The Fintech Fix 20/07/2022

Welcome to The Fintech Fix, your Weekly Fintech Roundup, where we cover the biggest stories of the financial week. Whether it’s the next groundbreaking trend in cryptocurrency or Blockchain technology, a new partnership about to change the global, economic landscape or an upcoming startup generating a huge following, this is the place to keep up with the breaking news of the future.

Hot Topics – Kicking off this week’s roundup is the financial supergiant, Revolut. Not only did the company recently top 20 million retail customers on its 7th anniversary, but now Revolut is going even further. The world of cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly incorporated within traditional financial services, yet there are still many misconceptions that come with the territory. With that in mind, Revolut are launching educational courses on cryptocurrency in Britain to advance financial literacy. The ‘Learn & Earn’ project will allow Revolut customers to earn up to $15 USD in DOT tokens by taking short and simple courses before passing the final quiz.

On a similar theme, the introduction of the first British-regulated stablecoin fully backed 1:1 by the pound was launched by blackfridge, named poundtoken (GBPT.) KPMG has been appointed as its auditors, whose monthly proof of reserve attestations will confirm that all tokens issued are 100% backed. This will come as good news to the third of Brits that have bought cryptocurrencies, as they can now trade and hold value in the nation’s fiat currency against other USD-based stablecoins. Alan Sun, CEO of poundtoken, expressed how “for stablecoin holders, GBPT offers a unique combination: the stability of the British pound, and the reassurance of strict British financial regulations, combined with the speed, transparency, and integrity of the blockchain.”

The relationship between fintechs and traditional legacy banks has been redefined in recent times, from once fearful competitors to now in more of a conciliatory partnership. Despite this, European Merchant Bank CEO, Sarp Demiray, shared his extremely interesting insights on why fintechs are underserved by legacy banks, with the relationship between the two representing almost a generational clash in many between ‘fast and slow.’ The global fintech market is expected to be worth $324 billion by 2026 with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 25.18% between 2022 and 2027; the potential is there, but will legacy banks improve their part in reaching that goal? Find out what Demiray has to say about how EMBank can help streamline the process!

Mollie, one of the fastest growing European PSP’s, launched its new Technology Partner Program, which aims to help SaaS platforms and technology companies grow their customer base, reach new markets and improve customer retention. CEO at Mollie, Shane Happach, expressed how the company is excited to continue to build successful partnerships and provide a world-class joint ecosystem and the best possible experience for its customers.

Big Partnerships To Watch – Finastra and HSBC are working together to distribute HSBC’s FX services via Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud platform under a BaaS experience. This collaboration will take advantage of the best elements of modern API-driven connectivity with licensed institutions’ secure, regulated infrastructure. Available in H2 2022, the initial roll out will focus on financial institutions in APAC, with other regions to follow soon after. It will also be made available to embedders who require direct access to FX liquidity and pricing.

Tymit are all about one mission; financial freedom. The Tymit Card allows customers to plan their spending, see the true total cost of any transaction, and avoid unnecessary interest. The firm has recently announced it has integrated TrueLayer into its app. As a result, Tymit Card customers can make repayments whenever they like, through secure, seamless and instant account-to-account payments. Tymit Booster customers also benefit from a more streamlined and straightforward process by using open banking to make their initial refundable deposit. Martin Magnone, CEO at Tymit, commented how “together, we’re taking the pain out of payments for our customers, creating the kind of experience that sets our offerings apart. “

Funding – KKR, a leading global investment firm, announced a whopping $2.1 billion asset-based finance fund which will commit capital globally to privately originated and negotiated credit investments that are backed by large and diversified pools of financial and hard assets, with attractive risk-adjusted returns. Whilst this is a momentous figure, it’s typical of KKR; they’ve deployed more than $6 billion across 54 ABF investments globally since 2016 through a combination of portfolio acquisitions, platform investments and structured investments and has approximately $35 billion in ABF assets under management.

Airbase, the fast-growing and top-ranked spend management platform for mid-market and enterprise companies, announced $150M in debt financing led by Goldman Sachs. This latest funding allows Airbase to expand its innovative charge card program to its increasing base of customers, which has been surging as more companies seek visibility and control over employee spending.

And lastly, Mode, the LSE-listed fintech group, announced gross proceeds of £2,000,000 in their latest fundraising. Rita Liu, Mode’s CEO commented how “our recent fundraising displays the ongoing strength in our core businesses and shows that appetite from both new and existing investors has not waned despite the recent bout of market volatility.” This fundraising round provides Mode with a greater opportunity to expand their unique position as an FCA-registered and LSE-listed fintech leader.

Transfer News – After successfully closing a US$10 million funding round, TurnKey Lender, a global fintech B2B SaaS company has announced the expansion of their team with the appointment of Christian Morales as Chairman of the Board. Morales shared how he was “humbled and very excited to be joining the TurnKey Lender team as they embark on their worldwide mission to lead key aspects of Digital Lending Transformation, with world-leading solutions and an extremely attractive and scalable customer proposition.”

LendArch announced Karthik Kumar has joined the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. With over 25 years of experience and deep technical expertise, Kumar will lead operations as the company continues to create game-changing mortgage technologies that digitise the entire loan origination process.

And to conclude this week’s roundup, EML Payments announced the appointment of Emma Shand as Managing Director and CEO, effective immediately, following the resignation of Tom Cregan. Shand is a highly successful executive with 25 years’ global experience in technology, capital markets and diversified financial services across 30 countries. This includes over 16 years in senior management roles with US-based market leader Nasdaq.