Latest News

News shaping the world of finance, technology, and the global marketplace.

New financing tools for SaaS founders:

While significant venture investments grab headlines, more tools continue to emerge, offering founders alternatives to dilutive equity rounds. In particular, some companies entering the market are looking at SaaS numbers and recurring revenue to help startups with cash flow. Companies are staying private longer, meaning there needs to be service reform for institutions to remain competitive in the private space. - Capchase

Mastercard and Razorpay Team for Indian SMBs:

Mastercard is partnering with the Indian FinTech Razorpay to advance digital payments for small and midsized businesses (SMBs). Together they aim to enable Indian startups and SMBs to adopt technology into their operations and accelerate digitalisation while maintaining business continuity and preparing for cash payments alternatives.

Japan to Have BlockchainBased Stock Exchange in 2022:

SBI Holdings has reportedly partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) to launch a digital stock exchange for spring 2022. The joint venture also aims to be the first Japanese exchange to handle digital securities using blockchain technology by 2023. The aim is to make the exchange more attractive to investors by taking orders outside the TSE’s (Tokyo Stock Exchange) trading hours and reducing the tick size.

Deep Tech startups to list via Secerutised Token Offerings:

ECXX Global, a Singaporean asset-based digital securities exchange, announced that it has collaborated with regional brokerage UOB Kay Hian to raise growth capital. Under the new offering, both sides will facilitate tokenisation projects and market and distribute tokens to potential investors. The STOs are approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to be admitted under the Fintech Sandbox Express, which allows firms to begin market testing (within 21 days) of financial products and services.

China conducts CBDC testing:

The trial runs in the Hainan Province from April 12th to April 25th and aims to be inclusive and accessible to raise awareness. Participants also receive a 15% discount for every 100 Yuan spent. The People’s Bank Of China (PBOC) is still pilot trialling the digital Yuan in certain states and aims to have interoperability with other countries in the future.

Private platforms like AliPay and WeChatPay hold 98% of the digital payments market in China, but the digital Yuan is apparently no threat - “So in order to provide a backup or redundancy for the retail payment system, the central bank has to step up and provide CBDC services,” - Mu Changchun, directorgeneral of the Digital Currency Institute of the PBOC.

Visa looks toward Crypto API Pilot for banked customers:

Visa is piloting a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow banks to offer bitcoin services. The Visa Crypto APIs pilot program will let clients “easily connect into the infrastructure provided by Visa’s partner, Anchorage, a federally chartered digital asset bank, to allow their customers to buy and sell digital assets such as bitcoin as an investment within their existing consumer experiences”. Visa aims for a product set that extends to other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and other services.

Brazil Central Banks give the go-ahead for Whatsapp Payments:

After the central bank found WhatsApp as damaging to the existing payment ecosystem for data privacy, efficiency, and completion rates in June last year, Facebook now has approval - after the Central Bank launched its own instant payments system, Pix, in November.

1 Trillion for Green Business Initiatives - Bank of America:

The environmental initiative pushes for green finance by 2030. Helping the US economy go green through lending, capital raising, advisory and investment services supporting low-carbon and sustainable businesses.

by Andries Van Der Westhuizen Letter from the Editor:

Creative Destruction, also known as Schumpeter’s gale, is an economic concept described as “the process of industrial mutation that continuously revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one” -Joseph Schumpeter.

In a broader context, decentralized services afford not just financial markets reform and evolution but also total reform for today’s digital citizen as we barrel toward another age of enlightenment brought about by automation and AI. Enlightenment thinkers in Britain, France, and Europe questioned traditional authority and embraced the notion that humanity could be improved through rational change. This period between 1715 - 1789 produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. This future enlightenment may liberate the individual from the mundane and again push human creativity to the forefront for sustained innovation into a new age. Concern for job displacement as we enter the fourth industrial revolution is well-founded. Yet, history tells us new opportunities present themselves once the human mind is free to create and explore. This PCN issue delivers insight into this new digital frontier through contributions from Konsentus on how open banking can nurture SaaS as we head toward open finance. Barclaycard shows us how data and pandemic pressure can help supply chains and business owners retain capital when they need it most, improve and futureproof their commercial operations, and maintain vital supplier relationships. Volt and Bunq have laid the groundwork in connecting citizens to financial freedom - and now embark on projects with increasing scope and opportunity for all. Please enjoy the issue! Ps. PCN is excited to share our recent further expansion into SaaS, Cybersecurity, and Ecommerce. As the Fintech industry grows, so do the verticals, and now our honed skills in expert staffing continue to expand. People Create Networks and we stay on the Pulse, Curve with change, and stay connected like Nodes - PCN For more information on our industry-leading media and recruitment services, contact marketing@teampcn.com.

Thank you to our incredible contributors, readers, and the team at PCN.

Connecting people, at home.

As one door closes, another one opens, and so in-person attendance to seminars and conferences become impossible, PCN Webinars rise to the occasion. Whether it is in German, French, or English, we got you covered with events discussing topics ranging from the home office, over leadership issues, and to starting your own businesses. Take the opportunity to learn about many topics through insightful discussions of our many excellent panellists, wherever and whenever you’d like!