Daily Fintech Crunch: 20/04/2022

Dear All

Welcome to today’s Fintech Crunch. These bites are going to give you a glimpses into the fintech space today.?The cover photo reflects exactly how feel - completely exhausted after spending 2 days in Kingdom where some meetings ended at 3 am in the morning

? Fintech:

• The MENA Fintech Association (where I am one of the Board Members) has released the first volume of the SHIFT report, a comprehensive guide that supports the fintech community in navigating the MENA payment landscape.

• In Asia Pacific, APAC regulators have been redrawing the regulatory perimeter to take account of new products and services emerging as a result of fintech innovation and emerging technologies.

• SEON, a London-based startup that powers online fraud prevention, announced that it has raised US$94 million in a Series B funding.

• Deloitte and cloud banking platform Mambu have identified the five steps merchants and fintechs need to embrace to build a successful BNPL offering.

• Up-and-coming Indian fintech B2B platform and eCommerce company udaan announced that Microsoft has joined the company’s debt financing round.

• Stripe, a global financial infrastructure platform for businesses, announced that its Singapore-based users can begin accepting PayNow as a payment method across its integrated suite of solutions.

• Super Pagos, the fintech that promotes financial inclusion of micro-businesses and neighborhood stores in Colombia wants to bring its solution to more countries in Latin America.

• UK-based paytech MYPINPAD and Singapore’s SmartPesa have merged in a bid to become a “global leader in mobile payments acceptance” and develop mobile payments solutions for customers and merchants at scale.

• Manchester-based lead generation technology company ROI Media has created a new fintech division to provide a platform for future growth.

?? Crypto & DeFi:

• There is growing fear amongst investors following weeks of drop in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum since the start of 2022, especially in recent weeks.

• The U.S. Secret Service is cracking down on illicit digital currency transactions, seizing more than $102 million in cryptocurrency from criminals in connection with fraud-related investigations.

?? Metaverse & NFTs:

• Utopia VR, a global leader in providing web-based metaverse solutions, announced yesterday that it has launched its global metaverse platform and profit share affiliate program.

• Death metal band Slipknot has partnered with The Sandbox to create the Knotverse, where fans can experience concerts in virtual reality, and have access to merch, masks, and more.

?? Other News:

• Dechert has hired Bank of America director and assistant general counsel Richard Pugh as a partner in its London office.

?? Graphic of the Day:

• This graph represents the nonstop growth of credit cards as a purchasing medium, with research and markets predicting a three-fold increase in the global contactless payments market, bringing it to $51.07 billion by 2026.?

?? Report of the Day:

• The Mexican fintech sector has expanded stratospherically over the past five years. By some measures, there are over 500 neo/challenger banks, wallets, lenders, payment facilitators, InvestTechs, and InsurTechs among many more vying to handle Mexico’s business and consumers’ financial needs. Some Mexican fintechs are doing extremely well, others are struggling, and for others, it's simply too early to say. Read full report here.

?? Podcast of the day:

• Listen to the latest Couchonomics podcast episode with Ronit Ghose on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Deezer.

Hope you enjoy the various elements of the crunch today - news bites, reports and even a podcast episode for good measure :-)

Until tomorrow, goodbye and good evening

–Arjun Vir Singh