Soft nanny finance is now punishing us all
Charles White Thomson, CEO at Saxo Markets UK (a subsidiary of leading fintech specialist Saxo Bank) comes off the fence about nanny finance.
fintech
Portuguese fintechs break $1bn barrier
For the first time, Portuguese fintechs have raised over $1bn. The Portugal Fintech Association’s annual report for 2022 calculates that the country’s fintechs have raised an aggregate of €1.08bn to date. Some 48% of this money was raised from international investors. Lisbon remains the fintech powerhouse, with 55% of fintechs based there, with Porto coming in … Read more
Unicorns ride in Lisbon
The Unicorn Factory Lisboa has launched with the intention to support innovation and entrepreneurship. Together with the private sector, it has invested €8m to help over 20 scale-ups and 40 new projects per year. Things kick-off in 2023 with two programmes: The Scaling Up and The Soft Landing. Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas did the honours … Read more
Electronic wallet fintech Tekmo licenced
Electronic wallet fintech Tekmo has been licenced by the Saudi Central Bank. The total number of companies licenced by the Central Bank to provide payment services is now 22. In an official statement, the Bank said: “This step comes from the role of the Saudi Central Bank in enabling the financial technology sector by allowing … Read more
French speaking startups get head-start
The French government is backing early-stage African startups who speak the same language. Via the Digital Africa initiative, Francophone African companies can get up to 50,000 euros in equity funding. The money is made up of 20,000 euros in funding followed by a 30,000 euros SAFE investment. Important why? Seed financing is the crucial first step … Read more
Bank accounts rise in Morocco by 10%
The number of bank accounts in Morocco rose by 10% last year. There are now 29 million accounts, compared to 26.5 million in 2020. Why it matters. This boosts financial inclusivity in Morocco and shows its emerging status. The figures come from a recent report published by Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib. Round of applause? Not … Read more
Dramatically fewer European fintech start-ups
The number of European fintech start-ups continues to decline steeply year on year. In 2017, there were 1,553 new finetch start-ups – last year, there was just 225, down 51% from when 456 made their entrance in 2020. Does it matter? The fintech industry isn’t that big to start with, nor is it very old, so … Read more
MaxAB raises $40m
The food and grocery B2B e-commerce and distribution platform MaxAB has raised $40m in a pre-series B equity round. MaxAB serves a network of traditional retailers across Egypt and Morocco. Why it matters: MaxAB is trying to transform the food and grocery supply chain by re-engineering it. The company connects suppliers with underserved traditional retailers … Read more
Prepaid cards market almost to double
The prepaid cards market, widely used in the underbanked space, will be worth US$4233.4 billion by 2028, up from US$2474.77 billion this year, almost double. So what? Prepaid cards are useful for many financial product consumers, and as the report said: “…growth in unbanked and underbanked population and emergence of new applications are expected to … Read more
Have fintechs made life too complicated?
A financial services industry luminary writing in the venerable Financial Times has just declared that fintechs make people’s lives too complicated. And that a “proliferation of products” creates confusion, not clarity. Banks and fintechs stand accused of creating a “…bewildering array of financial products.” With all due respect, what rubbish! I can see his point, … Read more
JiPay throws in the towel
Singapore-based remittance app JiPay is being wound down. CEO Dayana Yermolayeva broke the news on LinkedIn. Why it matters: You rarely get honesty like this. Read it and wonder what might have been. Yermolayeva said: “I decided to wind down JiPay. We didn’t run out of money and we weren’t struggling to grow. In fact, … Read more
Jingle Pay joins forces with AFS
Financial app Jingle Pay, a provider of money services in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, has joined forces with Arab Financial Services (AFS), a digital payments solutions provider and fintech enabler in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). So what? The pair say that they can now deliver “…unique digital payments and exceptional customer experience in the Kingdom of Bahrain.” It will … Read more
New fund targets Moroccan startups
BMCA Capital Investment has launched a new venture capital fund to help Moroccan startups. The Moroccan based fund is raising money from local and overseas investors, hoping to hit MAD 50m ($4.5m). 👉Why it matters: Morocco is a hot spot for startups, many in the fintech and agritech spaces. Local and international investors are seeing … Read more
The Open Finance Association kicks-off
The Open Finance Association (OFA) has been launched with 13 fintechs as members. Why: To further open up financial data and payments for consumers and businesses through API (application programming interfaces) technology. What does it aim to do? enable consumers and businesses to access their data across all their financial accounts, and make use of … Read more