Revealed: Starling Bank chief’s stake slides as billionaire backer tightens grip July 1, 2019 The chief executive of Starling Bank has lost her position as a major shareholder in the British fintech giant, following a large funding injection in February. Anne Boden, who founded Starling in 2014, ceased to be a person with significant control in the bank in April, according to filings on Companies House. A spokesperson for [...]
Fintech firm Revolut leads list of UK’s top 100 startups of 2019 July 1, 2019 Challenger bank Revolut has claimed first place in a list of the UK’s top 100 startups of 2019, it was revealed today. British fintech startup Revolut topped Startups.co.uk’s Startups 100 list for 2019, as it counts 5m customers around Europe and the UK. Energy startup Igloo placed second, while retail startup Trouva took third place. [...]
Revolut launches partnerships with three charities in Pride Month push July 1, 2019 The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Save the Children and ILGA Europe have partnered with digital bank Revolut to automate charitable donations. In an industry-first, Revolut’s 5m users will be able to round up their card payments to the nearest pound and automatically donate the difference to one of the three charities. Customers will [...]
Mobile banking to overtake branch use by 2021 July 1, 2019 Mobile banking is set to overtake branch use in the next two years, as a boom in the fintech sector drives an increasing number of customers to digital formats. Research by data consultancy CACI revealed 25m customers, or almost half the UK’s adult population, are currently banking on mobile formats. Read more: Transferwise expands to [...]
Bitcoin crashes from libra high after Coinbase outage June 27, 2019 Bitcoin sank almost $2,000 to give up gains last night as volatility returned after the cryptocurrency approached $14,000. Read more: Bitcoin surges towards $13,000 thanks to Facebook libra Facebook libra’s launch had buoyed bitcoin, pushing the price up until it was just shy of $14,000 last night, its highest level since January 2018. But over [...]
Transferwise expands to the US with digital banking effort June 26, 2019 Fintech stalwart Transferwise has lifted the lid on its expansion to the US, opening up access to its banking arm across the Atlantic. One year on from its launch in Europe, Transferwise’s borderless banking account and debit card will be available to US users from today after a short beta-testing period last month. The firm [...]
Regulator steps up scrutiny of fintech banks June 26, 2019 Applications to become the next Monzo or Revolut are falling under greater scrutiny, as regulators act on concerns about risk management. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) only approved four applications for banking licences in the 12 months to the end of February, down from 14 in the previous year. However the number of applications remained [...]
Freetrade to close £7m in second crowdfunding round June 25, 2019 Fintech startup Freetrade is set to raise £5m in a crowdfunding round this week, after its last funding attempt got cut short due to excessive demand from investors. The commission-free stock-trading app last headed to the crowd in April. It raised £2m within a matter of minutes, before investment platform Crowdcube crashed due to too [...]
Regulators place heightened check on Facebook’s libra cryptocurrency June 25, 2019 Authorities in the UK and worldwide have ramped up calls for increased scrutiny on new digital currencies and financial disruption, in the wake of Facebook attempting to enter the space. G20 regulatory group the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said today the trend set by Facebook’s libra coin will cause regulators to take a deeper look [...]
Monzo smashes past £2bn valuation in fresh round from Silicon fund June 25, 2019 Just six months on from its last capital plug, digital bank Monzo has raised £113m from major US tech investor Y Combinator in a round that values the startup at more than £2bn. Through its Continuity fund, Y Combinator joined the round alongside other investors including Latitude, General Catalyst, Stripe, Passion Capital, Thrive, Goodwater, Accel [...]