Brazil Goes "Pix Perfect"
Future of Fintech - Edition #126 (2nd-7th July)
Fintech forecast: The winds of change are blowing strong! Central authorities are pouring game-changing regulatory moves, payment upgrades are striking like lightning, and the Asian and LATAM fintech scenes are sizzling. It's time to embrace the change!
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What’s on the fintech menu today?
📖 Today’s Must Read: 5 M&A Deals That Signal a Strategic Shift
🌟 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 📰
5 M&A Deals That Signal a Strategic Shift
The fintech space is buzzing with strategic acquisitions, and for good reason. These deals offer a glimpse into the future of finance, a future brimming with smarter tools, deeper integrations, and a laser focus on user experience. Let's dissect 5 recent M&A moves that signal a future brimming with innovation and opportunity:
Nubank + Hyperplane = AI-Powered Personalisation: Nubank's acquisition of Hyperplane ushers in the era of AI-powered financial products. This means sophisticated algorithms that analyse income patterns, spending habits, and financial goals to recommend personalised products – from loan options that consider income fluctuations to budgeting tools that learn from users’ behaviour and adjust automatically.
Chime + Salt Labs = Supercharging Employer-Driven Fintech: Chime's acquisition of Salt Labs goes beyond user acquisition. It's a strategic move to create Chime Enterprise, a dedicated division focused on building alliances with businesses. This means businesses can embed Chime's financial tools directly within their platform, allowing employees seamless access to features like early wage access or budgeting tools.
American Express + Tock & Rooam = Powering Up the Restaurant Experience: American Express' acquisitions of Tock and its sights set on Rooam signal a land grab in the restaurant tech space. It’s not just interested in processing payments; it wants to be the central nervous system of the entire dining experience. This could translate to features like personalised reservation recommendations, seamless table-side ordering, or even loyalty programs that transcend individual restaurants.
iBusiness Funding + Funding Circle = Strategic Allocation: The iBusiness Funding acquisition of Funding Circle's US business is all about strategic pivot. It allows Funding Circle to laser focus on its core strength: building a robust lending platform. Its US loan portfolio finds a new home with a company dedicated to nurturing its long-term potential.
Klarna + Consortium of Investors = Streamlining Scalable Growth: Klarna's divestment of its checkout solution signifies a strategic shift towards doubling down on its core flexible payment offering. The buyer is a consortium of investors led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi, CEO at BLQ Invest. By streamlining its operations and focusing solely on BNPL, it can work more effectively with existing distribution channels. Klarna's move ensures it remains at the forefront of the rapidly growing BNPL space.
These deals aren't just about companies changing hands. They offer valuable insights for businesses of all sizes, especially those in the fintech space.
This is a must-read for anyone interested in:
How AI is shaping financial services
The rise of employer-driven financial wellness programs
How technology is transforming the restaurant industry
Strategic M&A in the business world
Head over to our LinkedIn post to get the full scoop on these M&A moves and what they mean for the future of finance. Join the conversation and share your thoughts! 💭
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Edition #126 shines bright! 🌟Experience the thrilling momentum of financial innovation with us!
The Week's Hot 10!♨️🔟
Central banks took centre stage:
⤷ The Central Bank of Brazil announced new regulations for Open Finance and Pix payments. The measures aim to simplify the initiation of Pix payments, enabling tap-to-pay transactions with the instant payment system.
⤷ The Financial Market Commission published regulations for the Open Finance System, effective in 24 months, allowing the sharing of financial information and access to better products and services.
⤷ The Central Bank of Kuwait approved the launch of WAMD, a new instant payment system for account-to-account transfers using just a phone number.
Teamwork in high gear:
⤷ Adyen and noon partnered to enhance payment solutions, streamline processes, reduce fraud, and provide customer insights for a better shopping experience.
⤷ Klarna partnered with Adobe Commerce to enable merchants to easily implement Klarna’s BNPL services, along with other flexible payment options.
⤷ Pinwheel partnered with Narmi to offer seamless digital account activation and direct deposit switching, enhancing customer relationships for banks and credit unions.
Achievements on peak:
⤷ UK agriculture-centric challenger Oxbury Bank achieved profitability three years after its launch. The challenger made a pre-tax profit of over £3M in 2023.
⤷ Greek neobank Snappi received a universal banking licence from the European Central Bank, authorising it to offer loans and accept deposits.
Authorities make moves in DeFi:
⤷ The Monetary Authority of Singapore expanded asset tokenisation in financial services by partnering with global associations to establish standards in fixed income, FX, and asset and wealth management.
⤷ The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of France signed an MoU on wholesale CBDCs, following the ECB's second phase of experiments with wholesale central bank money.
Now, for the ‘byte’-sized fintech buzz –
In the Embedded Finance world, strategic collaborations are shaking up payments and putting control and convenience back in consumers' hands.
Payments platform Mollie and fintech Riverty joined forces, offering a 30-day Invoicing Solution in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany. Mollie customers now have an additional option to pay afterwards, with a payment period of up to 30 days. The payment method helps to optimise conversion and further simplify the payment process.
Worldline partnered with BaaS company BKN301 to bring new digital and secure payment solutions to the market. The partnership will allow BKN301 to offer instant payment card issuance through online onboarding for a simple, secure activation experience.
Get ready for a borderless financial world as Open Finance drives financial inclusion across the globe!
Global open banking and payments provider Noda expanded its open banking network to Brazil. Merchants partnering with Noda can now access cross-border payment services, unified reconciliation, single onboarding, and instant banking across Brazil, Europe, the UK, and Canada.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) enhanced financial inclusion through Open Finance initiatives, measuring financial health, collecting digital payment pricing data, and supporting internet access legislation - enabling seamless account openings for savings, insurance, pension, and retirement.
Digital Finance goes global: Digital wallets heat up in Europe, while Asian giants make strategic plays.
The European Payments Initiative launched Wero, its digital wallet and instant account-to-account payments solution, with its initial rollout taking place in Germany.
China’s Ant International acquired Dutch payments firm MultiSafepay and will integrate the company with its payments and digitisation solutions unit Antom.
In the Fintech Infrastructure realm, banks were seen doubling down on digital transformation for a customer-centric future.
Siam Commercial Bank partnered with Sunline - a global provider of banking technology services - to revamp the IT architecture for SCB's core banking system modernisation. Furthermore, the partnership will enable SCB to offer tailored financial solutions to individual customers and corporate clients.
HDFC Bank announced that it will migrate its Core Banking System to the newly engineered platform to enhance robustness and scalability. This migration will enhance performance speed, increase capacity for high traffic volumes, and improve reliability and scalability.
Last week’s DeFi landscape saw traditional titans harnessing the power of blockchain and digital assets.
DBS Group Holdings expanded its digital asset offerings by partnering with Paxos Trust to launch a stablecoin custody service in Singapore, leveraging Paxos' MAS licence to deepen its digital asset engagement.
Clearstream, DekaBank, and DZ Bank issued two tokenised bonds, valued at €5M each, using DLT. These issuances are part of the European Central Bank trials aimed at exploring the potential of DLT for settling wholesale transactions in central bank money.
Green Finance witnessed a tidal wave as sustainable investing is making a splash from Wall Street to the main street.
Deutsche Bank issued its inaugural €500M social bond. The proceeds will support the bank’s sustainable asset pool, funding areas such as affordable housing and essential services for the elderly and vulnerable populations.
BlackRock launched its iShares Global Real Estate Environmental Tilt UCITS ETF, an exchange-traded fund investing in listed real estate equities globally. It adopted an ESG integration approach and tilted towards more environmentally sustainable issuers.
And that's a wrap 👋
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Weekly Fintech Brew!
As a reward for making it this far, enjoy a curated list of awesome fintech resources to keep your curiosity cup full to the brim. Cheers to continuous learning!
🔗 Link Up! –
The Impact of Simultaneous Regulatory Proposals in Retail Banking Report - Oliver Wyman
The Beginners Guide to Digital Transformation in Banking Report - Amount
How are virtual IBANs revolutionising payment and reconciliation processes? Blog - Merge
Interchange revenue: What is it and how do you optimize it? Blog - Adyen
Revolutionary Open Banking Use Cases in North America Blog - WhiteSight
The State of Embedded Finance (Q1 2024) Report - 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.
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