Wise's Growth and Revolut's LATAM Ambitions

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

Wise keeps crushing it with outstanding growth, shown in its Q4 FY24 Trading Update :

• Active customers surge by 29% YoY to 7.9 million.
• Revenue climbs by 24% YoY to ￡277.2 million.
• Cross-border transaction volume rises by 14% YoY to ￡30.6 billion.
• Interest income skyrockets by 86% YoY to ￡104 million.
• Wise account balances increase by 24% YoY to ￡13.3 billion.

These impressive figures underscore Wise's dominance in the industry, fueled by its innovative approach and versatile services.

Meanwhile, Neobank Revolut expects strong growth prospects in Mexico where it aims to dedicate more than $?????? ?????????????? this year, after it recently obtained a banking license .

The digital banking market in LATAM is definitely heating up!

Also, I am planning to launch a Daily Spanish FinTech Newsletter. What do you think? Would you like to get your daily dose of FinTech in your inbox in Spanish? Let me know the comments and/or in this POLL .

Enjoy a long list of FinTech industry news updates below, and I'll be back in your inbox with more tomorrow!

Cheers,

Marcel

P.s. If you like this newsletter and/or my other content, you can support me by becoming a member . I'll be forever grateful.

Now let's dive into the news of today:

BREAKING NEWS?

???? Binance obtains full Crypto regulatory license in Dubai after co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao agreed to give up voting control in the local entity. The world’s biggest digital-asset exchange got a Virtual Asset Service Provider permit in the emirate, Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng confirmed in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday.

INSIGHTS

???? Mouro Capital’s market map showcases the collaboration between FinTechs, Tech companies, and European banks in digitizing processes for enhanced financial services.?

Who is missing in this overview ?

FINTECH NEWS

???? ASIC's Sanlam blitz sparks calls for 'shadow licence' reform. Compliance experts are calling for an opaque feature of Australia's financial services industry allowing smaller players to rent key regulatory licences to be reformed.?

???? eToro chases activist investors with new proxy votes push. The broker's 35 million global investors will have an increasing say in the direction of ASX companies , with its managing director laying down the gauntlet for super funds.

???? Zopa CEO quashes IPO speculation. Jaidev Janardana, CEO of Zopa, has blamed the media for the UK FinTech sector’s focus on valuations. He said that stories about banks making people's lives better or reaching customer milestones don’t get written about. Continue reading

???? Fime to support set up of UAE’s domestic card scheme Jaywan. To support the scheme’s goals of boosting financial inclusion, sovereignty and economic stability in the region, Fime will set up a framework to simplify certification for scheme participants .

???? Paytm receives NPCI approval for user migration to new PSP banks. This approval comes in the wake of NPCI's endorsement on March 14, 2024, to onboard OCL as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) on the Multi Payment Service Provider API Model.

PAYMENTS NEWS

???? Clearing House CPO says RTP growth in early stages. In an interview with Adam Willems from The Financial Revolutionist, Margaret M Weichert, CPO of The Clearing House, suggests that RTP volume growth will only accelerate, centered around five B2B and B2C use cases that may help RTP outperform FedNow over the long run. Read the complete interview article to learn more ?

???? US Survey: 56% of buy now, pay later users have experienced issues like overspending and missing payments. According to a new Bankrate survey, BNPL has quickly become one of America’s go-to payment methods . Over a third of US adults (39 percent) have used at least one of these services at checkout.

???? FinMont teams up with Ubank Connect. This partnership will see FinMont add UBank Connect’s innovative and leading payment gateway solution to its global ecosystem, facilitating and offering merchants a powerful alternative payment processing service across emerging markets.

???? BNP Paribas brings Tap to Pay on iPhone to French retailers with payment scheme CB, a system that accounts for more than 65% of daily consumer payments in France, as well as Visa and Mastercard. Click here to learn more

???? Checkout.com plans China growth push. The firm, which was valued at $40bn in 2022, is planning to expand in China. It is also planning to grow its China office (Shanghai) by hiring for roughly a dozen roles. Read more

???? Amazon Pay is planning to kick off credit services on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform as part of a deal with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This initiative aims to enhance customer experience and value propositions , Vikas Bansal of Amazon Pay India told The Financial Express (FE).

????Visa bundles products for 'click-and-mortar' retailers. With a new fast-growing segment of ‘Click-and-Mortar?, shoppers who rely on digital features to shop both online and in-store, merchants are managing complex technology as they work to provide consistent payment experiences .

OPEN BANKING NEWS

???? Canada set for open banking legislation. The Canadian government has promised open banking legislation by the end of the year and confirmed that the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) will oversee the new system.?

???? Brankas is the first company in Indonesia to be awarded open banking data license. Customers can now use Brankas to securely share their bank account balance during payments , allowing for real-time payment verification and automated prompts for insufficient funds.

REGTECH NEWS

???? Signicat Introduces InstantKYC and InstantKYB for smooth onboarding. These unique solutions represent a significant advancement in identity verification, risk mitigation, and compliance , providing a single end-to-end solution for both KYC and KYB onboarding processes.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

?? How does a Bank transform into an AI-first financial institution ?

This transformation requires a shift across 4?? interconnected layers:

???? Backbase enters strategic relationship with EverBank to enhance commercial and Treasury Services. This relationship signifies EverBank’s commitment to advancing its commercial and treasury banking sectors, aligning with its growth objectives. Read on

???? The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has opened a consultation on the potential launch of a central bank digital currency. The central bank says the currency would be "digital cash" , backed by the government and sitting alongside notes and coins.

???? NatWest boosts cross-border payments with StoneX. The Payments division of StoneX (StoneX Payments) will supply NatWest with third-party delivery and international FX payment systems, allowing the bank’s corporate clients to transfer money to more nations with ease .

???? Revolut announces global launch of refinancing option in Romania. Revolut, which has 3.5 million clients in Romania out of the 40 million globally, announced it launched the refinancing facility in the country, which is also a Global Premiere.?

???? Judo Bank shakes off startup tag as lending book surges past $10 billion. Judo Capital Holdings has capped off five years since securing its banking licence with its loan book shooting past the $10 billion mark and the group declaring a maturing business that can no longer be classed as a startup.

???? GoTyme tags P3-B ‘losses’ misleading. GoTyme has cried foul over an online news portal’s report that the two-year-old company had incurred P3 billion in losses in 2023. Nate Clarke, president and CEO of GoTyme Bank, said: ‘The bank has performed extremely well, and our growth is translating to deep adoption.?

???? Revolut expects strong growth prospects in Mexico where it aims to dedicate/invest more than $100 million this year. This is what the firm's top local executive told Reuters, as it looks to take advantage of historic remittance flows .

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

???? Binance has converted the entire pool of assets held in an emergency fund for users into USDC, the stablecoin issued by US firm Circle Internet Financial. The Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) was established in 2018 to serve a backstop for customers in “extreme situations” , according to the exchange. Binance said in an announcement it would be “transferring 100% of SAFU’s assets to USDC.”

Binance is launching Binance Megadrop, a new token launch platform with airdrops and Web3 quests, where users can subscribe BNB to Locked Products and/or complete tasks in their Web3 Wallet for early access to rewards from selected Web3 projects before their tokens are listed on the Binance Exchange.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

???? The UK FinTech sector has reclaimed its position as the most funded startup sector in the country, raising an impressive $1.4 billion across 73 rounds in the first quarter of 2024 .

???? SC Ventures makes strategic investment in Algbra, establishes partnership with its UK sustainable finance platform Shoal. As part of the agreement, Shoal, SC Ventures’ sustainable finance platform, will partner with Algbra. The terms of the deal are undisclosed .?

???? Ramp raises another $150M co-led by Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund at a $7.65B valuation. With this raise, Ramp has secured $1.2 billion in equity financing and $700 million in committed debt funding since its 2019 inception. Read on

???? Wagestream to take on high street banks after ￡17.5m fundraise. Financial benefits provider aims to serve millions overlooked by banking - & already processes more salaries than Virgin Money and Metro Bank.

???? Latvian FinTech startup inGain raises EUR 650,000. This is the first publicly announced investment in Latvian startups this year. inGain offers a no-code SaaS loan management system to FinTech companies , as well as other businesses that want to offer lending to their customers.

???? Manchester FinTech Lemon raises ￡500k in pre-seed funding. This raise is particularly significant as it shows there is still demand for new FinTechs which can solve real problems for real businesses across the globe, despite the challenging economic climate.?

???? Brazilian embedded finance startup baasic raises R$2 million. The FinTech has set up a marketplace of financial solutions, with products and services from various banks, issuers, payment providers, and even insurers. Read the full article

M&A

???? Konvi, a European luxury assets fractional investment platform, has acquired leading alternative investing platforms Diversified and Fractible, bolstering its global user base to 50,000 active users . Konvi is eyeing more acquisitions in the near future to strengthen its market-leading position, grow its customer base and expand its offering.

???? Denmark’s Saxo Bank up for sale. A deal could value the privately held bank at about €1.5bn, sources say. The bank is exploring a possible sale , 18 months after talks to merge with a blank-cheque company fell apart, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

???? Mox Bank announced the appointment of Igor Lau as its new Chief Customer Officer (CCO), effective 1 April 2024. With responsibilities spanning customer experience design, brand proposition development, partnerships, marketing, and analytics, Igor will elevate the future of customer engagement at Mox .?

???? Adyen announced it has named Gabriele Bellezze country manager for Italy to develop the Dutch payments group's presence in the country. An expert in digital payments, Bellezze, 39, will lead Adyen's Milan-based team as the company expands in sectors such as food and beverage and hospitality.

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