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Finovate Global Germany: Investing in Embedded Finance, Open Banking in Payments, N26 in France

Finovate Global Germany: Investing in Embedded Finance, Open Banking in Payments, N26 in France
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, BioCatch, Daily news, Envestnet, Finovate Global, Temenos, Yodlee

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features the latest fintech news from Germany, where investors are backing innovations in embedded finance, payments companies are taking advantage of open banking, and the green shoots of crypto spring are growing ever more apparent.

Solaris secures funding

Germany’s embedded finance platform Solaris secured $103 million (€96 million) in a Series F round this week. The investment was led by SBI, one of Solaris’ earliest investors, with other existing investors also participating. Solaris will use the additional capital, which takes the firm’s total funding to more than $486 million (€450 million), to onboard its ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club) credit card program, strengthen its core capital, and invest further in its platform.

“This is a significant milestone for Solaris on our path to sustainable, profitable growth,” Solaris CEO Carsten Höltkemeyer said. “The funding underlines the high level of confidence our investors have in the transformation of our company.”

In addition to the investment, the Series F also included a financial guarantee of up to $108 million (€100 million) capital equivalent.

A pioneer in the banking-as-a-service business for nearly a decade, Solaris has grown into a major banking and technology provider with more than 750 employees at ten locations in both Europe and India. The company’s BaaS solution enables businesses to embed digital banking services – including payments, lending, and identity verification – directly into their platform. In addition to making it easier for companies to launch customized financial products and services, Solaris has secured the requisite licensing – including an e-money license for both the UK and EEA – to help companies navigate the regulatory complexities of doing business across the region.

Headquartered in Berlin, Solaris realized net revenues of $140 million (€130 million) in 2022. Last fall, the company issued a study – Disrupting the value chain for financial services – How to drive revenue growth with embedded finance – that highlighted “easier access to services” as a major driver of demand for embedded financial solutions.

Micropayment partners with Tink for Pay by Bank

Berlin-based payment processor Micropayment has turned to open banking platform Tink to add Pay by Bank to its payments offering. Live in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Micropayment’s Pay by Bank enables consumers to initiate payments directly from their bank account to the seller’s account when purchasing goods and services. A growing preference for both merchants and consumers, account-to-account (A2A) payments provide a secure and streamlined experience for customers and lower costs for merchants.

“The DACH region is a key market for us, and Tink’s dedication to serving merchants across various industries has been invaluable,” Micropayment CSO Thomas Knoth said. “Their payment method offers consumers the speed, reliability, and security they expect, making it a seamless experience for both merchants and consumers.” In a statement, Micropayment noted that it plans to take further advantage of Tink’s pan-Europe connectivity in the future.

Founded in 2005, Micropayment is a full-service payment provider that provides its customers with software implementation, payment processing, detailed analysis, and more. The company offers nine different payment options designed specifically for e-commerce and paid content services. Micropayment customers can integrate the technology via ready-made payment windows and preconfigured shop logins, as well as white-label APIs and interfaces.

“Collaboration with Micropayment has got off to an excellent start and we are gaining traction in a highly competitive landscape, by offering merchants a payment method that offers everything a consumer has come to expect – familiarity, speed, reliability, and convenience,” Tink DACH Payments Director Thomas Gmelch said.

A Finovate alum since its Best of Show winning debut in 2014 at FinovateEurope, Tink returned to the Finovate stage three years later to earn its second Best of Show award. Most recently, the Sweden-based company announced a partnership with German modern mobility sharing services provider Deutsche Bahn. The company will deploy Tink’s Account Check solution to enable instant, secure account onboarding.

Berlin’s N26 launches cryptocurrency product N26 Crypto

Crypto spring is alive and well in Europe as the region’s most prominent digital bank, N26, announced that its first cryptocurrency product, N26 Crypto, will be available to its customers in France. N26 began the year with the unveiling of its new Stock and ETF trading product – and the bank’s crypto solution already has been available in seven of N26’s 24 European markets. This week’s announcement adds French traders and investors to the ranks of those N26 customers who will be able to transact in nearly 200 cryptocurrencies on the N26 app.

N26 Crypto will be available to all eligible customers in France, or at least with a French or a German IBAN. All membership tiers will be able to access the technology, including customers using free accounts. There will be no additional charge for using N26 Crypto, which the bank says will offer the broadest range of cryptocurrencies for trading and investing compared to all other European banking apps.

“Last summer, we installed our local French Iban to be able to accelerate the deployment of the global banking offer that we want to provide to our approximately 3 million customers in France,” N26 General Manager France & Benelux, Jérémie Rosselli explained. “With this, customers can go beyond managing their money simply and intuitively on their smartphone to also invest within the N26 ecosystem,” Rosselli said.

The new offering is made possible via a partnership with Bitpanda GmbH, which manages the execution of trades as well as the custody of coins. With only €1 to get started, N26 Crypto users pay 1.5% in fees on Bitcoin and 2.5% on other cryptocurrencies. Users can upgrade to N26 Metal to take advantage of reduced transaction fees, as well as other perks.

Founded in 2013 by Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal, N26 has eight million customers and operates in 24 different markets. The bank’s crypto product announcement follows a slew of recent headlines from the German bank. These include the launch of its Instant Savings solution in 13 new markets, and the appointment of Mayur Kamat as new Chief Product Officer.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German challenger bank N26 launched new cryptocurrency trading product N26 Crypto.
  • Flowpay, a Czech-based fintech that provides financing for small businesses, raised $2.3 million (€2.1 million) in seed funding.
  • German embedded finance platform Solaris raised $103 million (€96 million) in a Series F round led by SBI Group.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Israel-based BioCatch and Google Cloud partner to bring fraud prevention solutions to expanding markets.
  • UAE-based Tungsten secured a license from the FSRA to operate at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
  • Bahrain’s Eazy Financial Services joined forces with Tabby to provide BNPL services via its EazyPay POS terminals network.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Business Recorder’s Syed Yousuf Raza looked at how Pakistan’s banking and fintech industry is dealing with evolving fraud threats.
  • The Indian government signed a $23 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to enhance access to fintech education, research, and innovation at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City.
  • FinTech Alliance Nepal joined the Asia FinTech Alliance.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Colombian fintech Addi secured $86 million in a combination of equity and debt financing.
  • Uruguayan digital payments firm dLocal anticipates record total payment volumes in 2024.
  • Nubank Brazil CEO Livia Chanes talked with Bloomberg News about the state of fintech in Latin America.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore-based cross-border payments company Thunes expanded its strategic partnership with Visa.
  • Australia’s HeirWealth integrated with Envestnet | Yodlee to bring open banking data sharing to its wealth register for high net-worth families.
  • HSBC and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks startup hub announced the first “public-private cooperation between the city’s largest innovation and technology ecosystem and leading global bank.”

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Ethiopia’s Cooperative Bank of Oromia partnered with Temenos to launch its CoopApp and CoopApp Aluhuda for both conventional and Islamic digital banking experiences.
  • dLocal teamed up with Ebury to bring African customers optimized payment solutions.
  • Safaricom, a telecom based in Kenya, partnered with Onafriq to offer remittance services to Ethiopia.

Photo by Kai Pilger

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Finovate Global Sweden: Open Banking, New Leadership, and A Defense of Cash

Finovate Global Sweden: Open Banking, New Leadership, and A Defense of Cash
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Finovate Global, Temenos

This week’s edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent fintech developments and news from Sweden. Over the years, Finovate has been proud to showcase a number of fintechs from Sweden, a country with a population of more than 10.5 million and the twelfth largest economy as measured by GDP.

Last month at FinovateEurope, we introduced Swedish embedded banking and payments company Visualizy to our audiences. Founded in 2022, the company offers a multi-bank platform that helps businesses lower costs, reduce errors, and boost security in their financial and payment operations.

Other recent Finovate alums headquartered in Sweden include StockRepublic (FinovateEurope 2023), Econans (FinovateEurope 2021), Minna Technologies (FinovateEurope 2019), and Trustly (FinovateEurope 2013. This week’s Finovate Global will include news from two older Finovate alums hailing from Sweden: Tink – which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2014 – and Klarna, a Finovate alum since 2012.

Klarna rolls out open banking-powered settlements in the U.K.

Swedish payments network and shopping assistant Klarna has begun to introduce open banking-powered settlements in the U.K. This means that consumers in the U.K will be able to pay Klarna directly from their bank account rather than a debit card. It also means that the company is making good on its objective of building a payments network outside the traditional card networks.

“Open banking offers a huge opportunity for Klarna to reduce the cost of payments to society by cutting out the established card payment networks, and using up-to-date bank account data to make ever better lending decisions,” Klarna VP, Open Banking, Wilko Klaassen said. “This new launch builds on the success we have seen in 10 countries across Europe and will give U.K. open banking a major boost.”

Ease of use is one major advantage open banking settlements provide consumers. For example, there is no need to enter personal payment details into the website of retailer that the consumer might not know very well. Instead, all a consumer needs to do is click on the “Pay by bank” option. This delivers the consumer to their mobile banking app where they can complete their transaction quickly and securely.

Launching the service in the U.K. is expected to be a major boon for Klarna; approximately five million U.K. consumers currently use open banking payment each month. Outside of the U.K., Klarna’s “Pay by bank” solution is currently live in 10 countries. More than 20 million consumers each month are taking advantage of the technology.

Tink adds to U.K. leadership team

Speaking of open banking, Swedish open banking platform Tink announced this week that it is bolstering its leadership ranks. The company – which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2014 – has appointed Ian Morrin as Head of Payments & Platforms, Andrew Boyajian as Head of Products for Payments & CX, and Jack Spiers as Banking and Lending Director.

Of the three new hires, Jack Spiers may ring a bell with Finovate audiences. Spiers was a recent speaker at FinovateEurope, where he provided a Special Address on “Transforming Lending in the Cost of Living Crisis.” In his presentation, Spiers – whose ten years of fintech experience include tenures at both Klarna and Clearpay – discussed how traditional methods are falling short in their ability to accurately assess creditworthiness. Instead, he pointed to new research from Tink that showed how data-enriched affordability checks can do better.

The new hires come just days after Tink announced a partnership with German railway company Deutsche Bahn. Via the new agreement, Tink will offer Deutsche Bahn customers optimized direct debit setups. This will enable customers to use Deutsche Bahn’s modern mobility-sharing systems, which are run by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Connect. The railway company will also leverage Tink’s Account Check technology for its car-sharing and bike-sharing networks, Flinkster and Call a Bike.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Tink most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2019. A two-time Finovate Best of Show winner, Tink was acquired by Visa in 2022 for $2 billion.

Swedish Central Bank looks to defend cash

If the Swedish Central Bank is for cash, then who can be against it?

That’s one of the questions the nation’s central bank is asking in the wake of 2023 survey that indicated that half of the survey’s respondents had run into circumstances in which they wanted to pay with cash, but merchant would not accept it. According to a report issued by Sweden’s Riksbank that is based on those results, this number was only 37% a year ago.

The report indicates that the supply of cash services in Sweden is decreasing and has been since at least 2016. Cash services refer to those locations for cash withdrawals, deposits of daily takings, as well as over-the-counter payments. This decline has slowed somewhat in the past five years, as new regulations have insisted that banks share the responsibility of providing cash services with other non-bank institutions. But the downward trend is clear.

“Payments must work for everyone, Riksbank governor and chairman of the executive board Erik Thedéen said in a press release. “In the longer term, all payments may be digital – but until then, cash plays an important role. We need legislation to ensure that cash can be used to pay. Banks must also ensure that more customers have access to payment accounts.”

To this end, in addition to calling for further research and study, the Swedish central bank proposed, for example, that banks should ensure that cash can be transferred to and from retail outlets at reasonable prices. At present, only one private company does this. Another proposal suggests that banks be obligated to accept banknote and coin deposits from private individuals. As noted above, there is not a current requirement for banks to do so.

These changes, along with others to help more individuals secure payment accounts, are likely to help Sweden increase financial inclusion as the country continues the rapid digitalization of its payment market. There will be no retreat from this drive for “faster, smoother, and more efficient payments.” But ensuring the availability and utility of cash, at least in the meantime, will both support that transition as well as ensure fewer Swedes are left behind on the way.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • U.K.-based fintech Unlimit secured a license from the Bank of Tanzania to do operate as a payments service provider (PSP) in the country.
  • African fintech PalmPay launched a pair of new products in Nigeria: Unlimited Free Transfer and Target Savings.
  • Mastercard and South African fintech SAVA teamed up to bring innovative payment options – including digital bank accounts and accounting integration tools – to small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Berlin, Germany-based brokerage-as-a-service platform lemon.markets launched this week in partnership with Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and Tradegate.
  • The Hungarian Ministry of the Economy has suggested new rules to codify the use of digital assets in the country.
  • German fintech Naro emerged from stealth this week with $3 million in pre-seed funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Israel-based fintech Nayaz shared its plans for expansion in Latin America following its acquisition of Brazil’s VMtecnologia.
  • Dunes Financial, headquartered in the UAE, agreed to acquire the technology assets of Be Mobile Africa.
  • The Financial Brand profiled former Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach.

Central and Southern Asia

  • India’s UPI linked with Nepal’s largest payment network, Fonepay.
  • Writing in IBA.org, Sahar Iqbal assessed the current fintech landscape of Pakistan.
  • Courtesy of a partnership with Mastercard, India’s IndusInd Bank will launch an tokenizable wearable solution called Indus PayWear.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Aquis Technologies secured a contract to support the operation of the Central Bank of Colombia, Banco de la República.
  • Mexican challenger bank Fondeadora turned to MeaWallet for tokenization services.
  • Banco do Brasil teamed up with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) to test offline payments for its CBDC project.

Asia-Pacific

  • Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Muamalat) forged a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud en route to its transformation into a digital Islamic bank.
  • Philippines-based Metropolitan Bank & Trust (Metrobank) partnered with Temenos to enhance its wealth management offerings.
  • Australian regulators are looking to regulate Buy Now Pay Later products under the nation’s Credit Act.

Photo by Shvets Anna

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capital One, Discover, Revolut, Temenos, Weekly Alumni News, Weekly News

The week begins with big news on the payment cards front as Capital One announces plans to acquire Discover Financial Services in an all-stock deal valued at $35 billion. Check out what else is going on in fintech and financial services in our latest fintech weekly news rundown!

Embedded finance

German embedded finance platform Monite raises $6.5 million (€6 million) in funding.

Quaint Oak Bank selects Finzly to modernize payments and enable its embedded banking practice.

Lending

BankiFi teams up with Praetura to enhance lending to SMEs.

U.S.-based Commerce Bank deploys loan origination technology from Temenos.

CCBank selects Lendio Intelligent Lending to fuel small business funding growth.

Mortgage Cadence releases version 4.0 of its Mortgage Cadence Platform (MCP) Loan Origination System (LOS). 

Payments

Payment orchestration provider BR_DGE forges new partnership with PayPal.

Kani Payments announces strategic partnership with Brazilian core banking platform Pismo.

OpenPayd forges partnership with TrueLayer to enhance its instant payment services.Paym

Gorham Savings Bank partners with CorServ to implement modern commercial credit card program.

REPAY enhances accounts payable integration for Sage Intacct.

REPAY partners with Maxyfi to modernize the collection of payments.

FXC Intelligence signs a data and intelligence partnership with dLocal to support its expansion into the remittance segment of the cross-border payments industry.

UNIPaaS launches AI Assist solution.

Regtech / Compliance

AML compliance and fraud prevention solution provider Flagright teams up with digital transaction solution Traxion.

Napier AI lands £45 million backing from Crestline Investors.

Ncontracts and America’s Credit Unions announce alliance.

Silent Eight expands partnership with HSBC to provide transaction screening solutions.

Digital Banking

Singapore-based digital bank Tonik unveils new joint savings account for couples, Luv Stash, with a 4.5% interest rate.

Personetics appoints Udi Ziv as new CEO.

Nigerian digital bank FairMoney is considering acquiring Umba, digital bank with operations in Nigeria and Kenya, in an all stock deal valued at $20 million.

Crypto

Revolut announces plans to open an advanced cryptocurrency exchange.

RockWallet to onboard former Wyre users after acquisition of its customer base.

Mastercard and Swoo partner to offer crypto cashback on everyday purchases.

Helius raises $9.5 million in Series A funding to enhance the developer experience on Solana.

Fraud and security

U.K.-based AML platform Napier AI secures $56.8 million (£45 million) in a round led by Crestline Investors.

Featurespace appoints Dr David Sutton as Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) and Kendra Rogers as Chief Communications & Marketing Officer (CCMO).

Investing and wealth management

Revolut launches new robo-advisor service in Ireland.

Velexa introduces Fractional Bonds, democratizing investment in high-quality bonds.

TIFIN receives $10 million from SEI to power the future of wealth through artificial intelligence.

Open banking

Data intelligence platform Bud Financial is partnering with open banking company Fintech Galaxy to strengthen the open banking scene in the MENA region.

Insurtech

Insurtech Mylo selected by 1-800Accountant as digital insurance partner.

Photo by Markus Spiske

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Finovate Global: Fintechs Representing More than 15 Countries to Demo at FinovateEurope 2024

Finovate Global: Fintechs Representing More than 15 Countries to Demo at FinovateEurope 2024
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: 10x Banking, ACI Worldwide, Finovate Global, FinovateEurope 2024, Temenos, Thought Machine

FinovateEurope 2024 will have its fair share of local talent demoing live on the Finovate stage on 27 February in London. And while we’re looking forward to the return of FinovateEurope 2023 Best of Show winner NayaOne, we’re also excited to meet a whole bunch of U.K.-based fintechs that are making their Finovate debuts:

FinovateEurope 2024 will also feature one of our most geographically diverse lineups to date. Companies from 15 different countries plus the U.K. will be on hand in just a few weeks to demo their latest fintech innovations at our annual European fintech conference.

See for yourself! Here’s a look at the range of countries our demoing companies are coming from:

Visit our FinovateEurope hub today and save your seat. Register by 16 February and take advantage of big, early-bird savings!

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Segura Bank International (SBI), a financial institution based in Puerto Rico, tapped Temenos to power its new digital bank.
  • Contxto showcased the Chilean Fintech Law, Ley Fintec, that went into effect last weekend.
  • TechRound profiled 10 Bolivian startups including POS management software provider Vendis, paytech Pagame, and inclusive finance platform Koban,

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore-based cryptocurrency payments app Oobit secured $25 million in Series A funding.
  • Salmon, a consumer credit and debit product provider, has become a licenced bank in the Philippines.
  • Doxa Holdings, a Singaporean digital procurement platform for the supply chain industry, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Cento Ventures.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • 10x Banking announced plans to extend its expansion into Africa.
  • Semafor looked at the challenges Nigerian fintechs will face as the country’s central bank tightens regulations to fight fraud.
  • The Kenyan High Court enabled Nigerian fintech Flutterwave to access $3 million in funds frozen since July 2022.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Hungarian fraud prevention platform SEON joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Programme.
  • Germany’s Commerzbank partnered with trade finance solutions provider Surecomp.
  • Estonia-based checkout solutions provider Montonio to offer BNPL services courtesy of a partnership with Inbank.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Commercial Bank of Kuwait teamed up with Network International to upgrade its payment systems.
  • U.S. and Israeli-based fintech Pagaya locked in a five-year, $280 million credit facility with BlackRock, JP Morgan Chase, and other lenders.
  • Emirates NBD turned to anti-crime platform Silent Eight to enhance its compliance operations.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian payment services firm PayU teamed up with Thought Machine to power its LazyPay credit service.
  • Nepal Clearing House partnered with ACI Worldwide to support its National Payment Switch (NPS) initiative.
  • India-based fintech CRED agreed to acquire mutual fund and stock investment platform Kuvera.

Photo by Pixabay

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: 10x Banking, Alumni News, American Express, Daily news, Entrust Datacard, Fintech Rundown, FIS, Fyle, Jack Henry, Lending Club, MX, nCino, Onfido, Temenos, Thought Machine, Trustly, Weekly Alumni News, WorldPay

This week’s Fintech Rundown features partnership and expansion news from a handful of Finovate alums, as well as some interesting fundings in the cryptocurrency and charitable giving space.

Wealth Management

Digital wealth and payments company Mogo expands its relationship with data cloud company Snowflake.

U.K.-based wealth app Chip launches its first Cash ISA.

WiseAlpha unveils new wealth management portal and white-label solution.

Digital Banking

Segura Bank International (SBI), an FI based in Puerto Rico, launches a new digital bank powered by Temenos’ core banking platform.

North Carolina-based Mechanics & Farmers Bank has gone live on the nCino Cloud Banking Platform.

Indian payment solutions provider PayU migrates its credit service LazyPay to Thought Machine’s core banking platform.

10x Banking announces expansion to Africa, starting in South Africa.

Core banking provider Tuum raises $26.8 million (EUR 25 million) in Series B financing.

HSBC U.K. introduces its Cash Pod to expand customer access to cash in areas without bank branches.

Mortgagetech

Phoebus launches its SaaS-based mortgage servicing platform.

Raymond James Bank deploys ICE Mortgage Technology’s Encompass lending solution.

Payments

Atlantic Money secures authorization to bring its money transfer service to the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

Overflow, a fintech that facilitates charitable giving, raises $20 million in new funding.

Worldpay completes its separation from FIS.

Airwallex forges multi-year partnership with McLaren Formula 1 team to support its treasury management and cross-border payout operations.

MENA-based payment orchestration solution provider PayTabs Group partners with Saudi Arabian payment-infrastructure-as-a-service fintech Nearpay.

Lending

Pagaya secures a five-year, $280 million credit facility led by BlackRock, JPMorgan, and others.

Allica Bank completes more than £2 billion in lending to businesses in the U.K.

Challenger banking

LendingClub moves closer to fulfilling the requirements to launch a new bank.

Open banking / Open finance

MX and Jack Henry announce an expanded agreement to enhance data sharing.

Trustly integrates MX data enhancement as part of its Open Banking product suite.

Norway-based open banking company Neonomics teams up with credit management firm Lowell.

Expense management / BFM

The Boston Celtics name Brex as its corporate card and spend management partner.

Expense management platform Fyle forges new integration with American Express.

Cryptocurrencies / DeFi

Oobit, a cryptocurrency payments app based in Singapore, raised $25 million in Series A funding.

Fnality to bring its blockchain-based payment system to the U.S. following its successful launch in the U.K.

Embedded finance

EY announces an alliance with embedded finance platform MoneyLion.

Identity Verification/Management

Entrust confirms that it is negotiating a potential acquisition of ID verification firm Onfido.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

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Finovate Global Mexico: Banorte’s Digital Bank, Amazon’s BNPL Partnership with Kueski Pay

Finovate Global Mexico: Banorte’s Digital Bank, Amazon’s BNPL Partnership with Kueski Pay
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Kuspit, MasterCard, Nufi, Prestadero, Sr. Pago, Temenos

This week in Finovate Global we take a look at some recent fintech developments in Mexico.

First up is news that Grupo Financiero Banorte has launched Mexico’s first fully digital bank, bineo. The company noted that it hopes to add 2.8 million new customers in the next five years.

“The launch of bineo is a great milestone in the history of Grupo Financiero Banorte that will allow us to meet all needs: those who prefer a human-digital combination and those who seek 100% digital banking, with the financial security that has always characterized the institution,” Grupo Financiero Banorte chairman Carlos Hank Gonzalez said.

Bimeo offers a pair of accounts for customers. The bimeo Total Account allows for unlimited deposits. The Light Account has a monthly cap of 3,000 UDIS (investment units), which equals approximately 24,000 Mexican pesos.

Account holders will have access to both a digital and a physical debit card that includes a feature that enables them to allocate their savings toward specific goals. Card holders can use their physical card at more than 10,000 Banorte ATMs. Additionally, in a nod to sustainability, the physical card consists of biodegradable materials.

The new digital bank also offers financing products for bineo account holders. Customers will be able to apply for digital loans in amounts ranging from 5,000 to 200,000 MXN. Repayment terms range from six to 24 months. The bank also pledges competitive rates and instant access to funds once loans are approved.

“We imagine a bank that puts people at the centre, and we created it!” bineo CEO Victor Moya said. “We think in a different way of managing finances, where personalization is the heart of what we do. Bineo will offer new products and services based on customer needs so as not to confine them to a product designed by us.”

A partnership between Amazon Mexico and Kueski Pay will bring a new, installment payment option to Mexican consumers. Currently available only to select Amazon customers, the payment option will be available to all eligible Amazon customers “soon.”

Pago en Quincenas with Kueski Pay is the name of the new payment option. It enables payment for purchases in biweekly installments, helping make shopping on Amazon more affordable to many Mexican consumers. The option also helps deal with the fact that less than a third of the adult population in Mexico has a credit card. By leveraging Kueski Pay, one of Mexico’s most popular buy now, pay later platforms, Amazon Mexico helps expand purchase financing beyond both credit as well as debit cards.

“Our agreement with Amazon demonstrates the need Mexicans have for more flexible , secure, and inclusive payment alternatives,” Kueski Pay SVP of Sales Lisset May said. “Kueski Pay enables merchants to deliver more innovative shopping experiences and help Mexican consumers live their personal finances with more excitement.”

Kueski Pay has provided nearly 15 million loans to date. The company notes that 1 in 4 of Mexico’s most relevant merchants offer the payment option. Customers who opt for Pago en Quincenas with Kueski Pay can choose from plans of up to four interest-free biweekly payments as part of an introductory offer, or as many as 12 biweekly payments. Payments can be made by linked bank account, debit card, or cash at participating networks. A one-time application must be completed during the Amazon checkout process the first time a customer chooses the Kueski Pay option.

Finovate has been happy to host a handful of fintechs from Mexico over the years. Some of our Mexico-based alums include:

Nufi

Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Nufi made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2021 in New York. The company demoed its Fintech Legos offering, a set of modular building blocks that enable firms to build their own financial solutions. At the conference, Nufi showed how its Fintech Legos could be used to build a modular, adaptable KYC process that could be deployed by any company.

Sr. Pago

Mexico City-based fintech Sr. Pago was founded in 2010 and made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2014. At the conference, the company’s CEO and co-founder Pablo Gonzalez Vargas demoed the Sr. Pago Card + Reader, which help small businesses and individuals accept card payments for services and have those payments loaded onto the recipient’s Mastercard. The company was acquired by Mexico-based online lending platform Konfío in 2021.

Prestadero

Also headquartered in Mexico City, Prestadero made its Finovate debut in 2013 at FinovateSpring. Founded in 2011, Prestadero was the first fully legally compliant and operational P2P lending platform in Mexico. At FinovateSpring, the company demonstrated how its proprietary management software enabled Prestadero to parse out declined loans in seconds and offer rates for approved loans in less than a minute.

Kuspit

Founded in 2010 and based in Mexico City, Kuspit is a regulated broker/dealer in Mexico. The company targets retail investors with little investing experience and offers an investing community in which learning, sharing, and investing “dynamically integrate with one another.” Making its Finovate debut in 2012 at FinovateSpring, the company showed how it uses visualization to help investors understand the relationship between risk and return.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Regulators in India ordered digital payments provider Paytm to cease much of its business operations due to non-compliance issues.
  • Mastercard and SadaPay extended their partnership to support the financial needs of SMEs and freelancers in Pakistan.
  • Indian private sector bank Karnataka Bank teamed up with financial services platform Northern Arc Capital.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Paytech Paysecure announced its intention to expand into Latin America, with an initial focus on Brazil.
  • Mexican financial group Grupo Financiero Banorte launched its new digital bank, Bineo.
  • Mexico-based Kueski Pay teamed up with Amazon to launch a new deferred payment offering, Pago en Quincenas.

Asia-Pacific

  • China announced plans to revise its AML rules to accommodate cryptocurrency transactions.
  • Philippine-based Asia United Bank (AUB) announced that its HelloMoney e-wallet solution is now accepted in South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
  • KrAsia offered “seven key takeaways” about the fintech industry in Thailand.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Nigerian fintech Miden to join Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort.
  • IT Web profiled South African fintech SOLmate amid growing demand for its digital wallet.
  • Fintech Futures interviewed Principal and Head of Africa at CommerzVentures Hangwi Muambadzi on the growth of fintech in Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Digital engineering company Nagarro teamed up with Temenos to help build banks in Romania and Poland.
  • German payment processing provider Unzer launched its mobile POS solutions in Austria and Luxembourg this week.
  • Garanti BBVA, a financial services provider based in Turkey, introduced a new Request Payment feature via its mobile and online banking services.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

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Finovate Global China: Fintech’s Future, Cross-Border E-Commerce, and Digital Wallets

Finovate Global China: Fintech’s Future, Cross-Border E-Commerce, and Digital Wallets
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Temenos

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting in California this week. With that in mind, Finovate Global turns to China for the latest fintech news from the world’s second most populous country.

For context, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) released its Fintech Development Plan for 2022-2025 almost two years ago. In its analysis of the PBOC’s Plan, China Briefing noted that the country had “much to gain” from innovation in fintech and financial services. In large part this was because of China’s “insufficient supply of inclusive finance, especially in rural areas.” The country reached a consumer fintech adoption rate of 87% in 2019. And, again, further fintech adoption in rural areas could cause this rate to quickly climb even higher.

What obstacles confront China’s fintech sector? China Briefing suggests that “unbalanced application of intelligent technology” is among the issues to be resolved – or at least better managed. The report references the so-called “Matthew Effect” in which stronger positions become stronger and weaker positions become weaker to describe the one of China’s bigger challenges when it comes to innovation in financial services.

Read the report from China Briefing to learn more about how China plans to “leapfrog improvement of the fintech sector”.

China’s JD.com launched its enhanced authentication solution for imported goods in the region, JD Smart Check. The new process is part of the company’s cross-border e-commerce platform, JD Worldwide.

JD Smart Check has three main focuses: improving quality inspections for cosmetic products, leveraging blockchain technology to enhance anti-counterfeiting activity, and providing on-demand authenticity inspections for products shipped by direct mail. New X-ray fluorescence analysis to provides fast, on-site assessment of cosmetics and personal care products at JD’s logistic centers. With regards to anti-counterfeiting efforts, the company leverages serialized tracking codes, supply chain monitoring, and product inspection videos to ensure accurate scrutiny of inventories. Lastly, JD Worldwide will be able to better serve direct mail shoppers by adding reports from authoritative centers to its product inspection services.

China’s largest retailer by revenue, JD.com serves nearly 600 million customers. The company operates the largest fulfillment infrastructure for any Chinese e-commerce firm.

Ant Group has forged a partnership with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet). The partnership will enable travelers from eight nations – representing eight different supported digital wallets – to use PayNet’s DuitNow QR in Malaysia.

The DuitNow QR network consists of more than 1.8 million merchant touchpoints throughout Malaysia. The eight supported wallets are Alipay (China), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), HelloMoney by AUB (Philippines), Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macau SAR), Naver Pay (Japan), Toss Pay (South Korea) and True Money (Thailand). Group CEO of PayNet Farhan Ahmad said that the cross-border digital payments collaboration with Ant Group signified “a new Silk Road emerging” that will be “powered by cross-border payment functionality.”

The Ant Group/PayNet partnership comes as a recent report commissioned by Alipay indicates that increases in average consumer spending over the past few years will help accelerate intra-Asia cross-border travel and payments. The companies noted that the partnership extends “beyond connectivity” to include joint marketing efforts that will boost merchant and brand visibility in digital wallets.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Photo by Lian Rodriguez

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Finovate Global Philippines: Insurtech, SuperApps, and Turning Corner Shops into Banking Hubs

Finovate Global Philippines: Insurtech, SuperApps, and Turning Corner Shops into Banking Hubs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Finovate Global, MasterCard, Temenos, VISA

Philippines-based digital bank Tonik has entered the insurance business. The neobank announced a new strategic partnership this week with life insurance company Sun Life Grepa Financial, Inc. (Sun Life Grepa).

The partnership will enable Tonik to offer its customers Payhinga, a credit life and disability insurance product. Payhinga gives policyholders access to life and disability insurance with coverage of up to 120% of the loan amount. Further, policyholders can use a two-month payment holiday to reschedule upcoming loan payments in the event of financial difficulty.

“The partnership with Sun Life Grepa will significantly expand our suite of products, and insurance is a highly sought-after addition our customers have been requesting,” Tonik Country President Long Pineda said.

The Philippines’ first, digital-only neobank, Tonik offers loan, deposit, and payment products to consumers via its digital banking platform. The bank teamed up with FC Home Center, launching its Shop Installment Loan with the retailer in August. In June, Tonik announced that it had reached the one million customer milestone. Greg Krasnov (CEO) founded Tonik in 2020.

Speaking of digital banks based in the Philippines, UNO Digital Bank is teaming up with Collabera Digital. A digital engineering services provider, Collabera Digital will help the bank develop and integrate a mini app within superapp GCash.

Collabera Digital provided the strategy to address key issues such as AML and KYC, and built an integrated API platform. The leading superapp in the Philippines, GCash provides a wide range of financial services including money transfer, billpay, savings, investments, insurance, lending, and more. UNO Digital Bank’s integration into GCash will boost access to financial services to individuals across the socio-economic spectrum. The integration also supports the growth of the digital economy via services like mobile banking and digital wallets.

“Our partnership with GCash is significant in scaling and increasing our customer reach,” founder and CEO of UNO Digital Bank Manish Bhai said. “As a greenfield bank, built independently of a larger traditional institution, we have to be innovative in identifying opportunities to grow and expand. GCash, with their 90+ million users and active thrust towards financial inclusion, is a great partner leading to a win-win proposition for both the entities.”

UNO Digital Bank was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Taguig, a city in the Manila metropolitan area. The institution had total assets of $29 million (PHP 1.78 billion) as of end of year 2022.

What are fintechs in the Philippines doing for small businesses? Merchant fintech platform yufin announced a series of partnerships this week designed to bring new services to Philippines-based merchants. The new additions to yufin’s partnership ecosystem include wholesaler Lots for Less, delivery firm Transportify, and streaming content company Vivamax.

Shubhrendu Khoche, President and co-founder of yufin Philippines, noted that the new partnerships will drive greater digital adoption by businesses throughout the value chain. “As the financial growth engine for small merchants, these new partnerships will create more reasons for digital payment for our small merchants, their shoppers, and suppliers,” Khoche explained.

Founded in 2021, yufin aims to raise the income of 10 million households at least by 50% in the next five years. The company’s partnership ecosystem helps turn small, corner shops into preferred banking and credit hubs for their customers. With a goal of partnering rather than competing with local banks, yufin offers assisted digital financial services that enable underserved communities to leverage technology to improve financial outcomes.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South Africa’s Lipa Payments secured full SDK certification for Tap to Phone from both Visa and Mastercard.
  • Kenyan fintech and mobility solutions company Data Integrated won approval to operate as a Payment Service Provider from the country’s central bank.
  • Stitch, a business payments company based in South Africa, raised $25 million in Series A funding.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German B2B Buy Now Pay Later payments provider Mondu registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
  • Polish fintech Verestro integrated the Quicko Wallet money transfer service within the Slack application.
  • Cloover, a climate-based fintech based in Germany, raised €7 million in pre-seed funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian fintech Aurionpro acquired loan management system Omnifin for $9.8 million.
  • Pakistan-based SadaPay enabled Apple Pay invoicing for freelancers in the country.
  • Indian credit card company Slice earned the approval of the Reserve Bank of India to merge with North East Small Finance Bank.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Digital banking and payments solutions provider i2c announced a partnership with Peru’s Banco de Credito.
  • Payments platform Airwallex inked an agreement to acquire Mexico-based payment service provider MexPago.
  • Chile-based fintech Forpay launched a new feature that enables companies to directly charge bank accounts with requiring intermediaries.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnam’s Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPBank) teamed up with Temenos to update its core banking platform.
  • International payments provider Nium expanded its B2B travel payments offering in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • BigPay teamed up with payments platform Thredd to support its expansion into Thailand.

Photo by Meo Fernando

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Temenos Unveils Generative AI Solution to Help Banks Boost Personalization

Temenos Unveils Generative AI Solution to Help Banks Boost Personalization
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Temenos
  • Temenos unveiled a new solution, based on Generative AI, that automatically classifies customers’ banking transactions.
  • The new offering will help banks offer more personalized insights and recommendations to their customers.
  • Temenos’ Generative AI solution is part of the company’s strategic AI roadmap. Other use cases for the technology include chatbots and guiding customer journeys.

How will financial services companies take advantage of Generative AI? One way, courtesy of a new solution from Temenos, will be to leverage the technology to automatically classify customers’ banking transactions. This functionality will make it easier for banks to offer personalized insights and recommendations to their customers.

While traditional AI and machine learning technologies have been deployed by financial services firms in a variety of contexts, generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) offer these companies the ability to enhance both operations and customer experiences even further. This is due to the fact that Generative AI and LLMs outperform traditional AI and machine learning approaches when it comes to understanding language, images, sound, video, and code – and then leveraging these inputs into a variety of solutions for customers.

Temenos’s new Generative AI-based offering enables banks to automatically classify and label customer transactions. The technology has a high degree of accuracy and operates in multiple languages. The automatic customer transaction capability has a number of use cases including cashflow prediction, customer attrition analysis, next best product, and more.

“We have continually invested in embedding Explainable AI and ML capabilities into our banking platform and making available all products through an easy-to-use interface or APIs,” Temenos President of Product and COO Prema Varadhan said. Varadhan referred to the new offering as part of the company’s strategic AI roadmap and underscored the value of transparency and explainability when it comes to deploying AI.

Temenos has deployed explainable AI in a wide variety of use cases ranging from wealth management, AML, credit scoring, smart money management, collection optimization, and more. However, transaction classification is the first instance of leveraging Generative AI in a Temenos product. The company said in a statement that it plans to extend the technology to chatbots and customer interfaces, as well as in guiding customer journeys and responding to customer queries.

A Finovate alum since 2013, Temenos was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The company serves 3,000 customers and its open platform enables more than 1.2 billion individuals to conduct their daily banking activities. Two-thirds of the top 1,000 banks in the world and more than 70 challenger banks in 150+ countries use Temenos’ technology. Max Chuard is CEO.

Photo by Tara Winstead

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Finovate Global Indonesia: Kredivo Raises $270 Million; Broom Scores $10 Million in Pre-Series A Funding

Finovate Global Indonesia: Kredivo Raises $270 Million; Broom Scores $10 Million in Pre-Series A Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Temenos

Kredivo Holdings has raised $270 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Japan’s Mizuho Bank. Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver Financial Corporation, GMO Venture Partners, and Openspace Ventures also participated. Kredivo will use the funding to enhance its status as a digital financial service provider, particularly via online lending, credit cards, and its buy now, pay later offering. The company will also use the capital to power the launch of its neobank brand, Krom.

“The upcoming expansion into digital banking is deeply synergistic with the existing Kredivo product and also opens up a very promising channel for us to become the digital financial services platform of choice for tens of millions of consumers in Southeast Asia,” Kredivo Holdings CEO Akshay Garg said. “Finally, we are delighted to have Mizuho join us as a valuable investor and strategic partner.”

Formerly known as FinAccel, Kredivo Holdings operates a number of brands including its digital credit platform, Kredivo, which serves customers in Indonesia and Vietnam. Kredivo Holdings also maintains a bank entity, Krom Bank Indonesia (formerly Bank Bisnis Internasional). Most recently, the company announced that it is launching an Indonesia-based neobank called Krom.

The new funding takes Kredivo Holdings’ total equity capital to nearly $400 million, according to TechCrunch. Valuation information was not immediately available. Garg indicated to TechCrunch that the firm’s valuation has increased by 4x to 5x with each valuation round.

Last spring, Kredivo launched its Infinite Card. The offering is a virtual card that enables Kredivo customers to transact on e-commerce and online platforms using their linked Kredivo accounts. The Infinite Card can be used across all of Mastercard’s online merchant network.

Broom, an Indonesian firm that enables automobile dealers to secure short-term funding by using their car inventories as collateral, has raised $10 million in pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Openspace Ventures, and featured participation from MUFG Innovation Partners, BRI Ventures, AC Ventures, and Quona Capital. Broom will use the capital to diversify its product mix and “accelerate inventory turnover” for its customers.

The investment takes the company’s total capital to $13 million. Valuation information was not immediately available.

Founded in 2021 by CEO Pandu Adi Laras and CFO Andreas Sutanto, Broom launched its flagship service, Buyback, a year later. Buyback supports used car dealers in Indonesia who often struggle to secure financing. Laras noted that car dealers typically must wait until they sell enough of their existing inventory in order to raise the capital to acquire new inventory. Instead, with Buyback, dealers get access to short-term working capital via a temporary car sale service with a built-in repurchasing option. Rather than a loan, Buyback involves a temporary sale – including a change of ownership – after which the dealer can buy back the inventory “at a slightly higher price.”

With more than 5,000 used car dealer customers in Indonesia, Broom said that its technology has enabled dealers to triple their inventory size. Broom noted that the used car market in Indonesia is estimated to be worth $65 billion, with analysts expecting the market to grow to $70.3 billion by 2027.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Photo by Tom Fisk

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Finovate Global VC Edition: Quona Capital Backs Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets with New Fund

Finovate Global VC Edition: Quona Capital Backs Financial Inclusion in Emerging Markets with New Fund
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Entrust Datacard, Finastra, Finovate Global, Mambu, MasterCard, Temenos, VISA

Good news for fintech startups in developing markets! Quona Capital recently announced that it has closed its latest fintech fund, its third, at $332 million. The venture capital firm, which specializes in emerging markets, noted that the amount raised topped its target of $250 million. The new fund, Fund III, will be focused on companies that are developing technologies that expand access to financial services for consumers and businesses in regions ranging from Latin America and India to Southeast Asia, MENA, and Africa.

“Since our earliest days, Quona has been dedicated to expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion – investing with conviction in markets and technology-enabled models improving access and quality of financial services for the masses,” Quona co-founding managing partner Monica Brand Engel said in a statement. “Our prior fund performance, robust pipeline of inclusive fintechs, and growing LP interest in our offerings are ringing endorsements of our view on the prospects of impact-oriented venture investing in emerging markets.”

With aggregate capital of more than $745 million, Fund II is the firm’s third fund since Quona Capital was launched in 2015. Those contributing to the fund as investors include global asset managers, insurance companies, both investment and commercial banks, endowments, foundations, family offices, and more. And while many of the investors in Fund III have invested in Quona Capital funds previously, the new fund did receive capital from 20 new investors, as well.

According to Quona Capital, the startups in its portfolio have served nearly nine million small and medium-sized businesses and over 30 million retail customers. Quona Capital startups have raised nearly $4 billion in capital and generated more than $800 million in revenues. Among these firms are India-based consumer lending company ZestMoney, Southeast Asia-based fintech marketplace ula, and long-time international remittance firm and long-time Finovate alum Azimo – which was acquired by Papaya Global earlier this year.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian neobank ZikZuk acquired tax e-filing platform TaxSpanner.
  • National Bank of Pakistan turned to Finastra to enhance its trade finance operations.
  • Lentra, a fintech based in India, secured $60 million in Series B funding for its loans-as-a-service business for banks.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • AstroPay introduced its Mastercard prepaid card in Brazil.
  • Mexico-based B2B payments company Mendel raised $60 million in new funding.
  • Brazil’s Agrolend, which provides credit to the country’s farmers, secured $27 million in Series B funding.

Asia-Pacific

  • Ant Group introduced its Buy Now, Pay later offering in Hong Kong.
  • Vietnam-based Sacombank partnered with Temenos to enhance digital banking.
  • Philippines-based neobank Tonik unveiled its all-digital lending products, Flex Loan and Big Loan.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Nigerian fintech Paga unveiled its Visa-branded card this week.
  • Pan-African paytech Cellulant secured a Payment Systems Operator license from the National Bank of Uganda
  • Samsung South Africa launched its digital wallet, Samsung Wallet.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Polish fintech Ramp locked in $70 million in Series B funding to build payment rails for cryptocurrency investors.
  • Co-investment platform for European startups SeedBlink secured licensing from the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF).
  • Genome, an Electronic Money Institution based in Lithuania, partnered with Entrust to simplify digital payments.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based Wio Bank went live with Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform.
  • Pyppl, a financial services platform based in the UAE, raised $20 million in Series B funding.
  • Saudi Arabia’s central bank presented its open banking framework.

Photo by Ricky Gálvez

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German Neobroker Trade Republic Earns $5 Billion Valuation; Binance Labs Secures $500 Million to Fund Web3

German Neobroker Trade Republic Earns $5 Billion Valuation; Binance Labs Secures $500 Million to Fund Web3
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Buckzy Payments, Efigence, Finovate Global, Nubank, Temenos

European investment and savings platform Trade Republic has topped up its 2021 Series C round with an investment of €250 million led by the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. The funding gives Trade Republic a valuation of more than $5 billion (€5 billion), and will enable the company to “double down” on its product.

“We are amid a transformation of pension systems in Europe,” Trade Republic co-founder Christian Hecker said. “The financing will help us to invest strongly into product innovation to empower millions of Europeans to put their money to work. Improving our valuation in the light of the current market environment is the true testament to our progress in the last twelve months and the large potential ahead.”

Trade Republic enables its more than one million European customers to invest in equities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as fractional savings plans. With more than six billion euros in assets under management, Trade Republic offers investors the ability to invest in 9,000 stocks and ETFs; take advantage of 4,000 stock and ETF savings plans; and participate in more than 50 cryptocurrency-based savings plans. Trade Republic also provides access to 300,000 derivatives including warrant bonds, “knock-out products”, and factor certificates.

Trade Republic was founded in 2015 by Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke, and Marco Cancellieri. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of international cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has raised $500 million to invest in companies that are “building Web3”. The capital comes from VC firms DST Global and Breyer Capital, and featured participation from a variety of family offices and corporations which remained unnamed.

The new fund arrives at a time when cryptocurrrency prices are in a significant retreat. Binance Labs has suggested that the current weakness in digital asset prices might provide an opportunity for investment in companies involved in everything from NFTs to blockchain infrastructure. “The goal of the newly closed investment fund is to discover and support projects and founders with the potential to build and to lead Web3 across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, Metaverse, social, and more,” Binance Labs Executive Director of Investments and M&A Ken Li said.

The new fund will invest in projects in a wide range of development stages including incubation, early-stage venture, and late-stage growth. Binance Labs has invested in and incubated more than 100 projects from more than 25 countries. The firm’s portfolio includes companies such as blockchain research firm Dune Analytics, as well as blockchain networks such as Elrond, The Sandbox, and Polygon.

In other international fintech news, Canadian Finovate alum Buckzy Payments announced an expansion to the Netherlands and its plan to pursue an EMI (Electronic Money Institution) license. The company, which demoed its real-time cross border P2P payments solution at FinovateFall 2019, opened a new office in Amsterdam this summer. The firm also noted that an EMI license will enable members of the Buckzy Payment Network to leverage virtual account services and real-time payments across the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) of 36 European countries and territories.

“Europe is a mature, technologically advanced market that is also a hotbed of fintech innovation thanks to its adoption of open API technology,” Buckzy President and CEO Abdul Naushad said. “(This) has opened up the financial sector and created opportunities for innovative new companies to provide new products and services. More and more of our customers around the world want to send and receive real-time payments to and from Europe, and we are enabling them to do so.”

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Photo by energepic.com

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