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

Plaid hits $13.5 billion valuation on $425 million funding round

Open banking platform Plaid has raised $425 million in Series D financing at an estimated valuation of $13.5 billion.

07 April 2021

How cloud enables banking transformation towards contextual finance

Companies adapting to the new normal brought on by the pandemic have been forced to undergo a digital shift toward contactless payments and a surge in online transactions. As a result, many are looking to Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) to enable innovative financial and payments services that can be embedded into digital apps and products. Further, the deployment of BaaS enables a faster time to market for more personalised propositions.

01 April 2021

News/retail

Santander Consumer Bank rolls out new PFM app

Santander's consumer bank in Norway has released a new PFM app using Open Banking tools from Nordic API Gateway.

01 April 2021

News/regulation

Tide proposes Open Banking data fees to incentivise banks

Business banking platform Tide has accused the UK's banks of dragging their feet on Open Banking, arguing for the introduction of data fees to incentivise the sector to promote wider uptake.

30 March 2021

News/regulation

FCA to define new rules about data ethics in evolution of Open Banking

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is to use its legislative powers to steer the evolution of Open banking to a broader model of Open Finance.

29 March 2021

News/startups

Fintech startup NumberX to launch app-based Mastercard

NumberX, a fintech firm established by former Revolut and Anyline managers, is preparing to launch an app-based Mastercard which promises to deliver to users neo-bank innovations without the need to upend a relationship with their trusted bank.

24 March 2021

News/regulation

ClearBank: Third of fintechs face regulatory scrutiny due to agency banking partners

Based on an independent survey of 100 fintechs across the Netherlands, Lithuania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK, a report by ClearBank reveals a multitude of challenges fintechs experience at the hands of their agency bank’s shortcomings.

23 March 2021

News/payments

BNP Paribas rolls out A2A instant payments for e-commerce merchants

BNP Paribas is to provide instant account-to-account payments for EU merchants through its ongoing partnership with Open Banking provider Token.

09 March 2021

News/payments

Plaid beta tests payroll authentication tech

Plaid is launching an income verification product, streamling the application for consumer loans by bringing payroll data into the Open Banking ecosystem.

05 March 2021

News/regulation

Competition watchdog launches consultation on future of Open Banking in the UK

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a consultation on the future governance of Open Banking in the UK.

05 March 2021

News/startups

AmEx and PayPal invest in Codat

Codat, the API-based platform for business data, has received strategic investments from PayPal Ventures and American Express Ventures.

02 March 2021

News/retail

UK Finance sets out future model for Open Banking

Banking industry trade body UK Finance has set out detailed proposals for a new service company to replace the Open Banking Implementation Entity.

02 March 2021

News/retail

BBVA experiments with AI to summarise customer conversations

BBVA says it has had "encouraging" results testing an out-of-the-box AI language model to summarise Spanish customer conversations about banking.

02 March 2021

News/crypto

Mode raises £6 million from private placing

LSE-listed fintech Mode has raised £6 million in fresh capital on an oversubscribed placement of 10,909,091 new ordinary shares at a price of £0.55p each.

26 February 2021

News/startups

South African API startup Stitch raises $4m

South African fintech API startup Stitch has emerged from stealth with $4million in seed funding led by Raba and firstminute capital.

26 February 2021

News/payments

NatWest initiates Open Banking payments for business customers

NatWest is to use Open Banking technology to allow businesses to send payments directly to customers without needing their bank details, in what it claims is an industry first.

25 February 2021

News/payments

Episode Six bags $30 million in fresh capital

Episode Six, the Texan fintech which provides a digital API platform for payments, has secured an additional $30 million of investment, bringing its total capital raised to $40 million.

25 February 2021

News/payments

Basiq brings Open Banking to bear on consumer BNPL debt

Basiq, a NAB, Westpac, Salesforce and Plaid-backed open banking platform, is introdocuing a new feature for lenders to aggregate outstanding consumer loans, including buy now, pay later debt, to get more visibility into customer liabilities.

24 February 2021

News/startups

Middle East Open Banking outfit Tarabut Gateway raises $13m

Middle Eastern Open Banking platform Tarabut Gateway has raised $13 million in what it claims is the largest fintech seed round in Mena history.

23 February 2021

News/payments

Lloyds taps into Mastercard's Open Banking Connect system

Lloyds Banking Group is tapping Mastercard's Open Banking software to enable customers to pay off their credit card bills via their mobile app and draw on funds directly from a current account of their choice.

23 February 2021

Open APIs