News

01 BANKING CIRCLE: Formerly a financial utility, Banking Circle has received a banking license, making it a fina ncial infrastructure for banking and payments regardless of size and borders. Legacy free systems allow minimal client investment in internal infrastructure.

02 MONZO BANK: A UK based challenger bank has officially launched business bank accounts. After a trial pe riod over the last 12 months that saw early access given to 2,500 business customers. Monzo is offering two versions of its business bank account, a free, and premium paid account, aimed at sole traders and SME’s.

03 R EVOLUT LAUNCHES IN THE US: The European fintech startup launched in the US on March 25th partnered with Metropolitan Commercial Bank for banking infrastructure. Some features enjoyed by EU customers aren’t yet available in the US, such as purchasing cryptocurrencies or investing in the stock market.

04 VISA PARTNERS WI TH PAGA: Founded in Lagos , Nigeria, Paga has a network of over 14 million customers transferring money, paying bills, and shopping on their mobile app. Now partnered with Vi sa and with access to more merchants, Paga aims to expand and implement a model to other emerging markets not only in Africa but also in Asia and Latin-America.

05 INDIA LIFTS BANKING BAN ON CRYPTOCURRENCY: The Supreme Court of India struck down the Reserve Bank of India’s April 6th 2018 circular, citing it as unconstitutional. RBI was concerned over risks relating to foreign exchange, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism.

06 COINBASE A VISA PRINCIPAL MEMBER: Based out of San-Francisco, the crypto exchange can directly issue Visa debit cards. Now available in 29 countries, and expanding, customers can spend 9 different cryptocurrencies at any Visa acceptance point - for a 1.49% conversion and 1% transaction fee. 05

07 FINTURI: Founded in September 2018, the Netherlands based blockchain invoice financing startup successfully concluded beta testing after raising €2 million in Q1 of 2019. Finturi’s doors are open to companies registered with the Dutch chamber of commerce, with current expansion efforts to neighbouring Eu countries, international expansion is the step to follow.

CONTOUR: Trade Financing with blockchain issuing smart guarantees. Developed by eight banks, Contour is set to launch in the second half of 2020 after a transaction trial of USD $30 million worth of letter-of-credit transactions in 2019. 08

8 6 400 RAISES CAPITAL: Cuscal-backed challenger bank 86 400 has brought on its first outside investors, raising a total of $34 million in new capital. The Series A capital raise led by Morgan Stanley brings its total capital to $90 million. It is one of the largest Australian fintech series A rounds to date. 09

OFFWALLET, ZERO INTERNET WALLET FROM INDIA: With a projected 35% mobile internet penetration by 2023, and with more than 75% of business operating in rural and suburban cities, OffWallet is moving to claim a share of the informal cash-heavy market. The patent published solution of sending and reading an encrypted SMS, all managed by the app, aims to alleviate the inconsistent performance of mobile wallets while retaining a user-friendly interface. Offwallet’s road-map includes a “Persistent zero-network transaction mode” which will allow secure, truly offline, transactions. 10

FINCH CAPITAL FORECASTS POST-PANDEMIC: The Amsterdam based venture-capital firm predicts tougher times for newcomers, an opportunity for agents of digitalisation, and the slow recovery of late-stage funding. With Q4 of 2020 defined as “post-crisis”, digital-only will become the financial industry default. Read the full report here. 11

M-P ESA ACQUIRED BY SAFARICOM AND VODACOM: The Kenyan and South African telecommunication companies acquired the M-Pesa brand from Britain's Vodafone. The goal is to further mobile money efforts across the continent and to boost financial inclusion. 12