Latest UK Fintech Week News: Finextra Research

Santander UK CIO joins biometric outfit iProov

Biometric face authentication technology company iProov has hired Miguel Traquina, Santander UK's chief information officer for operations and economic crime, as CIO

05 April 2022

News/crypto

Chancellor asks Royal Mint to create NFT

The UK government has commissioned the Royal Mint to create an NFT as part of a push to make the country a "global hub for cryptoasset technology".

05 April 2022

News/startups

IFGS 2022: Are fintechs biting off more than they can chew?

Molten VC’s and moderator for IFGS session ‘Chomping on the (uni)(deca)corn’ Bindi Karia set the scene with some striking statistics around investment in the UK and global fintech industry.

04 April 2022

News/startups

Kalifa to steer creation of new UK Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology

A steering committee has been established to develop the remit for a new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology in the UK.

04 April 2022

News/crypto

IFGS 2022: HM Treasury confirms regulation of stablecoin use

Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) conference on Monday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen announced that legislation will be introduced to bring certain stablecoins into the UK payments framework, as well as projects to tackle broader crypto regulation and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).

04 April 2022

News/regulation

IFGS 2022: Taking the pulse of UK fintech

Following welcome addresses from Catherine McGuinness, chair, Policy and Resources Committee, City of London Corporation, and Janine Hirt, CEO, Innovate Finance, the Innovate Finance Global Summit took off with a panel stacked with leading fintech voices.

04 April 2022

News/retail

Zopa hits profitability ahead of planned move into BNPL market

Zopa bank has achieved a rare feat among UK challenger banks, hitting profitability for the first time just 21 months after acquiring its UK banking licencet.

04 April 2022

News/payments

Visa cardholders score discounts on Covid-19 testing

Visa has announced a partnership with Collinson, a travel experience and medical assistance provider, to deliver a range of discounted pre-travel Covid-19 testing to Visa cardholders.

01 April 2022

News/devops

ADGM and Finastra join forces for ‘Hack to the Future 4’

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has partnered with Finastra for its globally renowned fintech hackathon, Hack to the Future 4.

01 April 2022

News/regulation

Barclays addresses potential CBDC fragmentation in new paper

Barclays’ paper sets out a methodology for the mitigation of potential fragmentation risk presented by central bank digital currency (CBDC), through an architecture that places CBDC and commercial bank money on a similar footing.

01 April 2022

News/regulation

EBAday 2022: Why European FIs need to prepare for DORA

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is on track to be agreed before the summer and firms need to prepare accordingly.

01 April 2022

News/crime

Millions of Brits risking fraud by ignoring Confirmation of Payee warnings

Millions of Brits are putting themselves at risk by ignoring warnings that bank account details do not match when making a transfer, according to research from Lloyds Bank.

01 April 2022

News/regulation

UK watchdog takes on card schemes

The UK's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has put the card schemes on notice that it is investigating their fees and how to help merchants get better deals, including by promoting the alternative of account-to-account payments.

01 April 2022

News/predictions

Apple looks to bring payment processing in-house - Bloomberg

Apple is working to bring a host of financial services work, including payments processing, in-house to reduce its reliance on outside fintech partners, according to Bloomberg.

31 March 2022

News/startups

Credit card for expats Yonder secures £20 million startup capital

Yonder, a London-based credit card startup catering to expats in the UK, has opened a waitlist for prospective customers after emerging from stealth with a £20 million equity raise.

31 March 2022

News/payments

Dapio picks up $3.4m to turn phones into POS devices

Dapio, a UK outfit that helps businesses accept contactless payments on their Android devices, has raised $3.4 million in a round co-led by African paymentts behemoth Flutterwave and Techstars.

31 March 2022

News/payments

Santander launches instant payments into Brazil from Europe

Santander’s SME and corporate clients in Spain, from today, will be able to make immediate international payments to recipients in Brazil, in Brazilian Real, through the One Trade solution.

30 March 2022

News/startups

Oxbury closes Series C, acquires software provider Naqoda

Agricultural challenger bank Oxbury has acquired Naqoda, the provider of the bank's cloud-based core banking platform, with the aim of becoming a software-as-a-service provider for the wider fintech and banking industry.

30 March 2022

News/wholesale

OakNorth reports 73% increase in pre-tax profits

UK small business lender OakNorth is reporting a stellar performance in 2021, posting a 73% increase in pre-tax profits to £134.5 million and a 60% increase in new lending to £1.8 billion.

30 March 2022

News/payments

Papaya Global to acquire Azimo

Global staff management and payroll platform platform Papaya is to acquire remittance outfit Azimo, in a deal that will male it possible to pay employees almost instantly regardless of geography and typical payroll limitations.

29 March 2022