FinTech Drama: JPMorgan Freezes Out Gemini After Public Clash
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
It’s not every day a banking relationship gets iced over a tweet, but that’s where we are. JPMorgan has reportedly paused re-onboarding Gemini after Tyler Winklevoss slammed the bank’s new data access fees as "anti-competitive" and "immoral."
The dust-up adds fuel to long-standing friction between crypto players and legacy banks. Scroll down for the whole back-and-forth, what it means for FinTech access, and why Gemini may be the first of many to push back.
Also, the latest updates in FinTech 👇
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🇺🇸 Interactive Brokers considers launching a new stablecoin for customers. In an interview, Interactive Brokers' billionaire founder Thomas Peterffy said the company is working on potentially issuing stablecoins, but has yet to make a final decision on how that will be offered to customers.
🇺🇸 PayPal drives crypto payments into the mainstream, reducing costs and expanding global commerce. Supporting transactions across 100+ cryptocurrencies and wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask, the solution expands merchant revenue opportunities and taps into a global base of more than 650 million crypto users.
🇺🇸 Wise shareholders overwhelmingly approve plans to ditch UK primary listing. More than 90% of Class A shareholders and 84.6% of Class B shareholders approved the deal, which will see the firm swap its London primary listing for New York.
🇺🇸 Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says it’s a ‘tragedy’ that retail can’t tap private markets. “A big tragedy is that private markets are where the bulk of the interesting appreciation and exposure is nowadays,” Tenev said in an interview. “It’s a shame that it’s so difficult to get exposure in the US. We’re working to solve that.”
PAYMENTS NEWS
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🇵🇭 GCash’s IPO is not expected this year. In an interview, the president and CEO, Martha Sazon, noted that while the IPO is still being considered, no specific timeline has been established. GCash continues to wait for the best timing before it proceeds with the filing of what could be the largest IPO in the country.
🇰🇪 Safaricom Adds New PayPal Withdrawal Feature to M-Pesa App. The withdrawal feature allows users to access their PayPal funds directly. The new integration is expected to benefit Kenya’s growing population of freelancers and remote workers who rely on PayPal for international payments.
🇬🇧 Mastercard strengthens trust in Account-to-Account payments. By combining cutting-edge fraud prevention technology and a new, clear dispute resolution framework, Mastercard A2A Protect will enable banks to provide consumers with the appropriate levels of protection against fraudsters.
🇰🇷 Pay-by-face expands in Korea. Payments made solely through facial recognition, or "pay-by-face," are being adopted rapidly as financial companies compete to gain an early foothold in next-generation financial services. While the initiative was bold, the requirement to register one's face in person at banks proved inconvenient.
🇺🇸 Paze's move beyond big bank owners gets a credit union boost. Paze is getting a boost from Star One Credit Union, which says a subtle difference in the bank-owned Paze, the fact that it does not share credit card numbers with merchants, helped win it over.
🇪🇺 PayDo secures MFSA licence to grow in the EU. Their EMI licence authorizes PayDo to issue electronic money and provide payment services throughout the EU via passporting rights. This means that PayDo complies with key EU standards in anti-money laundering (AML), customer protection, and financial security.
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OPEN BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 JPMorgan pauses Gemini partnership amid FinTech data fee dispute. According to the publication, the relationship between Gemini and JPMorgan has been tense for several years. The bank advised Gemini to find another banking partner because the service had become unprofitable.
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DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇲🇦 Revolut names first executive in Morocco as it prepares to enter the market. This pivotal role has been entrusted to Amine Berrada, the former operations director for Uber in Southern and Eastern Europe. He has been tasked with steering Revolut's strategic direction and growth in Morocco.
🇬🇧 Digital challenger bank Chetwood Bank announces Manchester opening as balance sheet hits £5bn. The digital challenger has reached this latest milestone just as plans were announced to open a fourth office in Manchester in the coming months, adding to the company’s current presence in London.
🇺🇸 Tide turns as TPG leads talks to lead digital bank fundraising. Sources said that Tide's existing investors were expected to sell shares to TPG, while a separate deal would involve another existing shareholder in the company acquiring newly issued shares.
🇧🇷 Nubank Ultravioleta expands the Travel eSIM benefit with 10 GB that never expires and automatic annual renewal. The benefit also automatically renews after 365 days. This new feature offers greater flexibility and convenience, ensuring continuous connectivity for Ultravioleta customers who travel frequently.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇿🇦 Peach Payments and MoneyBadger partnership goes live. This collaboration expands consumer payment choices and reflects the growing use of crypto for daily purchases. With this partnership, Peach Payments and MoneyBadger are making Bitcoin and crypto payments available to a much wider group of consumers.
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PARTNERSHIPS
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🇬🇧 NatWest adopts Pexa digital remortgage platform. Pexa says that its platform will help NatWest increase the speed and certainty of digital remortgage and sale and purchase transactions to homeowners, driving efficiency and transparency. Read more
🇮🇹 Crédit Agricole Italia and Nexi renew their strategic partnership until 2029. The agreement will enable the bank to further enhance its offering on digital payments, allowing customers to benefit from highly innovative, cutting-edge, and secure products and services provided by Nexi.
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DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
💰 Over the last week, there were eight FinTech deals in Europe, raising a total of €188 million, including four deals in the UK, and one each in France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
🇺🇸 Zodia Markets receives backing from Circle Ventures in an $18M funding round. The funding round was led by Pharsalus Capital, a New York-headquartered venture capital firm, with participation from Circle Ventures, The Operating Group, XVC Tech, Token BayCapital, Human Capital, and other strategic investors.
M&A
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🇨🇭 Blockstream acquires Elysium Lab and launches European HQ in Switzerland. This network aims to support product development, research, and community involvement in Bitcoin-focused technologies. Keep reading
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
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🌍 10x Banking appoints Tom Bentley as Chief Revenue Officer to accelerate global growth. Tom will lead the company’s global commercial and growth strategy as it enters its next phase of expansion across key markets, including Europe, APAC, the Middle East, and Africa.
🇬🇧 FCA appoints Liam Coleman as Interim Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service. Liam will chair the Financial Ombudsman’s board until a permanent appointment is made, after the initial recruitment campaign proved unsuccessful. Read more
🇨🇾 Crypto.com taps Coinbase’s Former Executive Louis Hawila as VP Capital Markets for Europe. His background includes non-executive directorship at Coinbase’s Cypriot-licensed entity and other financial firms, highlighting his compliance and market expertise.
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