General News

May 4, 2020 @ 4:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Small business funding platform Biz2Credit announced on Monday its funding affiliate was approved as a lender for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established under the recently-enacted CARES Act. Biz2Credit reported that this makes it one of the few fintechs that has been approved by… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 3:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

U.S. fintech Robinhood announced on Monday it secured $280 million through its Series F funding round, which was led by Sequoia Capital with participation from existing and new investors, including NEA, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Unusual Ventures. Founded in 2013, Robinhood stated it is… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 12:20 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Safaricom, a Kenya-based telecom company and operator of M-Pesa, announced last week it has formed a new partnership with Visa (NYSE: V) to enable the development of products that will support digital payments for M-PESA customers. M-Pesa is a mobile banking service that allows users… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 10:02 am By Omar Faridi  |  

As major financial institutions explore different strategies to cope with the COVID-19 crisis, a survey of UK financial services employees reveals that 66% think their company must do more to help them work productively from their homes. Large banks are currently trying to adapt to… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 7:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Mobile and online banking users have increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This, as banks across the globe have taken measures to limit or restrict in-person visits to physical branches, in order to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus. A recent J.D. Power… Read More

May 3, 2020 @ 7:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bounce Back Loans: Bower Up to £50,000 For the first 12 months of the loan the interest is paid by the UK government, then 2.5% interest per year afterward Repayments are deferred for 12 months Following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement on 27 April,… Read More

May 3, 2020 @ 2:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Finablr (LON:FIN), a global platform for payments and foreign exchange solutions that was planning to secure $200 million (last year) in order to prepare to list on the London Stock Exchange, has reportedly uncovered a “hidden” debt pile of £1.3 billion ($1.625 billion). Finablr’s company… Read More

May 3, 2020 @ 11:29 am By Omar Faridi  |  

ISignthis (ASX:ISX), a Melbourne-based provider of remote AML/CFT KYC-enhanced due diligence identity proofing, has reportedly lost its initial legal battle with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) over the suspension of its company shares. The suspension was announced following an order from the federal court which… Read More

May 3, 2020 @ 8:40 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has dramatically affected cash transactions in the United Kingdom, as ATM withdrawals dropped by 60% during the lockdown period. Approximately 75% of UK residents confirmed that they’re not handling physical currency notes nearly as much as they were before the ongoing… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 10:36 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Blockchain security company CipherTrace announced this week the launch of its new feature, Armada. According to CipherTrace, Armada was created to support banks and financial institutions in achieving AML compliance by providing critical visibility into risky cryptocurrency blind spots so know your customer (KYC) processes… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 8:17 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Wise, a U.S.-based fintech, announced this week it secured $5.7 million through its latest seed funding round, which was led by Base10 Partners’ Principal, Rexhi Dollaku, with participation from Abstract Ventures, Backend Capital, The Fund, Two Culture Capital, and notable angels such as Michael Vaughan,… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 1:14 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reportedly shut down its mobile-app banking group Bó just six months after launching to the public. Bó is described as a small business with big ambitions. “We’re an app, a card, but most importantly a small change in your… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 12:39 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital banking group Monese recently announced its users may now log into their Monese accounts from their desktop with the new Monese for Web services. Monese reported that it designed the web version of its banking services to provide users with more tools and “better”… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 12:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Innovate Finance, the top Fintech advocacy group in the UK, has appointed Mike Carter as Head of Platform Lending to lead 36H Group. “I’m delighted to be appointed to this new role to promote the platform lending sector. To date, the sector has delivered steady… Read More

May 1, 2020 @ 10:33 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Spain-based Banco Santander (Santander Group), a multinational commercial bank and financial services company, announced this week it has completed its purchase of a 50.1% stake in Ebury, a UK-based Fintech firm that offers corporate banking services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that trade internationally,… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 2:20 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

U.S. fintech Galileo Financial Technologies announced on Thursday it has received its Mastercard certification in Mexico and has formed a new partnership with Mexican fintech Klar. The announcements come just weeks after SoFi acquired Galileo for $1.2 billion in both cash and stock. Galileo also… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 11:50 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Flutterwave, an African fintech firm, announced this week the launch of its new e-commerce platform “Flutterwave Store.” The platform was created for African merchants to create digital shops to sell their products online. According to Flutterwave, the Flutterwave Store allows merchants to upload products, set… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 11:11 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

ClearScore, a UK credit checking service, announced on Thursday it has launched ClearScore Protect, a free anti-fraud dark web monitoring service. Along with the service, ClearScore released nationally representative research that reveals a third of adults in the UK have been victims of online fraud…. Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

The Federal Reserve Board has announced it is expanding the scope and eligibility for the Main Street Lending Program. The Federal Reserve developed the Main Street Lending Program to help credit flow to SMEs that were in sound financial condition before the pandemic but have… Read More

April 30, 2020 @ 8:49 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

FIS (NYSE: FIS), a financial services technology firm, announced on Thursday it has joined forces with neobanking group Bambu to power a new digital solution for the U.S. unbanked and underbanked. According to FIS, Bambu has created the solution to provide banking for underbanked Hispanics… Read More