With 27 unicorns from 26 million people, the Nordics have generated the highest number of unicorns per capita in the world outside Silicon Valley. Danish tech ecosystem has produced eight unicorns, including Zendesk, Unity, Tradeshift, Just Eat, Sitecore, Trustpilot, Net Company, and Chainalysis. Now, Copenhagen-based B2B fintech startup Pleo, an employee credit card and expense […]
Amsterdam-based BUX is Europe’s fastest-growing neo-broker that has been making it easy and affordable for people to do more with their money. In a recent development, the fintech announced the appointment of Salim Sebbata, its new CEO of BUX UK. He will be taking over the UK operations of the company from Yorick Naeff, the […]
Finance for postgraduate and technical qualifications remains outdated and prohibitive. Notably, the best courses are too expensive for a majority of potential students and Government loans do not cover these costs. Outcome-based finance is an effective solution and opens up enormous economic opportunities for people who would otherwise not be able to pursue these courses […]
A higher education is no longer enough for rural children to secure a desirable city job, making low-income families less motivated to invest in schooling. Photo: VCG “I may be a countryside pig, but I want to eat the city cabbage” was how one graduate from a top high school in North China’s Hebei province […]
In the latest development, Rapyd, a London-based Fintech as a Service company, has agreed to acquire Valitor, an Icelandic payments solutions company, from Arion Banki (Arion Bank) for $100 million (approx £73 million). Valitor provides both in-store and online payments acceptance solutions and card issuing to SMB merchants in Iceland, the UK and Ireland, and […]
Revolut, a London-based fintech company, has announced the launch of Points, a new feature that allows Revolut customers to earn points when they use their Revolut app or card. According to the company, customers will earn points for completing various challenges — making transactions, sending money to another Revolut customer, referring friends, setting up Vaults, […]
20:00-21:00 Beijing/Singapore Time, June 24 2021, Thursday Fintech’s application has been expanded to digital currency, financial infrastructure and regulation, even serving to build the foundation for high-quality growth of the whole financial industry. Digital currency, in particular, has gained widespread market attention and popularity. Major economies including China are accelerating the development of central bank […]
Remittance and payments industry is flourishing in the UK with 9.5 million migrants transferring about £7.58 billion every year. With notable opportunities in the segment, many players are vying to grab a big chunk of the market share. To challenge existing players, Germany-based challenger fintech OneFor has raised a notable £8.55 million in its latest […]
Evergrande said Wednesday that it reduced its net debt-to-equity ratio to less than 100%, meeting one of the three targets. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded China Evergrande Group’s credit rating by one notch to B2 as the debt-ridden property developer struggles to ease its debt crunch. “The downgrade reflects Evergrande’s weakened funding access and reduced liquidity […]
pictureA string of disposals undertaken this year by China Evergrande Group have eased its cash crunch. Photo: IC photo The crisis facing property developer China Evergrande Group, which has been offloading assets to repay some of its 716.5 billion yuan ($111 billion) of borrowings, is not only sending jitters through the financial markets. It’s also […]
Photo: VCG Technology and finance giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. is eyeing a controlling stake in Great Wall Changsheng Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a Sino-Japanese joint venture, sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin. The life insurer is 70% owned by China Great Wall Asset Management Co. Ltd., one of the nation’s “Big Four” asset […]
Banking Circle is breaking the payments mould. Specialising in an area long hindered by processes that were in place before anyone had even thought of digital banking, they are making the process of moving money cheaper, quicker, and easier for everyone. Using innovative systems, they are making their mark in European — and global — […]
Photo: IC Photo (Nikkei Asia) — Singapore is challenging fintech companies to pitch ideas to maximize the potential of central bank digital currencies, as countries increasingly look to create next-generation fiat money. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the central bank, on Monday said it wants financial technology businesses, financial institutions and other global players to […]
Numerous big fintech players are eyeing to better serve their business/merchant customers by offering new revenue-based financing services. This includes payments companies like Stripe and Worldpay. At this point in time, Sweden-based Klarna, the most highly valued startup in Europe has partnered with Liberis, the global embedded business finance platform to include revenue-based financing to […]
Cryptocurrency mania is a fundamentally destructive, nonproductive activity that should be stamped out at all levels. Like doctors working to eradicate a virus, doing so will ultimately benefit society as a whole. Photo: VCG Now is the time for China to declare all-out war on cryptocurrencies. Many countries have strengthened regulations on cryptocurrencies, but no […]
London-based Smart is a global savings and investments technology platform provider with the mission to transform retirement, savings, and financial well-being worldwide. Today, the company announced that it had closed a £165 million Series D funding round. Global growth plans The investment round was led by Chrysalis Investments, one of the UK’s leading crossover investors. […]
Here is today’s ranking of the 10 most-read domestic stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs. While these headlines can help give you a sense of what’s trending in the Chinese language sphere, the veracity and accuracy of the headlines hasn’t been independently verified by Caixin. Internet users have been focused on a […]
ClearScore is the leading free credit score and financial product marketplace in the UK. The London-based company helps users take control of their financial health. Now, the fintech has picked up $200 million (nearly £144 million) funding from Invus Opportunities, a global equity investor. Set to accelerate global growth The investment is a mix of […]
Gotrade, an app that enables anyone in the world to invest commission-free in fractional US stocks, has secured $7 million (approx £5 million) in a seed round led by LocalGlobe. Other investors including US VC Social Leverage, Germany’s Picus Capital, and Raptor Group, and angel investors associated with Skyscanner (Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas), Deutsche Bank (Frank Strauss), […]
Photo: VCG (ThinkChina) — With the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a growing number of Chinese businesses are setting up outfits in Singapore, creating more opportunities for financial services providers from China. Associate business editor Hu Yuanwen takes a look at Chinese banking and insurance companies […]
Here is today’s ranking of the 10 most-read domestic stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs. While these headlines can help give you a sense of what’s trending in the Chinese language sphere, the veracity and accuracy of the headlines hasn’t been independently verified by Caixin. Internet users have been talking about the […]
Here is today’s ranking of the 10 most-read domestic stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs. While these headlines can help give you a sense of what’s trending in the Chinese language sphere, the veracity and accuracy of the headlines hasn’t been independently verified by Caixin. Internet users continue to pay attention to […]
Lee Seung-gun, founder and CEO of Viva Republica, the company behind South Korea’s largest fintech startup Toss. Photo: Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Viva Republica Inc., operator of South Korea’s largest fintech startup Toss, raised more than $400 million at a $7.4 billion value, helping the super app grow sales 12-fold by 2025 as it heads for […]
Chinese regulators recently initiated an investigation into monopolistic conduct by Alibaba, and then threatened to penalize Tencent for misreporting acquisitions and investments for antitrust reviews. Photo: VCG Big Tech is on the hot seat in both the U.S. and China. Chinese regulators recently initiated an investigation into monopolistic conduct by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. They […]
Based out of London, Wise (previously TransferWise) is a money transfer service allowing private individuals and businesses to send money abroad without hidden charges. Recently, the UK fintech company announced its plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange through direct listings. In general, direct listing allows companies to go public without raising any […]
Volt, a London-based company building the infrastructure for global instant payments, has secured $23.5 million (approx £17 million) funding in a Series A round. The round was led by EQT Ventures, with participation from existing investors including, Augmentum Fintech PLC and Fuel Ventures. Several angel investors like Robert Kraal as Chairman (co-founder of Adyen) and […]
Despite Brexit, London is at the centre of Europe’s burgeoning tech scene, and the tech companies from the capital backed Europe to reach record levels of tech venture capital funding in 2020. UK’s tech industry has expanded 10-fold in the last ten years, enabling the creation of hundreds of fast-growing tech companies that are set […]
Hong Kong’s eight virtual banks all lost money last year, with a combined pretax loss of HK$2.4 billion ($309 million), according to a report published Tuesday. Standard Chartered-backed Mox Bank reported the largest loss at HK$456 million, followed by Livi Bank at HK$438 million. Ant Bank (Hong Kong), the virtual banking arm of Ant Group […]
Once you build a portfolio, use your benchmark to gauge your sector and industry tilts’ effectiveness. Photo: VCG How are you doing? How an investor’s portfolio is actually doing is often like the definition of beauty — determined in the eyes of the beholder. Even investors with eerily similar portfolios offer wildly different replies depending […]
Photo: Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was the victim of a months-long web-scraping operation by a marketing consultant that siphoned up sensitive data including usernames and phone numbers, according to a court case that wrapped in June. A central Chinese court ruled that an employee of a consultant that helps merchants on Alibaba’s […]
Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) speaks Friday at the Lujiazui Forum 2021 in Shanghai. Photo: Lujiazuiforum.org What is the digital yuan wallet? Just as an old-fashioned wallet holds paper cash and cards, a digital yuan wallet (数字人民币钱包) carries the digital yuan. Working under the […]
The fintech revolution has reshaped the landscape of the traditional financial industry, giving rise to startup banks – ‘challenger banks.’ The so-called challenger banks have disrupted the traditional high-street banks and provide efficient and personalised banking experiences. Notably, the emergence of these challenger banks has also caused a global disruption, as they traverse borders and […]
The meteoric rise of the ‘Buy Now Payer Later’ or BNPL model has been driven by the need for a more transparent and convenient alternative that can align with evolving global consumer preferences. In addition, the model witnessed immense growth during the pandemic as the prospect of delayed payment became more attractive in light of […]
Hydr is a simple invoice financing solution for small businesses. Launched in May 2021, it helps SMEs by improving the cash-flow, and removing some of the risk, for their business. Launched by Nicola Weedall and Hector Macandrew, Hydr (pronounced hi-der) is already helping businesses to focus on their core activities rather than worry about payments at a […]
pictureGuo Shuqing, secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the People’s Bank of China and chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, delivers a speech via video to the 13th Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on June 10, Photo: IC Photo China’s top banking regulator Guo Shuqing sounded the alarm bell over growing risks […]
Hokodo, a London and Paris-based B2B Buy Now Pay Later provider, has raised $12.5 million (approx £8.8 million) in funding in the Series A round. Who backed Hokodo? Mosaic Ventures led the round in participation from Notion Capital, Anthemis, and several prominent angel investors including, Taavet Hinrikus, founder of TransferWise (now Wise), Thijn Lamers, former […]