FastPay is an online lender and credit provider for digital businesses in the US and UK; the company has partnered with Hitachi Capital America Corp. for a new FastPay for Enterprise product; the new product will provide working capital loans of $10 million or more to digital media enterprises. Source
French casino and hotel business, Groupe Partouche, has partnered with MeReal Biometrics for use of the company's smart cards; the smart cards from MeReal Biometrics are a featured product at the Web Summit this week; employees of Groupe Partouche will begin using the fingerprint identity cards in select locations and expansion is expected to more locations and guests if successful. Source
UK Bond Network has received authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); allows UK Bond Network to offer investors access via the innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA); the FCA is now authorizing both crowdfunded lenders and bond platforms. Source
The National Bank of Ukraine plans to use blockchain and distributed ledger technology in the country to move to a cashless economy; the bank's board has created a roadmap which includes plans to begin issuing e-money (the cashless payment instrument) no later than the fourth quarter of 2017; new payment method will compete with card payments. Source
UBS has partnered with Amazon to utilize Amazon's Alexa artificial intelligence (AI) for a pilot program with wealth management clients in the UK; Alexa will provide answers on inquiries about wealth management topics and the economy for clients through several devices; the partnership follows a trend toward use of artificial intelligence in the wealth management industry and a deal by UBS with robo adviser SigFig for account services; Alexa's AI capabilities offer a cost efficient way to provide information and standardized advice for wealth management clients. Source
A new fintech hub has opened in Copenhagen, Denmark; the Financial Services Union Denmark, City of Copenhagen and Danish Bankers Association provided support for the new fintech hub, Copenhagen Fintech; the membership association will focus on five areas of fintech including 1) fintech entrepreneurship 2) platforms, payments, and usability 3) cybersecurity in finance 4) digital processes and 5) financial computation; Thomas Krogh Jensen will lead Copenhagen Fintech as the CEO. Source
As two new banking applications come to market this week, the question that comes to mind is can all of these startups survive and disrupt the banks?; there are questions surrounding business models and how each company intends to make money in a market that is becoming more crowded each day; each of these new startups has different challenges that lie ahead, some will need to be approved for a banking license and others will need to understand the regulatory framework behind PSD2. Source
Georg Ludviksson, the head of Meniga, a digital bank that was started in Finland back in 2009, says that banks are at risk of losing the top spot among their customer base; tech giants like Google, Facebook and Alibaba are placing themselves between banks, and their customers are no longer seeing their traditional bank as the go to place for financial services; Georg Ludviksson also points out that the coming PSD2 regulation will shift the balance of power from banks to the customer and that the regulation has the potential to transform banking in Europe. Source
The agreement was signed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the People's Bank of China, the intention of the deal is to strengthen regulatory cooperation and boost market access for fintech startups in both markets; the "Fintech Bridge" as it is being called will allow the countries to share information about financial services and help to spot emerging trends in each market. Source
The UK-based, wealth management company, raised £30 million to help expand their product offering across the UK; investors include Convoy, a Hong Kong-listed firm of independent financial advisers, as well as existing backers Schroders, Balderton Capital, Pentech, Armada Investment Group and Nigel Wray; the funding is subject to the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority. Source