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TWIF News Briefing - June 21st

Listen to this episode from The This Week in Fintech Podcast on Spotify. In this episode, we cover the latest fintech news, including key events such as Wells Fargo’s new rent rewards credit card, Santander’s global tech platform rollout, and NatWest’s generative AI chatbot upgrade. We also dive into our Fintechionary to explain Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending, highlighting its ease of access, better rates, and societal impact. Plus, our ‘Signals’ segment reviews the impressive performance of public fintechs in H1 2024, noting key takeaways such as profitability wins, stock market volatility, and standout companies like Dave, Robinhood, and Nubank. Stay informed and ahead in the fast-paced world of fintech with us—all in just 10 minutes!

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‎The This Week in Fintech Podcast: TWIF News Briefing - June 21st on Apple Podcasts

‎Show The This Week in Fintech Podcast, Ep TWIF News Briefing - June 21st - 20 Jun 2024

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Come find TWIF in the wild. This week, we'll be in New York (I'll be there at our book tour event), Bangalore, and London! All our events are in the link below.

This Week in Fintech · Luma

This Week in Fintech is on Luma. Connect with them and attend their events.

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below. (👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know!)

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💼 Fintech Job of the Week

Confido hiring Founding Full-Stack Engineer (front-end leaning) in New York, New York, United States | LinkedIn

Posted 4:40:05 PM. Confido (YC S21) automates the expensive work of retrieving and analyzing CPG accounting data so…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

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🏦 Financial Services & Banking

The Wall Street Journal reported that Wells Fargo may be looking to renegotiate the terms of its Bilt card partnership, as the bank is reportedly losing $10 million per month on the program for paying rewards on card payments that don't incur regular credit interchange fees. However, both companies deny that the relationship is fraught: "There has been no conversation among decision-makers to exit the Bilt agreement." It remains to be seen whether the bank's bet – that Bilt will drive significant mortgage originations its way from graduating renters – will pay off in the long-run.

Germany's Commerzbank is partnering with domestic corporate card platform Pliant to launch a digital credit card for business customers, while Spanish bank BBVA is getting ready to launch a consumer neobank in Germany.

Banking groups BNP Paribas and BPCE announced plans to jointly acquire payments processing technology for card holders and merchants.

The Swiss National Bank will extend its central bank digital currency pilot for two more years after promising results in early trials.

NatWest is adding generative AI to its chatbot.

Merrick Bank will use automation and compliance provider Kompliant tools to streamline risk management processes.

The CFPB is pushing to ban medical bills from credit reports in the US.

The fight between JP Morgan and Viva Wallet over the Greek payments firm's valuation could be settled by a UK judge.

💻 Fintech

🚀 Product Launches

Figure, a private credit and housing market loan platform, launched a blockchain-based multi-seller, multi-buyer marketplace of private credit loans called Figure Connect.

Brex launched their new Brex business banking accounts, with checking, treasury, and vault features. The accounts will also be integrated with and offered to Stripe Atlas customers.

Stablecoin payments provider BVNK launched Swift payments on its platform to let businesses move between dollars, euros and stablecoins.

PingPong, a cross-border payments platform and business network, launched an embedded lending solution.

Vipps MobilePay launched peer-to-peer payments between Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Plaid launched Layer, a new platform that allows fintechs to build customizable KYC and onboarding flows and which onboards prior Plaid users instantly.

Remote work and payments provider Deel launched an AI tool to help with double-checking compliance rules and digging into workforce data.

Amina Bank launched a crypto payment network.

Danish neobank Lunar launched a debit card with Scandinavian Airlines.

Open banking payments provider Trustly launched a recurring payment solution.

Revolut launched a pan-European debit loyalty card program in the UK, and added corporate and government bond trading to its platform.

Michael Kors and Mastercard partnered to launch a Gen AI shopping assistant.

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📰 Other News

Apple is bringing new features to Apple Pay this year, including paying with rewards and tapping card-offered installment loans.

Mega-retailer Walmart is rolling out digital shelf labels to 2,300 stores.

British neobank Atom posted its first profit of £7 million this year, Starling reported its third full year of profitability, with pre-tax profits up 55% to £301 million.

Hong Kong and Switzerland are looking to integrate their fintech and crypto ecosystems further.

🤝 Partnership Corner

Citibanamex in Mexico is partnering with Belvo to promote financial inclusion and access to credit through open finance.

The Royal Bank of Canada is collaborating with Nova Credit to leverage its credit passport to deliver a real-time standardized credit history translation across borders.

Contribute, an embedded finance platform for credit unions, partnered with APCU and Center Parc Credit Union to launch and account opening solution for small businesses.

Wealth management provider YourStake partnered with Apex Fintech Solutions on a service to read documents and transfer their data by API.

👎 The Bad News

The Federal Reserve issued a cease-and-desist order against Evolve Bank, which is under fire for its partnership with banking-as-a-service provider Synapse and $85 million in missing end-customer funds, as well as for deficiencies in the bank’s anti-money laundering, risk management, and consumer compliance programs.

Apple shut down its buy-now-pay-later service a year after launch.

Terraform Labs and former CEO Do Kwon reached a $4.5 billion settlement with the SEC after a jury verdict held them liable for orchestrating a years-long fraud.

Stablecoin issuer Paxos laid off 20% of its staff.

Banking-as-a-service provider Unit laid off 15% of its team.

Swiss regulator Finma is opening bankruptcy proceedings against investment banking neobank FlowBank following "serious and repeated breaches" of its capital requirements.

Medicare brokerage Health IQ is facing allegations of millions in unpaid invoices and tens of millions in unpaid debt.

New Zealand-based buy-now-pay-later provider Laybuy went into bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer.

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