HSBC quietly hired from Revolut, Monzo & Wise for new FinTech rival
TGIF!
This week was mostly about recovery for me after a big new year's party in Curacao.
The celebrations on this island are unlike anything I've witnessed before. From the vibrant energy to the colorful festivities (and insane fireworks), Curacao's year-end bash is truly in a league of its own.
For those seeking a blend of cultural richness and jubilant celebrations as the year winds down, Curacao is the destination to be!
As we step into the weekend, I encourage you to take a moment for relaxation and enjoyment, just like I am here at the beach. Make the most of it.
Enjoy, and stay tuned for more FinTech insights and stories next week.
Cheers to a fantastic weekend ahead!
Marcel
#FINTECHREPORT
🤔Understanding Payment Orchestration.
INSIGHTS
FINTECH NEWS
Intergiro empowers merchants with cutting-edge card processing technology via Silverflow alliance. This move will allow Intergiro to offer its clients enhanced card network functionality, increased processing efficiency, and unprecedented access to card scheme data.
🇨🇱 Neat reaches 50k users, collaborates with banks to integrate bill payments via credit card in Chile’s Biobío region. The platform provides features for automated bill payments and customer support, with an average 30-minute query resolution time. Neat’s technology stack, developed entirely within Chile, focuses on rapid integration and data security.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 Quarter of UK BNPL users charged late fees. The use of BNPL has soared in recent years: a third of UK adults have now used the services, rising to 40% of 18-34-year-olds, according to a survey for education charity the Centre for Financial Capability.
🇮🇳 According to Watcher Guru, Google Pay has 67 million users in India, by far its largest single market 🤯 – Google Pay has roughly 150 million users globally. It has the second-largest market share on the paramount United Payments Interface payments rail and is now pushing into consumer and merchant lending.
Adyen forms partnership with Iceland's Straumur. Together, the parties will create simpler and more seamless payments for Straumur’s merchants and end-consumers. With the help of Adyen, merchants can collect all payment data from all sales channels, markets and consumers on the same platform.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
HSBC quietly hired from Revolut, Monzo & Wise for new fintech rival. Zing, its new money transfer service, has been in the works for some time now and has been bringing together HSBC veterans, and new faces from the fintech scene, including from Zing's main competitors.
🇲🇽 Mexican banker Banorte plans to launch its digital bank product, called Banco Bineo, in January after receiving approval from the country's banking regulator, it recently said in a filing. Read more
🇺🇸 Revolut app allegedly wrongly scans users' faces, violating IL biometrics law, class action says. The plaintiff, Tina Haralampopoulos, alleges that Revolut unlawfully collects, uses, and stores sensitive biometric data without properly informing users or obtaining their written consent.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
Visa pilots Web3 customer loyalty platform. The customer engagement platform, named the Visa Web3 Loyalty Engagement Solution, will let brands create digital wallets where they can store reward points and experiences on behalf of consumers.
🇺🇸 Goldman Sachs is in talks to become an authorized participant for potential bitcoin ETFs to be issued by BlackRock and Grayscale, CoinDesk reported. As a potential AP, Goldman Sachs would be responsible for the creation and redemption of ETF shares.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇬🇧 Drive now, pay later fintech Bumper revs up with £40 million Series B. The new funding will be used to expand Bumper’s reach and technology as it seeks to become the dominant payment platform for car dealers across Europe, most notably the UK, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland.
🇺🇸 Exponent Founders Capital, led by Plaid and Robinhood alums, raises $75M to invest in early-stage startups. Seventy-five percent of the firm’s new fund will be used toward investing at the early stage, including pre-seed rounds. The remainder is reserved for follow-on investing. Exponent is focused on investing in the U.S. and Europe.
M&A
🇬🇧 HSBC reportedly eyeing Tesco Bank acquisition. Alongside a number of rival incumbent banks, such as Lloyds and Barclays, a Sky News report said HSBC had already submitted a potential offer to acquire Tesco Bank. This includes about five million customers and 3,500 employees.
🇺🇸 Talus Pay acquires Jobox.ai and Clarus Merchant Services. The company is well positioned to drive growth within the home and facility services verticals while scaling the Jobox technology to serve other core industry verticals including auto repair, beauty, hospitality, non-profit, and service retail, among others.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
🇬🇧 Volt appoints ex-Thunes Irina Chuchkina as Chief Marketing Officer. Chuchkina said: “I firmly believe in the transformative power of real-time payments. Over the next few years, they will disrupt the status quo and reshape the payment ecosystem, and there is currently no company that is better suited to lead this evolution than Volt.”
🇸🇪 Sequoia partner Matt Miller will join the boards of Klarna Holding AB and its subsidiary, Klarna Bank AB. The appointment was confirmed by Klarna’s shareholders at the EGM on 29 December 2023 and is subject to regulatory approval. Read more
🇧🇷 Klavi has appointed Rafael Simões as the Director of Legal Affairs and Data Protection Officer (DPO). In his new role, Simões will coordinate activities primarily focused on data protection and banking regulations, aiming to solidify Klavi's operations within the Open Finance framework.
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