Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Sustainable Finance Live: The state of the market and planet

Today, Finextra Research and Responsible Risk kicked off proceedings for Sustainable Finance Live – a series of virtual events designed to drive the creation of actionable ESGtech strategies within the financial services sector, and foster an ecosystem of partnerships that will turn strategy into action.

11 May 2021

Company update/crypto

Cardano and Stellar now tradable at Boerse Stuttgart

For the first time, investors can now buy and sell exchange-traded notes (ETNs) based on the cryptocurrencies Cardano and Stellar at Boerse Stuttgart. The securities issued by 21Shares track the price of the two cryptocurrencies in relation to the euro.

07 May 2021

Company update/startups

Northwestern Mutual invests in Zirtue

Today, Zirtue, the world’s first and only relationship-based lending app with a mission to drive financial inclusion, announces it has received a significant investment from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Northwestern Mutual's corporate venture capital fund.

27 April 2021

News/wholesale

Rishi Sunak announces UK Treasury and BofE fintech taskforce to explore CBDC

Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak announced today the launch of new fintech taskforce to “coordinate exploratory work on a potential central bank digital currency,” led by the UK Treasury and Bank of England.

19 April 2021

Company update/people

Earnest names David Green CEO

Earnest, a leading financial technology and education finance company, today announced the appointment of David Green as chief executive officer. Susan Ehrlich, CEO since 2018, has retired from the company to focus on board service.

16 April 2021

Company update/Alternative finance

IDS agrees White Clarke Group acquisition

IDS, a leader in enterprise mission-critical solutions for secured finance, has agreed to acquire White Clarke Group, a leading provider of retail, fleet, wholesale and asset finance solutions for the automotive and equipment finance markets.

07 April 2021

Company update/wholesale

LendInvest partners with Credit Kudos to streamline underwriting through Open Banking

Partnership between fintechs LendInvest and Credit Kudos will offer brokers and customers a seamless, more secure service, as well as enabling LendInvest to make more informed lending decisions through Open Banking insights.

01 April 2021

Company update/startups

IndiaLends raises US$5.1 M from existing investors

Major digital lending platform IndiaLends has raised US$5.1 million in a financing led by existing investors ACP Partners and DSG Consumer Partners.

19 March 2021

Company update/retail

Marketplace lenders form American Fintech Council

Today, the Marketplace Lending Association ("MLA") and Online Lending Policy Institute ("OLPI") announced they have merged organizations to form the American Fintech Council ("AFC").

18 March 2021

News/wholesale

NatWest winds up standlone lending business Esme Loans

Esme Loans, NatWest's standalone digital lending platform for SMEs is being wound up as the pandemic takes its toll on the UK's small business community.

12 March 2021

Company update/startups

Pipe raises $50 million in equity financing

Pipe, creators of the world's first trading platform for recurring revenues, today announced it has raised $50 million in strategic equity funding, with a minority portion of the round being allocated to secondary.

11 March 2021

Company update/Alternative finance

Commerzbank and creditshelf extend strategic partnership

creditshelf Aktiengesellschaft and Commerzbank AG are deepening their strategic cooperation and expanding it to include Commerzbank's Private and Small-Business Customers segment.

09 March 2021

Company update/people

Optimum Finance appoints ex-Microsoft director as new CTO

Invoice finance firm Optimum Finance has appointed ex-Microsoft Global Director, Gordon McIntosh, as Chief Technical Officer furthering their specialism in the FinTech space.

01 March 2021

News/retail

Westpac adds marketplace lender SocietyOne to banking-as-a-service platform

Marketplace lender SocietyOne is the second Australian fintech to join Westpac's new digital banking-as-a-service platform.

23 February 2021

Company update/payments

Iwoca integration with Xero offers Pay later option for businesses

iwoca, one of Europe’s largest small business lenders, is today announcing a UK-first integration with leading small business platform Xero.

15 February 2021

Company update/startups

QED Investors leads $6 million seed round in lending startup Milo

Milo, the digital banking and lending startup serving global consumers, announced a $6 million Seed financing round led by fintech specialist QED Investors with participation from MetaProp and 10X Capital.

01 February 2021

News/crypto

Davos 2021: Singapore senior minister on finding the dark horse in digital currency race

Finextra is at Davos this year, covering global insights into the impact fintech has on wider issues such as responding to Covid-19, restoring economic growth and advancing a new social contract.

28 January 2021

Company update/startups

WeOwn rolls out capital raising app Money Turtle across Europe

WeOwn, the European Startup which specialises in providing technology for financial services, has today launched Money Turtle across Europe.

21 January 2021

Research/Alternative finance

What will drive the journey towards cashlessness and digitalisation?

18 January 2021 657 downloads

News/devops

How banks and financial services players will monetise open banking

Joined by executives from the financial services ecosystem, Celent’s head of corporate banking Patricia Hines took to the Sibos virtual stage to lead a discussion on the potential for building on ROI with APIs.

12 January 2021