Global

May 15, 2020 @ 7:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Colombia-based Fintech firm Minka has secured $3 million in capital through a funding round led by Fintech Collective. Colle Capital Partners, the Collaborative Fund, multinational firm Carvajal Tecnología y Servicios, and Mastercard also took part in Minka’s latest round. The Fintech company said it… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 1:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Visa (NYSE:V) is going deeper into crypto it seems. Yesterday, a patent application by Visa was published on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) website for a “digital fiat currency.” Initially filed in November 2019, the document outlines the process Visa envisions to… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, it was reported that Telegram has decided to abandon its initiative to launch a blockchain platform called TON (Telegram Open Network) and a cryptocurrency named Gram. The decision was the direct result of an ongoing enforcement action launched by the US Securities… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 9:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Ontology (ONT), a “high-performance” public blockchain network that aims to provide a “distributed trust” platform, announced on Friday it has joined forces with German decentralized digital identity specialist Spherity to advance digital identity solutions. The platform reported that the partnership will see the integration of… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Wirex, a payments platform, reports that it is working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in order to acquire a license under the new Payments Services Act. The license will allow Wirex to continue to provide services in Singapore, including enabling users the… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 9:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship cryptocurrency, may serve as a gateway for investors to consider buying other digital assets or “altcoins” (alternative coins). According to research conducted by San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase, 60% of first-time virtual currency investors purchase Bitcoin at first. However, only 24%… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 8:22 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Around £1.4 billion (appr. $1.7 billion) of total UK Fintech-related investments might potentially be lost due to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak. This, according to a recent survey of Fintech industry professionals carried out by techUK and blockchain company Qadre. About 68% of the 59 Fintech… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 7:58 am By JD Alois  |  

This week it was announced that UK-based ANNA, a mobile business current account and financial administrative assistant services provider for SMEs, had sold a majority stake in the company to ABHH, an established multinational banking group. ABHH invested $21 million into the firm taking a majority stake… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 7:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Wealthtech firm Smarterly has raised £7 million in a Series A funding round led the family office of Major Oak that provided £5 million. The balance was provided by existing angel and crowdfunding investors. Smarterly has raised funding on Seedrs several times the last offering… Read More

May 15, 2020 @ 7:00 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Although certain Fintech firms may be dealing with a funding freeze or they may be generating lower revenues, the UK’s financial technology industry most likely won’t experience as many problems due to COVID-19, when compared to other sectors. This, according to a recent report from… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 11:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  Mastercard is teaming up with Enel X, a company of the Enel Group that offers products focused on energy transformation at home, city and the industrial level. Through the partnership, both companies will set up a Fintech and cybersecurity innovation lab in Israel. The… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 11:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Reddit, the popular social news aggregation and discussion website, is currently testing two Ethereum-powered tokens for platform users. The blockchain-based tokens may be earned as rewards for posting content to Reddit’s online forums. The two tokens, $BRICKS and $MOONS, will be awarded to user accounts… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)-backed dYdX, a non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange, has confirmed the public launch of its Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual contracts market. Perpetual contracts are derivatives that are somewhat like futures contracts, however, they don’t have an expiry or fixed settlement date. Perpetual contracts closely resemble a… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 10:23 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockdaemon, a blockchain node provider, has acquired $5.5 million in capital from major investors including Fenbushi Capital, Hashkey, CoinShares, Blockchain.com, Kenetic, and SPiCE VC. Early investors Boldstart, Comcast Ventures, Heavybit, and Lerer Hippeau also made contributions. The New York-headquartered firm says it’s planning to use… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 9:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

MoneyGram Payment Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), has entered into a partnership with the Federal Bank Limited – a private bank in India. MoneyGram is a global payments and transfer Fintech. The collaboration will see MoneyGram services made available for… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 7:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Libra Association has added three new members: Temasek, Paradigm, and Slow Ventures. Launched by Facebook, the Libra Association is a Switzerland-based independent entity seeking to launch a blockchain-based payment system. Recently, Libra tweaked its white-paper backing away from its original intent to launch a… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 4:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Danish small business accounting platform Billy aims to leverage Open Banking technology and processes, in order to gain access to SMEs’ data from banks. Billy aims to use its cloud platform to transform how SMEs perform their accounting work. Billy claims around 18,000 customers in… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 4:00 pm By Craig Dempsey  |  

The first case of Covid-19 in Latin America was diagnosed in Brazil at the end of February. Since then, the number of cases has soared into the thousands in at least 20 countries. In response, many countries have implemented strict social distancing policies, requiring businesses… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

The British Business Bank has announced new lenders approved for the Bounce Bank Loan Scheme (BBLS) as well as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). The BBLS and CBILS are two programs designed to support the UK economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two new… Read More

May 14, 2020 @ 12:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Starling Bank, a leading UK digital bank, has been moving rapidly to implement COVID-19 business relief programs authorized by the UK government. Starling is the first Fintech to be approved as a Bounce Back Loan (BBLS) provider and, earlier this week, Starling and Funding Circle… Read More