Friday October 18, 2019 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
Fidelity launches company to facilitate crypto trading
Fidelity Investments has launched a company to provide cryptocurrency trading and custody services for institutional clients as a first step towards creating a full platform for the nascent industry.
https://www.ft.com/content/3787ccc6-d09d-11e8-a9f2-7574db66bcd5
Machine learning in UK financial services
A Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority survey on machine learning (ML) finds growing use of ML in the financial services sector, particularly in risk management and customer-facing functions.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/report/2019/machine-learning-in-uk-financial-services
Brazilian unicorn Ebanx will hit $2 billion in payments processed by the end of the year
Ebanx is on a solid growth trajectory and expects to process $2 billion in payments in Brazil this year with plans to expand into local payment processing in new Latin American markets starting with Colombia.
EBA sets new EU-wide deadline for payment security rules
The European Banking Authority has pushed the deadline for the migration to Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) standards to 31 December 2020, providing the financial services and payments industry a 15-month extension to implement the new rules.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/34582/eba-sets-new-eu-wide-deadline-for-payment-security-rules
U.S. Fintech West Creek Secures $150 Million Credit Facility From Pollen Street Capital to Expand Point-of-Sale Financing
West Creek, a POS financing company catering to underserved customer segments has secured a $150 million credit facility from Pollen Street Capital to continue its expansion.
PayPal is launching a Venmo credit card to help monetize the payment app
PayPal is partnering with Synchrony Financial to launch a credit card targeted at its 40 million Venmo users in an effort to better monetize the Venmo offering; choice of card brand – Visa/Mastercard has not been disclosed.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/paypals-venmo-is-launching-a-credit-card.html
American Express Takes Aim at Rival Brex With New Card Offerings for Startups
Amex is launching new corporate card products targeted at startups and early-stage companies as part of a broader and harder push into B2B payments.
Mobile bank Chime goes dark for millions of customers as it seeks $5 billion valuation
Digital-only bank Chime suffered a major outage affecting its app, website, and debit card with significant negative customer impact; this is reportedly Chime’s third outage since July.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/digital-bank-chime-goes-dark-for-millions-of-customers.html
Galileo Financial Technologies Raises $77 Million Series A Led by Accel
Galileo, best known as a prepaid card issuer processor and API-based payments provider to fintech firms has raised $77 million led by Accel with participation from Qualtrics Co-Founder & CEO Ryan Smith to support its international expansion plans.
US FinTech Verady closes investment round led by TTV Capital
Verady, an Atlanta-based cryptocurrency accounting and audit platform, has closed an investment round led by TTV Capital with participation from partner Fenbushi Capital and Pamela Joseph.
