Digital bank Monzo to cut up to 120 jobs due to coronavirus June 3, 2020 Digital bank Monzo will cut up to 120 jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it was revealed today. In an internal note seen by Reuters, the cuts, which amount to about eight per cent of the bank’s workforce, were announced. The memo said: “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to achieve the goal of [...]
Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield steps down as chief executive May 21, 2020 Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield is stepping down as chief executive of the challenger bank to take up the role of president. Blomfield will take up the newly created role of president meaning he’ll be stepping back from the day to day operational running of the bank. Monzo’s US chief executive TS Anil will take over [...]
Why RBS killed digital bank Bo only five months after launch May 1, 2020 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has abandoned its challenger bank Bo just five months after launching it. In an already dire update on its first quarter performance today, RBS said it would “wind down Bo as a customer-facing brand” after launching it only in November. The Bo platform will instead be integrated with Mettle, [...]
Crypto data provider Skew launches trading platform as it raises $5m April 29, 2020 Skew, a data analytics platform for crypto, has today launched a trading platform after a $5m funding round led by Octopus Ventures. Skew Trading is a partnership with Kyte Broking focused on attracting institutional traders entering the crypto world. Skew is initially focusing on OTC execution of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) block trades for bitcoin [...]
VCs shun new startups as coronavirus slowdown hits investors April 29, 2020 Venture capitalists are prioritising their portfolio companies over new startups as they anticipate a slowdown in investment during the coronavirus pandemic. According to new research by Plexal and Beauhurst, investment since lockdown began grew 34 per cent to reach £663m. However, the drop in the number of deals, down 39 per cent, indicates investor confidence [...]
R3 boss: Coronavirus is exposing cracks in banking tech April 28, 2020 As banking sectors across the globe grapple with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a Wall Street veteran suggests the crisis may expose the need for new technology. David Rutter, who had a decade-long stint at interdealer Icap and now heads up financial tech firm R3, believes issues like the lending of coronavirus loans have [...]
London fintech firm Previse secures $11m in funding round April 16, 2020 London-based fintech startup Previse has secured $11m (£8.8m) in fresh funding as the invoice payment platform defied wider economic gloom sparked by the coronavirus crisis. Previse, which was founded in 2016, uses artificial intelligence to help suppliers get invoices paid instantly when no manual intervention is needed. The King’s Cross-headquartered firm currently processes more than [...]
Fintech bank Revolut launches in the US March 24, 2020 Revolut has today made its digital banking services available in the US, following months of testing and preparations in the country. The fintech scaleup, which has 10m registered users in the UK and Europe, said it has “tens of thousands” of US customers already signed up to its platform. Starting today, US residents will be [...]
How coronavirus could change our working lives (and the climate) March 24, 2020 | City Talk financial markets. The epicentre of the shock is clearly being felt in travel related industries, as people cancel or put holiday plans on hold, and businesses cancel conferences and move to remote working. Remote working tools widely available As an investor looking at climate change trends, these changes in working practices are interesting in an [...]
Transferwise partners with Alipay as it targets expansion into China March 17, 2020 Transferwise has teamed up with Chinese payment platform Alipay to offer its users money transfers to China, as the London-based payments company moves to expand into the lucrative market. Under the partnership, Transferwise’s users will be able to send Chinese yuan from 17 currencies to users of Alipay, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba. Alipay [...]