Jul 9, 2021

Global FinTech News - 9th July 2021

By Holland FinTech • Issue #106 • View online

Dear fintech reader,

This week, the highly contagious Delta variant is spreading fast which threatens to bring about another wave of the coronavirus at the end of July. The Netherlands witnessed a sudden rise in coronavirus cases, with the number of positive tests up six fold on a week ago, hitting 3,688 on Wednesday morning. Furthermore, the EU is urged to suspend EU funds to Hungary to force Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary to address concerns over politicised courts and corruption.

We are back again on the news in fintech, exploring the newest trends from the industry sectors: cybersecurity, payments, banking, partnerships, and more!

This Friday morning, Founder and CEO of Holland Fintech Don Ginsel was joined by Clayton Hayward, Founder & CEO at UKheshe Technologies. The hosts discussed what is happening in the world of mobility & fintech. If you missed the chat session, check the recording here.

From the Holland FinTech Team, we wish you a nice weekend!

Highlights from last weeks news related to fintech

Weekly News Highlights - 8 July 2021

Explore the fintech ecosystem and discover the latest happenings regarding IPOs, banking, ESG, digital currencies, digital verification, data privacy, M&A, fintech partnerships:

Wise, a fintech company that allows people to send money overseas, completes largest direct listing in UK history at £8bn
Booking.com, a Dutch online travel platform, announced the creation of a new internal fintech business unit
U.K. bank Barclays is blocking customers from using their debit and credit cards to make payments to crypto exchange Binance
Tomorrow, a tech company that builds environmentally-driven data, has introduced a new feature within its banking app that shows customers carbon emission calculations
The central bank of Russia is to begin pilot testing a digital ruble platform with 12 of the nation’s banks
Sweden’s financial watchdog is investigating whether buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech Klarna violated bank secrecy laws following a security breach
Indian fintech company Clear, which helps enterprises and individuals file their income tax returns, has acquired yBanq, a B2B payment startup
Brussels plans to strip the European Banking Authority of all its anti-money laundering duties and hand them to a new EU anti-money laundering watchdog

Read more about this week’s news HERE.

hollandfintech.com • Share

The largest funding rounds we found from across the world

Weekly Funding Highlights - 7 July 2021

Topics of interest for this week include: digital ID, expense management, insurtech, remittances, payments, digital currencies, regtech. Find out the latest deals selected from 30 June - 7 July:

Pine Labs (Noida, India), a digital payments service provider, closed its current funding round at $600 million (€507M)
Mercado Bitcoin (São Paulo, Brazil), digital currencies company, has received $200 million (€169M) from the investor The SoftBank Latin America Fund
Pleo (København, Denmark), which offers a simplified expense management tool and smart company cards, has just raised its Series C round totalling around €126.5 million
Compliance Science (New York, USA), a regtech firm, has secured $120m (€101M) in investment from K1 Investment Management
EIS (San Francisco, CA, USA), a core and digital platform provider for insurers, received a growth investment of more than $100m (€85M)
FairMoney (Paris, France), an app-based bank that uses alternative smartphone data to underwrite microcredit, has raised $42 million (€35M) in a Series B funding round
Kikoff (San Francisco, CA), a provider of a credit building platform, raised $42M (€35M) in funding
Other fundings that are interesting: Codat (€34M), itsme (25M), hyperexponential (15M), Monisnap (€8.5M), Toquio (8M)

Read more about this week’s funding news HERE.

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A selection of recent research reports and papers worth reading

Weekly Research Highlights - 6 July 2021

Dive into developments within digital bill payments, virtual card transactions, treasuries, cloud computing, APIs, banking, consumer payments:

“Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Report: Total Global Alternative Finance Volume Increases, If You Remove China” (Crowdfund Insider) - This report provides data on the global alternative finance industry
“370% growth in use of virtual card transactions globally” (Payments Cards & Mobile) - This study has found that the global value of virtual card transactions will reach $6.8 trillion in 2026, from $1.9 trillion in 2021
“Overcoming Cloud Adoption Challenges” (FS Tech) - This report dives into the current cloud adoption landscape and draws the best strategies for overcoming skills gaps and cultural barriers
“Post-Covid-19 Checkpoint: What did Treasuries learn and how should they change for the future?” (Planixs) - Researchers surveyed treasury professionals from banking organisations all over the world on the post-pandemic scenario for the financial industry
“Digital bill payments gain steam even as pandemic conditions improve” (Insider Intelligence) - This study shows that more than one-quarter (26.7%) of US consumers reported using mobile wallets to pay bills more frequently during the pandemic
“Annual APIs and Integration Report – 2021” (Fintech Futures) - This paper looks at APIs, integration and microservices to give a better understanding of how these technologies are being adopted
“Analyst report: Expectation versus reality for payments data monetisation” (Fintech Futures) - Findings show that investment in payments data monetisation is growing with 38% of banks

Read more about the research HERE.

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Background information and insights from opinion leaders and experts

Weekly Analysis and Opinion Highlights - 5 July 2021

Learn more from fintech experts about green finance, customer experience, neobanks, security, SMEs:

“Financing a green and digital recovery” - Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, argues that it is necessary to add another element to our post-pandemic recovery plan
“This fintech has big plans for the U.S. with a focus on helping expats send money to family back home” via MarketWatch - Emily Bary, writer at MarketWatch, highlights that Revolut Ltd. sees big opportunities to further expand its business internationally as more people seek digital options to manage their money
“Four Trends In Fintech And How They’re Modernizing The Consumer Experience” via Forbes - Matthew Harris, Contributor at Fintech, explores four trends that demonstrate how fintech innovations are streamlining the user experience and transforming the financial landscape
“How ramping up tech acquisitions can help financial institutions beat neobanks in the banking game” via Fintech Global - Writers at Fintech Global emphasize that fintechs have cemented their place in the ecosystem
“Everything you think you know about Fintech is false”  via Fintech talents - Liz Lumley, blogger at Fintech Talents, explains that fintech wasn’t a set of companies or a sector or a contactless app
“BIM: Why is it important for the security sector?” via IFSEC Global - James Moore, editor at IFSEC Global, finds out why security tech and devices need to be properly considered early on in specification
“Will SMEs’ altruism continue post-Covid?” via Raconteur - Virginia Matthews, writer at Raconteur, underlines that SMEs are the heartbeat of their local communities

Read more about analysis and opinion HERE.

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Connect with the fintech ecosystem at some of the upcoming events

Fintech Week London - 12th - 16th July

Taking place on 12-16 July, Fintech Week London combines the best of learning and networking in Europe’s fintech capital, London. With a 2-day flagship.

hollandfintech.com • Share

Webinar: Personalizing One to Many: Investor Relations at Scale - 13th July

This webinar will focus on some of the biggest potential risks, challenges, and then also opportunities, especially around technology, including market trends, exit strategy and options, and in general technology in PE. Sign up to watch live or on-demand as we bring in top partners from European PE.

www.bigmarker.com • Share

Webinar: Secure from the Start: Strategies for Startups to Get Secure, Stay Compliant, and Focus on Growth - 21st July

Any leader of a fast growing startup recognizes the need for “security” and the importance of putting that promise into action. But where do you start? How soon is too soon? And who even has time for it anyways?

us02web.zoom.us • Share

Finnovex Southern Africa - 27th-28th July

Finnovex is a series of Summits that examines the Future of Financial Services on how disruptive innovations are reshaping the way they are structured.

hollandfintech.com • Share

Ready to get involved? Click here to find out more.

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