The European fintech American dream is being called into question Fintech A double US banking application blow has called into question the fintech dream of landing on Wall Street. In this week’s column, Samuel Norman takes a look at the expansion roadmap for Europe’s top fintechs as well as the latest response to the booming profits in UK banks half-year reports. Denied, denied, withdrawn. That is [...]
Chrysalis marks down Starling stake again and reduces Klarna holding Banking Chrysalis Investments has slashed the price tag of its Starling stake for the second straight quarter. The British investment trust marked down the value of its holding in the digital bank by five per cent to £356m in the second quarter. This helped contribute to an overall drop of 2.35p per share in Chrysalis’ net [...]
A £3bn reckoning that will reshape buy now, pay later Regulation Buy now, pay later providers are cheering the arrival of new regulations.In this week’s column Samuel Norman considers how the industry could be reshaped. Five years ago, the government revealed plans to crack down on the buy now, pay later market after an industry review found financial risks posed by the ease with which consumers [...]
How the boss of Zilch became UK fintech’s power broker July 8, 2026 Last year, Zilch founder Philip Belamant sat down with then-boss of Monzo, TS Anil. As the two friends caught up, Belamant was fizzing with ideas to turn his $2bn British fintech into a global powerhouse, according to sources familiar with the matter. Not long ago, Zilch had set up shop across the pond, and Belamant [...]
Klarna swings back to profit after delivering second $1bn quarter May 14, 2026 Klarna has sealed its first quarterly profit since its blockbuster IPO last year as the firm’s cost-cutting pays off. The Swedish fintech unicorn booked a $17m profit in the first quarter of the year, marking a swing from a $90m loss in the prior year. The return to the black was driven by a 44 [...]
‘Dual squeeze’: FCA approvals for e-money licences plummet May 13, 2026 The number of successful applicants for e-money licences has plummeted in the last few years raising further questions over a slow down in market growth. Fresh figures – revealed in a Freedom of Information request by financial regulation consultancy Pathlight Associates – showed just 35 applicants were able to bag an electric money institution (EMI) [...]
Boku boss: Nasdaq is no ‘silver bullet’ for fintech listings March 17, 2026 The boss of one of the London market’s fastest growing fintech companies has warned flocking to a listing on Wall Street is no “silver bullet” for firms seeking deeper liquidity than what’s on offer in the City. Stuart Neal, the chief executive of Boku, told City AM shifting the firm’s listing across the Atlantic would [...]
Buy now, sell-off later: Where did Klarna’s IPO go wrong? February 20, 2026 When Klarna finally kicked off its Wall Street listing in September chatter quickly emerged whether the move would open the floodgates to a fleet of fintech listings. With the likes of Monzo, Zilch, Revolut and Starling all speculated to be eagerly waiting in the wings, all eyes were on the Swedish unicorn as a taster [...]
Klarna delivers $1bn quarter but shareholder returns take beating February 19, 2026 Klarna delivered a record quarter at the end of 2025, with revenue rocketing, but the firm reported a major slump in shareholder returns after its stock price took a bruising following its public debut. The Swedish fintech unicorn notched just north of $1bn (£743m) in revenue, marking a 38 per cent jump year-on-year as active [...]
M&S is now worth more than Snapchat February 12, 2026 Here’s an interesting stock chart comparison that caught my eye this week. For the first time, the market cap of Snapchat owner Snap is now less than supermarket M&S, in a sharp reversal of the tech firm’s fortunes. If you’d spent £1,000 on shares in the social media platform five years ago, you’d be left [...]