Friday May 15, 2020 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
IBM Canada and prairie credit unions team up for digital transformation and payments modernization on IBM Public Cloud
A new Prairie Payments Joint Venture (PPJV) and IBM and have signed an 8-year, multi-million dollar agreement to digitally transform and modernize credit union payment services in Canada; PPJV has been established by the Credit Union Centrals of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and collectively represents more than 75 credit unions.
Brazil bank Banrisul aims to sell card business, close to hiring JPMorgan
Brazilian state-controlled bank Banrisul is reportedly in talks to sell Banrisul Cartoes SA, its credit card subsidiary and is expected to hire JPMorgan Chase & Co. to handle the transaction; the credit card program generated net income of $47 million last year.
Southeast Asian lending platform Validus raises $20 million for its Series B+ round
Singapore-based lending startup Validus that focuses on the SME segment has raised $20 million for its ongoing Series B+ round; the company currently operates in Indonesia and Vietnam (in addition to Singapore) and plans to expand to Thailand.
OCC Floats New Payments Charter For Stripe, PayPal, And Crypto Firms
The new chief operating officer at the OCC has suggested revisiting the special purpose national bank charter explored a few years ago; instead of lending, the OCC could potentially offer a ‘payments charter’ that would be of interest to both traditional payment companies as well as crypto companies.
JPMorgan Is Now Banking for Bitcoin Exchanges Coinbase, Gemini
Mastercard Track™ Business Payment Service Launches in the U.S., Brings Efficiency Gains and Faster Access to Working Capital to Suppliers and Buyers
Mastercard has announced the US launch of Mastercard TrackTM Business Payment Service, a new B2B digital payments platform that offers better control, richer data exchange, and automated reconciliation for business payments; the Track Business Payment Service is starting out with card payment rails and will add ACH later this year and cross-border payments in 2021.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mastercard-track-business-payment-launches-130000368.html
Cross River Enhances Payments Offerings with International Push to Card Capabilities
Cross River Bank announced that it has expanded its capabilities in push to card transactions over the debit card networks internationally, with Remitly among the first to use the services; with Cross River as the settlement bank for push to card transactions, Remitly’s customers can receive disbursements in near real-time over the international debit card rails.
Featurespace raises £30 million to fight financial crime
Featurespace has raised £30 million from a funding round led by Merian Chrysalis Investment and supported by existing investors; the company will use the fresh capital to expand its growth in the UK, the US, Singapore, Europe and Australia.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35817/featurespace-raises-30-million-to-fight-financial-crime
Monzo faces near 40% valuation drop in latest fundraising
Monzo is raising a new round of about £70 million to £80 million at an almost 40% discount to its previous fundraising; the bank is reportedly close to agreeing a deal that will value it at around £1.25 billion, compared with the more than £2 billion valuation secured at its last capital raise.
https://www.ft.com/content/7dd0dd44-1614-475e-b272-c5dd4c206582
Temasek Holdings joins Facebook-backed Libra
Temasek Holdings has joined the Facebook-backed Libra project according to an announcement by the Libra Association; Temasek was among three new members announced for the association, including the cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm and the private equity group Slow Ventures.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/temasek-holdings-joins-facebook-backed-libra-12734346
