Apple Opens Its NFC Doors to TPPs
Future of Fintech - Edition #127 (8th-15th July)
Fintechaverse was electric this week! Industry titans flexed their financial muscles, payment tech levelled up, and the global fintech community, from the EU to LATAM and everywhere in between, is meticulously crafting a concoction - one groundbreaking idea at a time.⚡
Love sipping on the latest fintech buzz with our newsletter? Pour your support and elevate your sip with a subscription donation! 😊☕
What’s on the fintech menu today?
📖 Today’s Must Read: Open Finance in Latin America: A New Era of Financial Empowerment
🌟 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 📰
Open Finance in Latin America: A New Era of Financial Empowerment
Latin America is rapidly transforming into a hotbed of open finance innovation. Recent developments in Brazil and Chile are reshaping the financial landscape, promising greater financial inclusion, competition, and consumer empowerment. From regulatory advancements to fintech expansion, the market is experiencing unprecedented growth.
Brazil's Banco Central do Brasil and the National Monetary Council (CMN) published new rules streamlining Pix payments and expanding the open finance ecosystem. This opens doors for contactless transactions and a wider range of participants, setting a precedent for other Latin American countries. Chile's Financial Market Commission (CMF) is also making significant strides with a 36-month implementation roadmap for its open finance system. This promises increased competition, financial inclusion, and service innovation.
Global players are also recognising Latin America's potential. Noda's expansion of its open banking network in Brazil to enable seamless cross-border transactions is proving to be a game-changer for merchants.
Even fintechs are pushing the boundaries. Mercado Pago, Noh, and Iniciador have begun offering the "Smart Pix" functionality in Brazil, automating transfers between accounts with a single authorisation. Similarly, Floid presented its new line of products, composed of pay-ins and payouts, with the aim of facilitating online transfers and offering a more complete service within the framework of Open Banking.
Latin America offers a vast, untapped market with a growing appetite for innovative financial solutions. By understanding these trends and acting swiftly, industry players can position themselves as leaders in this transformative landscape.
Want to stay ahead of the curve and capitalise on these opportunities? Our LinkedIn post dives deeper into these groundbreaking moves, providing a comprehensive analysis of the potential of Open Finance in Latin America.
Also Hot-off-the-press 🔥
Stripe's valuation surges to $70B as Sequoia Capital steps in with a $27.51 per share offer, offering a $861M share buyback, underscoring Stripe's robust position in the fintech landscape. This move not only highlights confidence in Stripe’s long-term vision but also signals lucrative opportunities for businesses eyeing the creator economy, omnichannel commerce, digital assets, and embedded finance.
This milestone showcases Stripe's role as a linchpin in digital economic infrastructure and offers a compelling case study for businesses seeking to excel in these dynamic sectors. To understand the full scope of Stripe's strategic bets and get an in-depth analysis of these transformative strategies, download our Stripe Economic Infrastructure Playbook report.
This is just a taste of the intel you'll uncover with a WhiteSight Radar subscription.
Unlock a treasure trove of fintech intel with a WhiteSight Radar subscription. See further with exclusive reports, industry trend breakdowns, and expert analysis on everything from Embedded Finance and Digital Banking to Open Finance and beyond.
Become a member and steer your business course with actionable intelligence on the winning strategies of leading companies like Apple, Stripe, Starling Bank, OakNorth Bank, and Toast that propels your business to the forefront of fintech. (PLUS! More in our premium content pipeline - Amazon, Grab, Wise, Shopify, Mercado Libre… the list goes on!)
Supercharge your Fintech IQ with WhiteSight Radar, putting expert fintech intel at your fingertips! 🧭
Seize the financial momentum with Edition #127, where the future of finance is being decoded.
The Week's Hot 10!♨️🔟
Big players making moves in Europe:
⤷ Apple decides to open its Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to third-party providers to avoid substantial fines from the European Union. This move allows other companies to access and utilise Apple's NFC capabilities, which were previously restricted to Apple services like Apple Pay.
⤷ N26 launched its Stocks and ETFs trading product in Ireland, allowing customers to manage their investment portfolio alongside their bank accounts and crypto portfolio within the N26 app.
Supercharging global cash flow:
⤷ HSBC and Visa launched Zing, an app allowing users to hold multiple currencies, send over 30 currencies globally, and transact in over 200 countries with a single smart multi-currency card.
⤷BNP Paribas and Ant International formed a strategic partnership to enhance cross-border payment solutions for merchants and consumers in Europe. BNP Paribas will work with Alipay+ to enable thousands of European merchants that use BNP Paribas’ acquiring service to accept payments from more than 25 international mobile partners via Alipay+.
Redefining financial user experiences for every need:
⤷ Chase and Marriott partnered to offer new benefits to Marriott Bonvoy loyalty card members, including more points and a new "Travel Now, Pay Later" benefit.
⤷ The Open Network for Digital Commerce announced that it will soon start integrating banks such as HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank, Karnataka Bank, and fintech firms like Fibe. This will enable banks to offer loans to small merchants and retailers in underserved regions of India.
Money made fast and safe:
⤷ Mercado Pago, Noh, and Iniciador began offering the ‘Smart Pix’ functionality, enabling automatic transfers via Pix between accounts with a single authorisation with the same holder.
⤷ Galileo Financial Technologies launched wire transfer capabilities to help fintechs meet demand for fast, secure money movement, improving their service options for customers and businesses.
DeFi world explores trial and test modes:
⤷ Taiwan’s central bank plans to test a CBDC prototype with the Ministry of Digital Affairs’ digital voucher system by late this year or early next year.
⤷ Goldman Sachs plans to launch three tokenisation projects by year-end as part of its strategy to capitalise on the rising interest in digital assets, particularly tokenisation.
Now, for the ‘byte’-sized fintech buzz –
Embedded Finance is taking the US by storm, putting financial power in the hands of businesses and travellers alike.
eBay launched Business Cash Advance, a new revenue-based financing product from Liberis. This product supports eBay sellers at all business stages, offering eligible US sellers up to $1M in working capital within 24 hours.
Expedia Group, Wells Fargo, and Mastercard announced plans to launch 2 new co-branded credit cards. Designed to complement One Key™, Expedia Group’s loyalty program, the One Key™ Card and One Key+™ Card will offer more flexibility, savings and perks for US travellers.
Open Finance fuels fintech partnerships across Latin America, revolutionising real-time payments and credit analysis.
Real-time digital payment platform Minka joined forces with Gmoney and Globokas - two leading Peruvian fintechs in the financial and technological sector - to expand its instant payment ecosystem in Peru.
ABN AMRO announced plans to launch two new pilot APIs—Business Account Notification API 2.0 and Business Account Notification-Filtered API—to enhance its digital capabilities. Both APIs will enable users to receive transaction data in real time without any manual effort or initiation.
Mexican digital bank Now from Invex partnered with Belvo for employment data to better analyse credit applications. This will help analyse users' credit history and employment information to better evaluate credit applicants.
Digital Finance goes global: Digital wallets heat up in Europe, while Asian giants make strategic plays.
End-to-end payments platform Ecommpay added a new feature that will allow merchants to collect recurring PayPal payments from customers alongside subscription card payments and direct debits, which they have been using to date.
NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) signed an agreement with Qatar National Bank to launch QR code-based UPI payments across the country. Under this collaboration, tourists from India and travellers can scan QR codes to make UPI payments across multiple retail touchpoints
Fintech Infrastructure gives the payment landscape a boost, making payments go global and lightning-fast with new tech upgrades.
Galileo Financial Technologies launched wire transfer capabilities to help fintechs meet the demand for fast and secure money movement, enhancing their ability to serve customers and businesses efficiently.
Datapro, a provider of core banking systems and digital solutions, partnered with Mastercard to enhance cross-border payment solutions for its customers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Euro stablecoins: The new hotness in DeFi as traditional finance and crypto worlds collide in a regulatory race.
German asset management company DWS launched a new company as part of their wider plan to go live with the new euro stablecoin next year. The cryptocurrency is set to be regulated by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
Stablecoin issuer Circle unveiled its euro-backed stablecoin, Euro Coin, on Coinbase’s layer-2 network, Base. This launch aligns with Circle’s strategy to expand its market presence in light of the implementation of Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Green Finance is lush with new initiatives that aim to weed out greenwashing and ensure real progress towards a sustainable future.
The Hedera Hashgraph partnered with Deloitte to enhance the verification of companies’ ESG impact and sustainability claims. This partnership aims at fighting greenwash and proper, tangible impact reporting through a new tool, Environmental & Social Impact (ESI), built on Hedera DLT.
BlackRock introduced "Climate and Decarbonization Stewardship Guidelines" for climate-focused funds, addressing climate risks and opportunities in client portfolios while maintaining a financial focus.
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! –
Beyond Traditional Banking: Digital Wallets and Core Technologies Redefining Finance Report - Tuum X KPMG X Mia-FinTech
Remittances Slowed in 2023, Expected to Grow Faster in 2024 Report - World Bank Group X Knomad
Payment Fraud Protection: Use Cases Blog - Sumsub
Top Takeaways from Narmi's Uplift Digital Banking Summit Blog - Narmi
2023 Roundup: SMB Financing Gets a Makeover with Embedded Finance Blog - WhiteSight
The State of Banking-as-a-Service in the UK & Europe Report - WhiteSight X Toqio
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.
And lastly, to stay updated on everything fintech and web3, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and don't be shy to show some ❤️