Each fortnight, we compile a list of some of the most important and newsworthy events in the fintech and payments industry.
Flux, the digital receipts and rewards platform, adds support for online takeout marketplace Just Eat
Online food marketplace Just Eat’s U.K. customers will be able to receive digital itemised receipts directly in their Flux-supported banking app immediately after placing an order. At launch, this will include challenger banks Starling and Monzo, with the service rolled out across Flux’s other existing bank partner, Barclays launchpad, later this year.
Fintech Startup Recko gets $1mn seed funding from Prime Venture Partners
Recko, a fintech startup that enables AI-powered reconciliation of digital transactions, also announced it is at a run rate of reconciling a quarter billion transactions annually. In the first 12 months since launch, Recko claims to have reconciled transactions worth $2 billion and is looking to scale this 10 times over in the next year.
N26 lands in the US
Starting with a staged rollout, German digital-only bank N26 has 100,000 customers on the US waitlist who will be invited to sign up and have full access to the product. A full public launch will follow later this summer.
Revolut to open tech centre in Berlin
UK headquartered digital-only bank Revolut will open a new tech hub in Berlin which will create about 80 new jobs, including software engineers, data scientists, product managers, and marketing experts. This tech hub is set to open in October this year and will provide the bank with a direct presence on the turf of German-headquartered digital bank N26.
For a brief overview on N26 and Revolut, click here: Key Digital Banking Players in Europe
Samsung Pay Offers Payments, Credit to Indian Marketplaces
Samsung has partnered with online financial services marketplace Paisabazaar.com to allow consumers to apply for credit cards and loans via the Samsung Pay app. Paisabazaar.com’s predictive algorithm, “Chance of Approval”, will be used by Samsung to connect customers with the lenders mostly likely to approve their applications.
Bank APIs not ready for PSD2 deadline – Tink
With PSD2’s Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) deadline fast approaching, Swedish open banking platform Tink is claiming that European lenders have failed to provide the proper technology environment for third-party providers to access payments data as required by the new law.
Visa invests in crypto custodian Anchorage
Digital asset custody services provider Anchorage has raised $40 million in a Series funding round led by Blockchain Ventures and joined by Visa and Andreessen Horowitz.
India’s NiYO ‘neo-bank’ raises $35M to help blue-collar workers access financial services
NiYO Solutions, a Bangalore-based “neo-bank” that helps salaried employees and blue-collar workers access company benefits and other financial services, has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round from Horizons Ventures, Tencent and existing investor JS Capital. It has raised $49.2 million to date, with its $13.2 million Series A closing in January last year.
Mastercard acquires Transfast to extend payment network
The acquisition builds on Mastercard’s strength in payments and drives improved transparency and certainty in cross-border transactions, enabling people and businesses to send and receive money beyond borders with greater speed and ease. Transfast will enable Mastercard to continue servicing the growing needs of consumers and businesses as well as governments and merchants in cross-border transactions.
Challenger Neo gets authorised by Spanish central bank
UK-headquartered digital bank Neo has been authorised to offer a multicurrency account for corporates by the Bank of Spain and will allow the account holder to receive, store and pay in around 30 currencies. The Neo account will include an IBAN in the client’s name, and will be fully programmable in order to offer extended automation capabilities to clients.