UX of Banking: what’s changed in 2023?

Good morning FinTech Fanatic,

Today I would like to start by highlighting Peter Ramsey’s new case studies; the UX of Banking, what’s changed in 2023?

More than 900 days ago he published a series of case studies in which he benchmarked and compared the user experience of 12 banks in the UK.

Back then, the articles demonstrated how far ahead challengers like Monzo, Starling and Revolut were, compared to most of the high street banks.

In his new follow-up article Peter is taking the opportunity to re-benchmark them, to highlight what 900 days of product development looks like.

Has the gap widened? Which of the legacy banks are actually chipping away at the deficit? And, which are stale experiences that consumers should avoid?

An article well worth reading for anyone interested in banking and FinTech.

Furthermore, there’s a great announcement from my portfolio company Mozper, as it is with enormous pride and excitement to share the news of Mozper’s authorization to establish as an Institución de Fondos de Pago Electrónico "IFPE" in Mexico, a regulated e-money institution.

Keep an eye on them!

But first, let’s get on to other FinTech news;

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

JP Morgan Chase UK’s fastest growing fintech app in 2022. The Wall Street giant’s bet on the UK neo banking market prompted huge uptake from users in 2022 in the form of downloads and monthly active users.

Tabby raises $58M at $660M valuation as PayPal Ventures makes first investment in the GCC. According to a statement shared by the Dubai-based firm, the funding will be used to expand Tabby’s product line into a plethora of consumer financial services and support the company’s growing operations that now include Egypt.

FTX NEWS

Congress' FTX problem: 1 in 3 members got cash from crypto exchange's bosses. The session began with 196 U.S. lawmakers who took direct contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried and other former FTX executives, and many of them are still trying to get rid of it.

Silvergate posts $1bn loss, confirms that it has laid off 200 staff, and says it will offboard some customers as it seeks to recover from the fallout of FTX's collapse. The bank's customers withdrew more than $8 billion in digital asset deposits when the exchange collapsed.

#FINTECHREPORT

Innopay predicts the European embedded lending market will grow to €10 billion per year by 2030. Download and view the full report if you want to know more about embedded lending.?

Check out this Open Banking FinTech report: “Open Finance Mega Report 2022” by Let's Open, which details the evolution of Payment Initiation in the last year and what to expect for 2023.?

INSIGHTS

Southeast Asia’s underbanked consumers and businesses embrace alternative financing platforms.The first edition of the ASEAN Access to Digital Finance Study, released in December 2022, shares findings of a survey of 600 individual households and business users of digital finance platforms in five key ASEAN markets.?

Over $8bn raised by 2022’s 10 biggest FinTech deals. Read all about it in this Fintech Global analysis.?

Check out this BlackFin Tech article by Nathalie Schwarzkopf, which reveals that last week, a total amount of €101m was raised across 10 European FinTech deals.

Nigeria’s e-payment transactions hit 5-yr high. The volume of financial transactions performed electronically in Africa’s most populous nation surged to the highest in five years in 2022, according to new data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

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FINTECH NEWS

Alibaba Cloud launches suite of Financial Services Solutions with over 70 products that support FCIs of all sizes on their sustainability path through infrastructure digitalisation, and ultimately promote a green financial ecosystem in Singapore.

Robinhood is setting up an independent media unit called Sherwood, which will cover things like money, technology and geopolitics through newsletters, a website and events.

Papara announced the launch of its insurance arm, bringing affordable, fair and fast insurance to users in Turkey. This is the first expansion of Papara’s product suite outside of its core banking.

Clik2Pay announced it has developed an industry changing application which allows any Shopify store to seamlessly offer a direct-from-account payment option to customers.?

Malaa Technologies launches its Shari’ah compliant investment platform that provides its customers with financial planning and wealth management services. Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) has been engaged on an ongoing basis and has reviewed its legal documents and investment strategy.?

Dock has launched Dock One, a cloud-based platform that enables companies to add new businesses to their operations and expand to countries throughout Latin America through a single application programming interface?

Wise raises revenue growth projection after interest hike boost. The company has increased its forecast for revenue growth from 55%-60% to 68%-72% in its recently revealed full-year results.?

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

Cashed-up banks ready to buy UK FinTech firms on the cheap in 2023, says VC chief. Tim Levene, chief of London-listed venture vehicle Augmentum Fintech, said that banks had failed to properly digitally transform over the past decade and would now be looking to shortcut innovation with a flurry of fintech dealmaking.

China’s digital yuan needs WeChat, Alipay to boost adoption, experts say. The central bank rolled out a “red packet” feature for its digital currency, the e-CNY, for the Lunar New Year holiday but it will require help from the tech giants it has bashed to popularize the digital yuan. Link here

SG fintech firm secures initial license for Pakistani digibank. Before operating commercially, HugoBank needs to incorporate a public limited company with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and get in-principle approval from the state bank.

Paytm Payments Bank wins regulatory nod to run as part of BBPOU. The approval allows the firm to offer various bill payment services, including electricity, phone, DTH, water, gas insurance, loan repayments, FASTag recharge, education fees, credit card bill along with municipal taxes.

PARTNERSHIPS

Vauban partners with Currencycloud to enable the platform to be more accessible and permit global investors to launch and run their special purpose vehicles (SPVs) both easily and instantly.

Ingenico and Fujitsu team on palm vein-based payments, a system that lets shoppers identify themselves and authenticate their payments simply by moving the palm of a hand over a near infra-red sensor, without the need for a card or PIN.?

Rupeek scores deal with Indian Bank. This alliance aims to make gold loans mainstream on the back of Rupeek’s PSU-grade compliant technology, access to low-cost capital, and the bank’s extensive branch network of 5,700 branches.

Windsor First ties up with Currencycloud. The partnership will enhance its cross border payments with a new multi-currency solution, which will allow Windsor First’s clients to be able to optimise their B2B and e-commerce international payments processes as well as access a wider range of currencies at competitive FX rates.

Hokodo and Lemonway forge a B2B BNPL marketplace partnership while enabling sellers to benefit from upfront payment, risk protection and full regulatory compliance.?

#DONEDEAL

German FinTech Zasta secures debt to reduce product prices. The company, which lets taxpayers claim money back without filling in forms, will receive €60 million in debt to help make its tax refund product more competitive.

Komunal bags US$8.5M in fundraise led by VC firm East Ventures. The company said that it will use the funds to “accelerate financial inclusion and strengthen the neo-rural bank ecosystem in Indonesia, especially outside the Greater Jakarta area”

Anyfin, founded in 2017 by Klarna alumni, raises $30m for loan refinancing. The startup is working on expanding the types of loans it refinances for customers — currently it only refinances unsecured consumer loans (loans that don’t require any assets as collateral).

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Divido appoints Edoardo Volta as chief revenue officer. With a career spanning more than two decades in the payments industry, Edo brings an unrivalled wealth of knowledge and passion to his new role at Divido. Link here

This ends Your Daily FinTech News.

Do you have any juicy news for me from the FinTech/Banking industry? Shoot me a message or an email at [email protected]!

Until the next!

Regards,

Marcel van Oost

Connecting the dots in FinTech

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