This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
The first quarter of 2026 comes to a close tomorrow. And amid the rush of end-of-month, end-of-quarter news, don’t forget that April Fool’s Day, April 1st, is right in the middle of the week.
Every year there are a handful of fintechs that like to take advantage of the occasion by having a little fun with the press, so it’s always a good idea of have a bit of extra skepticism if you come across a headline that seems a little sensational over the next few days. Here on the Fintech Rundown, we promise to do our level best to keep you fool-free!
Digital banking
Metro Credit Union to deployTyfone’snFinia Digital Banking Platform.
Corgi Insuranceacquires Corgi.com domain en route to building its fully-integrated, AI-powered insurance carrier.
Digital communications
AI-powered digital communications governance and archiving technology partner Shieldunveils new enhancements to its Shield Archive solution.
Lending
Worth, a fintech platform that helps financial institutions onboard and undewrite small and medium-sized businesses, raises $30 million in Series A funding.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global features news from fintechs headquartered in Sweden.
Klarna Brings Tap to Pay to 14 Markets in Europe
Swedish digital bank and payment provider Klarna has introduced Tap to Pay across 14 markets in Europe. The new features bring flexible payments to the brick-and-mortar retail world at scale, and help to transform Klarna’s app into a contactless wallet ready for everyday use.
“Tap to Pay brings us closer to our vision of Klarna being everywhere for everything,” Klarna Chief Product & Design Officer David Fock said. “Now you can set up a flexible payment plan and tap to pay in seconds, all inside the Klarna app. It makes everyday shopping moments significantly smoother for our Klarna customers across Europe, giving them even more flexibility and choice at checkout.”
At a time when 80% of shopping in Europe is still conducted in physical stores, Klarna’s Tap to Pay solution offers consumers the seamless experience of online commerce when shopping at brick and mortar retailers. Tap to Pay is currently live for Klarna customers in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden.
Klarna’s Tap to Pay announcement follows the introduction of the company’s stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, in late November. Klarna is the first bank to launch a stablecoin on Tempo, the new independent blockchain purpose-built for payments, that was started by Stripe and Paradigm. Currently live on Tempo’s testnet, KlarnaUSD is scheduled to launch on Tempo’s mainnet in 2026.
“With 114 million customers and $118 billion in annual GMV, Klarna has the scale to change payments globally: with Klarna’s scale and Tempo’s infrastructure, we can challenge old networks and make payments faster and cheaper for everyone,” Klarna Co-Founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said. “Crypto is finally at a stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure, and built for scale. This is the beginning of Klarna in crypto, and I’m excited to work with Stripe and Tempo to continue to shape the future of payments.”
A Finovate alum since 2012, Klarna is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
Tink Brings Pay by Bank Top-Ups to Fidelity International Investors
As Senior Analyst Julie Muhn reported earlier this week, Fidelity International has partnered with Sweden-based open banking platform Tink. The partnership will enable Fidelity to offer account top-ups via Pay by Bank, making it easier for investors to fund their ISAs, SIPPs, cash management, and general investment accounts.
A two-time Finovate Best of Show winner that was acquired by Visa in 2021, Tink enables financial institutions, fintechs, and merchants to leverage financial data to design and create personalized financial management tools, products, and services. With a single API, Tink empowers its customers to access aggregated financial data, use smart financial services, including risk insights and account verification, and build personal financial management tools.
Pay by Bank is one of the fastest-growing use cases for open banking. With analysts anticipating that total open banking users will top 645 million worldwide in 2029—a 3.5x increase from 2025’s 183 million users—options such as Pay by Bank are likely to become increasingly widespread as a modern, secure payment alternative with reduced friction.
“Pay by Bank represents the next evolution of open banking payments, delivering a fast, secure way to pay directly from your bank account,” Tink Head of Payments Ian Morrin said. “As adoption accelerates, we’re thrilled to see leading institutions like Fidelity put open banking at the heart of their payment experiences to make topping up investment accounts more seamless.”
Founded in 2012, Tink is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The fintech offers 3,000+ connections to the major banks across Europe, processes more than 10 billion transactions a year, and boasts 10,000 developers using its platform. Co-Founder Daniel Kjellén is CEO.
Swedish VC Incore Invest Secures €15 Million Second Closing
Incore Invest, an investment firm based in Stockholm, has raised €15 million in a second closing of its Incore Invest II fund. The fundraising brings the fund’s total capital to €40 million to help SaaS and fintech companies throughout Europe grow.
“Incore Invest’s strategy has always been to back proven tech companies with strong growth potential,” Incore Invest Founder and CEO Nicolai Chamizo said in a statement. “Investors’ continued confidence in Incore Invest is very encouraging and with this second close, the round is fully equipped with capital to back the most promising European technology companies. It allows us to continue identifying and supporting the next generation of category-defining technology companies shaping the future of the industry.”
Incore Invest’s successful fundraising comes at a time when a number of European venture capital firms, especially those that have targeted growth-stage or early-stage technology companies, are raising or closing new funds. For example, four funds alone—Backed VC, Notion Capital, Armilar Venture Partners, and henQ—have raised more than €300 million in capital combined this year.
Among the companies in Incore Invest’s portfolio are several of innovative fintechs including Brite, a Swedish payments platform that leverages open banking to process instant payments; Mynt, a Swedish fintech that simplifies expense management via smart company cards; and Froda, a Swedish fintech and embedded finance company.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Kenyan fintech Jahazii raised $400,000 to provide earned wage access and payroll infrastructure technology for Africa’s informal economy.
Wisesecured conditional regulatory approval to go live in South Africa.
Business AM looked at how Nigeria’s FairMoney Microfinance Bank expanded beyond digital lending into a full-service bank.
Central and Eastern Europe
Embedded finance infrastructure company YouLend announced a strategic partnership with digital financial management solution Qonto to help the firm enter the German market.
Salt Edgeteamed up with Romanian financial management platform, Finlayer, to bring open banking to small businesses in the country.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda joined the board of fintech firm ZEN.COM.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Developed in partnership with Mawarid Finance, UAE-based fintech platform Huru launched its microfinance solution, Quick Cash.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from India.
RBI pushes financial inclusion; launches digital currency sandbox
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra used the occasion of the 6th Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai to encourage technologies to emphasize financial inclusion as well as better trust and efficiency as they help build the future of the country’s financial ecosystem. Fintech will be able to participate by joining the sandbox directly or via their partner banks.
Malhotra credited Indian fintech for a range of innovations that have been the envy around the world. “India’s world-class digital public infrastructure, as symbolized by systems such as UPI, Aadhaar, and DigiLocker, has not only enhanced efficiency and service delivery, but also ensured that millions of Indians enjoy easy access to a wide range of financial services.”
UPI is India’s real-time payment system that enables instant fund transfer between bank accounts via mobile apps. UPI can be used with just a mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA) and has enabled everything from peer-to-peer transfers to merchant payments. UPI processes more than 700 million transactions a day.
Aadhaar is the name of a biometric digital identity system that gives all residents a unique 12-digit identification. Aadhaar is the basis for digital KYC (Know Your Customer) processes and has use cases ranging from account opening and insurance enrollment in financial services to medical record access, government benefit disbursement, and more. DigiLocker is a cloud-based digital document storage platform that enables users to store and access official documents digitally. DigiLocker is estimated to have more than 465 million registered users.
In each case, the solution has been both a significant technological innovation and a way of bringing a wider range of financial services to a greater number of communities and businesses, and individuals.
Underscoring the compatibility between financial inclusion and technological innovation, Malhotra added, “serving the privileged will be a lucrative business, but companies must focus on serving the underserved sections of society. Build for inclusion. There may be higher profits to be made by deepening access to the haves and the privileged, but prioritize building systems to expand financial services to the unaccessed, the unreached, and the unserved segments of society.”
The RBI also made headlines with the launch of its digital currency sandbox. The initiative will enable fintech firms to build and test solutions using the central bank digital currency (CBDC) as part of its ongoing pilot project. The RBI’s first retail e-rupee pilot (India’s central bank digital currency or CBDC) went live in December 2022, and currently has more than seven million users.
The announcement was made by Suvendu Pai, General Manager at the RBI. Pai said that the launch was designed to encourage innovation in digital payments and to grow the ecosystem for India’s CBDC.
“The CBDC retail sandbox will give innovators the space to experiment and build on top of the digital rupee,” Malhotra explained. “It will help create new use cases, improve customer experience, and add value to ongoing pilots.”
Meet Finovate’s Indian alums
Would you believe that outside of the US and the UK, the next largest group of Finovate readers are based in India?
As our previous story acknowledged, India is an under-recognized superpower when it comes not only to fintech innovation, but also when it comes to making sure that technological innovations are built to benefit as many people as possible.
Finovate has been happy to host a growing number of Indian fintechs at our conference both in the US and abroad. Our most recent event, FinovateFall 2025, featured a trio of India-based fintechs—MoneyPlanned, OPL, and Sequretek—on stage and a fourth, CloudBankin, in our Impact Zone. But these are only the most recently added alums. Here are some of the Indian firms that have demonstrated their latest innovations on the Finovate stage.
Pine Labs and Indian e-commerce marketplace teamed up to introduce a new prepaid Flipkart Bharat Yatra Card.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Banco de Crédito del Perú, the largest bank in the country, has launchedCriptococos, a digital asset-compatible banking platform, in partnership with BitGo.
Chilean HR tech firm Buk acquired fintech Bemmbo to provide financial services via the new Buk Finanzas offering.
Brazilian Buy Now Pay Later firm Pagaleve raised $30 million in Series A2 funding.
Asia-Pacific
Bank of Singapore unveiled a new agentic AI tool to automate components of the KYC process.
This week, Finovate Global travels to Lithuania to talk about payment card optimization with Torus’ Kirill Lisitsyn.
The payment card business is among the most competitive areas of financial services. But are some of the greatest opportunities for companies to profit being overlooked? A growing number of fintechs have developed strategies and technologies to help card issuers and acquirers access millions of dollars in cost savings and missed revenue by better controlling card network fees and enhancing transactional profitability.
Lithuania-based Torus is one such fintech. Founded in 2021 and making its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024, Torus offers a SaaS intelligence platform for banks and acquirers that enhances profits on card transactions by up to 50%. The company enables card issuers and merchant acquirers to optimize card scheme fees and boost transactional earnings via pricing optimization and profitability analysis at the card and merchant level.
To discuss this field, and the opportunities it presents for card issuers and merchant acquirers, we caught up with Torus Co-Founder and CEO Kirill Lisitsyn (pictured). Lisitsyn brings to bear more than 15 years of experience leading payments consulting projects at firms such as Accenture and Mastercard.
What problem does Torus solve and who does it solve it for?
Kirill Lisitsyn: Torus is a SaaS platform for in-depth analysis and optimization of scheme fees (Visa, Mastercard) for issuers, merchant acquirers, and now large merchants. We automate the collection, forecasting, and reconciliation of both transaction flows and invoice data, so that our clients can see accurate cost and profit metrics at the level of transaction, product, merchant, region—and beyond.
How does Torus solve this problem better than other companies or solutions?
Lisitsyn: We provide nearly 98% fee prediction accuracy, and our plug-and-play setup enables end-to-end analytics with minimum resources needed from the customer side. Torus goes beyond pretty dashboards to deliver optimization recommendations backed by industry benchmarks and detailed “what-if” simulations.
Who are Torus’ primary customers. How do you reach them?
Lisitsyn: Our clients include banks, fintechs, BaaS providers, PSPs, and large merchants across Europe, the UK, Central Asia, and Japan. We reach them through targeted outreach, industry conferences, high-visibility publications, and strategic partnerships with top-tier industry players.
We’re also building a community around card economics. I run a LinkedIn page where I share insights on scheme fee mechanics, analysis pitfalls, and market updates.
Many clients come to us after seeing just one number: $1M+ in annual losses that could be avoided with better visibility.
Can you tell us about a favorite implementation or deployment of your technology?
Lisitsyn: One EU-based e-commerce acquirer used to assess profitability by portfolio averages—and was losing up to 10% on hidden merchant-level losses. With Torus, they switched to granular analysis, identified low-margin segments, updated pricing, and increased overall portfolio margin by 30%. These are real, realized gains—not slideware.
What in your background gave you the confidence to tackle this challenge?
Lisitsyn: We have productized over a hundred years of joint team expertise in the card payments industry—coming from different segments of the industry, players like Mastercard, Global Payments, Societe Generale, Worldline, and various other banks. This is our unfair advantage which gives us a deep understanding of where the pain points are. When your team includes former scheme insiders, “scheme fees” stop being scary and start becoming manageable.
What is the fintech ecosystem in Lithuania like? What is the relationship between fintechs, banks, and traditional financial services companies in Lithuania?
Lisitsyn: Lithuania is a magnet for fintech startups: a responsive regulator, fast-track licensing, and tech-forward infrastructure. Banks here are increasingly open to partnerships, and startups are learning to scale responsibly and operate under real-world pressures.
Torus is a great example of how legacy banking know-how and fintech velocity can combine into something powerful. We are proud to both actively contribute to the Lithuanian ecosystem and represent it internationally.
You demoed at FinovateEurope earlier this year. How was your experience?
Lisitsyn: This year we demoed our product for BaaS providers. We showcased how Torus enables these players to accurately calculate scheme fees and interchange per transaction, allocate costs, and build margin-based pricing for their fintech partners.
We demonstrated that BaaS can move beyond volume games and become a margin game.
Finovate is built for showing working products to real decision-makers—and our demo generated several highly relevant inbound requests for our BaaS module.
What are your goals for Torus? What can we expect to hear from you in the months to come?
Lisitsyn: We’re scaling fast. This year includes multiple product launches and major feature updates. Just a month ago, we released our new product, Merchant Cost Indicator—a tool that estimates transaction costs without needing real data. It predicts interchange and scheme fees based on country, MCC, and channel, giving acquirers and BIN sponsors instant, reliable margin calculations.
Coming next is a dynamic profit-based pricing module, embedded analytics for BaaS, and AI agents to support profitability control, pricing and decision workflows.
We’re shaping a new standard of transparency and profitability controls in card economics. Our strength lies in combining deep industry expertise with true product velocity. We know where the market is heading—and we’re already moving to clear the path.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Brazilian digital banking company NubankintroducedTap-to-Pay Pix.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand announced deployment of risk and surveillance platforms courtesy of its expanded strategic technology partnership with the Nasdaq.
Adyen selected Fiskil as its data-sharing partner to enhance onboarding and account verification for merchants in Australia.
Vietnam-based securities company Kafi went live with Horizon Trading Solutions.
Sub-Saharan Africa
African proptech Nawy secured $52 million in Series A funding.
Payment solutions provider Cross Switch partnered with Pesawise to bring its services to Kenya.
Money movement innovator Wise Platform has partnered with UK-based digital bank Zempler Bank.
The partnership will enable Zempler Bank to launch a new Outbound International Payments service that will allow its customers to make international payments in both USD and EUR.
Wise has 16 million individual and business users around the world. The London-based company made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013.
Wise Platform has partnered with UK-based digital bank Zempler Bank, which helps small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and individual customers do business globally. Courtesy of the partnership, Zempler Bank will launch a new Outbound International Payments service that will empower more than 500,000 Zempler customers to send payments internationally in both USD and EUR directly within the Zempler app.
The integration will give Zempler customers fast, secure international payments when sending money to USD accounts in the US and when sending funds to EUR accounts inside the SEPA region. The integration will also provide transparent pricing and no hidden fees; Wise relies on the mid-market exchange rate without mark-up. Lastly, all transactions are handled within the Zempler app—though a desktop-based online banking version of the technology is expected to be available soon.
“We know that the launch of Outbound International Payments will be a popular benefit for many of our customers, particularly the ambitious small businesses looking to develop relationships with overseas suppliers and partners,” Zempler Bank CEO Rich Wagner said.
The partnership comes as small businesses face significant barriers to global expansion. One of the challenges is the complexity and cost of cross-border banking. Based on a survey commissioned by Wise from international research firm Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC), small businesses in the UK sent more than £485 billion overseas last year, with the amount expected to grow to nearly £530 billion in 2025. Yet, at the same time, small businesses are expected to lose more than £5 billion in hidden fees this year alone.
“We understand that even the smallest businesses might want or need to work internationally, whether that’s importing a key product or component or outsourcing a task to an overseas expert,” Wagner added. “Many of our business customers are already using Wise, so it was a natural choice to partner with them to integrate that familiar functionality within our own simple-to-use banking app.”
Making its Finovate debut in 2013 as TransferWise, the company rebranded to Wise ten years later. Today, the UK-based firm offers an account that individuals and businesses can use to hold more than 50 different currencies, transfer funds between countries, and spend money overseas. Co-founded by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus and launched in 2011, Wise currently boasts 16 million users around the world. The company processes £9 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving consumers £1.5 billion a year.
Wise’s partnership news comes as the company announces the opening of a new, larger office in Singapore. The new office comes as Wise notes that its Singapore team has doubled since 2022. Additionally, Wise’s local customer base in the region grew by 30% last financial year.
“Singapore is a cornerstone of our operations in Asia Pacific, and this new office is a key milestone in strengthening our regional presence,” Shrawan Saraogi, Singapore CEO and APAC Head of Expansion at Wise, said. “It reflects our continued investment in the country’s fintech ecosystem and our mission to provide the best way to move and manage money globally.”
This week marks Eid al-Fitr, the festival celebrating the end of Ramadan and the breaking of a month-long fast. Similarly, the close of this quarter feels like fintech is breaking its own fast, with Klarna filing its IPO prospectus, Rocket Companies announcing major acquisitions of Mr. Cooper and Redfin, and regulatory frameworks beginning to ease in the U.S. As we enter into the second quarter, here’s a look at this week’s fintech news as we leave the time of fasting behind. We’ll continue adding news to this post throughout the week, so stay tuned!
Finastra‘s cloud-based loan document preparation system LaserProunveils enhanced features and sees further adoption by community-based financial institutions.
Business financial management
Tesoriolaunches AI agent that autonomously manages portal-based invoicing.
Enterprise spend management platform Mendelcloses $35 million Series B round led by Base10 Partners with participation from PayPal Ventures.
Cross-border payments fintech Wise has launched services in Mexico.
The launch allows Mexican nationals to send money abroad in over 40 currencies across 160 countries, leveraging Wise’s network of six local payment systems and 90+ bank providers.
Wise stated that the US dollar to Mexican Peso money transfer corridor is one of its largest, and has seen transfer volumes between the two double in the last two years.
Cross-border payments fintech Wise (formerly TransferWise) announced today it has launched into the Mexican market. The new service in Mexico will enable Mexican nationals to send money abroad, offering them direct access to Wise’s growing global payment network.
The new market entry is part of the company’s broader goal to enhance cross-border payments and support consumers with financial services. With Wise’s services now available in Mexico, the country’s citizens can send money from Mexico to over 40 currencies and 160 countries using Wise’s app or website. Wise has direct connections to six local payment systems and over 90 local bank providers, which ensure fast and efficient transfers. The company said that sending funds from Mexican Peso (MXN) to US Dollar (USD) will “hugely benefit” Mexican nationals who have connections to the US.
“Launching our services in Mexico is a continuation of our strong, consistent growth in North and Latin America,” said Wise CTO Harsh Sinha. “Mexico, a region where consumers are loaded with unjust hidden fees, presents a strategic opportunity for Wise as it helps further our mission and opens a key currency route to bolster our business. Offering our services will have a positive impact on Mexican nationals by offering a transparent, cost effective, and fast option to send money internationally. Importantly, this takes us one step closer in solving the problems of opaque, slow, and expensive international money movement.”
Wise reports that with more than 37 million Hispanics of Mexican origin living in the US, sending USD to MXN is the third-largest money transfer corridor for its US customers. Additionally, the company has seen the volume of transfers on this route double over the past two years. This growth highlights the demand for faster and more affordable alternatives in the remittance market.
As part of its mission to disrupt traditional remittances, Wise focuses on price transparency. The company estimates that banks and other providers in Mexico conceal up to 10.4% of their fees, contributing to a loss of $446 million in hidden fees in 2024 alone, according to a survey by Edgar, Dunn & Company. Wise aims to change this with a transparent pricing strategy. In fact, Wise estimates that from the $147 billion (£118.5 billion) in cross-border transactions it facilitated globally last year, it saved customers over $2.2 billion (£1.8 billion).
Wise was founded in 2011 under the name Transferwise to facilitate cross-border payments while bringing transparency to the fees involved. The company reports that in Mexico, banks and other providers conceal up to 10.4% of their costs in hidden fees. According to a survey from Edgar, Dunn & Company, out of the $168 billion consumers moved in and out of Mexico in 2024, Mexicans lost $446 million in hidden fees that same year.
“Our mission is to make financial services fair, accessible, and transparent for everyone,” said Wise Country Manager in Mexico Efrain Florencia. “Launching in Mexico allows Wise to disrupt a traditional remittance market by introducing radical price transparency, completely redefining how Mexicans send money abroad. We are eager to make a positive impact on the millions of Mexicans who regularly go through this process and are looking for a better, more convenient experience without the burden of excessive fees.”
Wise is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker WISE, with a market capitalization of $11.5 billion. The company serves 12.8 million active customers worldwide, facilitating the movement of $37 billion (£30 billion) across borders each quarter. Founded in 2011, Wise offers both personal and business accounts, allowing users to hold and manage funds in 40 currencies, move money between countries, and spend money internationally without hidden fees.
Global bank Standard Charteredunveiled this week that it has teamed up with cross-border payments fintech Wise (formerly TransferWise). The bank has selected Wise Platform, Wise’s global payments infrastructure for banks, to power international payments for SC Remit, Standard Chartered’s cross-border payment service.
Wise will facilitate fund transfers for SC Remit customers in Asia and the Middle East. Users will be able to send money in 21 currencies– including USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SGD, HKD, and JPY. Wise will send the funds in seconds using its transparent, low-fee pricing model.
“We’re continually improving how we deliver exceptional banking experiences for our clients,” said Standard Chartered Global Head, Wealth Solutions, Deposits and Mortgages, and Chief Client Officer Samir Subberwal. “We chose to partner with Wise Platform due to their extensive currency coverage and stellar cross-border payments experience they are known for. This collaboration is a key step in enhancing our international payment services as we offer an even more seamless, faster, and efficient digital global payments experience to our clients.”
Standard Chartered said that the service will be available for SC Remit customers “in the coming quarters.” The bank also plans to expand the service to include more currencies, as well as into more markets.
Wise has been facilitating cross-border money transfers since it was founded in 2011. Today, in addition to its transparent, direct-to-consumer money transfer capabilities, Wise also offers a multi-currency account that allows users to save and hold funds in 50 different currencies, and send and receive money in 22 currencies. Wise holds more than 65 payment licenses, as well as six direct connections to payment systems.
Wise Platform, the infrastructure that Standard Chartered is leveraging, offers an API that allows banks and fintechs to embed cross-border payments capabilities into their existing website or app, allowing their customers to transfer 40+ currencies in 160+ countries. The majority (63%) of Wise’s cross-border payments are completed in under 20 seconds, while 95% take less than 24 hours. The U.K.-based company processes $154 billion (£118 billion) annually. Among Wise Platform’s customers are Monzo, N26, deel, and Shinhan Bank.
The topic of cross-border payments has accelerated in recent months, with traditional financial institutions and fintechs recognizing the need to compete by offering low-cost, rapid transactions across the globe. The rise of e-commerce, combined with new needs to pay remote workers, has led to a refreshed demand for cheaper, faster international payments. Today’s digital world has prompted consumers and businesses to expect speed and transparency when transacting, and banks are under new pressure to modernize their cross-border payment services to meet those needs.
Another factor that has brought cross-border transactions into the spotlight this year is the rise in stablecoin usage. As stablecoins become more mainstream and integrated into traditional payments infrastructure, they offer an international funds transfer solution that combines speed, cost-effectiveness, and digital accessibility.
Wise, however, currently does not use stablecoins and has not implemented blockchain technology into its operations. Instead, Wise has established a highly efficient, transparent, and compliant platform that meets compliance standards worldwide. It is unlikely that Wise will seek to leverage stablecoins any time soon, though, as adding stablecoins to its strategy could introduce new regulatory and operational complexities, which could potentially outweigh any benefits.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global features news from the fintech industry in Nigeria.
Africa’s newest fintech unicorn raises $110 million
African fintech Moniepoint is the continent’s latest fintech unicorn. The firm, Nigeria’s largest merchant acquirer, announced this week that it has raised $110 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Development Partners International (DPI). The round also featured participation from Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, and Lightrock. The infusion of capital boosts Moniepoint’s valuation above $1 billion, and is providing a positive light at a time when many fintechs in Africa are struggling to secure funding.
The funding takes Moniepoint’s total capital to more than $180 million.
Formerly known as TeamApt, the nine-year-old fintech will use the capital to accelerate the company’s growth across the continent. Moniepoint is building an all-in-one, seamlessly integrated platform for African businesses that features services including digital payments, banking, foreign exchange, credit, and business management tools. Speaking on behalf of DPI, Adefolarin Ogunsanya praised the company for its “combination of innovative technology, fast growth, and positive impact on the continent.”
CEO Tosin Eniolorunda co-founded the company in 2015. In the years since then, Moniepoint has grown into an all-in-one financial ecosystem that serves 10 million businesses and individuals. The company powers most of the point of sale transactions in Nigeria and, via its subsidiaries, processes $17 billion a month for its customers. Headquartered in London, Moniepoint maintains offices in Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya, as well as in the U.S.
“This milestone validates the work we’ve put in for almost a decade,” the company noted in a post on its LinkedIn page. “And with this raise, we’ll be making financial happiness a reality for every African, everywhere. This is just Day One, and we’re excited for where this takes us.”
CB Insights also named Moniepoint to its 100 most promising startups roster for 2024. The Nigerian fintech is one of seven African startups to make this year’s list.
MTN Nigeria aims for higher quality mobile wallet users
There’s good news and bad news in the latest financial report from African telecommunications company MTN Nigeria. The bad news is that the company reported a significant after-tax loss of $312.7 million (₦514.9 billion), due largely to volatility in the currency market. MTN also noted that though active data users grew by more than 5% to 45.3 million, the company’s mobile money wallet business declined by more than 21%.
The good news? MTN’s fintech division grew revenues by 18%, with much of the gains coming from its mobile money service, MoMo. The decline in active mobile money wallets noted above was attributed in part to a shift in the company’s sales strategy to focus more on “high-quality wallet users” rather than just maximizing the number of users in general. MTN Nigeria also noted that its MoMo service has recently added functionality to support cross-border transactions.
“In the fintech business, we focused on executing our growth strategy, prioritizing increasing wallet quality, focusing on advanced services, and the MoMo PSB app to enhance the user experience and engagement,” MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola explained. “We have introduced cross-border remittances with 13 fellow African countries to boost adoption and monetization. Taking advantage of their interoperability, we are now leveraging the existing network of agents and merchants … in the industry to bring our services closer to our customers.”
PalmPay wins recognition for financial inclusion
Lagos, Nigeria-based fintech platform PalmPay was recognized as the “Most Outstanding Fintech Driving Financial Inclusion” at the 2024 BrandCom Awards held late last month. Sponsored by Brand Communicator, the award acknowledges the fintech’s work in bridging financial gaps and promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria.
“At PalmPay, we believe financial inclusion is the foundation for economic empowerment, and we’re dedicated to ensuring that every Nigerian has access to secure, user-friendly, and reliable financial services,” PalmPay Head of Marketing and Communications, Hanson Femi said.
Founded in 2019, PalmPay has more than 35 million users. The company connects more than one million businesses via its mobile money agent and merchant network, and provides services ranging from instant transfers and billpay to its new USSD feature. This feature enables customers to perform a variety of banking transactions without needing internet connectivity by dialing *861# on their mobile phones.
“We aim to bridge the gap in digital access, and the introduction of our USSD service aligns with that mission,” PalmPay Managing Director for Nigeria, Chika Nwosu, said when the service was launched in September.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Asia-Pacific
South Korean fintech unicorn, Viva Republica, which operates the mobile financial super app Toss, announced plans to debut in the U.S. market.
Singapore has established a “Global Finance & Technology Network” (GFTN) to support the region’s reputation as an international fintech hub.
Wise became the first non-bank operating in Japan to earn approval to join the country’s domestic payment network, Zegin.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Stanbic Bank Kenya, in partnership with Mastercard, has launched a pair of new credit cards designed to serve the institution’s affluent customers.
Nigeria-based fintech Moniepoint achieved unicorn status after raising $110 million in new funding.
Côte d’Ivoire-based investment platform Daba Finance won the Ecobank Fintech Challenge.
Central and Eastern Europe
Lithuanian identity verification and fraud prevention company iDenfy partnered with O2Factoring.
Erste Group teamed up with Neterium to help the firm bring its transaction screening solution to markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
Tech Times profiled Germany fintech billionaire and founder of Black Banx, Michael Gastauer.
Fall is officially here! A favorite season for many, autumn also marks a likely acceleration in fintech and financial services news and activity. Be sure to check Finovate’s Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest in headlines and news updates!
Nasdaq Verafin announces enhancements to its Targeted Typology Analytics suite to add detection capabilities for terrorist financing and drug trafficking activity.
Brazilian fintech and financial services giant Nubank has teamed up with Wise Platform.
Courtesy of the partnership, Wise Platform will power a new global account and international debit card for Nubank.
Wise Platform offers banks, financial institutions, and businesses the ability to leverage its infrastructure to make cheaper, easier payments.
Brazilian fintech Nubank has partnered with Wise Platform to power its global account and international debit card. Wise Platform, Wise’s infrastructure solution for banks, financial institutions, and businesses, now counts more than 85 partners around the world, including Bank Mandiri, Monzo, and Google Pay.
The partnership will power Nubank’s new global account and international debit cards for the fintech’s premium tier, “Ultravioleta,” customers. The collaboration will also enable Nubank customers to hold both U.S. dollars and euros, as well as use their card to spend in local currencies in 200 countries and territories.
“Through this partnership, we’re helping Nubank customers access fast, transparent payments and the ability to easily manage money across currencies,” Wise Platform Global Managing Director Steve Naudé said. “Across the sector, we are seeing a real push from banks and financial institutions to provide their customers with best-in-class international payments services. By working with Wise Platform, banks are able to achieve this in a matter of months or even weeks.”
Wise’s partnership with Nubank represents continued growth for the company in Brazil; Wise reports that it has issued more than one million Wise cards within 15 months of its going live in the country. For its part, Nubank has more than 90 million customers in South America, with more than 85 million in Brazil.
Nubank introduced itself to Finovate audiences in 2016 with its presentation at FinDEVr NewYork. In the years since, the company has grown from a financial services startup to the largest digital bank in Brazil and the second largest financial institution in the country. Late last month, Nubank announced that it has reached the four million customer milestone for its Nubank PJ offering, launched in 2019, which provides solutions for entrepreneurs. This week, the firm’s subsidiary, Nu Colombia, secured a $150 million loan from DFC, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, to help expand its services in the country.
Making its Finovate debut as TransferWise in 2013, the company rebranded as Wise in 2021 to reflect its evolution beyond its origins as an innovator in the international money transfer space. Today, the company supports three main lines of business: its global money transfer service and international account; Wise Business, a global business account with features such as mass payouts and multi-user access; and Wise Platform, which enables companies to give their customers easier, cheaper payments by leveraging Wise’s infrastructure. Co-founder Kristo Käärmann is CEO.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent fintech developments in Germany.
German fintech Blinglaunched its SavingsTrees solution this week. The new offering helps German families invest sustainably starting with as little as €1 a month. The solution is offered in partnership with wealthtech Evergreen, and represents an evolution in Bling’s product line, expanding from its origins as a family money management educational app and prepaid card.
“Simplicity and sustainability were paramount in the development of our investment offering,” Bling CEO and co-founder Nils Feigenwinter explained. “We prioritize families in our product development to offer a tailored solution that meets their needs. Everyone underestimates the market potential of families, which is why banks have neglected this area for decades. With Bling, we are addressing this.”
Cost savings was one of the reasons why Bling reached out to Evergreen. Cost is also one of the main reasons why more than 80% of German parents do not invest in the country’s capital markets, according to Bling. The complexity of investing and a lack of knowledge about investment products also have contributed to this lack of participation. To this end, Bling leverages visualizations and explanations from finance experts to make the investment process easier to understand.
Funds invested in SavingsTrees are globally diversified and are allocated specifically to sustainable investments. Direct investments in sustainable projects and companies, are available, as are investments in funds that support sustainability initiatives.
Read more about Bling in this TechCrunch profile from December.
Banxware, an embedded lending technology provider headquartered in Germany, has teamed up with Netherlands-based Rabobank to help SMEs secure the financing they need in order to grow. Rabobank will take advantage of Banxware’s embedded lending solution, which enables businesses to apply for short-term financing in as little as 15 minutes. After approval, funds can be available in the borrower’s account within 24 hours.
“This partnership brings Embedded Financing products tailored to the need of SMEs to popular business platforms,” Banxware CEO Miriam Wohlfarth said. “Together with Rabobank we now provide the full financing supply chain, including funds and end-to-end loan management to bridge cash flow shortfalls before they become an issue.”
The deployment will let business founders and owners apply for financing in familiar, everyday digital environments such as e-commerce platforms and booking software. Each firm will focus initially on marketing the solution in their home markets of Germany and the Netherlands, respectively.
Banxware’s partnership announcement follows news that the Berlin-based fintech had teamed up with liquidity management and financial planning company Agicap. Based in France, Agicap helps businesses automate, manage, and forecast their cash flows. Via its strategic partnership with Banxware, Agicap will add access to quick and tailored growth capital to its liquidity management offering.
“From now on, (SMEs) can not only see and manage their cash flows in a centered way, but they can also get new money when there are opportunities for growth,” Agicap Country Manager DE Stephan Krehl said.
Founded in 2020, Banxware is headquartered in Berlin. The company has raised $15 million (€14 million) in funding from investors including Varengold Bank and Element Ventures.
Finovate is proud to showcase fintech innovations from companies headquartered in Germany. This includes hosting our annual European fintech conference in Berlin in 2020.
Here’s a quick list of some of the Germany-based companies that have demoed their fintech innovations on the Finovate stage over the years.
aixigo
ayondo
Bitbond
BörseGo
Cash Payment Solutions
Coconet
collectAI
Device Ident
Ecolytiq
figo
Fincite
FinTecSystems
Fintura
HAWK:AI
iBrokr
IND Group
Kreditech
Mambu
Modifi
NDGIT
Nextmarkets
Open Bank Project (OBP)
payever
Payworks
Pockets United
Risk Ident
Scalable Capital
Smartify.it
SOFORT
SwipeStox
TeamViewer
TESOBE
Vaamo
YUKKA Lab
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Egypt-based fintech Axis launched its new digital payments platform, AxisPay
Dubai Islamic Bank launched its DIB ‘alt’ product, a new digital umbrella brand for the bank’s digital offerings.
UAE-based B2B fintech solutions provider FOO introduced its prepaid travel card and white label digital wallet.
Central and Southern Asia
India-based digital lender Lentra raised $27 million in a Series B extension round.
BNE Intellinews profiled Uzbekistani SME lender, Oasis.
India’s PayU partnered with Visa and Yes Bank to launch its Business Payment Solution Provider program.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina-based mobile banking company Uala launched a new saving account offering in Mexico.
Brazil’s Nubankreached one million accounts in Mexico milestone in one month.
Lanistar introduced crypto trading on its app for users in Brazil.
Asia-Pacific
Singapore-based B2B payment infrastructure platform Thunes raised $60 million in Series C funding.
International payments software provider OpenWay launched a second hub in Vietnam.
Wise platform inked its first Japanese partnership, teaming up with GMO Aozora Net Bank.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigerian fintech Flutterwave forged a partnership with account-to-account (A2A) payments company Token.io.
International payment solutions company Unlimit secured license to operate in Kenya two months after expanding to Nigeria.
Harvard Business Review asked and answered the question “What African Fintech Startups Can Teach Silicon Valley About Longevity?”
Central and Eastern Europe
Klarnabrought its Pay in 3 offering to Romania this week.
German identity verification company IDnow added automated document liveness capabilities, financial risk checks, and more to its platform.
International development agency USAID partnered with Albanian business solutions provider CBS to launch, Lores Plus, a platform to help Albanian SMEs get access to financing.
