Future of Fintech | Edition #62 – March 2023

Summary of news from 21st to 27th March

Mar 28, 2023

Greetings, Fintech Folks!👋

Get ready to turn up and tune in to the freshest edition of our Future of Fintech newsletter, where we drop the hottest updates on the ever-evolving financial technology game. Our Tuesday blend is a bold brew of updates that covers everything from cutting-edge payment solutions to eco-friendly finance! 💡

Last week's fintech scene witnessed an epic eruption of exceptional innovation - spreading from the peaks of Europe to the golden sands of the Middle East. But that's not all - we can't overlook the embedded finance domain, for it dominated the discussion with some sensational happenings that stirred up the news bulletin!

Buckle up because the financial industry is in the midst of a major transformation! Agile fintechs are no longer the only players in the game, as traditional financial institutions have also levelled up to cater to their customers' demands. With industry innovators leading the charge, the fintech landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, bringing forth new and improved money movement technology that is sleek, modular, and user-friendly. If you're eager to stay ahead of the curve, you'll want to get your hands on our latest Fintech Infrastructure - Jan-Feb 2023 roundup report, which spills the tea on the hottest trends in fintech infrastructure.

Get ready for a steamy cup of pure fintech zest, 'cause #Edition 62 is here to drop the week’s fintech affairs that are full of varied flavours!

Here's the TL;DR

Showcasing novel payment solutions to the masses, Plend partnered with GoCardless to offer variable recurring payments (VRPs). Enfuce, too, teamed up with Science Card to issue Mastercard-backed payments card for funding UK science research.
Delving into the diverse domain of lending – While Conte.it collaborated with Tink for the instant lending application process via Instant Income Verification, Nubank expanded the tests for the payroll loan offer, NuConsignado with federal public servants.
Presenting a plethora of products to the public, UNO Digital Bank partnered with GCash to offer saving products. Not just that, but Wenalyze and FintechOS also teamed up on advanced risk analysis and digital capabilities for insurers.
Bringing innovation to the table, Checkout.com introduced card issuing, allowing businesses to issue customised virtual and physical cards. Meanwhile, SAP Fioneer launched B2B embedded finance platform Fioneer Embedded Finance-as-a-Service (EFaaS) to facilitate orchestration between SAP users and Financial Service Institutions (FSIs).
CBDC adoption continues to go global as The Central Bank of the UAE launched the strategy for ‘The Digital Dirham’, while Novatti participated in the CBDC pilot led by the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

For the longer read, let's get going –

The Open Finance arena was on a bold mission to break down financial barriers and bring finance to the fingertips of the masses, with a focus on democratising the game.

Union Bank of Philippines turned to Banking Industry Architecture Network to accelerate digital inclusion with low-code and open banking for fresh digital banking choices.
Swedish fintech Payer launched open banking payments for B2B in Sweden, including an end-to-end solution that helps businesses to capture payments, with full reconciliation and settlement – giving the merchant full visibility of the payment status in real-time.

Buckle up and brace yourself for major disruption in the Digital Finance arena as players push the envelope and explore new industries!

Brex launched a new travel booking service, built in partnership with Spotnana, on its Empower platform - allowing users to book and change travel within the app, receive agent support, get receipts, and view the applicable travel policies throughout their trip.
Relio received a fintech licence from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). With the licence, the startup plans to launch a digital business account for SMEs.

The Embedded Finance sphere went on an exploration spree, expanding its possibilities and potential by exploring new geographies.

Cross River and Pay.com partnered to extend Pay.com's automated payment platform into the US and drive additional growth.
Japan's Mizuho Financial Group made the news for its plans to invest about $128M in Indonesian deferred payment business Kredivo, with the aim of tapping into the relatively low credit card penetration rate in the country.

The Fintech Infrastructure landscape saw a turbo-boost of tech-savvy oomph as industry influencers unleashed the trendiest tools to revolutionise the customer journey with a touch of technology.

Finastra partnered with Aspire Systems to facilitate payment modernisation and instant payments. With Finastra’s Payments To Go and Aspire Systems’ implementation and system integration capabilities, customers will benefit from end-to-end, multi-rail payments processing SaaS solutions.
Synapse Financial Technologies launched the Synapse FastTrack Program (FastTrack), which enables fintechs impacted by recent bank closures to reinstate payment-processing services in a matter of days.

The Green Finance landscape had regulators taking the wheel and tightening the seat belts on sustainability standards.

The European Commission unveiled the proposed “Directive on Green Claims,” a new set of rules requiring companies to substantiate and verify their environmental claims and labels, aimed at protecting consumers from greenwashing.
The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) and Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote Sustainable Finance through dedicated financial tools, standards, and reporting.

DeFi's revolution is raging as companies converge to craft captivating customer experiences and keep the Web3 hype soaring!

Banking and payments provider i2c partnered with crypto and fiat payments platform Wirex to deliver its multi-currency debit card to Australia – allowing customers to buy, store, exchange, and spend up to 130 cryptocurrencies at over 80 million merchant locations globally.
Switzerland-based startup Centi launched a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss franc. The token is called the Centi Franc Stablecoin (CCHF), and it will be backed 1:1 by a Swiss bank guarantee.

Some other happenings in the fintech universe 🪐

For a sweeter fintech brew, try these additives:

Klarna partnered with OpenAI to use ChatGPT via the integrated ChatGPT Plugin to serve as a personal shopping assistant to Klarna users.
Monite secured $5M in seed funding to enhance product features, integrate additional payment and financial services, and expand B2B payment market reach.

And that's a wrap 👋

We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Weekly Fintech Brew!

If you're hungry for more FinTech insights, check out some of our other work at WhiteSight.

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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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