AI is Now (under)Writing Your Loan Story
Future of Fintech - Edition #107 (20th-26th Feb)
Open banking brews new partnerships, AI automates workflows, BNPL expands globally, and DeFi sees regulatory steps forward. There's something for every fintech enthusiast. Dive into the latest fintech news for a taste of the future!
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What’s on the fintech menu today?
📖 Today’s Must Read: Toast’s Embedded Finance Playbook
🌟 Fintech Fiesta: The Week's Hot 10!
🌐 ‘Byte’ Buzz: Fintech highlights, sorted by segment!
🔗 Link Up: Your gateway to resourceful links!
Fin-teresting Stories in Fintech 📰
Toast's Secret Ingredient: Disrupting Restaurant Finance
Can serving up software transform the way restaurants manage money? Toast, the restaurant industry tech darling, is betting on it. Their recipe for success isn't just about point-of-sale (POS) systems – it's about seamlessly blending financial tools directly into the heart of restaurant operations.
Toast is offering a suite of financial products specifically tailored to restaurants, including loans, payment processing, and insurance. But that's not all! They're also partnering with fintech players to expand their offerings and drive impressive revenue growth.
What does this mean for the future of restaurants?
This can help restaurants improve their cash flow, manage their finances more effectively, and grow their business. Check out our full report to see how Toast is leveraging embedded finance to drive impressive revenue growth, exceeding 80% of their income. Our report also explores:
The suite of financial solutions offered by Toast Capital, including lending, BNPL, payments, payouts, cards, and insurance.
Toast's collaborations with fintech players and licensed institutions to power their embedded finance offerings.
How Toast leverages embedded finance to drive revenue growth.
The potential disruption Toast brings to restaurant finance and future trends.
Gain valuable insights into Toast's Embedded Finance Playbook and discover the investment opportunities in the booming embedded finance market!
Join the tech fiesta at our 107th weekly fintech shindig—where we're serving up the latest sips of innovation straight from the galaxy of finance! 🚀
The Week's Hot 10! ♨️🔟
Remaining committed to its mission of improving the payment landscape, OpenPayd collaborated with TrueLayer to augment its range of instant payment solutions for clients. Additionally, UK-based Zilch introduced a 'Pay over 3 months' product to provide increased flexibility for customers.
Major players are ensuring the global reach of fintech innovation - Revolut extended its Premium and Metal plans to New Zealand, complementing the existing Standard plan and granting Kiwi customers affordable access to exclusive benefits. Meanwhile, Dutch fintech Adyen and Buy Now Pay Later provider Billie sealed a deal, enabling businesses across Europe to seamlessly integrate B2B BNPL payment services.
Dedicatedly pursuing benefits for investors and businesses, Nubank expanded its investment options, introducing a Certificate of Deposit tied to the Consumer Price Index (CDB IPCA) to provide customers with an additional fixed-rate investment choice for portfolio diversification and protection against inflation. Concurrently, Fiserv partnered with Genesis Bank, a diverse Minority Depository Institution (MDI), to grant businesses in low- and moderate-income communities access to point-of-sale (POS) technology.
Revolutionising the game with AI prowess, big players took centre stage last week. Bud Financial, a data intelligence platform, collaborated with open banking solutions provider Fintech Galaxy to deliver open banking and AI-powered services to customers in the MENA region. Additionally, Finastra's Filogix team introduced Gen AI capabilities in its Expert Pro Canadian Mortgage POS solution. This feature automates the generation of borrower narratives, facilitating lender underwriting and streamlining processes, thereby saving time and reducing errors for brokers.
In the realm of DeFi, last week was all about regulations and the big bucks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority made a significant move by issuing guidance for digital asset custodial services, enhancing the licensing framework and providing a regulatory pathway for the legal operations of crypto exchanges. Simultaneously, Eigen Labs, the force behind the EigenLayer protocol, made waves with a $100M funding round from A16z Crypto. Fueled by this investment, EigenLayer aims to advance its restaking platform, contributing to the fortification of Ethereum's security infrastructure.
Now, for the ‘byte’-sized fintech buzz –
Amidst the Embedded Finance landscape, exciting strategic launches and partnerships unfolded, bringing forth a range of financial services tailored for diverse consumers.
UK-based API-first bank Griffin launched Foundations, a programme for UK companies to integrate financial products with BaaS solutions. Foundations cater to UK companies aiming to offer financial products to customers, leveraging a full-stack BaaS provider.
Green Dot Corporation teamed with Dayforce, a global HCM software provider, to offer a comprehensive suite of services, including immediate access to earned wages and aims to support financial wellness and flexibility for employees.
In the world of Open Finance, the fintech players were busy participating and adopting the 'openness' phenomenon, utilising every ounce of tech potency to rock a ton of financial use cases.
Payment services and data enrichment platform Tink confirmed its participation in the European Payments Council's SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme. This scheme, designed to facilitate Open Data access, aims to ensure that banks maintain robust application programming interfaces (APIs) and real-time payments infrastructure by providing adequate incentives.
BV Bank declared its adoption of Open Finance. The bank will leverage this system to simulate vehicle financing. According to the bank, the use of Open Finance data to personalise car financing conditions is unprecedented among banks in the country.
Enter the realm of Digital Finance, where financial pioneers unleash a wave of innovative solutions by facilitating loan access while simultaneously fostering a culture of smart savings!
UK-based Tandem Bank launched an affordability calculator in a bid to further support intermediaries and borrowers. Brokers will be able to quickly check the maximum loan available in a few steps, leading to better and faster lending processes and decisions.
Singapore-based digital bank Tonik launched the ‘Luv Stash,’ a savings account that enables couples to save and earn a 4.5% interest rate. It is designed to bring couples closer through shared financial goals and exclusive interest rates, without the need to open a joint bank account.
In the Fintech Infrastructure domain, seasoned players leveraged strategic alliances to sculpt a dynamic payment and lending landscape, with a special focus on catering to the European clientele.
Omnichannel payment solution Payplug partnered with flexible payment infrastructure provider Mangopay. The partnership aims to allow clients to benefit from a seamless and complete payment solution through Mangopay’s marketplace capabilities, which also include payout solutions. This will complete Payplug’s pay-in expertise and will support businesses throughout Europe.
Fintech BankiFi partnered with financier Praetura to develop a lending-as-a-service solution for SMEs in the UK. The platform is specifically designed to help SMEs access growth funding, even if they do not meet the requirements of traditional banks. Through BankiFi’s technology platform, Praetura will provide asset and invoice finance to SMEs on behalf of banks that are unable to support these businesses.
Take a peek into the ever-evolving DeFi universe, where players navigate new horizons while maintaining a vigilant focus on safeguarding the DeFi arena.
Nexo, a digital assets institution, joined forces with Sift to transform its fraud prevention, bolster security, and ensure a safer user experience. Leveraging Sift’s advanced AI and ML technology, Nexo will utilise Payment Protection and Account Defense for robust protection against various account and payment fraud challenges.
Curve Finance unveils new DeFi lending contracts signifying its entry into the competitive DeFi lending market. Through the introduction of new lending contracts, it enables arbitrage traders to capitalise on profitable trading opportunities.
Embark on the eco-friendly terrain of Green Finance, as financial giants introduce a spectrum of sustainable investments and innovative toolkits, tailored to satisfy a dynamic user base.
BNP Paribas Asset Management launched its ESG active fixed income ETF range, featuring the BNP Paribas Easy Sustainable EUR Corporate Bond and Government Bond ETFs, applying an index-like approach with a sustainable twist through the firm’s proprietary ESG methodology.
NatWest and sustainability fintech Cogo joined forces to create a toolkit to help build carbon literacy among SMEs and guide them through the carbon disclosure process.
And that's a wrap 👋
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Weekly Fintech Brew!
As a reward for making it all the way here, enjoy a curated list of awesome fintech resources to keep your curiosity cup full to the brim. Cheers to continuous learning! 🔗
Link Up! –
GenAI is about to transform banks front to back Report - BCG
Top 10 Opportunities for Technology Companies in 2024 Report - EY
Speed is of the essence: Are you ready for instant payments in Europe? Blog - Finastra
2023 Roundup: Mortgage Makeover with Open Banking Blog - WhiteSight
2023 Roundup: SMB Financing Gets a Makeover with Embedded Finance Blog - WhiteSight
The Future of Financial Services and Trust in the MENA Region Report - Brankas X Arab Financial Services X WhiteSight
Hungry for more fintech insights? Check out some of our other work at WhiteSight.
If you're someone who likes to read think pieces, you will likely love our monthly blog, Fintersections, where our team members analyse the convergence of fintech with the world.
Fintech research is in the WhiteSight DNA, so if you'd like to get in touch for features, sponsorships, and content marketing services, reach out to us at hello@whitesight.net.
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