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

Klarna receives UK approval to offer credit and payments products

Klarna has secured approval to offer credit and payments products in the UK ahead of the expiration of a temporary deal arranged in the wake of Brexit.

23 November 2023

News/payments

Numeral launches in the UK to help fintechs access EU markets

Paris-based banking aggregation and payment automation platform Numeral has launched in the UK to help fintechs address the EU market by accessing Sepa and fighting IBAN discrimination.

13 March 2023

News/payments

Axe the Card Tax campaign calls for cost of card payment review

The Axe the Card Tax campaign has called to the UK Treasury and Payments System Regulator to review the cost of card payments to encourage fintech payment innovation.

09 December 2022

News/payments

Visa and Mastercard blame increased risk of fraud for post-Brexit fee hikes

Visa and Mastercard have cited fraud and increased competition to justify post-brexit fee increases on cross-border payments from the UK.

25 August 2022

News/regulation

UK to restructure data policy and underpin innovation post-Brexit

Oliver Dowden, the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has announced that new ‘data adequacy’ partnerships will be struck with the likes of the US, Australia, and the Republic of Korea.

27 August 2021

News/startups

Post-Brexit Britain dominates European fintech funding charts

In the midst of a global pandemic, post-Brexit London has cemented its status as the fintech capital of Europe, according to new figures from industry body Innovate Finance.

12 July 2021

News/regulation

Will smart divergence set the UK apart post Brexit?

During a panel session for UK Fintech Week 2021, moderator Kristy Duncan, founder and CEO of Women in Payments noted that while the UK and EU benefits from a progressive regulatory regime which favours innovation and competition, fintechs are hindered by regulatory challenges including lack of enforcement and passporting headaches.

21 April 2021

News/payments

Visa hikes UK-EU online interchange fees; faces US investigation into debit card practices

Visa is set to take advantage of Brexit to raise interchange fees on cross-border transactions between the UK and EU, according to the Financial Times. The move comes as the payments giant faces an investigation by the US Justice Department over possible anticompetitive practices in debit card transaction routing.

19 March 2021

News/payments

Sunak to pitch increase in contactless limit to £100 as 'Brexit dividend'

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to announce a change in the contactless limit from £45 to £100 in his budget speech this week.

02 March 2021

News/people

UK plans fintech visa fast-track scheme

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to unveil a fast-track fintech visa to attract top tech talent to post-Brexit Britain.

22 February 2021

News/regulation

GDPR: EU set to ensure free data flow with UK

The European Commission is set to continue letting personal data flow freely between the EU and the UK post Brexit, ensuring a smooth transition for sectors that transfer banking information across the channel.

19 February 2021

News/payments

UK customers facing iban discrimination on EU payments

Starling Bank says that some companies across the EU are refusing to accept payments from UK euro account holders because the international bank account number (iban) contains the country code 'GB'.

03 February 2021

News/payments

Mastercard hikes interchange fees for UK online purchases from the EU

Mastercard has imposed a five-fold increase on credit card interchange fees charged for UK online purchases from the EU, following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

25 January 2021

News/payments

Banks push for UK to increase contactless limit to £100

In the wake of Brexit, banks are pushing the UK government to increase the contactless payments limit to £100, breaking with an EU cap of £45.

04 January 2021

News/regulation

Bank of England warns of Brexit payment disruption

The Bank of England has warned that there could be some disruption to the processing of payments for consumers and businesses at the end of the Brexit transition period.

11 December 2020

News/retail

UK govt programme looks to connect global banks with British fintechs

The UK government has launched a global partnerships programme designed to help international financial institutions access British fintech.

10 December 2020

News/people

Dr Ruth Wandhöfer to chair PSR panel through Covid-19 recovery, Brexit and BoE RTGS renewal

Dr Ruth Wandhöfer has been appointed chair of the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) panel amid the regulator’s increased relevance as a policy strategist between a diverse group of banks, payment service providers, fintech firms and consumer groups as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

08 December 2020

News/regulation

FCA changes Open Banking ID requirements for life after Brexit

In a bid to limit the risk of disruption to open banking services after Brexit, fhe FCA is to permit UK-based third-party providers (TPPs) to use an alternative to eIDAS certificates to access customer account information from account providers, or initiate payments.

03 November 2020

News/regulation

Which? calls for post-Brexit rule change to protect victims of APP fraud

Consumer group Which? is urging the UK Government to introduce a post-Brexit rule change that would force banks to reimburse victims of authorised push payment fraud.

22 October 2020

News/covid-19

Look beyond London for the UK fintechs that will lead post-Covid recovery

Echoing Prime Minister’s Boris Johnson pledge to 'double down on levelling up' the UK economy, Citi Bank’s Tony McLaughlin believes the country can become an even more friendly environment for fintech and should be looking outside “a small perimeter around Old Street”.

09 September 2020