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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
ti&m and aixigoPartner to Digitize Wealth Management.
TransferWiseInks International Payments Deal with EQ Bank.
Coinbase’s New Partnership Helps Give Back with Crypto.
Around the web
ThetaRayNames Edward Sander as Chief Product Officer.
Frontier Communications deploysNeustarCertified Caller STIR/SHAKEN technology across its IP network to digitally certify phone calls.
Citi and PayPalexpand partnership for institutional clients.
Worldline and CashSentinelpartner to provide a payment solution to comply with Swiss and European online marketplaces.
Alaska USA Federal Credit Union selectsMX to power mobile banking platform.
Minna Technologiesdeepens partnership with OP Financial Group.
Chetucontinues European expansion, opens new UK office.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Ixaris forms agreement with Sabre to tap into new European markets.
OcrolusintroducesOcrolus+, a turnkey solution for ingesting documents and digital data streams through a single API.
Bitbondpartners with KlickOwn to expand into real estate.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Payments titan PayPal is shelling out $4 billion today in a transaction to purchase Honey, an online shopping and rewards platform. The deal is PayPal’s 20th acquisition and closely follows the California-based company’s arrangement with GoPay last month that gives it a 70% ownership in the China-based company.
PayPal, which offers solutions for both end consumers and merchants, will leverage Honey to create a better experience for the end customer while giving its merchant clients a boost through increased sales and customer engagement.
Honey brings with it a network of 30,000 online retailers and 17 million monthly active users. PayPal will be able to engage with these shoppers while they are still at the beginning of their online purchasing experience. Leveraging access PayPal’s 275+ million active customers and network of 24 million merchant accounts, Honey will be able to scale up its user base considerably.
Calling today’s purchase as one of the “most transformative” in the company’s history, PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman went on to praise Honey for its ability to improve the online shopping experience. “The combination of Honey’s complementary consumer products with our platform will significantly enhance our ability to drive engagement and play a more meaningful role in the daily lives of our consumers,” Schulman said. “As a partner of choice for our merchants, this is another way that we can help them build and strengthen their customer relationships, provide personalized offers, and drive incremental sales.”
Logistically, Honey will stay intact, maintaining its headquarters in Los Angeles. The company’s co-founders George Ruan and Ryan Hudson will continue to lead the Honey team, reporting to PayPal’s Senior Vice President John Kunze.
PayPal showcased its Instant Account Creation feature at FinovateFall 2012. The company has a market capitalization of $120 billion.
After making inroads into China at the beginning of this month, PayPalannounced another international move today– this time with the U.S.’s friendly neighbors to the north.
The San Francisco-based company has made the PayPal Business Loan for small business owners available in Canada. This isn’t the first time PayPal has launched financing products outside of the U.S. The company also offers loans in the U.K., Australia, Germany, and Mexico.
With this launch, Canada-based small business owners can access from $5,000 to $100,000 in working capital at competitive borrowing rates from terms ranging from 13 to 52 weeks. Businesses can apply online and will receive approval in minutes. Once approved, merchants can receive funds in their business bank account within one to two days.
Before accepting the loan, borrowers can see the transparent cost and fee structure of the loan, including the fixed fee. There are no hidden, origination, late payment, early repayment, or application fees.
“Applying for a traditional loan takes time and isn’t always favorable to small business owners,” said President of PayPal Canada, Paul Parisi. “We’re launching the PayPal Business Loan to offer our merchants easy access to financing, something they desperately need. We look forward to helping more small business owners achieve their dreams to grow locally and globally.”
This news comes almost six years after PayPal began offering business financing solutions. Since that time the company– which was founded in 1998– has provided $10+ billion in funding to nearly a quarter of a million business owners around the world. PayPal reports that historically, the most common uses of the loans include managing cash-flow (44%), purchasing inventory (37%) and investing in marketing (31%).
The loans are currently available to select Canadian business owners by invitation only. PayPal will make the loans available to all Canadian PayPal business account holders next year.
PayPal showcased its Instant Account Creation feature at FinovateFall 2012. The company, which made its 19th acquisition earlier this month, has a market capitalization of $116 billion.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Join us next week as our annual Asia-Pacific fintech conference returns to Singapore! FinovateAsia is one of the best ways for fintech startups and innovative industry veterans from the region and around the world to showcase their latest technologies before an audience of C-level decision-makers, venture capitalists, all-star analysts, and more.
FinovateAsia runs from October 14 through October 15, with an additional Summit Day on October 16. Visit our registration page and pick up your ticket today.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Finovate alums Hydrogen, Sedicii, Strands, and Wealth Migrateearn finalist spots in the South African Reserve Bank’s Fintech Demo Day.
Carbon CEO Chijioke Dozie offersFive Lessons Global Banks Can Learn from African Fintechs.
Business Tech highlights 12 of the hottest fintechs in South Africa according to the country’s biggest banks.
Central and Eastern Europe
Alior Bank’s Alior Kantor to deployEfigence’sEFI4 Digital Banking Platform.
Deloitte Romania and FintechOSpartner to offer banks digital transformation and automation solutions.
Sberbankunveils new “Apply for Mortgage” feature on its Sberbank Online mobile app.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Dubai earns top ten ranking in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI).
Boubyan Bank of Kuwait and Zain Telecom team up to launch a digital Islamic bank.
Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) authorizes financial technology experimental permits enabling three companies to build an equity crowdfunding platform.
Central and Southern Asia
Khatabook, an Indian fintech that helps SMEs track and record businesses transactions, raises $25 million.
Varanium Capital launches $28 million venture fund focused on Indian fintech.
Indian fintechs await regulatory guidelines for deployment of Video KYC technology.
Latin America and the Caribbean
OurCrowd to open its 13th global office in São Paulo, Brazil.
Colombian small business lender Sempli raises $8 million in Series A funding.
EBANX will process payments for Uber in Brazil and other countries in Latin America.
Credit KarmaUnveils New High Yield Savings Accounts
Finovate Global: PayPal Goes to China; Dubai Named Top Ten Global Financial Center
Around the web
Tradeshift to implement QEDIT’s privacy solution to preserve the full privacy of transactions.
Pendo Systemsannounces a new strategic partnership with Market Alpha Advisors.
Meniga to collaborate with Nordic Innovation House in Singapore.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
After sealing a transaction which gives it a 70% stake in China-based GoPay, PayPal has taken on a new role in the global payments services scene.
That’s because PayPal not only has controlling interest in GoPay but is also now licensed to offer online payment services in China, making it the first foreign company to be granted such license.
“We are honored to become the first foreign payment platform to be licensed to provide online payment services in China,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman. “We look forward to partnering with China’s financial institutions and technology platforms, providing a more comprehensive set of payment solutions to businesses and consumers, both in China and globally.”
The China opportunity represents major growth potential for PayPal. That’s because online payments in China are undergoing a growth spurt of their own. Between 2013 and 2018, online payment transactions in China doubled, topping out at $200 trillion.
The move gives PayPal an advantage over U.S. competitors, which have become not only more prolific but also more competitive since PayPal set up shop in 1998. However, the new territory also pits PayPal against some major new competitors. China-based competitors, Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, make up 90% of the region’s mobile payment market.
Financial terms of the deal, which marks PayPal’s 19th acquisition, were not disclosed.
PayPal showcased its Instant Account Creation feature at FinovateFall 2012. The company has a market capitalization of $118 billion.
We highlighted an overview of current stats and trends in the Asian fintech scene in a blog post yesterday. The best way to learn more about fintech in Asia is to attend FinovateAsia, taking place in Singapore October 14 through 15.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
MXTeams Up with Personal Finance Wellness App Dave.
Around the web
PayPalpartners with MetLife and VC Village Capital to support innovation in healthtech.
Currencycloud among four companies to win £10 million grant from the Board of Banking Competition Remedies (BCR) to boost financial services for SMEs.
Liferayappoints Matt Poladian as Vice President of People, the company’s first global HR executive.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Ritholtz Wealth turns toBetterment’sBetterment for Advisors, a white label online investing solution, to power its Liftoff automated investment platform.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.