General News

December 30, 2019 @ 9:34 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 30, 2019 @ 7:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 29, 2019 @ 10:44 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

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

December 29, 2019 @ 6:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 26, 2019 @ 9:18 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 26, 2019 @ 6:04 am By Cali Haan  |  

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

December 25, 2019 @ 10:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 24, 2019 @ 8:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

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

December 21, 2019 @ 11:49 am By JD Alois  |  

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

December 20, 2019 @ 2:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qudian Inc. (NYSE: QD), an established technology platform that aims to improve the online consumer finance experience for Chinese consumers, recently revealed that Guosheng (Hong Kong) Investment Limited has agreed to a non-binding letter of intent to lock up the firm’s Class A ordinary shares,… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 11:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Wamda, an established startup ecosystem supporter in the Middle East, recently co-led a $3 million Series A investment round with Global Ventures in Floranow, a business-to-business (B2B) online floral marketplace. Existing investors including Dash Ventures, Jabbar Internet Group, and new investors Sirocco Holdings, Adamtech Ventures,… Read More

December 20, 2019 @ 7:42 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bamboo Capital Partners, an investment platform that aims to bridge the gap between seed and startup stage funding by providing a suite of finance options, has reportedly acquired additional investment after completing a funding round, as it continues to scale its business operations. Bamboo provides… Read More

December 19, 2019 @ 12:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

genesis, a global financial markets software company, revealed on December 18 that it had finalized its second funding round by acquiring $1.8 million of capital. The firm’s round was led by Illuminate Financial Management, a UK-headquartered capital markets VC company and Tribeca Early Stage Partners,… Read More

December 18, 2019 @ 7:42 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Senior Executives from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) have provided reflections on what we might expect regarding financial market infrastructures in 2020. The DTCC is a market infrastructure provider that automates, centralizes and standardizes the processing of financial transactions. It’s responsibilities include, “settling trading… Read More

December 17, 2019 @ 3:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The digital-only retail banking platform of ING, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation based in Amsterdam, is set to expand its product offering in 2020. The financial giant’s new services will reportedly include new payments and lending options, and various other products that… Read More

December 16, 2019 @ 10:42 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, announced on Twitter December 11th that the company, “is funding a small independent team of up to five open source architects, engineers, and designers to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media…We’re calling this team @bluesky.” “The goal,” said Dorsey,… Read More

December 16, 2019 @ 10:21 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In a press release introducing new software that helps banks detect cryptocurrency risk threats, cryptoforensics firm CipherTrace claims, “every one of the top 10 U.S. retail banks currently have unregistered cryptocurrency MSBs—including crypto exchanges—transmitting funds on their payment networks.” The claim is remarkable because banks are known… Read More

December 16, 2019 @ 7:47 am By Omar Faridi  |  

HSBC Bank plc, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations with a market cap of more than $156 billion, is reportedly working with UK-based charities to assist homeless citizens, who do not have residential addresses or government-issued IDs, to open bank accounts… Read More

December 15, 2019 @ 3:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Wilmington-based First State Fintech Lab (FSFL), a non-profit focused on growing Delaware’s financial technology industry, and TechGirlz, a Philadelphia-headquartered non-profit organization that helps young girls in exploring technology careers through free workshops, revealed a new project that could give more opportunities to female workers in… Read More

December 14, 2019 @ 1:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Financial advisors have been using a wide range of financial planning software and CRM tools to assist their clients. There have been significant changes in the landscape of who offers these financial management tools. Large companies have reportedly been absorbing Fintech startups. However, advisors and… Read More