Friday June 22, 2018 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
Rise of contactless payment means cash is no longer king
Debit card payments, driven by contactless overtake cash in the UK.
https://www.ft.com/content/18e3eb92-7201-11e8-aa31-31da4279a601
Square obtains NY State cryptocurrency license
Square has obtained a license to offer New York state residents the ability to buy and sell bitcoin through its Cash App.
Are you ready to ditch your bank? SoFI is betting its future on it
SoFi lauches mobile bank account and debit card.
Brex picks up $57M to build an easy credit card for startups
New non-bank issuer Brex launches credit card program for startups.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/19/brex-picks-up-57m-to-build-an-easy-credit-card-for-startups/
PayPal Agrees to Buy Payments Firm Hyperwallet for $400 Million
PayPal to acquire Hyperwallet to augment its payments offerings to individual and small businesses that sell on digital marketplaces.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/paypal-nears-400-million-deal-for-payments-firm-hyperwallet-1529439302
Microsoft acquires Bonsai to help with its artificial intelligence push
Microsoft acquired Bonsai, a small AI startup.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/20/microsoft-buys-ai-start-up-bonsai.html
Biggest Banks Pass Fed’s Stress Tests
All of the big US banks passed the first phase of the Fed’s annual stress tests.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/business/fed-stress-tests-banks.html
PayPal to acquire fraud prevention company Simility for $120 million
PayPal to acquire machine-learning based fraud management company Simility to beter support online merchants.
ING and BNP Paribas invest in blockchain-powered trade platform TradeIX
ING and BNP Paribas invest $16 million in blockchain-based trade finance company, TradeIX.
Capital One Co-Founder Is Making a Bet on Risky Borrowers
Nigel Morris joins Board and increases investment in LendUp.