City banks and financial services firms bet heavily on tech and data analytics October 27, 2021 Banking and financial services firms plan to step up their tech investments in the coming 12 months to improve both front and back-end technology. In fact, nearly three in four financial institutions has made improving the quality of their core technologies a priority, while 65 per cent of financial services players plan to pump more [...]
Venture capital firms circle London tech scale-ups as financial injections hit record £20bn October 21, 2021 A record high of over £6.5bn was invested by venture capital firms in UK scaleups over the summer, taking the total amount to £20bn so far this year, according to new research shared with City A.M. this morning. After two extraordinarily high quarters in 2021, UK scaleups continued to attract funding from across the globe [...]
Primer rides the online payments wave to a $425m valuation after latest raise October 19, 2021 London-founded Primer is only 20 months old, but investors recognise that it’s solving a big problem for e-commerce merchants at a crucial time, and just injected $50m into the startup at its Series B fundraising round. US investment firm ICONIQ Growth led the latest round, accompanied by cash injections from existing investors including Balderton Capital, [...]
UK fintech boom: Eight in 10 Brits use fintech apps for banking and payments post-pandemic October 13, 2021 While investment into UK fintechs continues apace, so does their consumer adoption, as 86 per cent of Brits now use fintech apps to manage or spend their money. As the pandemic stalled cash usage and moved transactions online, consumer adoption of fintech has accelerated in the UK to the extent that people manage 67 per [...]
UK Fintech Mode rolls out Bitcoin cashback reward scheme October 12, 2021 Mode, an open banking platform which lets users make cardless payments through its flagship mobile app, is rolling out Bitcoin rewards. UK customers will be given the opportunity to build up a holding in Bitcoin via Mode’s FCA registered app as part of a loyalty scheme organised in partnership with THG, a digital consumer brands [...]
A slice of the pie: UK financial firms target booming fintech market October 11, 2021 As banks and financial services firms in the UK switch their attention from pandemic survival to driving growth, they are increasingly tapping into the booming fintech space as a way to future-proof their business, according to new research. Almost half (46 per cent) of the UK’s financial services firms are targeting acquisitions and partnerships with [...]
UK fintechs attract record VC investment in the third quarter, outsprinting the total for 2020 October 5, 2021 Venture Capital (VC) investment in UK fintechs has reached an all-time high, as firms in the industry attracted $11.4bn in the first nine months of the year, and raked in the most quarterly funds in Q3 since records began. VCs injected a quarterly record of $4.9bn into British fintechs in the three months to the end of [...]
Exclusive: Pandemic has exposed lack of data literacy amid growing digital skills gap October 5, 2021 Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, key decisions have been made hastily and without the use of data, according to a new survey among thousands of key decision makers across the UK. which was shared exclusively with City A.M. The study shows widespread concerns about data skills despite the vast majority of C-suite executives (75 per cent) [...]
Challenger challenge: Monzo aborts US banking licence application October 4, 2021 Monzo has followed in rival Robinhood’s footsteps and abandoned its application for a US banking license after regulators told the UK fintech it was unlikely to be approved. In a major setback for its international expansion plans, the challenger bank said it had decided to withdraw from the process after recent talks with the Office [...]
Monzo moves ahead of rival fintechs and narrows gender pay gap October 4, 2021 Monzo has significantly improved its gender pay gap, it revealed in a new report today that showed women at the British challenger bank earn 4 per cent less than men per hour on average – narrowed from 2019, when the gap stood at 20 per cent. It brings the fintech into pole position compared to [...]