Tagged: covid-19

February 8, 2021 @ 10:05 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Renaissance Technologies, the investing firm that recently recorded its worst returns across its public funds, is now having to deal with around $5 billion in redemptions. Customers decided to pull about $1.85 billion across the three different hedge funds back in December 2020 and also… Read More

February 7, 2021 @ 7:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia’s venture capital funds are increasingly looking to tap into Fintech, digital commerce, and healthcare segments this year. VC activity has increased considerably in the MENA region including Saudi Arabia during the past few years, with local startups recording a 55% year-over-year growth in… Read More

January 31, 2021 @ 7:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Like many aspects of our daily lives in the 21st century, the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting consumers’ spending habits. The Coronavirus crisis may have led to permanent changes in consumer behavior, including the manner in which we acquire the products and services we need. When… Read More

January 27, 2021 @ 1:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) has long been the leading voice advocating on behalf of investment crowdfunding platforms across Europe. The member-driven group has been at the forefront of engaging with policymakers at the European Commission – an initiative that finally paid off when new… Read More

January 27, 2021 @ 11:30 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Vlad Tenev, the CEO of modern trading platform Robinhood, sat down with Andrew Ross Sorkin to discuss how he thinks markets will be affected post the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion notably happened amid retail investors piling into equities at a rapid rate in the… Read More

January 27, 2021 @ 7:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Banco Sabadell (BME:SAB), a Spanish multinational financial services company headquartered in Alicante and Barcelona, Spain, has reportedly invested €2.5 million in Nomo, an inhouse incubated initiative that spun out from the banking institution. The startup offers various business management tools for SMEs and sole traders…. Read More

January 23, 2021 @ 9:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

We’re experiencing more changes in the digital payments sector than we’ve seen during the past two or three decades. This seems like an exciting time as consumers across the globe are increasingly using innovative digital platforms and services. Accuity’s payments experts have identified four important… Read More

January 23, 2021 @ 7:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to the increased adoption of contactless payments as one of the preferred ways to settle transactions in the United Kingdom, now representing around 90% or 9 in 10 of all eligible card transfers (as of 2020). The most significant milestone… Read More

January 22, 2021 @ 7:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

It’s undoubtedly been a very challenging environment for retailers, however, looking ahead to the rest of 2021, UK-based Flux (which itemizes digital receipts that are “delivered straight to your banking app”) says it believes there are some “real” potential opportunities to take take advantage of,… Read More

January 21, 2021 @ 8:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Kansas-based TrueAccord, a Fintech firm that has created special software that allows financial institutions to negotiate debt payments with borrowers, notes that as they begin 2021, they’re “looking ahead and seeing a lot to be optimistic about in the world of collections.” TrueAccord writes in… Read More

January 20, 2021 @ 9:48 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Chicago-based Avant, a Fintech firm that aims to give everyday Americans “access to the financial products they deserve,” notes that millions of US residents continue to struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a $900 billion relief bill was recently signed into law (toward the end… Read More

January 20, 2021 @ 6:02 pm By Lee A. Schneider  |  

As with most years, I started 2020 with a sense of optimism, looking forward to another productive year at work and doing the Appetite for Disruption podcast with my co-host Troy Paredes. In fact, he and I wrote an article discussing 2019 that focused more… Read More

January 19, 2021 @ 11:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Online balance sheet lender, Nucleus Commercial Finance, reports that it has secured a £200 million funding line, which should help with increasing the platform’s capacity or ability to support more UK-based businesses. The new funding line should help ensure that the lender is well-positioned to… Read More

January 19, 2021 @ 10:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Payments company GHL has reportedly expanded its line of products and services to include road tax and vehicle insurance renewal options. GHL’s new services are being introduced after it announced a partnership with Malaysia’s Loanstreet, an established financial marketplace. Following the launch of GROW by… Read More

January 17, 2021 @ 10:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Europe-based online SME lender October says there’s probably no need to describe or go over how our lives have been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. October claims that they had to “become economists, epidemiologists, and politicians” in order to cope with the challenges created by… Read More

January 16, 2021 @ 6:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The developers at Fetch.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) network, are introducing what they describe or refer to as “decentralized autonomous travel.” Fetch.ai aims to connect to more than 770,000 hotels with its Autonomous Travel system. The Autonomous AI Travel Agents intend… Read More

January 15, 2021 @ 8:06 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ireland-based Linked Finance, a peer to peer lending platform, has reportedly received record levels of interest from SMEs that are looking for government-backed loans. After recently being approved to serve as a Coronavirus Credit Guarantee Scheme (CCGS) provider,  Linked Finance claims it has received a… Read More

January 13, 2021 @ 5:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mexican workers now based in the United States have reportedly been sending record amounts of funds to friends or family members back home since 2020, which may suggest that the American economy has been fairly resilient despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 outbreak. As… Read More

January 11, 2021 @ 9:45 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Canadian banking group Scotiabank has noted that its strategic investments in machine learning (ML) technologies are beginning to pay off during the Coronavirus crisis, allowing it to effectively serve clients as they try to cope with these uncertain and challenging times. Analysts at the bank’s… Read More

January 11, 2021 @ 7:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Over 160 physical bank branch locations are shutting down permanently between now and the end of the lockdown period, which has been tentatively scheduled for late March 2021 in the UK.  As first reported by the Daily Mail, these bank branch closures will come as… Read More