Hello TWIF UK & Europe friends,

We are hosting our next London Fintech Breakfast in collaboration with Shoreditch Treehouse & CMS. Don't miss out, RSVP here.

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

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Funding 💸

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

🇪🇺 Insurtech Calingo raised a CHF 3.2m seed round from ZKB, StartAngels and Emma Ventures.

🇪🇺 P2P lender Mintos raised a €3.1m seed round on Crowdcube.

🇪🇺 Digital investment firm Folkeinvest raised NOK 42m from SpareBank 1.

🇬🇧 B2B lender ThinCats raised a £75m credit facility from CPP Investments.

🇬🇧 Payroll payments fintech CloudPay raised a £120m round from Olayan Group, Hollyport Capital, Rho Capital and Blue Own Capital.

🌍 Credit card loyalty solution Bilt Rewards raised a $150m round at a $3.25m valuation.

🌍 Financial advisor platform Savvy Wealth raised a $15.5m Series A led by Canvas Ventures.

Challenger Banking 🚀

🇪🇺 Neobroker Freetrade is exiting the Swedish market.

🇬🇧 Neobank Monzo announced it has hit 10m personal customers in the UK.

🇬🇧 Neobank Revolut has launched its B2B offering in Singapore. It also integrated Tikkie in the Netherlands.

🇬🇧 ClearBank secured a Dutch banking licence and is expanding into Europe.

Digital Assets ₿

🇪🇺Crypto exchange Bitstamp is supporting Stripe's fiat-to-crypto solution in the EU.

🇪🇺 France is to begin accepting applications for CASP licences. Exchange ByBit withdrew from France in response to regulations.

🇪🇺 Staking platform Kiln has launched "Kiln DeFi", a way to access stablecoin rewards from leading DeFi protocols.

🇬🇧 Crypto exchange Blockchain.com has partnered with Bakkt to allow crypto buying in all 50 US states. The exchange is also working with KYC provider Prove.

🇬🇧 The Bank of England has developed a prototype system to monitor liabilities and assets of stablecoins with the BIS Innovation Hub.

🇬🇧 Xapo Bank has launched interest bearing BTC accounts in the UK.

🇬🇧 The FCA has issued over 1,000 warnings to crypto firms and has removed 48 apps from app stores.

🌍 Ripple is preparing to launch RLUSD, its USD stablecoin. It has also agreed to pay $125m to settle its case against the SEC, much less than the $2bn the agency sought.

🌍 Web3 payment infrastructure provider Transak has introduced wire transfers as a payment method of crypto.

🌍 Morgan Stanley is to begin to offer Bitcoin ETFs to clients.

🌍 HashKey Group received a Major Payment licence in Singapore.

🌍 The SEC has urged the US courts to reject Coinbase's subpoena for documents which it describes as "breathtakingly broad".

🌍 Digital asset custodian Anchorage added custody for Solana tokens.

🌍 A US judge has approved a $12.7bn settlement with FTX and CFTC.

🌍 Crypto asset manager Algoz is to use custodian Zodia's Interchange Service to offer off-exchange settlement.

🌍 Crypto exchange Binance recovered $73m in funds stolen from external parties.

Traditional Banking 🏦

🇪🇺 Insurance company AXA is negotiating to sell its AXA Investment Management business to BNP Paribas for €5.4bn.

🇪🇺 Soc Gen has sold its private banking business in the UK and Switzerland to UBP for €900m.

🇬🇧 Nationwide is to offer dementia clinics at its network of branches.

🇬🇧 Yorkshire Building Society is offering an online learning program for first-time property buyers.

🌍 JPMorgan is evaluating legal options as the CFPB takes a closer look at fraud using Zelle payments. It is also opening up more branches.

Fintech Infrastructure 🚧

🇪🇺 Core banking platform Tuum has integrated ComplyAdvantage to its platform.

🇪🇺 Vodeno and Aion Bank are to offer access to Polish payment system BLIK to other financial institutions.

🌍 Cloud banking software solution nCino has signed Shawbrook as a customer for its loan origination software.

🌍 Digital onboarding solution Blend has integrated with Astra to enable consumers to quickly fund their new deposit accounts.

🌍 Issuer processor Marqeta has signed neobank Varo as a customer in a five-year deal. Spend management solution Payhawk is also to use Marqeta's Advanced Card Controls to prevent fraud.

🌍 Plaid shipped two new anti-fraud products; data breach reports and search of other fraud reports by account and routing number.

🌍 BaaS provider Unit secured two new bank partners in Vantage Bank and Lincoln Savings Bank.

Payments 💰

🇪🇺 Payment giant Adyen has expanded its payment partnership with BMW from ecomm to the POS.

🇪🇺 Klarna is exploring a secondary share sale.

🇪🇺 Payment firm Lemonway has been restricted from initiating new operations in Italy.

🇬🇧Payment solution Tribe has signed embedded finance platform Orenda as a customer.

🇬🇧 Checkout.com is the first PSP to offer Google Pay biometric auth to merchants.

🌍 Canadian payment solution Nuvei has entered into an agreement to acquire Brazilian payment institution Pay2All.

🌍 X, formerly Twitter, is close to introducing its payment service.

🌍 JPMorgan is trialing pay-by-face technology in the US with vendor PopID.

🌍 PayPal announced its one-click checkout solution Fastlane is available to all US businesses.

🌍 Stripe launch Adaptive Pricing for businesses wanting to show consumers prices in their preferred local currency.

🌍 Restaurant POS provider Toast is looking to move into new segments and is targeting convenience stores, grocery stores and bottle shops.

Longer reads/listens 📜

• Plaid fights for relevance - Tom Noyes
• Central Banks, Secure Elements And Digital Currency - Dave Birch
• Friendly Google and Enemy Remedies - Ben Thompson
• Unlocking the Potential of A2A Payments Report 2024 - The Paypers

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See you next week!