Revolut has secured authorization from Brazil's Central Bank to operate as a Direct Credit Society

Good morning FinTech Fanatic,

I’d like to start this intro with N26, once one of Europe’s shiniest startups.?

The Berlin-based neobank was launched in 2013 and started talking about an IPO back in 2018.

What followed in the years to come was a wave of employees leaving, including senior execs, and reprimands from the German financial regulator.?

For instance, the company is still embroiled in a battle with German financial regulator BaFin over a September 2021 fine of €4.25 million for N26's failure to install effective anti-money laundering controls.

It seems the FinTech has a long way to go if still wants to IPO. Sifted's Miriam Partington took a deep dive and analysed N26’s path to an IPO and its plans for the future, in an interesting long read.

Meanwhile Swedish FinTech giant Klarna is launching a voluntary credit ‘opt out’ option on its app.

Klarna’s co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski took to Twitter to share the news of the launch

The former ‘most valuable FinTech of Europe’ aims to make it easier for Brits to manage their money, and calls on all credit providers to introduce similar opt out tools following a meeting with Economic Secretary.

“As a leader in responsible credit, we always put our customers’ interests first,” Siemiatkowski said.

To be continued for sure. Now, onwards to the other FinTech news!

BREAKING NEWS

Revolut authorized as Direct Credit Society (Sociedade de Crédito Direto, SCD) by Brazil's Central Bank. The license will enable Revolut, the world's second-largest digital bank, to expand its financial product and service portfolio in the Brazilian market, including extending credit using its own resources.?

#FINTECHREPORT

APAC Digital Bank Landscape: This report serves as an invaluable guide to digital banks in APAC on current market dynamics from both supply and demand perspectives, offering valuable insights on achieving profitability through optimising client fulfilment across the end-to-end value chain. Read now

Open Finance is constantly developing and growing. At this moment, there are several jurisdictions adopting different technical standards and implementation approaches — whether market-driven, regulated, or hybrid model. Download the full report by W Fintechs and Iniciador, here.?

INSIGHTS

Islamic banks in Asia-Pacific will outgrow conventional banks despite economic pressures, according to S&P Global Ratings. Islamic banking assets in Southeast Asia, which make up 80% of sharia-compliant assets in Asia-Pacific, will rise about 8% over two years, Ratings said in a report.?

FINTECH NEWS?

Mollie launches physical payments terminal. The product will roll out across Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands first and adds to its existing in-person payments option that uses QR codes. Link here

MultiChoice betting big on gambling and new payment platform in South Africa. As part of this strategy, the group aims to expand its interactive entertainment segment with a big play in sports betting, while also expanding its fintech capabilities through the launch of a new payment platform, Moment.

JULO pioneers education financing in a few clicks for any school, college or online course in Indonesia. With just a few in-app clicks, customers can use their JULO digital credit limit to cover any education expense across any school, any college, any university and any online course in Indonesia.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

TymeBank hits 7 million customers in South Africa. The group is also expanding its global footprint further with a product development and engineering hub in Vietnam, which employs a team of skilled people.

‘I Came to Kill the Banks.’ meme-stock traders find a new passion. Shares of banks such as PacWest have seesawed wildly since March. Bad news, including lost deposits, has sent them spiraling. Good news, like hints of greater government support, has sent them soaring.

BLOCKCHAIN

Winklevoss twins warn UK not to ‘politicise’ crypto rules amid US regulators’ ‘warpath’. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of New York-headquartered crypto exchange Gemini, said they were “encouraged” by the state of UK crypto rules and had met with the Financial Conduct Authority, the Bank of England. Link here

M&A’s

PayTabs acquires OGS PayLab India. Co-founder of OGS PayLab Simon Soloman said, “Merging with PayTabs was a natural step in our expansion strategy as it now provides us with the synergy to engineer and champion payments on a national, regional and international scale.”

PARTNERSHIPS

Mangopay enables Hokodo to scale up its B2B payment capabilities. Both partnering firms are aiming to deliver a comprehensive payment offering and optimised payment flows for B2B marketplaces, ranging from the granting of credit terms, to payment collection through the disbursement of funds.?

Airwallex picks TrueLayer for open banking payments in Europe. The tie-up will start with Airwallex offering secure, instant account-to-account payments powered by TrueLayer to its clients across 15 European markets. Read more

Thunes partners with Saudi Arabia's D360 to enable instant cross-border payments in MENA and global markets. This collaboration will empower D360 Bank’s customers in Saudi Arabia to make fast and cost-effective B2B business payments and international remittances worldwide.

#DONEDEAL

Venture firm QED raises $925 million for FinTech investing. The firm said it has closed on $650 million for its early stage fund and $275 million for what it calls an early growth-stage fund. Read more

Episode Six scores $48 Million series C. This investment will be used to expand E6’s go-to-market efforts, build on its global market leadership, and scale its business as the company continues to drive modernization journeys for banks.

Team8 leads $5m seed round for FinTech start-up Ballerine. The newly-acquired funds are expected to be channeled into developing the first open-source and developer-centric compliance infrastructure. Link here

Plenty secures $2.75m to revolutionise wealth creation for modern couples. With the newly raised funds, Plenty aims to expand its cutting-edge platform, which simplifies and automates the financial forecasting and investment processes for couples.

Trébol secures $3 Million to help banks and lenders in Latin America automate the verification process for businesses. Trébol plans to use the funding to expand the product into new markets and grow the team. Currently, the service is available in Mexico and Colombia.?

Bank of America leads $35 million round in OpenFin. “We’re delighted to welcome Bank of America as our newest strategic investor and we’re grateful for the continued support from Pivot Investment Partners and so many other existing investors.” Said, Mazy Dar, CEO of OpenFin. Read more

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Swedish paytech Trustly has appointed Anna Bjurefeldt as head of internal audit and Mia Bjurkell as director of risk and compliance. Trustly says the hires “reinforce the company’s ambition to strengthen its compliance and risk management competencies as it continues its sustainable growth journey”.

Atom Bank plans chair change in September, with Lee Rochford’s arrival. “We’re all very excited to welcome Lee to Atom. Ahead of us lie many challenges as we build scale, profitability and maturity on our way to listing the company,” said CEO Mark Mullen. Read more

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Cheers,

Marcel van Oost

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