Friday January 25, 2019 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
Alipay awarded e-money licence in Luxembourg
Alipay gets an e-money license in Luxembourg to facilitate European expansion.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/33229/alipay-awarded-e-money-licence-in-luxembourg
Volt Bank gets APRA green light
Australian digital-only bank Volt received an unrestricted banking license from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and plans to launch savings accounts in March.
https://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/volt-bank-gets-apra-green-light-20190122-h1abme
Apple Pay is coming to Target, Taco Bell, Speedway and two other US chains
With the roll out of Apple Pay to Target and four other major merchant chains, Apple Pay is now in 74 of the Top 100 U.S. merchants.
Advent buys majority stake in Argentinian bank-owned payments firm
Advent acquires a 51% stake in Argentinian payments firm Prisma Medios de Pago (formerly Visa Argentina, Banelco) in a deal valuing the company at $1.42 billion.
Lloyds to cut costs with Thought Machine platform move
Lloyds is in discussions with regulators on moving about 500,000 customers to a new cloud-based core banking platform developed by Thought Machine.
https://www.bankingtech.com/2019/01/lloyds-to-cut-costs-with-thought-machine-platform-move/
Synchrony Says Walmart to Drop Lawsuit Against Credit-Card Issuer
Synchrony and Walmart have come to terms with Walmart dropping lawsuit, the two companies agreeing to extend the Sams Club deal, and Synchrony selling the Walmart portfolio to Capital One.
Uplift raises $123M to bring flexible payments to the travel industry
Travel financing startup Uplift has raised $123 million in a Series C round.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/23/uplift-series-c/
Mexican neobank Albo raises $7.4 million
Mexican ‘challenger’ bank Albo, that is focused on improving financial inclusion has raised $7.4 million in Series A funding.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/33253/mexican-neobank-albo-raises-74-million
Discover Financial Services Reports Fourth Quarter Net Income of $687 Million or $2.03 Per Diluted Share
Discover reported Q4 net income of $687 million, $72.9 billion in credit card loans and card yield of 13.20%.
Finxact Secures $30 Million from Strategic Investors Including the American Bankers Association, Accenture Ventures, and SunTrust Bank
Core-as-a-Service banking platform provider Finaxct raises $30 million to complete its development and build scale.
