Hello TWIF UK & Europe friends,

Please find another week of fintech news, financings and exits below.

👍 👎 Have feedback or news to share? Let me know on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tweet of the week 🦉🏆

Funding 💸

Highlights below of deals since the last post in the fintech space across the UK & Europe. Deal data powered by Dealroom.

🇪🇺 Digital finance platform Brighty raised a $10m round from Futurecraft Ventures.

🇪🇺 Blockchain security startup Haven1 raised a $4.6m round from Animoca Brands, Kronos Research, Kucoin Ventures, Taisu Ventures and IBC Group.

🇬🇧 Digital wealth management app Tembo raised a £14m Series B led by Goodwater Capital.

🇬🇧 Debt market analytics firm 9fin raised a $50m Series B led by Highland Europe.

🇬🇧 Automated accounting starting Briefcase raised a $3m seed round led by Earlybird and included angels.

🇬🇧 Neobank Zopa raised a €80m round from SoftBank and AP Moller Holding.

🌍 Gig worker fintech Gig Wage raised $8.2m from Foundry, Green Dot, Chartline Capital and others.

🌍 Neobroker Public.com raised a $105m Series D from Accel.

Challenger Banking 🚀

🇪🇺 Fintech firm Ebury is opening an office in Dublin,

🇪🇺 B2B lender YouLend has partnered with Tpay to provide funding to SMEs in Poland.

🇪🇺 Digital asset banking solution Fideum Group raised a $6m Series A.

🇬🇧 Neobroker Lightyear secured FCA authorisation and will relaunch in the UK.

🇬🇧 Cross-border payments company Atlantic Money has been acquired by HR platform Deel.

🇬🇧 Cross-border payments firm Wise is facing criticism over its AML controls by European regulators.

🇬🇧 German private markets platform Bunch launched in the UK.

🇬🇧 Neobank Revolut is facing a lawsuit tied to APP fraud claims.

🇬🇧 UK fintech Stenn is defending itself against HSBC that is trying to put it into administration.

🇬🇧 Moneyfarm has acquired investment service provider Willis Owen.

🇬🇧 Insurtech Jove raised a £3.6m seed round from Explorer Investments, NewAlpha Asset Management, Portfolio Ventures and more.

🌍 P2P cross-border payment app Sling Money launched in USA.

Digital Assets ₿

🇪🇺 OKX has launched its exchange and wallet service in Belgium.

🇪🇺 Coinbase has ended its USDC rewards program due to incoming MiCA regulations.

🇪🇺 21X has become the first fully regulated blockchain-based trading venue.

🇪🇺 eToro has launched NEAR and POL staking.

🌍 Coinbase integrated its onramps with Apple Pay.

🌍 Digital asset custodian BitGo launched a retail platform to trade and stake digital assets.

🌍 South Korea is to postpone implementing its 20% crypto tax.

🌍 Brazil is considering banning stablecoin withdrawals to self-custodial wallets.

🌍 Crypto exchange Crypto.com secured a principal Mastercard licence.

🌍 President-elect Trump nominated crypto lobbyist Paul Atkins to lead the SEC.

Traditional Banking 🏦

🇪🇺 Deutsche Bank has launched its Merchant Solutions capabilities in APAC.

🇬🇧 Cooperative Bank has been acquired by Coventry Building Society for £780m.

🇬🇧 HSBC lost its appeal over a €32m fine from the European Commission for its role in a Euribor cartel case. It also is pulling back from its credit card business in China.

🇬🇧 NatWest has struck a partnership deal with Aviva to distribute protection insurance products. It also launched a new fintech growth programme.

🇬🇧 Nationwide has partnered with Experian to automate checks for mortgage applications.

🇬🇧 Lloyds Bank has partnered with PayPoint Group to enable SMEs with new payment offerings.

🇬🇧 Santander has launched a SIPP in the UK with a £1,000 cashback offer.

🌍 MUFG is to pay $664m to take full ownership of roboadvisor WealthNavi.

Fintech Infrastructure 🚧

🇪🇺 Norway has joined the TIPS payment service, with krone being added as a currency.

🇪🇺 Regtech Salv has launched a collaborative scenario library to improve AML.

🇪🇺 Core banking software provider Mambu has acquired payment automation platform Numeral.

🇪🇺 Japan's SBI is to become the majority owner of Solaris after its recent funding round.

🇬🇧 Wealthtech infrastructure provider WealthKernel has partnered with BaaS provider Griffin to add savings accounts to its product suite.

🇬🇧 Brokerage infrastructure provider Clear Street launched in the UK after getting FCA approval.

🌍 TCH is raising the transaction limit for its RTP network to $10m.

Payments 💰

🇬🇧 Payment provider Episode Six and Secupay have been selected by the German government to delivery disbursements.

🇬🇧Mastercard has reached an agreement in its mass consumer action case about overcharging with a £200m settlement.

🇬🇧Adyen signed Intuit as a customer to speed up payments for UK SMEs.

🇬🇧 Payment provider Sokin has acquired Norwegian fintech Settle.

Longer reads/listens 📜

• Fintech Without Borders - Zak Lambert, Plaid
• Bots And Bank Accounts - Dave Birch
• Card payments in Europe are booming - Jevgenijs Kazanins
• The Great De-Banking Debate + Top 10 Rants of 2024 - Simon Taylor
• Comparing Adyen and Stripe’s BFCM Numbers - Jareau Wade
• London needs real road pricing - Sam Dumitriu
• How Shanghai’s ambition of being the ‘future of finance’ fell apart - FT
• Inside Revolut’s $100B Strategy: Building the World’s First Global Digital Bank - Efi Pylarinou

👍 👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know

Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for more fintech content

See you next week!