Monday, April 20, 2020
Each week TAG FinTech Steering Committee member Ali Raza compiles a list of newsworthy events impacting the payments ecosystem. He has graciously agreed to allow us to report his thoughts going forward. Enjoy!
This article is courtesy of Blue Leviathan. The original can be seen at https://www.blueleviathan.com/the-week-in-review-109/
As part of the coronavirus response, and to support the economy, a host of financial regulators have issued an interagency statement to “encourage financial institutions to work prudently with borrowers who are or may be unable to meet their contractual payment obligations because of the effects of COVID-19.”
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20200322a1.pdf
Mexican fintech startup Credijusto has raised $100 million in debt from Credit Suisse to continue lending to SMB’s; according to the company, the deal was in the works before the coronavirus epidemic intensified.
Emirates’ World Investments is investing A$433 million into Australian neobank Xinja over the next 24 months; Xinja Bank has a full banking licence and has generated about $400 million in deposits across 45,000 accounts.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35505/dubais-world-investments-invests-a433m-in-xinja-bank
The Russian government has introduced a new bill that may soon allow the creation of regulatory sandboxes for companies working on new technologies including financial services; the new bill will permit companies to actually test and use the new technology with clients vs. only modeling possible use cases.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-prime-minister-introduces-bill-152007212.html
UK challenger bank Revolut is launching its consumer banking app in the US; as in other markets, Revolut offers a transaction account, debit card, and multi-currency spending capability along with a two-tier account structure.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/24/revolut-launches-its-neobank-in-the-us/
Given the impact of the coronavirus, early-stage funding for startups is already coming under stress; according to CB Insights, capital from seed-stage funding has declined by about 22% globally since January and total private-market funding for startups is expected to come in at $67 billion in the first quarter, down from an initial forecast of $77 billion.
A combination of factors including the countrywide lockdown and an increase in contactless card payments has led to a dramatic decline in cash usage in the the UK; according to ATM operator Link, cash usage trends point to a long-term shift in consumer behavior particularly as banks raise the limit on contactless card transactions.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35517/cash-usage-in-britain-drops-by-half
Stripe has led a $20 million investment in Fast, a startup building platform-agnostic login and checkout services; in essence Fast is building capability for one-click login and one-click payments.
The FDIC, CFPB, and other regulatory agencies are telling banks to issue more short-term, small dollar loans in an effort to help consumers “meet their needs for credit due to temporary cash-flow imbalances, unexpected expenses, or income shortfalls during periods of economic stress or disaster recoveries.”
Plastiq, a payments intermediary that allows SMB’s to make payments with credit cards (even where credit cards are not accepted) has raised $75 million in a Series D round; the investment was led by B Capital Group, with participation from previous investors.
http://www.finsmes.com/2020/03/plastiq-secures-75m-in-series-d-funding.html
