Fintech darling Monzo urges 500,000 users to change PINs after security bug August 5, 2019 Digital challenger bank Monzo has urged users to change their PINs after admitting a data breach allowed members of staff to access security information. The fintech said around a fifth of customers were affected by the leak, which saw some PINs stored in encrypted log files that Monzo engineers had access to. Read more: Losses [...]
Starling to break even as bank customers double August 4, 2019 Starling Bank is set to break even in the UK by the end of 2020, its founder and chief executive has said, after revealing that its user numbers have doubled in the last eight months. In her annual letter, Anne Boden said the fintech firm’s account total – spanning both business and retail users – [...]
Fintech star Revolut goes live with zero-fee Nasdaq stock trading service August 1, 2019 Digital bank Revolut has today launched its commission-free stock trading service, more than a year after it was first announced. The platform will present a fresh rival to London startup Freetrade, in addition to larger services such as those run by Etoro. Read more: Metro Bank finance director quits to take role with Revolut Enabled [...]
Scottish fintech Paysend closes £8.5m series B round July 26, 2019 Fintech firm Paysend has today announced the close of an £8.5m funding round, led by GVA Capital and a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. Silicon Valley-based GVA invested £3.95m in the round, while Revolut and Paypal-backers Plug and Play and Digital Space Ventures led the funding on Seedrs. More than 900 investors joined the crowdfunding effort, [...]
Woodford props up £50m funding for Atom Bank July 22, 2019 Digital banking stalwart Atom Bank has today raised £50m from its existing investors, including former star fund manager Neil Woodford. Woodford, who previously held a stake in Atom through his beleaguered Equity Income fund, has invested £10m in the fintech firm through his other listed entity Woodford Patient Capital Trust. The trader transferred his stake [...]
Digital bank N26 valued at $3.5bn as it adds $160m onto its series D July 18, 2019 German fintech starlet N26 has upped its valuation to $3.5bn (£2.8bn), after extending its series D funding round to raise another $160m. The digital banking app has now raised a total of $470m in the round, which included investors such as Insight Venture Partners, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Tencent, Allianz X, Peter Thiel’s Valar [...]
British fintech booms as 2019 set to be a record year for UK investment July 16, 2019 The UK’s standout fintech sector has once again broken records, hitting a new high of $2.9bn (£2.3bn) in funding in the first six months of 2019. The amount represents the highest intake of investment in a half-year period to date, and is equal to approximately 85 per cent of the sector’s total funding in 2018. [...]
City fintech Curve picks up $55m series B funding round July 16, 2019 London fintech firm Curve has today closed a $55m (£43.9m) series B funding round, led by Gauss Ventures. New investors Creditease and IDC Ventures also came on board. The round was similarly supported by existing investors, such as Seedcamp, Speedinvest and the venture capital arms of Santander and Investec. Curve consolidates multiple bank accounts and [...]
Revolut ‘to appoint Martin Gilbert as chairman in next few weeks’ July 14, 2019 Revolut is reportedly gearing up to appoint Martin Gilbert as its first ever chairman in a bid to strengthen governance and improve investor sentiment ahead of an upcoming fundraising. Gilbert, a former co-chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA), was first confirmed as an adviser to chief Nikolay Storonsky in March. Read more: Revolut fights [...]
German fintech challenger bank N26 launches in the US July 11, 2019 German fintech giant N26 has today launched its services in the US, making it the second major European digital bank to cross the pond. Starting today in a staged rollout, the 100,000 customers on N26’s US waiting list will be invited to open an account and have full access to the bank’s app and debit card. [...]