PingPong rides international e-commerce boom
Exclusive data released today from cross-border payment specialist PingPong (New York, US) has shown strong global growth at the end of a year that has seen Covid-19 permanently shift consumer spending patterns from offline to online. PingPong said it was riding the international e-commerce boom that could see $3.914 trillion in overall 2020 sales, propelling the fintech to unicorn status in March this year with a current valuation of US$1.5b. Worldwide e-commerce sales have seen strong growth, with an average increase of 11% across all markets compared to the same period last year.
BigBrainBank to lauch digital bank
BigBrainBank (London, UK) is to launch the BigBrainBank Digital Bank in the first quarter of 2021. This follows TheBrain AI Trade Strategies app which provides trade ideas based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, BigBrainBank intends to steer the brand forward to provide integrated support across various customer touch points in the financial services ecosystem. BigBrainBank Digital Bank plans to disrupt the financial brokerage trading system and spearhead faster, more efficient digital payments, remittances and lending services that are facilitated through systemic collaborative partnership within an integrated app that is safe, secure and seamless.
Findora integrates with SwiftPass and Wallyt
Findora (Palo Alto, California, US) is to integrate its solutions with SwiftPass, a leading mobile payments service provider in Asia, and Wallyt, a Hong Kong based fintech that provides international mobile payments and open banking solutions. Findora is a blockchain network that leverages zero-knowledge proof technology to ensure privacy for financial transactions while remaining auditable. Findora supports confidential transaction processing, verification and asset issuance for any cryptocurrency or financial asset, such as equities, derivatives, debt and cash.
Fintech Startup of the Year announced
Simpl, a Bengaluru-based startup, has won the Fintech Startup of the Year title at the Indian Fintech Awards 2020. The company empowers any merchant to build trusted relationships with their customers with every digital transaction. Nityanand Sharma, co-founder and CEO (above) said: “Our team is ecstatic at this honour. We are both happy and proud of this win, as an acknowledgement of the hard work we have put into building a product that completely transforms the payment experience, both for merchants and consumers. Today, Simpl is the world’s largest pay later platform for small payments done frequently. We are at an inflexion point in our journey to bringing Buy Now Pay Later as a mainstream category of payments. This award is a recognition of all the efforts our team has put into creating a new category of payments and a breakthrough consumer experience.”
Official prepaid Gift Mastercard provider
University Fancards (Birmingham, Alabama, US) has been named the official prepaid Gift Mastercard provider of the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. This year’s matchup will be contested between the No 9 Georgia Bulldogs and No 8 Cincinnati Bearcats. Players and coaches on each team will receive a personalized $390 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Gift Mastercard as part of their gift pack.
Liberis secures £70m
Liberis (London), a leading global embedded business finance platform, has secured £70m in financing from long-term partners British Business Investments, Paragon Bank, BCI Europe, as well as financing and venture debt from new partner Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). This brings Liberis’ total funds raised to £200m total, including over £50m in equity funding. The new funds will be used to fuel company growth, launch new products and markets, and provide additional customer financing solutions.
Manetu accelerates
Manetu (New York, US), a leading data privacy management platform, has been selected as a finalist in MassChallenge’s 2021 FinTech cohort, which is focused on accelerating innovation in the financial services industry.
Snap raises some dosh
Snap Accounts Payable (Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada), developers of the SnapAP solution that streamlines entire Procurement To Payment workflow for mid-tier and enterprise market clients, has completed the first stages of a planned US$2m seed stage round of financing being led by a group of angel investors all located in Israel. This is the first-ever example of a fintech startup capital funding transaction with primarily Israeli investors for a company based within Atlantic Canada.
Metafile partners with payment automation provider OnPay Solutions
Metafile Information Systems (Rochester, Minnesota), developer of the state-of-the-art document management solution MetaViewer Paperless Automation, is partnering with payment automation provider OnPay Solutions to develop Invoice-Through-Pay automation. The partnership provides full-scale, procurement-to-payment automation for accounts payable departments, driving efficiency and streamlining processes from start to finish.
IBM acquires Expertus
IBM (Armonk, New York, US) has acquired Montreal-based fintech company, Expertus Technologies. IBM said the acquisition strengthens it’s portfolio as an end-to-end digital payments solution provider and further advances it’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy.
