How the Treasury got ‘fed up’ with the Bank of England’s payments plan Fintech The government moved to more closely monitor the Bank of England’s overhaul of the UK’s payments system after growing frustrated with the sluggish pace of the plans, industry figures have said. The Treasury revealed last week it would begin tracking the central bank’s progress on payments and digital currencies by introducing a new secondary objective [...]
Formula 1: Magnussen joins Maldini and Griezmann at fintech unicorn Flatpay Sport Business Former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen has joined Paolo Maldini and Antoine Griezmann as an investor in fintech unicorn Flatpay. The former McLaren, Renault and Haas motor racer is now a shareholder in the Danish firm, which boasts more than 100,000 European clients. Its chief executive Sander Janca-Jensen said they’re “proud that someone like Kevin [...]
UK fintech Allica Bank looks to crack European market Fintech Allica Bank is laying the groundwork to expand into the European market after becoming one of the fastest-growing fintech unicorns in the UK. The small business lender has applied for a banking licence in Sweden initiating its first move into a new market beyond its homeland. The submission to the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, known [...]
Government pushes Bank of England to innovate on payments and digital currencies August 27, 2026 The Bank of England will be tracked on its progress on UK payments regulation after it was handed a new objective by ministers. The central bank will be given a new secondary objective to support innovation in payment systems and new forms of digital currencies alongside its main goals of financial stability. The Treasury is [...]
Lloyds Bank and Halifax users unable to use app in latest outage August 26, 2026 Lloyds Banking Group has been hit with another app outage that has left thousands of customers unable to use services. The financial giant – which has Lloyds, Halifax and Scottish Widows under its umbrella – said it was “working to get things back to normal as quickly as we can” as users took to social [...]
Monzo faces outage as thousands of users unable to make payments or transfers August 19, 2026 UK fintech Monzo has suffered an outage that has left thousands of its users unable to use its banking services. The digital bank said it had “identified some issues” and initiated a stand-in backup service, which would allow users to still complete card payments and receive transfers. But some users have continued to raise concerns [...]
Asda credit card firm Jaja faces 15 per cent loan interest as debt pile swells August 18, 2026 The company behind the Asda credit card has added to its debt pile after posting a widening loss. Jaja Finance, which operates the supermarket’s card alongside its own credit card services, has drawn down nearly £50m from a debt facility since March, for which it pays an eye-watering 15 per cent annual interest rate. That’s [...]
Klarna cuts revenue target as it forecasts softer European volumes August 18, 2026 Klarna has downgraded its revenue target for the year following unfavourable currency shifts and reduced activity from softer European volumes. The Swedish fintech unicorn said it expects to make between $4.08bn and $4.16bn for the current financial year, down from its previous forecast of over $4.34bn (£3.21bn). This came alongside a reduction in predicted gross [...]
As it happened: FTSE 100 mixed; oil breaks $91 as Trump rules out new US-Iran ceasefire August 18, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Oil prices are marching higher after Donald Trump refused to extend the ceasefire between the US and Iran following its expiration on Monday. Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – broke above $91 per barrel as tensions persisted over the Strait of Hormuz and a [...]
Monzo chair makes early exit after boardroom rift August 17, 2026 The chair of Monzo will make an early exit from the UK fintech next month following a period of a turmoil in the neobank’s boardroom. Garry Hoffman will step down from his role as soon as next month, ending his tenure over a year earlier than his nine-year term permits. He will be replaced by [...]