Hello TWIF UK & Europe friends,

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.

🇪🇺 AI accounting fintech Stacks raised $10m from General Catalyst and EQT.

🇪🇺 AI powered financial advisory solution 73 Strings raised a $55m Series B from Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Broadhaven Ventures, FISV and others.

🇪🇺 Female investment network Female Invest raised a $23m round.

🇬🇧 Crypto fintech Ziglu raised £5m at a £45m valuation.

🇬🇧 Payment solution Capimoney raised a €17.2m Series A from Creandum, Y Combinator, First Minute Capital, Raba Capital and more.

🌍 Neobank Mercury is in talks to raise a new round led by Sequoia at a $3bn valuation.

🌍 US neobank Varo has raised $29m of a targeted $55m fundraise.

🌍 Saving and investment app Twine raised a $2.3m round from AirTree Ventures.

🌍 Private equity due diligence solution DiligentIQ raised a $12m Series A from Fintop Capital and JAM FINTOP.

Challenger Banking 🚀

🇪🇺 Neobank Tomorrow has launched savings accounts powered by BaaS provider Solaris.

🇪🇺 Neobroker Scalable Capital is to provide access to alternative investments, starting with private equity.

🇪🇺 Neobroker eToro has been granted a MiCA permit from Cyprus.

🇬🇧 Credit card provider Yonder has launched top ups and payment reconciliation powered by BaaS provider Griffin.

🇬🇧 Spend management solution Emburse is bringing Apple Pay to its UK customers.

🇬🇧 Digital lender Salad Money has rolled out NatWest's payment solution Payit.

🇬🇧 Revolut has introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone in Germany and Romania through Revolut Pro. The neobank also announced it will continue with hybrid working despite moving into a new London HQ.

Digital Assets ₿

🇪🇺 Deutsche Bank is to provide fiat deposit services to Hong Kong crypto exchange Hashkey.

🇪🇺 Crypto exchange OKX has secured approval to passport its services across Europe.

🇪🇺 Stablecoin issuer Tether has invested in football club Juventus.

🇪🇺 France's financial regulator has said that Bybit is no longer operating illegally in the country.

🇪🇺 Franklin Templeton brings its tokenized US Treasury fund to Luxembourg.

🇬🇧 UK bank Barclays has disclosed $131m in holdings of BlackRock Bitcoin ETF.

🇬🇧 UK CSD Euroclear is joining the Digital Securities sandbox.

🌍 Korea is phasing in crypto access for corporates and professional investors but not financial institutions yet.

🌍 Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund acquired $437m of BlackRock's bitcoin ETF in Q1.

🌍 State Street is to launch a digital asset custody business in 2026.

🌍 Robinhood is introducing crypto products in Singapore this year,

🌍 Crypto exchange Deribit is still in talks to be acquired by Kraken.

🌍 Digital asset custody firms BitGo and Copper partner to expand the latter's ClearLoop off-exchange settlement solution.

🌍 Digital asset marketplace Figure has launched YLDS, the first public security registered yield-bearing stablecoin.

🌍 The SEC looks set to dismiss its case against Coinbase with no fines or actions.

🌍 Crypto exchange ByBit was hacked for over $1bn, the largest single hack in crypto history. The exchange remains fully operational.

Don't miss out on our first Amsterdam Fintech breakfast on March 6th 🥐☕! RSVP to secure your spot.

Traditional Banking 🏦

🇪🇺 Commerzbank has partnered with Visa to upgrade its payment solutions.

🇪🇺 BBVA has added AI-powered account and card management features to its virtual assistant.

🇪🇺 CaixaBank is spending €5bn on technology centered around AI to improve operations.

🇪🇺 Santander's neobank Openbank has gone live in Mexico.

🇬🇧 Barclays has revealed it is being probed by the FCA over money-laundering and tax issues.

🇬🇧 HSBC has offloaded its Bahrain retail banking business to BBK.

🌍 Wells Fargo has cleared 10 of its consent orders, the latest from 2018, with 4 remaining.

Fintech Infrastructure 🚧

🇬🇧 A2A payment infrastructure provider Token.io signed payment orchestrator Fabrick Partners as a customer to expand Pay by Bank in UK.

🌍 Credit Bureau TransUnion is partnering with Credit Sesame for direct-to-consumer credit scores in the US.

Payments 💰

🇪🇺 Payment platform Market Pay is acquiring Nordic PSP AltaPay.

🇪🇺 EPI's Wero digital wallet is being rolled out in Belgium whilst the Payconiq brand name is disappearing.

🇪🇺 Payment solution provider Surfboard Payments is offering tap-to-pay on iPhone for Swedish customers.

🇪🇺 Payment provider Viva.com has acquired a majority stake in Austrian fintech Fiskaltrust.

🇪🇺 PSP Worldline has renewed its partnership with OP Financial Group, the largest retail bank in Finland.

🇪🇺 Klarna signed car subscription provider FINN as a customer.

🇪🇺 Adyen signed Eats365 as a customer.

🇬🇧 PSP Checkout.com is the first acquirer to launch Visa Direct in the UAE.

🇬🇧 The FCA and PSR are to examine the digital wallet market to assess implications of increased usage.

🌍 Payment provider Shift4 has acquired payment provider Global Blue for $2.5bn.

🌍 Mastercard has followed in Visa's footsteps and launched One Credential, a digital credential that can be linked to multiple funding sources across credit and debit.

🌍 The Federal Reserve has pushed back the deadline for banks and credit unions to move Fedwire payments to the ISO 20022 format.

🌍 Capital One and Discover shareholders have both approved the merger.

🌍 Affirm and Shopify have expanded their partnership to include Canada with plans to also expand in the UK.

Longer reads/listens 📜

• An Interview with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi About Aggregation and Autonomy - Ben Thompson, Stratechery
• eReciepts – The Politics and Economics of SKU Data and Scenario – Agentic Wallets and Federated Data- Tom Noyes
• New Towns for a New Britain: Where Britain’s next new town should be -
  ⁠Kane Emerson, Dr Samuel Hughes, UK Day One
• Masayoshi Son Bet Billions on the iPhone-3 Years Before It Existed - Wired
• Apple And Walmart And Payments - Dave Birch
• Dust on Crust - Arthur Hayes
• Under the Hood 🛠 - The Building Blocks of SME Lending - Jas Shah
• Shift4: Delete The Part - Jareau Wade

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See you next week!