments Forecast, 2024, published by Technology Strategies International. The value of contactless payments increased by more than $80 billion over… Read More

October 3, 2024 @ 6:14 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Startup Layer aims to extend the functionality of Ethereum by making the first developer tools that support full-stack decentralized applications with Web Assembly, and they have $6 million to make it happen. The company has raised a $6M seed round led by 1kx, with participation… Read More

October 3, 2024 @ 4:29 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Enterprise data analytics firm e6data has secured a $10 million funding round. The series A was led by Accel, with participation from Beenext and others. It comes at a time when the total addressable market for data and AI solutions is slated to touch $230… Read More

October 1, 2024 @ 5:59 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Recently the United Kingdom’s Department for Business and Trade published its annual Investing in Women Code report. It finds that venture capital fund managers who have signed up to the Code are more likely to invest in female founders. Roughly one in three (32%) of… Read More

September 30, 2024 @ 1:05 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This past week Visa (NYSE: V) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Featurespace, a developer of real-time artificial intelligence (AI) payments protection technology that prevents and mitigates payment fraud and financial crime risks. Visa said the acquisition of Featurespace will complement and… Read More

September 30, 2024 @ 9:10 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Twill founder and CEO Michael Wright is using his payments background and technological breakthroughs to bring the benefits of AI [artificial intelligence] and data analytics, previously only available to large companies and small- and medium-sized businesses. By consolidating data and providing enhanced analytics, Twill will… Read More

September 30, 2024 @ 9:00 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Abrigo, a provider of commercial lending software and services for U.S. financial institutions, today announced that Abrigo Small Business Lending has emerged from beta and is commercially available. Recent data from the Abrigo Customer Lending survey reveals that many financial institutions are actively seeking to… Read More

September 30, 2024 @ 9:00 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Apono, a provider of privileged access for the cloud, today announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, raising $15.5 million to bring its total raised to $20.5 million. The funding round was led by New Era Capital Partners, with participation from Mindset… Read More

September 29, 2024 @ 6:22 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), a global modern card issuing platform that enables embedded finance solutions, announced a partnership with Found, a business banking platform that supports small businesses and the self-employed. Found’s commercial card solution, powered by Marqeta, allows small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs to… Read More

September 29, 2024 @ 6:02 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Stripe, Databricks, Rippling, and OpenAI all made the cut when Forge (NYSE: FRGE), a private market platform, identified the Private Magnificent 7, which comprises seven of the largest, most resilient, and highest-performing companies in the U.S. innovation economy. Much like their public market counterparts, this… Read More

September 28, 2024 @ 2:11 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Yorba, a platform that helps people declutter their digital footprint, has officially expanded its subscription tracking services to Canada. First launched in the United States, Yorba’s paid subscription tracking feature now helps more people to easily see, manage, and reduce their monthly and annual subscription… Read More

September 28, 2024 @ 1:49 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, African payment technology provider Flutterwave announced the expansion of its Send App service across 49 U.S. states through a partnership with MainStreet Bank, a subsidiary of MainStreet Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: MNSB and MNSBP). Texas isn’t included. Flutterwave said Send App facilitates faster, easier, and more… Read More

September 28, 2024 @ 11:05 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Vice President Kamala Harris needs to add some meat to the bones if she wants to woo cryptocurrency adherents with her words, Chirp founder and CEO Tim Kravchunovsky said this week. Chirp is a decentralized telecommunications network. Kravchunovsky made the comments after a speech the… Read More

September 25, 2024 @ 7:44 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Viva.com, a European payments Fintech, has expanded its strategic partnership with Alipay+, a suite of cross-border mobile payments and digitalization technology solutions, to enable European merchants to accept direct payments from 15 e-wallets. Alipay+ and Viva.com partnership allows global tourists, mostly from Asia, to pay in… Read More

September 25, 2024 @ 7:33 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Workforce management platform Rippling, Visa, and card issuing platform Marqeta have launched a corporate card tailored specifically for Canadian businesses. Features include automatic card issuance, built-in spending controls, and comprehensive expense management. The card launches as a new study conducted by Maru Blue in July… Read More

September 22, 2024 @ 8:27 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, BitGo, a digital asset custodian, launched USDS: The USD Standard, a 1:1 USD-backed stablecoin it hopes will transform the digital asset landscape by prioritizing fairness, transparency, and market neutrality. BitGo said USDS is designed to challenge the existing stablecoin market dynamics, specifically targeting… Read More

September 19, 2024 @ 1:35 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This past week, Open Banking Limited announced that the Competition and Markets Authority has officially confirmed the full completion of the final Roadmap for Open Banking. This milestone, building on the “substantial completion” announced in 2023, means that all nine banking providers mandated by the… Read More

September 16, 2024 @ 11:25 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

As the U.S. Federal Reserve gathers next week, stakeholders are analyzing the potential effect of an interest rate cut. Whatever the board decides, Ivey Business School Professor Dr. Stephen R. Foerster, CFA, said there will be winners and losers. Foerster said lower ones tend to… Read More

September 16, 2024 @ 10:23 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Fintech Huma, a self-described PayFi network, has raised $38 million in funding. Distributed Global led the equity round, with participation from Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, the Stellar Development Foundation, and TIBAS Ventures, CVC arm of İşbank, the largest private bank in Turkiey. Part of this… Read More