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

PayPal takes full ownership of Chinese payments business

PayPal has taken complete ownership of GoPay, making it the first foreign firm to have 100% control of a Chinese payments platform, according to Reuters.

14 January 2021

News/payments

Rapyd bags $300 million as online payments skyrocket

Buoyed by the pandemic-fuelled growth in cross-border digital payments, fintech-as-a-service platform Rapyd has bagged $300 million in a Series D financing round led by Coatue.

13 January 2021

News/devops

Open Banking year three: Insights from the CMA9

The UK banking industry had its hands full in 2020 as institutions had to respond to lockdowns and other restrictions on business activity designed to curb the spread of Covid-19. What effect did this have on the ongoing adoption of Open Banking? In Finextra’s annual review, we look at how Open Banking has grown, what still needs to improve and what will happen next.

13 January 2021

News/payments

CES 2021: Stripe and Plaid reveal Covid-19 ‘pressed fast forward’ on digital payments acceptance

As Andrew B. Morris from The Fintech Agenda, LLC highlights at CES 2021, the dark clouds of Covid-19 had a silver lining for the fintech industry. Unicorns Stripe and Plaid supported the global shift to a contactless economy, helping businesses deliver products and services to consumers who had collectively formed new daily habits for everything. Ginger Baker and Erika Wool explain what's next for the payments giants.

13 January 2021

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

News/payments

Checkout.com triples valuation on $450 million fund raise

Online payments firm Checkout.com has tripled its valuation to $15 billion following a Series C funding round, making it the fourth largest fintech business globally and Emea’s most valuable venture-backed business.

12 January 2021

Company update/payments

Global Savings Group to acquire Shoop Germany

The Global Savings Group (GSG), Europe’s leading shopping rewards company, and Shoop Germany GmbH (Shoop), operator of Germany’s #1 cashback platform shoop.de, have reached an agreement under which the GSG will acquire Shoop Germany GmbH.

08 January 2021

News/payments

Buy now, regret later? Brits face £2.3bn bill for Christmas shopping

A quarter of Brits used buy now, pay later services to fund Christmas shopping, setting up a £2.3 billion bill, according to Credit Karma.

08 January 2021

News/cloud

Future-proofing payments technology with cloud migration

Consumer expectations, behaviour and payment preferences are and will continue to evolve at an accelerated rate.

07 January 2021

News/crime

Last year’s challenges in financial crime will gather pace in 2021

As Covid-19's shadow continues to stalk economies as we move into 2021, the stakes are high for merchants and institutions alike to adapt to the challenges it presents, according to new report on financial crime mitigation.

07 January 2021

News/payments

Nets' subsidiary Paytrail to acquire Checkout Finland

Nets Group's Finnish online payment subsidiary Paytrail is to acquire fellow e-commerce specialist Checkout Finland from OP Financial.

05 January 2021

Company update/payments

Checkout.com wins payments contract with the Hut Group

Leading Connected Payments provider, Checkout.com today announces its appointment as payments provider to THG, a global technology platform company, specialising in taking brands direct to consumers.

17 December 2020

News/startups

UK BNPL startup Zilch scoops $30 million in funding

Zilch, a UK-based startup competing with the likes of Klarna in the buy now, pay later market, has picked up an additional $30 million in funding just weeks after securing a consumer credit authorisation with the Financial Conduct Authority.

16 December 2020

Company update/payments

GoDaddy acquires Poynt for $320 million in cash

GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Poynt.

16 December 2020

Company update/payments

Paysafe launches Paysafecash in US

Paysafe, a leading integrated payments platform, today announced the U.S. launch of Paysafecash™, an alternative payment method for consumers who want to pay online easily and safely using cash.

15 December 2020

Company update/security

FIS rolls out token management service

FIS (NYSE: FIS) today launched its token management service, offering online merchants and partners access to Visa Token Service to protect their payments environment and strengthen their digital commerce strategy.

11 December 2020

News/payments

Cash App gets its own clothing line

Square has stepped up its efforts to turn the Cash App into a lifestyle brand, unveiling its own brightly coloured clothing line.

11 December 2020

Company update/security

Forter and Nuvei team on payment processing and fraud prevention

Forter, the leader in e-commerce fraud prevention, today announced that Nuvei (TSX: NVEI and NVI.U), the global payment technology partner of thriving brands, will be joining its global network of merchants and banks to fight online fraud and approve more legitimate customers instantaneously.

10 December 2020

Company update/payments

Starling and iZettle team up for SME payments

Starling Bank has added PayPal’s iZettle to its Business Marketplace, providing business owners with in-depth transaction information.

10 December 2020

Company update/payments

Stripe inks deal with subscription management platform provider Zuora

Zuora, Inc. (NYSE: ZUO) a leading subscription management platform provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Stripe to accelerate the growth of the Subscription Economy®.

08 December 2020

E-commerce