Back in April, Apple announced that with the iOS 14.5 updates, a new feature would be implemented, sparking an intense debate around App Tracking Transparency in the lead up to its launch. Apparently, according to TechCrunch Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has something to say about it as it decided to officially investigate the topic. Nice timing - only eight months late to the party!?
If you’re wondering what the future of finance will be like, make sure to check out the Reader’s Corner. Our Pawe? St??ycki - together with nine other experts invited - shares his thoughts on the importance of sustainability in finance. Read more in the Fintech Magazine.
Missed today’s Disruption Talk episode with Northmill Bank’s Helen Bj?rk about using data to build better fintech products, and leveraging customer-centric approach in banking? It’s already on our Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Perfect for an afternoon winter walk!?
Disrupting Retail
- Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Marc Metrick said that splitting the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar sides of the luxury retailer into two companies is allowing it to win additional shoppers and cater to them differently. “It’s a new focus and it’s a new way of running the business and the customer is actually the biggest winner,” he said in an interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
- Saudi food delivery firm Jahez, which competes with companies like Delivery Hero’s Hungerstation, is targeting a valuation as high as $2.4 billion in an initial public offering that would vault it to the ranks of the biggest startups in the Middle East.
- Gopuff announced it will contribute $100,000, on behalf of Gopuff and Liquor Barn, to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund. Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund was established by Governor Beshear to assist those impacted by the tornados and the severe weather system on December 11, 2021. “As soon as we heard the news, we knew we needed to act quickly to help these impacted communities. When the communities we serve need help, Gopuff will be there. We also urge our consumers to donate to Team Western Kentucky Relief Fund," said Yakir Gola, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Gopuff.?
Finance & Tech
- San Francisco-based paytech Resolve, which offers an embedded B2B buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution, has raised $25 million in an equity funding round. The round was led by New York-based global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Initialized Capital, KSD Capital, Haystack VC, Commerce Ventures and Clocktower Ventures. “The market for simplifying net terms payments and embedding BNPL payment options is exploding as companies work to mitigate the pain of payments caused by overextended and snarled supply chains,” says Resolve CEO Chris Tsai.
- Fintech firm iwoca, which claims to be one of Europe’s largest small business lenders, recently announced the expansion of its merchant cash advance product to all small businesses “accepting card payments in the UK.” Colin Goldstein, Commercial Growth Director at iwoca, stated: “At iwoca, we’re transforming small business lending through brand new innovations powered by Open Banking technology. With our merchant cash advance product, SMEs across the country can now repay their loans in line with the seasonal flow of their businesses. As small businesses recover from the pandemic, iwoca will give them the flexibility they need to scale their business.”
- LendInvest has increased the value of its assets under management held on its platform by 32 per cent to ￡1.8bn in the six months ended 30 September. Rod Lockhart (pictured), chief executive of LendInvest, said: “We are delighted by the significant growth across all our metrics, with strong FuM and Platform AuM growth driving a 28 per cent increase in platform revenue and record profits. We continue to invest in our technology, which in turn is having a very positive effect on our operating leverage.”
- Topi, a Berlin-based startup has raised a $4.5 million pre-seed funding round co-led by Index Ventures and Creandum. The company is working on a payment solution that is both fast and capital efficient for businesses. On the B2C front, consumer payments have evolved at a rapid pace over the last few years. When it’s time to check out, customers expect to be able to choose between several payment methods that all offer different advantages and drawbacks.
- It once hoped to make banks a thing of the past by cutting them out of the equation, but now Zopa is shutting down its “peer-to-peer” (P2P) lending arm after 16 years – so it can concentrate on being a bank. The company has contacted its 60,000 existing P2P investors to let them know that it will be handing them back their money – leaving them to find a new home for their cash at a time of ultra-low savings rates.
- Bankera, a fintech company focusing on providing dedicated IBAN (international bank account number) payment accounts for digital businesses, has expanded its offering of supported currencies for cross-border business payments to include United States dollars (USD). According to Vytautas Karalevicius, a co-founder of Bankera, the importance of such currencies as euros or renminbi is growing for cross-border B2B payments, but the USD dominance is still clear which according to different sources ranges from a bit less than 40% to more than 80%. Hence, for business having an option to send and receive dollars is vital to stay competitive in international trade.
- Payments technology firm Nuvei is teaming up with Visa to roll out crypto-friendly debit cards to its partners across the European Economic Area and United Kingdom. Nuvei will utilize its crypto fintech subsidiary Simplex for the process. Nuvei purchased Simplex for $250 million in cash last May in a deal that would give Nuvei future banking capabilities as Simplex has an electronic money institution (EMI) license in the European Union.
- In recent years, digital banks have gained traction with millions of consumers worldwide. As a mobile bank, N26 is deeply invested in understanding the current state of the industry, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We teamed up with Accenture to gain a better understanding of consumers’ attitudes towards digital banking. Our analysis is based on their 2020 Global Banking Consumer Study, which surveyed 47,000+ customers of digital-only and/or traditional banks in 28 markets.
All Things- Innovation?
- Harley-Davidson is taking its electric motorcycle division LiveWire public through a merger with a blank check company sponsored by executives of AEA Investors and Bridges Fund Management. The agreement with special purpose acquisition company AEA-Bridges Impact Corp (ABIC) will preserve much of Harley-Davidson’s ownership while giving LiveWire access to the capital that the public markets can provide and fold in Taiwanese motorcycle and sport vehicle manufacturer Kymco as a key partner. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
- Yet another ‘quick commerce’ 15-minute groceries startup is hoping to make a name for itself in this space, adding to the myriad of companies currently crowding out this market. But Grovy is avoiding the crowded cities of Western Europe, setting its sights on becoming a daily-delivery leader in the East. It’s now finalized a €3 million financing round led by Lighthouse Ventures to expand across Central and Eastern Europe, with offices already running in Prague and Bucharest, after entering the German market in Frankfurt and Mainz.
- Nike is taking a plunge deeper into the world of crypto collectibles, announcing that they’re acquiring the NFT studio RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”). The acquisition announcement comes at an opportune time for the studio; RTFKT is currently behind one of the most talked-about NFT project drops of the month — a sweeping avatar partnership with artist Takashi Murakami called CloneX. Since its initial drop less than three weeks ago, the project has already seen nearly $65 million in transaction volume according to crypto tracker CryptoSlam.
Personal Changes?
- Former Labour Party frontbench MP Luciana Berger is leaving Edelman to join Gopuff, a US-based rapid grocery delivery company that recently launched in the UK. Hugh Taggart, co-chief executive of Edelman UK, said: "We thank Luciana for her contribution to the firm. She will continue to lead the Edelman Global Advisory team in the UK until her departure, and we are searching for a new leader at what is an exciting time for the firm and the rollout of Edelman Global Advisory."
A Number to Remember
- Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide with global e-retail sales reaching 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars in 2019. With digital development exploding in the Asia Pacific region, it is no surprise that the fastest growing online retail market is India, followed by Spain and China. In 2020, e-retail sales accounted for 18 percent of all retail sales worldwide. This figure is expected to reach 21.8 percent in 2024.
Reader’s Corner
- In the last decade, fintech has grown at an astronomical rate. Not only is it changing payments and investing, but also how businesses work. It's no surprise, then, that there are many predictions about what the future of the financial technology industry may hold. Considering the rapid changes already taking place, the following ten predictions for the future of fintech may seem conservative.
- "My belief is that our biggest contribution has not been the money we’ve given away. It’s not individual issues that we’ve advocated for. It’s not scaling grassroots environmental activism through different levels of support. It’s proving that businesses can exist to do more than maximize the wealth of their owners, really consistently proving that in ways big and small over decades." - an interview Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert.
- The buy now, pay later services have developed at blazing speed in recent years and are likely to continue to grow exponentially. In the UK, BNPL usage almost quadrupled in 2020, to ￡2.7 billion in transactions. The reasons for this expansion are intriguing, as are the future implications, especially because BNPL providers are still in the regulatory grey area in most countries. In this article, I will discuss why consumers are looking for new ways to manage their finances, the impact BNPL may have on retailers, and the challenges buy now, pay later providers may face. I will focus on the two markets for which we have the most data: UK and US.?
