General News

McDonalds Hiring Director of Global Cashless & Digital Payments/Fraud at Chicago Headquarters

Fast-food giant McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) is hiring a Director of Global Cashless & Digital Payments/Fraud to work in its Global Cashless and Fraud team at company headquarters in Chicago. The team’s primary goals, according to the job posting, are to: 1) “Act as a center of… Read More

Fintech in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia Might Be Shifting Economic Focus from Oil to Financial Technology

Crude oil production in Saudi Arabia slowed down considerably last year, from 10,643 BBL/D/1K in December 2018 to only 9,890 BBL/D/1K in November 2019. Steady and continuous drops in crude oil production may be attributed to several different factors, such as the attendant impact on… Read More

Report: Legislated Diversion of Household Savings to Stock Markets in China Could Induce Rally

China’s Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), which oversees the country’s financial markets, has, “published a guideline saying it would promote the conversion of household savings into long-term capital market fund,” South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. The CBIRC did not say how it will… Read More

“Real Life Regulators” – North American Securities Administrators Association Launches Podcast Covering Fraud Enforcement Activities of State Securities Regulators

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has announced the launch of a new podcast series covering the escapades of securities regulators around North America. Entitled, Real Life Regulators, the podcast’s goal is to review and discuss fraud cases regarding the financial services industry. Christopher… Read More

SoFi Opens New Office in Jacksonville

Fintech unicorn SoFi announced on Tuesday the opening of its newest office location in Jacksonville, Florida.  According to SoFi, the office is located in the St. Johns Town Center and will fit up to 300 full-time staff, mainly focused on operations functions including member relations,… Read More

Trillion Dollar Asset Manager Vanguard Now Offering Zero-Fee Online Stock and Options Trading

Pennsylvania-based Vanguard, a registered investment advisor with over $5.3 trillion in assets under management, announced on January 2 that it will be introducing zero-fee online stock and options trading to all Vanguard Brokerage clients. As mentioned in a release, this expands Vanguard Brokerage’s commission-free platform… Read More

Perspective: Why Startup Boards are Here to Stay

Startups are a new concept, business is not. Disruptive ideas still need structural backing to become as revolutionary as many startups promise. This means maximizing traditional management models to realize the radical. Startup boards, however, are often overlooked and underappreciated. Most boards are made as… Read More

Open Banking? JPMorgan to Enforce Stricter Security Measures by Preventing Third-Party Fintech Apps from Accessing Customer Passwords

JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank and the sixth-largest in the world, will reportedly be enforcing stricter security policies and measures by preventing third-party Fintech applications from gaining access to user passwords. The current method of data sharing offers (with permission) several external Fintech apps… Read More

The Top Ten Fintech Predictions for 2020

To my Fintech friends, this is my 4th annual “Top Ten” Fintech prediction. I started this tradition at Crowdfund Insider back in January 2017. As we are saying goodbye to an incredible Fintech year of 2019, I see another seismic change in 2020 for our… Read More

US-based Companies Still Using Slow, Inefficient Paper Checks to Settle B2B Payments: Report

Companies might think that they have to spend more money to generate more revenue, however, many are reportedly spending a lot more than what’s required in order to keep their accounts payable (AP) departments operational. Paper checks are still the main method through which American… Read More

Fake Banks: What Do You Do If You Encounter a Fake Bank Online?

The internet has disrupted so many different industries mainly for the better. Fintech, or financial technology, is really the digitization of financial services that previously leaned in an analog direction, lending, trading & investing, payments, banking and more. While the benefits to consumers and business… Read More

National Bank of Oman Receives Award for Best Mobile Banking Application by International Finance Magazine

The National Bank of Oman (NBO), the first local bank and one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle Eastern country of Oman, has been awarded Best Mobile Banking Application – Oman 2019 by the International Finance Magazine. The bank has also received various… Read More

“Financially Motivated” Cybercriminals to Target Investment App Users, Online Financial Data Processing Platforms, Cryptocurrencies: Kaspersky

Investment applications, online financial data processing tools and decentralized cryptocurrency platforms will most likely be targeted by the “financially motivated cyber threat actors” next year, leading cybersecurity company Kaspersky claims. Financial cyber threats and attacks are some of the most dangerous or damaging ones, as… Read More

Mastercard Announces Acquisition of AI & Data Analytics Solutions Provider RiskRecon

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) recently announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire RiskRecon, a provider of artificial intelligence and data analytics solutions to support companies in protecting their cyber systems and infrastructure. Mastercard reported that with RiskRecon’s pioneering scanning and evaluation technologies, organizations may… Read More

Food Pickup App Snackpass Secures $21 Million via Series A Round Led by Venture Capital Firm Andreessen Horowitz

Snackpass, a food pickup app that has a loyalty rewards program that works in a manner that’s somewhat similar to a social media platform, recently secured $21 million via a Series A round led by giant venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Snackpass says it now… Read More

United States is Expected to Lose its Top Rank as Largest Cashless Society by Next Year: Study

The United States is reportedly expected to lose its top rank as the largest cashless country and society in the world to nascent Asian markets by next year. Cashless transactions in the US are projected to increase by 4.7% to reach $184 billion by 2020,… Read More

North American Securities Administrators Association Calls Cryptocurrencies “Top Investor Threat” in 2020

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has identified cryptocurrencies as one of “the top five products or schemes likely to trap investors in the coming year.” NASAA, “represents state and provincial securities regulators in the United States, Canada, and Mexico,” and has, “a multifaceted… Read More

University of California at Santa Barbara Completes its First Accredited Blockchain and DLT Course

The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) has reportedly completed its first accredited course that covers topics related to blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The university’s course, which has been taught as a computer science class through the College of Creative Studies, was… Read More

India-based AI and Big Data Firm Quantiphi Raises $20 Million via Series A Round from Multiples Alternate Asset Management

Quantiphi, a US and India-headquartered applied artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics services firm, has raised $20 million via a Series A round from Multiples Alternate Asset Management. Quantiphi offers applied AI and Big Data solutions to Fortune 500 companies across several major sectors… Read More

SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation Issues First Report Reviewing Access to Funding for SMEs

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, has published its inaugural report on the ability for small businesses in the US to access growth capital. The Advocate is a newly-formed sector of the SEC created by legislation… Read More

Send this to a friend