Peer-to-peer lender Zopa makes banking debut as pressure mounts November 7, 2019 Zopa, one of the UK’s three largest names in peer-to-peer lending, is to launch its first foray into banking after receiving partial authorisation last year. The debut comes as the peer-to-peer sector is facing scrutiny from regulators and falling demand from investors, placing pressure on the likes of Zopa and its rivals. The firm said [...]
Revolut’s information security chief has left the firm after just two months in the job November 6, 2019 Revolut’s chief information security officer (CISO) Dinis Cruz has quit less than two months after he joined the firm. Cruz announced last week that he will leave the challenger bank this month, in a move described as being “by mutual agreement”. Read more: Martin Gilbert to step down from Stand Life and join Revolut He said [...]
Gocardless and Transferwise join forces for global recurring payments service November 6, 2019 Fintech firms Gocardless and Transferwise have teamed up to create a service to help businesses collect recurring international payments. Read more: UK fintech Gocardless to launch in the US Gocardless said it has created “the first global network for bank debit”, and will use Transferwise’s business product to provide the transfer company’s foreign exchange rates [...]
Venture capitalist firm Draper Esprit has managerial reshuffle November 4, 2019 Venture capital firm Draper Esprit has had a reshuffle at the top with its chief executive moving to the role of chief investment officer. Simon Cook will move into the chief investment officer role to control the Dublin-based company’s £1.2bn of funds across start-ups and pre-float investments. Read more: City startup Freetrade raises £15m from [...]
Tesco investigates technical issues affecting Monzo card payments November 1, 2019 Supermarket giant Tesco is investigating a technical issue affecting customers with Monzo debit cards after cardholders complained they were being charged twice for transactions. Monzo customers have complained on Twitter about issues using their cards in Tesco, prompting the supermarket chain to put up signs at some of its stores saying it could not accept [...]
City startup Freetrade raises $15m from Revolut backer Draper Esprit October 31, 2019 Zero-commission stock trading startup Freetrade has today revealed the close of its $15m series A funding round, bringing on board its first venture capital investor. London-listed fund Draper Esprit led the round, injecting $7.5m into the company. It has previously backed the likes of fellow British fintech starlets Transferwise and Revolut, as well as Graze, [...]
HSBC-backed fintech Bud to re-focus product stream after restructuring October 31, 2019 A fintech startup backed by HSBC is to open up its software to businesses outside of banking, as part of a restructuring of the business that included a swathe of lay-offs. Bud, which passes financial data made available through Open Banking legislation to banks in order to help them innovate, will now make its platform [...]
Technical issue with Revolut app leaves customers unable to sign in October 30, 2019 Some Revolut customers have been left unable to sign in to the banking app due to a technical issue. Customers of the fintech giant took to Twitter to report seeing an error message when they tried to log in to its app, with some complaining of long waits to speak to customer service agents. Read [...]
Starling Bank launches euro debit card in challenge to Revolut October 30, 2019 Digital challenger Starling Bank has today launched a business euro account and a dual-currency debit card as it steps up preparations to expand into Ireland, in a challenge to fintech giant Revolut. Customers with Starling Bank debit cards will now have the option to spend directly in pounds or euros using a single card. Its [...]
Emerging markets need more say on digital currencies like Libra, says Chinese official October 28, 2019 Governments in emerging markets should be given a greater say in the regulation of digital currencies such as Facebook Libra that could facilitate illegal capital flows and disrupt foreign exchange management, said a senior Chinese official. China has been moving to embrace financial technologies such as blockchain, and is preparing to launch its own digital [...]