Global

May 5, 2020 @ 7:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

  Touch-free shopping and contactless payments are being increasingly adopted by consumers across the globe, in order to prevent the further spread of the deadly Coronavirus. Many consumers have been trying to avoid ATMs that require users to manually enter their PINs, according to a… Read More

May 5, 2020 @ 7:13 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain with around €700 billion in total assets, has teamed up with a local research center, called the IMDEA Software Institution. The BBVA noted in a release that it… Read More

May 5, 2020 @ 7:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Luxembourg-based Open Banking firm LuxHub has secured €7.4 million from its founder banking institutions, which include Banque Raiffeisen, BGL BNP Paribas, Post Luxembourg, and Spuerkeess. Established a few years back by these four banks, LuxHub claims it has assisted around 40 financial service providers with… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 11:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Maker (MKR) governance token holders have decided (through community voting) to approve a proposal which recommends adding Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), an Ethereum-based token backed 1-to-1 by Bitcoin (BTC), as the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol’s (MakerDAO) newest collateral type. WBTC is an ERC-20 compliant token that… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 7:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Alexander Holmes, chairman and CEO at giant money transfer service MoneyGram (NASDAQ:MGI), says it was a “quiet quarter” for the company when it comes to developments related to its partnership with American Fintech firm, Ripple. Holmes, whose comments came during an earnings call for Q1… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The total volume of Ether (ETH) transactions performed via decentralized or non-custodial cryptocurrency exchanges (DEXs) reached approximately $2 billion (in total) for the first four months of this year. It appears that traders have recently begun to increasingly use DEXs to trade ETH this year,… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 7:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

  SS&C, a multinational provider of investment and financial services and software for the financial services and healthcare sectors, will be acquiring Innovest Systems, a wealth management technology (Wealthtech) firm, for $120 million in cash and stock. New York-headquartered Innovest Systems offers cloud-powered technology for… 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 @ 12:50 pm By Andrés Abumohor  |  

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially to the global economy. They now make up 90% of businesses and 50% of employment worldwide. In emerging markets, SMEs are propelling development by introducing new products, processes, and competition. Although it is difficult to gather and track… 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 @ 12:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd portfolio company Kryon has announced a solution in collaboration with the Information Systems and Digital Division at Clalit Health Services, the largest health service organization in Israel. Kryon’s solution automates a critical process of uploading COVID-19 test results. In Israel, each lab is performing… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 11:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Payments platform Paysafe is out with some research on changes in the shopping ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic and it should come as no surprise their numbers indicate e-commerce is booming. Paysafe processes about $85 billion annually in 40 different currencies. Surveying over 8,000 consumers… 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 @ 8:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Bounce Back Loans, the new COVID-19 support programming targeting the smallest of firms is open for applications today with funds expected to be distributed within days. Information on the program is available now on the British Business Bank website. Also included on the British Business… Read More

May 4, 2020 @ 8:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Digital asset OTC broker, Digital RFQ (DRFQ) has selected Koine to act as custodian for its first commodity financing token, PGX. PGX, or PhiGold token, was launched in partnership with Atom Asset Exchange (AAX). The digital asset is a commodity financing token based on gold… 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 4, 2020 @ 7:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Revolut, a digital bank with 12 million users worldwide, is taking the next step in becoming a true bank by utilizing its European bank license in Lithuania. Previously, Revolut has been offering most services with an e-Money license. Revolut said it intends to passport its… Read More

May 3, 2020 @ 8:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Sygnum Bank, a licensed digital asset bank, confirmed on April 30, 2020, that XRP digital tokens will be available through its banking services platform. Customers now have the option of depositing, trading, and accessing credit services using the XRP cryptocurrency. Headquartered in Switzerland, the FINMA-licensed… 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 @ 3:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Over 150 different Ethereum (ETH) projects have acquired almost $25 million in total grant funding to date. The Ethereum Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit entity supporting the ongoing development of Ethereum, is the largest donor. The foundation has allocated more than $21 million (of the total… Read More