Solaris Bank to Secure Cryptocurrencies; Brazilian Fintechs Announce New Funding

Join us next month in Berlin, Germany for FinovateEurope 2020. Our three-day fintech conference will begin on February 11 and run through February 13.

The event features both our signature, seven-minute, live technology demonstrations, as well as keynote addresses, roundtables, and case studies on many of the most critical issues in fintech. Check out our conference agenda and stay tuned for more about our speakers and demoing companies.

Here’s our weekly look at fintech around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Austrian mobile payments firm Bluecode raises $13.4 million (€12 million) from European Private Venture Capitalists.
  • German fintech Solaris Bank announces plans to offer custodial services to cryptocurrency investors.
  • Ukraine’s mobile-only bank Monobank to expand to the U.K. in 2020.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • IBM brings its fraud prevention technology to Qatar International Islamic Bank.
  • PYMNTS looks at the opportunities PSD2 may offer Turkish banks.
  • Egypt-based fintech Dayra wins $15,000 grant from Y Combinator’s Startup School, the first MENA-based startup to do so.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Business Recorder interviews Syed Mohsin Ahmed, CEO of Pakistan Microfinance Network.
  • Fintech Singapore lists India’s top fintech influencers for 2020.
  • Makers India highlights five women who are driving fintech innovation in India.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Born2Invest examines the impact of mobile money on Argentina’s banking industry.
  • Brazilian fintech Cora raises $10 million in funding to help provide financial services to SMEs.
  • Rebel, a startup that helps provide credit to middle-class Brazilians, rakes in $10 million in equity funding.

Asia-Pacific

  • With closing of a 70% stake in China’s GoPay, PayPal is the first non-Chinese firm licensed to offer payment services in the country.
  • FIS’ global ecommerce platform, Worldpay, partners with Japanese issuer and acquirer JCB.
  • Who are the top contenders in Singapore’s digital banking race? Fintech Singapore reviews the field.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Micro-investing startup Trove picks up an investment from Nigerian asset management company, ARM.
  • Kontomatik’s Konstantin Rabin looks at South Africa’s position as an “unlikely fintech leader.”
  • Julaya, a startup based in Ivory Coast that specializes in digitizing financial services for small businesses, raises $550,000 in funding..

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Avaloq signs clients for PSD2 service.
  • Kontomatik enters Southeast Asian market.
  • Feedzai named best in class in fraud and AML vendor market by Aite Group.
  • Yahoo! Finance features SocietyOne and the growth of P2P lending in Australia.
  • American Banker: Jumio teams up with ComplyAdvantage to help banks ID crooks.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Global: Jumio Lands in Brazil; TurnKey Lender Raises Capital

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and South Asia

  • Pakistan-based payment system operator and PSP Mobi Direct selects Worldline for its digital infrastructure platform.
  • State Bank of India partners with Hitachi Payment Services on joint venture to support digital payments in India. SBI also picked Financial Software and Systems to implement its “One Nation, One Card” digital payments program.
  • Inc42 lists 5 Trends in Fintech You Will See in 2019.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Jumio opens office in Brazil and operations center in Barranquilla, Colombia, as part of expansion into Latin America.
  • Mexico’s central bank turns to Amazon for public mobile payment system.
  • Banco Bolivariano of Ecuador deploys mobile banking technology from Diebold Nixdorf.

Asia-Pacific

  • TurnKey Lender locks in new investment from OSK Ventures.
  • United Overseas Bank (UOB) of Singapore launches its Smart Business Transformation Programme for SMEs in Thailand.
  • Malaysia’s Maybank introduces its e-wallet service for cashless payments.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Veridium teams up with Blue Turtle Technologies to drive deployment of biometric technology in Africa.
  • Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) goes live in the U.K.
  • People’s Bank of Zanzibar launches new core banking system with technology from ICSFS.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Russia’s Alfa-Bank joins Marco Polo Network to offer blockchain-based trade and supply chain finance services to its clients.
  • Kontomatik earns license from Bank of Lithuania to operate as an AISP in 11 EU countries.
  • Palestine Islamic Bank to deploy Temenos Infinity and Temenos T24 systems as part of its digital transformation efforts.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Al Taif Islamic Bank to deploy Sharia-compliant, core banking technology from Finastra, Fusion Islamic.
  • Working group supported by TheCityUK and Turkish stock exchange Borsa Istanbul launch joint effort to promote Islamic fintech solutions.
  • Scoop Empire looks at the UAE’s role in foster innovation in fintech, especially with AI.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • nCino Lands New Customers from Stockholm to Sydney.
  • TurnKey Lender Locks in New Investment from OSK Ventures.
  • CREALOGIX Helps Launch Mobile Banking for Hampden & Co.

Around the web

  • Fiserv inks partnerships with HealthCare First Credit Union and Portland Local 8 Federal Credit Union.
  • Kontomatik earns license from Bank of Lithuania to operate as an AISP in 11 EU countries.
  • Palestine Islamic Bank to deploy Temenos Infinity and Temenos T24 systems as part of its digital transformation efforts.
  • ThetaRay and HackerOne named to Network World’s 10 Security Startups to Watch.
  • Retail finance technology provider Deko teams up with Featurespace to enhance security on its lending platform.
  • Onfido announces partnership with INTERPOL to help the international police organization better spot fraudulent IDs.
  • CAP Services chooses Baker Hill to support its lending initiatives for small businesses and low-income individuals.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Asia

  • Flywire and UnionPay International partner to provide Chinese customers with better rates on cross-border payments.
  • Leading southeast Asian digital cross border money transfer firm InstaReM goes live in Europe with new London office.
  • South Korean payments app Toss raises $40 million in funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) teams up with Startupbootcamp as part of an effort to boost Dubai’s status as a regional fintech hub.
  • AME Info asks if Saudi women and UAE crypto can alleviate Bahrain’s debt crisis.
  • VentureBurn features Egyptian savings startup Money Fellows.

Africa

  • Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and founder of Nairobi, Kenya-based BitPesa, talks about leveraging cryptocurrencies to improve global payments in Africa.
  • South Africa’s ITWeb features features Richard Marsden, co-founder of Johannesburg-based FinChatBot on the rise of chatbot technology in the insurance industry.
  • Branch International reports N1 billion ($2.78 million) in loans facilitated to users in Nigeria.

Latin America

  • Brazil’s Nubank reaches milestone of 1.5 million digital account openings in six months.
  • Latin American Regional Conference sponsored by Swift sees collaboration as fundamental for growth of financial services in Latin America.
  • Brazilian insurtech startup Kakau partners with insurance companies American Life and Generali.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Kontomatik appoints CEO Piotr Warsicki as its new CEO.
  • Poland’s Alior Bank partners with solarisBank, Raisin, and Mastercard to launch pan-EU digital bank later this year.
  • The largest bank in the Czech Republic, Česká spořitelna introduces voice biometrics courtesy of partnership with Nuance Communications.

FinDEVr Preview: Kontomatik

FinDEVr Preview: Kontomatik

FinDEVr Previews highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms, and integrations at FinDEVr London 2017, 12  & 13 June. Visit our registration page and save your spot today. 


Learn how to navigate through the fintech bullsh*t.
Hackers from Kontomatik will give you their hard take on the most hyped words and notions, from blockchain to NoSQL to microservices to machine learning. Learn the company’s fintech dictionary. Understand.

Why it’s a must-see

  1. Enterprise blockchains are a huge overpromise.
  2. NoSQL databases are C-of- databases: a low-level tool you will likely never need.
  3. Microservices are not micro.

Check out more previews of upcoming FinDEVr London 2017 presentations. Visit our registration page to save your spot. 

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FinDEVr APIntelligence

Our first developers conference in the U.K. is just over a month away. If APIs and SDKs are just a few of your favorite fintech acronyms, then join us for two days of developer-focused presentations, demonstrations, and conversations at FinDEVr 2017 London, June 12 and 13. Stop by our registration page today and save your spot.

FinDEVr 2017 London is a part of London Tech Week, which runs from June 12 to June 16.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Symbiont Gains “Strong Partner in Asia” with Investment from Hundson Technologies.

Upcoming FinDEVr 2017 London alum news

  • Check Out Our Exclusive Interview with ISARA CEO, Scott Totzke.
  • Our latest FinDEVr Features Are Up. Meet Kontomatik and IdentityMind Global.

Alumni updates

  • Kontomatik earns top 50 spot in the 2017 Dutch FinTech Awards. Join Kontomatik in London for FinDEVr in June.
  • ACI Worldwide’s point-to-point encryption solution earns PCI P2PE compliance validation.
  • Thoma Bravo to Acquire Lexmark’s Kofax.
  • MapD partners with Continuum Analytics & H2O.ai, to form the GPU Open Analytics Initiative.
  • Thinking Capital to offer SMB financing options to TouchBistro POS clients.
  • Token Picks Up $18.5 Million to Help Banks Rise to Challenge of PSD2.
  • PayNearMe adds 8,000 CVS Pharmacy Stores to its network cash acceptance locations.
  • CardFlight unveils new line of mobile card readers to support secure EMV and NFC contactless payments.
  • Gartner recognizes OutSystems as a leader in enterprise high productivity application platform as a service technology.
  • Malauzai’s Vantiv Partnership to Leverage OnDot’s CardControl Tool.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Bitbond Gains $5.4 Million Debt Commitment and Undisclosed Equity Investment.
  • PayU Investment in Kreditech Marks Largest Funding for a German Fintech.

On FinDEVr.com

  • FinDEVr Alum Symbiont Scores Funding from China’s Hundsun Technologies.
  • Check out our latest FinDEVr APIntelligence.

Around the web

  • CSI globalVCard to integrate Visa Payables Automation into its paysystem Payables platform.
  • Kontomatik earns top 50 spot in the 2017 Dutch FinTech Awards. Join Kontomatik for FinDEVr London in June.
  • Australia-based forex broker Pepperstone to deploy Paydentity verification services from iSignthis.
  • Daon to integrate IdentityX platform with Experian’s fraud and identity platform, CrossCore.
  • ACI Worldwide’s point-to-point encryption solution earns PCI P2PE compliance validation.
  • Delaware’s Dover FCU to deploy core in-house processing technology from Jack Henry’s Symitar division.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

 

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FDNY17-Logo-RevFinDEVr New York will be here in just two short weeks! Check out company features and take a look at the previews from upcoming presentations. And of course, don’t forget to register today to save!

On FinDEVr.com

  • Envestnet | Yodlee Launches Suite of Risk Reporting Tools.
  • PwC Brings Blockchain PoC to London’s Specialty Insurers
  • Shwayhat Steps Up: GreenKey Technologies Announces New CEO
  • Scotiabank and AlphaPoint Wrap Up Blockchain Trial
  • Check out these previews from upcoming FinDEVr New York presentations:

Alumni updates

  • BBVA Compass adds cash-back incentive to stimulate interest in mobile banking app.
  • OutsideIQ teams up with Genpact to bring better risk management, KYC, and AML compliance solutions to banks.
  • Bluefin Payment Systems joins forces with The Pinnacle Corporation, bringing point-to-point encryption (P2PE to the latter’s Palm POS platform.
  • Top 10 global bank deploys mobile capture technology from Kofax.
  • IBM forges strategic partnership with Salesforce, connecting AI platforms IBM Watson and Salesforce Einstein.
  • Arxan Application Protection named Best IoT product at the 2017 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
  • Kontomatik nominated at the Dutch FinTech Awards 2017.
  • Mambu goes live in the Americas with new offices in Miami and new regional managing director.
  • PayPal partners with Oro ecommerce platform.
  • UK food retailer, The Co-operative Group chooses ACI Worldwide to run wallet service.
  • Palestine’s The National Bank deploys core banking technology from Temenos.
  • Dallas News features Bruce Parker, founder and CEO of ModoPayments.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Women on the Finovate Stage.

On FinDEVr.com

  • Check out this week’s FinDEVr APIntelligence.

Around the web

  • mBank partners with Cloudera to handle its big data processing.
  • Careington Health Products leverages SmartCART platform from Insuritas to deploy advisor services and discount programs.
  • BBVA Compass adds cash-back incentive to stimulate interest in mobile banking app.
  • Fiserv launches Credit Sense, combining credit monitoring with digital banking.
  • Kontomatik nominated at the Dutch FinTech Awards 2017.
  • PayPal partners with Oro ecommerce platform.
  • Arxan Application Protection named Best IoT product at the 2017 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
  • Zopa wins Top Consumer Lending Platform at LendIt awards.
  • Pindrop to mitigate call center fraud for Credit union service organization PSCU.
  • Motif jumps on the robo advisor bandwagon.
  • Tradeshift to acquire Capgemini’s IBX Business Network.
  • Linqto and Western Independent Bankers Launch New Apps Store for Banks.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • WorkFusion Closes $35 Million in Funding

Around the web

  • Klarna teams up with ASOS Partners to bring “pay after delivery” to Nordics.
  • Luxembourg’s Rakuten Europe Bank goes live with core and digital banking technology from Temenos.
  • Wipro to acquire Brazilian IT banking services provider, InfoSERVER.
  • Let’s Talk Payments interviews Kontomatik CEO Marcin Truszel.
  • Financial transactions optimized using Nomis Solutions technology exceeds $1.5 trillion in 2016.
  • Finextra: Worldpay partners UnionPay for bumper Chinese New Year.
  • Truphone launches Global SMS recording solving the Blackberry migration challenge.
  • Sberbank launches a new corporate online banking platform designed together with IBM iX.
  • WISeKey partners with Stratumn to use Blockchain for real-time accountability and traceability.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

FinDEVr APIntelligence

FDNY17_EventLogo_v1(wdate)Tickets for upcoming FinDEVr London and FinDEVr New York are at their lowest prices now. Register for FinDEVr New York now and save!

On FinDEVr.com

  • SimplyTapp Launches New Payments and E-Commerce App, Gane.

Alumni updates

  • Let’s Talk Payments interviews Marcin Truszel, Founder & CEO of Kontomatik.
  • StockTwits Partners with TradeIt to Expand Beyond Robinhood’s Brokerage.
  • Xignite adds senior sales, business development talent; unveils new offices in New York financial district.
  • Arxan Technologies partners with Cisco as to protect connected medical devices.
  • CurrencyCloud Taps Former Misys Executive Ed Addario as New CTO.
  • Quicken to Leverage PayNearMe’s Prism API.
  • The Banker interviews Avoka European GM, Richard Austen.
  • Persia International Bank chooses core banking technology from Temenos.
  • WISeKey and Stratumn partner to provide enterprise-grade process security software based on blockchain technologies.
  • EVO Payments acquires Sterling Payment Technologies.
  • Rabobank to deploy UP Immediate Payments from ACI Worldwide.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.