The State of Generative AI in Financial Services and more FinTech news

Good morning,

Welcome to your daily FinTech news!

#FINTECHREPORT

Check out the “Super-app Strategy” report by Khaled Sayed , a document that provides a comprehensive overview of the most important points and foundations that must be considered when building Super Apps. Read more

ARTICLE

The State of Generative AI in Financial Services: Within financial services organizations, AI is nothing new. I highly recommend reading this long read article by Bain Capital Ventures to learn all about this topic. Link here

INSIGHTS

The American banking landscape is on the cusp of a seismic shift. Expect more pain to come. Rising interest rates, losses on commercial real estate and heightened regulatory scrutiny will pressure regional and midsized banks, leading to a wave of mergers, sources told CNBC. Read full analysis here

UK FinTech funding drops 37 per cent. UK FinTech funding has dipped in the first half of 2023 , as total cash raised by UK fintech firms reached $2.9 billion in the first six months, showing a 37 per cent decrease compared to the later half of last year, according to new figures from industry body Innovate Finance .

Analyzing who might be over- and undervalued in India’s FinTech market. This? CB Insights research breaks down India’s 10 most valuable fintech companies to better understand the market. Read the complete article here

Last week we saw 14 FinTech deals in Europe for a total amount of 101m€ raised with 4 deals in France, 3 in Switzerland, 2 in the UK and Spain, and 1 in Belgium, Romania, and Czech Republic.? Check out the complete BlackFin Tech overview article

FINTECH NEWS

FTC files amended money transfer fraud complaint against Walmart . The complaint alleges that the company's money transfer services were used by scammers to defraud consumers of hundreds of millions of dollars. Read more

Credit ratings agency Moody ’s Investors Service recently spelled out potential drawbacks of the real-time payments system FedNow, which the Federal Reserve plans to launch next month, saying some payments players that “rely heavily” on card interchange fees for revenue could suffer .

Kakao Pay launches ATM service. Available in Japan, Vietnam and Laos, the service allows users to withdraw the national currency of each of the three countries with just a mobile phone that has the KakaoTalk or Kakao Pay app installed.

TipRanks, prepares its expansion in Latin America. The Israeli FinTech aims to continue its progress and expand into new markets by providing its unique data sets to banks and brokerage firms across LatAm.?

Ant Group fined $985 million. Ant's violations relate to corporate governance, financial consumer protection, AML obligations, among others, according to the People's Bank of China .?

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

Silicon Valley Bank gets back to lending, albeit at slower pace. Silicon Valley Bank’s Marc Cadieux : “The priority is to be there for our clients in whatever way they need us.” Amid a challenging venture debt market, the bank is back in business and lending to startups. Read more

Challenger bank N26 finally adds French IBANs. New N26 customers in France automatically receive a French IBAN from N26’s local branch in France. As an added benefit, these customers with a French IBAN no longer have to tell tax authorities that they have a foreign bank account — that’s less paperwork.?

SVB’s collapse drove 26K customers to Mercury in 4 months. Mercury and other startups stepped in after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, facing intense demand . CEO Immad Akhund recalls the stressful initial days as Silicon Valley awaited uncertain times.?

Neobanking has arrived in South Africa – Join the Xhuma revolution. South Africa joins the neobanking fintech revolution with the introduction of Xhuma – meaning “to connect”. This fintech will simplify financial management, provide greater control over money , and offer a wide range of features.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ‘denied a bank account by Monzo ’. The Treasury has raised concerns about actions being taken by banks in relation to so-called Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) – and it has called on the Financial Conduct Authority to update its guidance.

BLOCKCHAIN

Crypto exchange Gemini Trust has filed a lawsuit against DGC and its CEO Barry Silbert over a failed partnership between the companies. The suit alleges “fraud and deception” from DCG and aims to recover “damages and losses” related to the partnership.

M&As

Colombian FinTech Puntored acquires Mexican startup GestoPago . The news comes at a time of growth for the Mexican fintech ecosystem . According to Puntored’s CEO, GestoPago’s offering is complementary to its existing products.?

PARTNERSHIPS

Indrive selects Nuvei to be its payments partner in Latin America. Nuvei’s collaboration with inDrive is particularly significant for the Latin American market, where businesses face unique payment challenges including lower card acceptance rates and a significant unbanked population that relies on alternative payment methods for financial inclusion.

New FinTech platform TAFI launches in Panama, enhancing business management for sales agents. It provides product financing, credit card services, in partnership with Mastercard intending to revolutionize the traditional catalog sales model .

Mexico’s BanCoppel taps Temenos for core banking overhaul. BanCoppel plans to leverage Temenos' core banking platform to scale operations and provide an integrated ecosystem of convenient banking services . The implementation will enhance efficiency, sustainability, and support the bank's digital transformation.

#DONEDEAL

Torqi has secured R$ 60 million from a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC), led by Galapagos Capital . Torqi offers an advance receivables service to help transportation companies offset financial difficulties from the pandemic .?

Chilean FinTech Shinkansen has successfully closed a seed funding round, raising a total of $3 million. The company offers a unique API integration solution for fast money transfers and transactions in the banking and fintech sector. By utilizing artificial intelligence, Shinkansen automates operations and integrates its APIs with banks across the region.

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Cheers,

Marcel van Oost

Connecting the dots in FinTech ,?

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