Every fortnight, The Banker showcases interesting insights from the world of fintech. Liz Lumley reports.
Fintech is a wide-ranging, multi-sector, global industry, whose growth influences not only the banking world, but society at large. Our deep dives, interviews and coverage looking at the evolution of payments, finance and banking are fuelled by constant updates, news and commentary on deals, funding rounds and partnerships.
This fortnight, celebrities invade fintech, events in the metaverse continue, UK open banking moves to the next phase, while HSBC finds room at the inn for out-of-work Silicon Valley Bank staff. And not one, not two, but THREE bank/fintech partnerships! Time to rethink the overused ‘!!!’...
From gin to football to... fintech
Ryan Reynolds announces investment in Canadian fintech Nuvei
Hollywood actor, producer and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds announced on April 17 that he has invested in Canadian fintech company Nuvei.
Mr Reynolds, who is globally recognised as a serial entrepreneur with an exceptional track record of investing in successful high-growth businesses, commented on the announcement: “I know as much about fintech as I did about gin or mobile a few years ago. But Nuvei is impressive. The leadership team is exceedingly intelligent and hard-working and it’s about time a Canadian company got the type of attention American tech companies do.”
Mr Reynolds’ latest investment comes less than a month after it was announced that Mint Mobile, the budget wireless provider partly owned by Mr Reynolds, had been acquired by telecoms giant T-Mobile US for $1.35bn. Mr Reynolds’ other high-profile investments include American Aviation Gin and Wales-based Wrexham Football Club.
Don’t worry, if it’s in the metaverse, we’ll catch it
CaixaBank launches an interactive experience in the metaverse to raise awareness of climate change
CaixaBank is celebrating this year's World Earth Day with an innovative activity at its ‘all in one’ centres in Ibiza, Burgos, Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid from April 20 to April 27. All customers visiting these centres will be able to participate in the metaverse in a memorable experience on caring for the environment. Through virtual reality, the bank intends to raise awareness of how to contribute to creating a cleaner and more sustainable world in a fun and educational way.
The activity will consist of a virtual tour in which the participants will have to overcome a series of challenges in different nature environments. Customers participating in the experience will virtually explore forests, beaches and even the deep sea to complete missions that will raise their awareness of the need to take care of the environment. To participate, customers must first register on the digital channels or at the ‘all in one’ centres in question.
This environmental awareness activity includes a CaixaBank Talk session titled: “Do you know which small habits you can adopt to slow down climate change?”
It’s not fintech without a bank/fintech partnership
Société Générale partners with Lemonway to support B2B marketplaces in Europe
Société Générale and Lemonway, an Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution licensed pan-European payment institution, have signed a commercial partnership to deliver payment services to large corporates in western Europe, launching business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces. With complementary approaches, these two firms have committed to adequately address the growing needs of corporates in the booming B2B marketplace sector.
Lemonway offers modular and end-to-end solutions for their B2B marketplaces. It includes payment and other strategic services such as customer verification and payment account opening, reconciliation of flows for beneficiaries and performance monitoring. This allows B2B marketplace operators to manage the complex transaction flows in compliance with the highest regulatory standards. The technical implementation of the partnership will be effective soon, in eight European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Switzerland).
They’re like buses
JPMorgan announces strategic alliance with Sharegain
Sharegain’s SLTech solution will enable JPMorgan to enhance its securities agency lending offering by making it more accessible to new wealth managers and online broker participants.
Harpreet Bains, global head of product management at JPMorgan’s agency securities finance division, said: “This exciting collaboration enables JPMorgan to address the growing needs of the aggregator segment, which is increasingly searching for scalable solutions to offer securities lending to their end customers without the time and cost burden of implementing complex technology.
“Connecting our technology and global distribution capabilities to Sharegain’s SLTech solution allows clients to monetise a new and substantial pool of attractive lending supply and addresses the complexities requiring consideration when aggregators expand their offering to include securities lending.”
Open banking gets ready for the next phase
JROC sets out recommendations for the next phase of open banking in the UK
The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee (JROC), co-chaired by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment Systems Regulator, has published its recommendations for the next phase of open banking in the UK.
The JROC is playing a leading role in taking the next steps to realise the full potential of open banking, which currently has more than 7 million active users in the UK. This will bring opportunities for new products and services, allowing consumers and businesses to share data and make payments in more convenient and efficient ways.
Taking the steps, set out below, will enable open banking to develop further in a safe, scalable and economically sustainable way. The JROC’s recommendations contain a roadmap of priorities over the next two years, covering five key themes:
- levelling up availability and performance;
- mitigating the risks of financial crime;
- ensuring effective consumer protection if something goes wrong;
- improving information flows to third-party providers and end users;
- promoting additional services, using non-sweeping variable recurring payments as a pilot
The JROC also sets out its vision for the open banking future entity, including the next steps which need to be taken in designing it. There will be a transition from the Open Banking Implementation Entity to the future entity which will build on the significant progress made to date. In addition, the report outlines the principles that will underpin a long-term regulatory framework, which the government is intending to legislate for.
Big tech alert! (Oh, wait, another bus – bank/fintech partnership!)
Apple Card launches new savings account with Goldman Sachs
Apple Card users can now add a savings account from Goldman Sachs to their Daily Cash rewards, which offers a high-yield annual percentage yield of 4.15%, with no fees, no minimum deposits and no minimum balance requirements. The service is currently only available in the US.
Once a savings account is set up, all future Daily Cash earned by the user will be automatically deposited into the account. The Daily Cash destination can also be changed at any time, and there’s no limit on how much Daily Cash users can earn. To build on their savings even further, users can deposit additional funds into their savings account through a linked bank account, or from their Apple Cash balance.
Will do a bank job for food
HSBC hires dozens of SVB bankers in US push
HSBC has hired more than 40 commercial bankers who used to work at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the latest move by the British lender to scoop up parts of the failed tech-focused bank.
A month after HSBC acquired SVB’s UK subsidiary for £1, the bank is now hiring several dozen of its US bankers from First Citizens Bank, which recently bought much of SVB in an auction handled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The group of ex-SVB bankers will establish a new banking practice targeting tech and healthcare companies as well as venture capital funds, HSBC said in a statement on April 18.
“As we look to grow our business, this offering allows us to connect the innovation ecosystem with the size, strength and international network of HSBC,” said Michael Roberts, HSBC’s US and Americas chief executive. David Sabow, who led tech and healthcare banking at SVB, will lead the new team at HSBC, along with Sunita Patel, Katherine Andersen and Melissa Stepanis. It will be based in San Francisco, Boston and New York.
