General News

April 6, 2021 @ 9:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Security Token Market (STM), which is focused on the fast-evolving blockchain-enabled security tokens space, has published their monthly report. The report reveals that the total security token market cap (as tracked by stomarket.com) stood at  $613,442,470. The market cap monthly change was… Read More

April 6, 2021 @ 1:00 am By JD Alois  |  

The Recovery Loan Scheme is now open for application. Administered by the British Business Bank, this is a new scheme to support access to finance for UK businesses as they turn the corner on the COVID-19 health crisis. The scheme, announced at the Budget on… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 8:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BNPL Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) notes that US consumers happen to agree that the best or ideal surprise in life is “randomly finding money in your pocket or on the street closely followed by getting a tax refund, no matter the amount.” As mentioned in a recent… Read More

April 5, 2021 @ 12:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

PeerIQ, a data house for online lending platforms, reports that consumer bankruptcy filings fell sharply last year. PeerIQ notes that filings under chapter 7 were down 22%, while those under chapter 13 were down 46%. Certain government programs have helped to mitigate bankruptcies as well… Read More

April 3, 2021 @ 8:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at UK-based Blend Network, an online P2P lender, notes that after a “short-lived” slowdown, the United Kingdom annual house price growth managed to recover with “renewed vigor” in February 2021. Blend Network writes in a blog post that January 2021 saw price growth… Read More

April 3, 2021 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

In 2020, over €400 million was invested into securities offerings in Germany via crowd investing or investment crowdfunding platforms according to research by Crowdinvest.de augmented by data from Bundesverband Crowdfunding (the German crowdfunding association). The first quarter of 2021 saw approximately €100 million. According to… Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 2:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wealth management tech platform Addepar published a blog post on March 31, 2021, noting that it was Women’s History Month, when they look forward to celebrating the impressive accomplishments of women in “every avenue of business, government and our communities.” At Addepar, they feel privileged… Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 1:10 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Bank of America announced on Friday it has acquired Axia Technologies, Inc. (AxiaMed), a healthcare payment and technology company that is focused on facilitating secure patient payments. The banking giant reported that the acquisition will deepen and expand its payment offerings for healthcare clients, as… Read More

April 2, 2021 @ 8:22 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  dLocal, a cross-border payment platform, announced on Friday it secured $150 million through its latest investment at a valuation of $5 billion. According to dLocal, Alkeon Capital led the round with participation from BOND, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global. dLocal claims to be… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 1:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Barclays announced on Thursday the launch of a suite of new products for BARX FX, which further enhances its electronic capabilities and strengthens its FX offerings for clients. The suite of new products marks the banking group’s latest milestone in enhancing its electronic trading… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 1:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Plug and Play announced on Thursday it has selected 154 startups into their Summer 2021 Batches. The accelerator program reported that each company has been accepted into one of the following programs that run through June: Energy, Enterprise Tech, Fintech, Health, Insurtech, Internet of Things, Mobility, Real Estate & Construction, or Travel &… Read More

April 1, 2021 @ 8:09 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) in the UK stated on March 31, 2021 that it “provisionally” finds five firms violated the law by “engaging in cartel behavior” in the pre-paid cards market. As stated in a release, three out of five parties actually admitted liability… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly being accused of enabling or supporting a fraudulent app which allegedly stole $600,000 worth of Bitcoin from an unsuspecting user.  A man is claiming that Apple had listed the scam app in its App Store that was posing or pretending to… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed on March 31, 2021, that Singapore plans to take part in global efforts to improve the overall capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide assistance to “vulnerable” low-income nations in “dealing with the economic fallout from… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 3:34 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  BBVA announced on Tuesday it has signed a €1.35 billion sustainable linked guarantee facility with financial tool Enel Group. According to BBVA, the facility is the largest by valued signed by Enel to date. “The economic conditions of this guarantee facility are linked to… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 3:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has distributed a note criticizing President Joe Biden’s planned tax increase that will hit both individuals and businesses. Addressing  the policy of pushing business taxes higher, the SBE Council says raising taxes during the shaky economy and… Read More

March 31, 2021 @ 8:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

European Fintech firm iwoca has released a new index on the SME lending landscape. As noted in a blog post by iwoca, the company’s “SME Expert Index” is described as “an exclusive” index that includes UK brokers which “gives specialist insight on the health of… Read More

March 30, 2021 @ 9:07 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

    PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) announced on Tuesday the launch of Checkout with Crypto, a new feature that allows customers in the U.S. to check out with cryptocurrency along with other payment methods through the PayPal mobile wallet. “Building on the ability to buy,… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 10:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Federal Reserve’s Digital Dollar initiative may be of concern to Wall Street, according to a report from Bloomberg. The financial services sector may have to prepare for what might be its most significant disruption during the past few decades, according to the report…. Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 3:08 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

    NOW Money, a UAE-based digital account service, announced on Monday it raised $7 million through its latest investment round, which was led by Anthemis Exponential Ventures with participation from  Knuru Capital, Wamda, Commercial Bank of Dubai, DIFC FinTech Fund, Accion Venture Lab, Greenhouse Capital, and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund. Founded… Read More