Travelex held to ransom by hackers January 7, 2020 Hackers are holding foreign exchange giant Travelex to ransom, after a cyber attack forced the company to switch off all its computer systems. It has been reported that hackers infiltrated the company’s systems on New Year’s Eve and that it has taken down 30 of its websites to contain “the virus and protect data”. Read [...]
The top tech predictions for 2020 January 6, 2020 Welcome to 2020. After a week or more of festive cheer and turkey-induced fatigue, it’s time to get back to work. But don’t despair. The year — and decade — ahead is set to be an exciting one, especially in the world of technology. To find out what changes may lie ahead, City A.M. asked [...]
Seedrs says amount invested on its platform jumped 49 per cent in 2019 January 6, 2020 Crowd-funding platform Seedrs said today that the amount invested in pitches on its platform grew 49 per cent to £238m in 2019. It said it completed 250 deals during the year, up from 186 in 2018, and delivered 7,858 investor exits on its secondary market. Highlights included Scottish fintech Paysend raising £10.7m and football club [...]
What does the next decade have in store for UK fintech? December 20, 2019 A decade ago, the term “fintech” had barely been coined, and the financial services world referred to more staid terms like “financial technology”. High-growth startups focusing on the space were few and far between, and very few VCs had fintech on their investment radar. In parallel, the ecosystem was slowly being introduced to innovative startups [...]
Chief executive of digital wealth manager Nutmeg to quit December 18, 2019 Martin Stead, chief executive of Nutmeg, is stepping down early next year, the digital wealth manager has announced. Stead, who joined Nutmeg in 2015 and took over as chief executive a year later, is leaving the company to move overseas. He will be replaced by chief financial and operating officer Neil Alexander. Read more: Nutmeg [...]
String of London restaurants go paperless with City fintech startup Flux December 18, 2019 A number of London hot spots have taken a step towards going paperless, in a tie-up with digital receipts startup Flux. Flux has today signed partnership agreements with Japan Centre, Sakagura and Boparan Restaurant Group, which owns Giraffe, Ed’s Easy Diner and Slim Chickens. The deal means visitors who bank with Monzo or Starling, as [...]
The biggest tech breakthroughs of the last decade December 18, 2019 It is easy to forget, as we approach the end of not just 2019 but also the decade, just how far technology has developed over the past 10 years. To mark the end of the era, City A.M. asked several experts for what they think have been the biggest technological breakthroughs or advancements made in [...]
Lord Mayor in San Francisco with UK fintech delegation December 11, 2019 London’s Lord Mayor William Russell today begins a three-day visit to San Francisco as new research showed that the UK is the first choice overseas market for fintech-focused North American venture capital firms. A survey by financial data firm Preqin showed that 90 per cent of North American venture capital and private equity fund managers [...]
HSBC signs global deal with City fintech startup Bud December 11, 2019 HSBC is to ramp up its efforts on Open Banking, following a global partnership agreement signed today with London fintech startup Bud. The banking giant took a significant stake in Bud earlier this year, after the startup helped HSBC launch mobile banking app Artha through its First Direct challenger brand. The deal will initially see [...]
When did making money in tech become so unfashionable? December 10, 2019 It is commonly accepted that technology companies have irrevocably changed the world we live in. This is especially true in the finance industry where fintech companies are successfully disrupting the status quo, forcing incumbent firms to evolve alongside these new challengers. While competition and technological innovation in any market is to be welcomed with open [...]