General News

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

March 29, 2021 @ 2:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the British Business Bank updated on progress pertaining to loans given to UK firms impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis. Originated under several government programs designed to support businesses during a difficult time, the Bank said that 1,630,155 government-guaranteed loans worth £75.1… Read More

March 27, 2021 @ 10:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

George Holland, Mayor of Moorhead, Mississippi, recalls the feeling he experienced when  Regions Bank announced it was shutting down its physical branch in his town just a few years back. As reported by NPR, Holland noted that it was the only banking service provider in… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 1:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Leading social trading platform eToro (which recently announced it will go public in a SPAC deal via FinTech Acquisition Corp. V with valuation pegged at $10.4 billion), noted in an update published earlier this week that stimulus checks had turned the cryptocurrency market green –… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 8:53 am By JD Alois  |  

Electric car manufacturer Fisker Inc. (NYSE: FSR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, to possibly supply Fisker Ocean SUVs. While the MOU is nonbinding the intent is to offer the Fisker SUV to select private banking clients and employees beginning… Read More

March 25, 2021 @ 9:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Optiver, a global tech-focused trading firm that’s dedicated to enhancing the market, says that they realize or are aware that achieving “true resilience” across European equity markets can be a large and “multifaceted” challenge which may not be properly addressed with “a… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 7:46 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The developers of YIELD App, which allows users to deposit various crypto-assets and earn competitive returns, have published a blog post that covers the controversial Ethereum Improvement Proposal or EIP 1559, the ongoing Ethereum “miner revolt” and “what it all means” for decentralized finance (DeFi)…. Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 3:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfund Capital Advisors (CCA) has announced a new index designed to track daily online capital-raising activity of private U.S. companies.  The data is available via Bloomberg’s Alternative Data Platform. This index is calculated based on the capital investments received by the 50 daily highest-raising private… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 1:53 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Plaid announced on Wednesday the inaugural cohort of five early-stage fintech startups for FinRise, which is Plaid’s incubator program to empower early-stage entrepreneurs that are Black, Indigenous or People of Color.  As previously reported, FinRise is a nine-month program designed to support early-stage founders… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 8:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Lending platform RateSetter explains that a debt consolidation loan might be a good or suitable way to make managing your funds easier by “rolling your existing borrowing into one simple monthly payment.” RateSetter, which was once a leading P2P lender that has now sold its… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 2:13 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Hong Kong-based Crypto.com announced on Tuesday its virtual cards are now available in Europe. Crypto.com reported its app users may now apply for a Crypto.com Visa Card and once approved, make online purchases before their physical cards arrive. The card is issued by PayrNet Ltd… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 11:31 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Canadian fintech Mogo Inc. (TSX:MOGO) (NASDAQ:MOGO) announced on Tuesday it is set to acquire Moka Financial Technologies, a Canada-based saving and investing app, in an all-stock transaction.  Launched in 2017, Moka (originally Mylo) is on a mission to help its users achieve their financial… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Robo.cash, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace, says the top asset classes for investing in 2021 are gold, crypto followed by peer to peer loans. Robo.cash says that researchers analyzed 10 popular assets and ranked them in 7 different criteria. All assets were given a score of… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 11:29 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

      Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), an international financial hub in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region, has received approval to join the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC). WAIFC is described as a non-profit association registered in Belgium,… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 10:16 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Kaleyra, Inc. (NYSE:KLR), a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), announced on Monday it has formed a new agreement with Visa in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Kaleyra reported that as part of the agreement its innovation lab, k-lab, will be creating communication… Read More

March 22, 2021 @ 7:03 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd portfolio company SaNOtize Research & Development Corp. has received interim approval to sell its COVID-19 treatment Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS). The spray is said to protect users from viruses that enter the body through the upper nasal pathways. The spray will be sold… Read More

March 21, 2021 @ 8:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payoneer Inc., the global payment and commerce-enabling platform, has published a blog post in which it argues that freelancing or the gig economy is “here to stay.” Kareen Friedman (from Payoneer), who focuses on the freelance and service providers sector, writes that it should be… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 7:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and M7, a creative start-up hub that’s operated under Qatar Museums, are introducing Scale7, which is a business incubator for MENA region entrepreneurs. Scale 7 aims to support a creative and artistic ecosystem. The initiative will help Qatari entrepreneurs, local… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 4:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Divvy, a modern payment and expense management platform for businesses, which notably secured $165 million through its Series D funding round, has published a blog post that looks into how small businesses can settle their tax payments. Divvy confirms in its blog post that the… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 3:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) reveals that February 2021 was yet another huge month for digital commerce, which increased 54.7% year-over-year (YOY). Mastercard pointed out that despite the “inclement weather” felt across many parts of the country this past month, US retail sales (excluding automotive and gasoline) surged… Read More