Fintech Inside #2 - 19th Sept, 2020
Hi, Osborne here.
Welcome to the first edition of Fintech Inside. Fintech Inside is intended to be the front page for Fintech in emerging markets.
Diving in
Fintech’s Hiring
If you’re a Fintech who’s hiring I’d like to help. Write to me and I’ll put your requirement here.
India
Market Updates:
HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, increases charges and fees for credit cards of all customers Read More
NPCI, India’s payments umbrella entity, may introduce a limit on the market share any one app can have on total UPI payments in India Read More
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a new regulation to automate classification and reporting of non performing assets Read More
Zerodha, Indian discount brokerage firm, has conducted an ESOP buyback Read More
Parliamentary panel proposes abolishing Long Term Capital gains tax on investment in Indian startups Read More
Flipkart, Walmart-owned ecommerce company, which owns PhonePe, Indian payments platform, allows rival Paytm on checkout Read More
Eko, banking correspondent company for rural India, partners with TERA Finlabs to provide affordable credit to 300K small merchants Read More
Flipkart, Walmart-owned ecommerce company, plans to go public in 2021. Will most likely list in overseas markets Read More
Mobikwik, Indian payments platform which evolved into providing financial services, plans to go public in 2022 Read More
Paytm, Indian payments company, was removed for a day from Google’s Play store for violating the store’s policies Read More
Funding Announcements:
Acko, Indian general insurance carrier, secures USD 60 Mn Series D round led by Munich Re Ventures Read More
Cashkaro, Indian cashback startup, raised USD 10 mn led by Korea Investment Partners Read More
South East Asia
Market Updates:
SingLife, Singaporean digital insurer, to acquire 75% stake in Aviva Singapore. The combined entity, known as Aviva SingLife will be valued at USD 3.2 bn Read More
Razer Fintech and Franklin Templeton team up to design digital wealth tools for the millenials Read More
Standard Chartered reports first blockchain Letter of Credit transfer between Thailand and Vietnam Read More
hoolah, Singaporean buy now pay later startup, launches its solution for physical stores in Singapore Read More
Funding Societies, South East Asian P2P SME lender, appoints Ex-GoBear co-founder as CFO Read More
Report on e-wallet face-off in Vietnam Read More
New law passed by Indonesia’s House of Representatives, raises a question on the country’s central bank’s independence Read More
Singapore to pay citizens for keeping healthy with Apple Watch Read More
gojek acquires WePay to expand its e-wallet business into Vietnam Read More
Funding Announcements:
Thunes, South East Asian cross border payments solution, raises USD 60 mn in Series B Funding Read More
AMTD fund invests S$11.5m in five Singapore-based fintech startups Read More
Kim An Group, SME lender in Vietnam, closes Series A funding Read More
Fvndit, Vietnamese P2P SME lender, raised USD 30 million for expansion Read More
Collectius, South East Asian debt resolution startup, raised USD 60 mn from IFC to launch a debt reconstruction platform in the region Read More
Europe
Market Updates:
Ohpen acquires Davinci, Europe’s STP loan and mortgage software company, to creating a comprehensive cloud banking platform Read More
ConnectedFi, SaaS platform for loan brokers, partners with Lloyds, UK’s largest bank, for faster credit decisions Read More
Railsbank, a global API banking SaaS platform, buys UK’s troubled payments firm Wirecard Card Solutions Read More
Lloyd's, UK’s largest bank predicts huge increase in non-performing assets cause from the pandemic Read More
Monedo, a German fintech backed by investor Peter Thiel, has filed for bankruptcy after failing to recover from the economic effects of the Coronavirus pandemic Read More
Some of the UK's biggest banks have signed a government-backed pledge to improve collaboration with fintech firms Read More
Pleo, European credit card platform for businesses, integrates with Apple Pay across Europe Read More
Christine Lagarde, Chairwoman of the ECB, advocates for a digital currency Read More
Airwallex, Australian neo-bank platform for businesses, rolls out card payment acceptance in the UK and Europe Read More
Gala Technology partners Nuapay to enable Open Banking payments Read More
UK Banks asked to join £10m data challenge, called Trinity Challenge, for global public health in a public program headed by Trinity College Read More
WorldRemit, gloabl remittance app, launches transfer tracker app Read More
Rapyd, a global payments as a service company, added end-to-end card acquiring capabilities Read More
The European Union (EU) could pass new laws to make it mandatory for Apple to share the iPhone’s payments technology Read More
Multi Bank, UK based forex startup, introduces multi-currency bank accounts Read More
Caixa Bank to merge with Bankia, creating Spain’s largest bank. The combined entity will have assets of more than EUR 664 bn (USD 786.7 bn) Read More
Mastercard enrolled into Pay.UK Request to Pay framework and announces first customer for its service Read More
Funding Announcements:
Klarna becomes Europe’s most valued Fintech startup valued at USD 11 bn Read More
Descartes Underwriting, European insurance SaaS startup, raised USD 18.5 million for its data-driven insurance platform Read More
Chip, UK-based automatic saving app, raised a total of GBP 10.7 mn from the crowd and the government-backed Future Fund, as part of the company’s series A round. Read More
Swan, French banking-as-a-service startup, has raised EUR 5 mn in a seed round led by Creandum with participation from Bpifrance's Digital Venture Fund Read More
Factris, Amsterdam-based SME lender, raised EUR 5 mn Series-A round led by AB Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of the Bank Read More
Konsentus, a UK regtech startup, raised a pre-Series A round led by Conviction Investment Partners Read More
Other Notable Stories
Brazilian Fintech NuBank to acquire broker Easynvest
National Australian Bank has launched a no-interest credit card
Masayoshi Son zeros in on Japan, where he is ready to lose billions in a battle to conquer cash
Hotels.com Debuts Loyalty Program Visa Card
4 charts on the impact COVID-19 has had on consumer fintech adoption
Booming South East Asia Fintech Investment and Exit Landscape
Team8, Former Bank CEO and Two Fintech Unicorn Entrepreneurs Join Forces with Team8 to Launch New Fintech Venture Powerhouse
The Top Ten Largest Banks in Israel in 2020
Fintech sector faces “Existential Threat” says McKinsey
Nurturing a cashless future: Inside China’s Startups
Jefa is a Latin American challenger bank for women without bank accounts
Facebook’s Libra hires HSBC veteran as Managing Director
Affirm, US-based buy now pay later, raised USD 500 mn
If you’ve made it this far - thanks! As always, you can always reach me at connect@osborne.vc. I’d genuinely appreciate any and all feedback. If you liked what you read, please consider sharing or subscribing.
See you in the next edition.