General News

July 14, 2020 @ 1:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Global fintech platform Nium (formerly known as InstaReM) announced on Tuesday it has expanded Visa Card insurance service in Europe. This news comes just after Nium announced similar services in Australia. Founded in 2015 as InstaReM, Nium is on a mission to improve the cross-border… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 1:20 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Global digital asset exchange, Gate.io announced on Tuesday the official launch of its Options trading feature. According to Gate.io, the new feature allows BTC/USDT short-term Options trading and Simulation trading for “Call and Put” options that are expiring in the next one, four, and twenty-four… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 1:13 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Auriga, an Italy-based company specializing in omnichannel banking solutions,  announced on Tuesday the opening of its two new branches in Spain and Mexico, following its international expansion strategy. Founded in 1992, Auriga describes itself as a software solutions company that specializes in end-to-end systems that integrate… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 11:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Afterpay, a digital platform that offers interest-free installment plans for online purchases, announced on Tuesday it will be offering  “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) payments for physical retail stores in the U.S. market to shoppers paying with Google Pay. Afterpay reported that under this new… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 9:54 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced on Tuesday the official launch of its Binance Card in Europe and the UK. According to Binance, the card will enable users to convert and spend BTC, BNB, SXP, and BUSD to fiat at more than 60 million merchants across 200… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 9:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  UK banking group Barclays announced on Tuesday the launch of its new digital advice service, Barclays Plan & Invest, which notably aims to tackle the UK’s advice gap and give more people the confidence and support to invest their savings. According to Barclays, the… Read More

July 14, 2020 @ 8:08 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Payments platform Square recently announced it has acquired Stitch Labs, an operations management platform for growing commerce brands. The acquisition comes less than a month after Square acquired Spain-based P2P payments app, Verse.  Founded in 2011, Stitch Labs describes itself as the leading operations management… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 9:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Secret Service, a federal law enforcement agency operating under the Department of Homeland Security and responsible for conducting criminal investigations and protecting the country’s leaders and their family members, has established the Cyber Fraud Task Force (CFTF). The CFTF has been formed after… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 9:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Over half or 50% of companies that applied for, and received funding via the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program were financial services providers or companies focused on related technology developments. As reported recently, Fintech firms managed to acquire significant amounts of funding from the PPP… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 9:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Australian neobank UBank, a leading digital challenger, has reportedly reduced its home loan rate to its historical low. UBank’s management noted that they’ve made a 0.10% to 0.15% per annum out-of-cycle reduction to the bank’s variable home loan rates. New property owner and occupier home… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 9:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Shift Connect, Canada-based global payments and foreign exchange platform, announced on Monday it has formed a new partnership with cross-border payment platform Currencycloud to power its expansion into new territories, which includes the U.S., Europe, and the UK. Through the partnership, Shift Connect will… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 8:15 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Standard Chartered Bank announced on Monday it and Universities Space Research Association (USRA) have signed a Collaborative Research Agreement to partner on quantum computing research and developing quantum computing applications. Standard Chartered reported that its team, led by Dr. Alexei Kondratyev, Global Head of Data… Read More

July 13, 2020 @ 7:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital banking group Monese has joined forces with Austria-based specialized payments platform Paysafe to provide its customers with access to cash services. According to the duo, Monese customers may now conveniently add cash into their account by selecting Paysafecash as the top-up method. Monese currently… Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

ASMX, a blockchain-enabled secondary market platform, has confirmed that its upcoming launch was delayed due to an unexpected technical problem that is currently being addressed. ASMX’s solution aims to provide more liquidity for investors. The platform was scheduled to go live in March of this… Read More

July 12, 2020 @ 11:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), an independent bureau within the US Department of the Treasury that serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks  (among other responsibilities), has introduced an initiative that aims to promote greater financial inclusion of unserved… Read More

July 11, 2020 @ 4:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

London-based Cogress, a leading property investment company, confirmed that it’s getting ready to begin lending soon as the company prepares to secure £5.5 million in capital through its investors, after finalizing several new deals. Cogress raises funds via private equity, hotel investments, and mezzanine debt…. Read More

July 10, 2020 @ 4:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CRIF Realtime, a credit scoring tool provider for small businesses, has teamed up with UK-based Finpoint, a platform that lets borrowers compare different options anonymously and negotiate directly with finance providers. Both companies aim to work cooperatively in order to speed up the process of… Read More

July 10, 2020 @ 4:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK’s Consumer Finance Association (CFA), a trade association of non-bank lenders that represents alternative consumer credit providers, recently questioned whether forbearance during the COVID- 19 crisis should be reflected or shown on credit files. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has provided guidelines that may… Read More

July 10, 2020 @ 3:37 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Thimble, a U.S.-based insurtech startup that helps small businesses succeed on their own terms, announced on Thursday it has released a new API for partners who serve the small business and professional services communities. Thimble reported that With the Thimble API, partners can offer flexible insurance… Read More

July 10, 2020 @ 11:57 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK-based Landbay, a buy-to-let mortgage lender that provides various borrowing opportunities, says that automatic valuation models (AVM) and desktop valuations used by major buy-to-let lenders during COVID-19 are not possible for more specialized lenders. A desktop valuation usually refers to valuations that are undertaken with… Read More