December 2019
16Dec

Perceived Precautionary Savings Motives: Evidence from FinTech

By Francesco D'Acunto (Boston College), Thomas Rauter (University of Chicago - Booth School of Business), Christoph Scheuch (Vienna Graduate School of Finance; Vienna University of Economics and Business), Michael Weber (University of Chicago - Finance) We study the consumption response to the provision of credit lines to individuals that previously did not have access to credit combined with the possibility to elicit directly a large set of preferences, beliefs, and motives. As expected, users react to the availability of credit...

December 16, 2019
Articles, Investing, Savings, ,
Read more...
06Dec

Fintechs and financial inclusion

By Gayatri Murthy, Maria Fernandez-Vida As Fintech companies targeting poor and underserved customers grow and scale, there is a lack of granularity on how their business models solve pain points in financial inclusion and what the industry can learn from the iterations in their business models. CGAP launched a fintech initiative in 2016 to better understand these innovations and draw clear linkages to financial inclusion, where they existed. We worked with 18 fintechs in Africa and South Asia that...

December 6, 2019
Books, Labor Market, System Sustainability, ,
Read more...
06Dec

UK. Digital Bank Revolut Partners With Smart Pension to Offer Business Pensions Functionalities

Digital bank Revolut announced on Thursday it has teamed up with authorized by the pensions regulator, Smart Pension, to launch its new business pension offering. Users will now be able to set up their business accounts and pension auto-enrolment within minutes through this collaboration. “When you sign up for a Revolut for Business account before April 30th 2020, your employees receive a preferential rate on their pension fees. Workplace pensions and automatic enrolment are compulsory for businesses across the UK, and the introduction...

December 6, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...
05Dec

Lessons fromm M-Pesa for Africa’s new VC-rich fintech startups

In African fintech, the fourth quarter of 2019 brought big money to new entrants. Chinese investors put $220 million into OPay and PalmPay — two fledgling startups with plans to scale in Nigeria and the broader continent. Several sources told me the big bucks had created anxiety for more than few payments ventures in Nigeria with similar strategies and smaller coffers. They may not need to fret just yet, however: lessons from Africa’s most successful mobile-money case study, M-Pesa,...

December 5, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
03Dec

Major pension plans join investor group pumping $229M into fintech fund

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) are among a group of at least 14 investors pumping $229 million into an international fintech fund run by Portag3 Ventures, an early-stage investor established by companies under the umbrella of the Desmarais family’s Power Corp. The disclosed institutional and strategic investors committing the new funds also include insurance companies and financial institutions from Canada, France, Israel and the United States. Among them...

December 3, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...

November 2019

22Nov

Can fintech bridge the inequality gap

We know Silicon Valley likes to think it is making the world a better place. So it is no surprise that Facebook wanted to ram home the message that Libra, its digital stablecoin, is going to help the world’s poor. From the White Paper: Our journey is just beginning, and we are asking the community to help. If you believe in what Libra could do for billions of people around the world, share your perspective and join in....

November 22, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...
21Nov

Should ‘Fintech’ Fear Big Tech’s Push Into Banking?

This is the web version of The Ledger, Fortune's weekly newsletter covering financial technology and cryptocurrency. Sign up here to receive future editions. All of a sudden, Big Tech is rushing into financial services. Google plans to offer "smart" checking accounts, powered by Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union. Apple released a credit card with Goldman Sachs. Facebook yet clings to Libra, its audacious digital payments dream. This is the web version of The Ledger, Fortune's weekly newsletter covering...

November 21, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...
15Nov

UK. Have we reached “peak fintech”?

Fintech has become so ubiquitous you can’t go outside without seeing an advert for a new payments card or a new app for money transfers, pensions or investments. Not only that, the United Kingdom has over 1,600 fintech firms – a number which is forecast to more than double in the next decade – that employ over 75,000 people and have raised more than £12 billion over the last five years. For all the growth, however, the industry’s reach...

November 15, 2019
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
14Nov

How Fintech’s Third Wave Will Change How You Bank

The origins of today’s boom in consumer-focused “fintech,” or financial technology, trace back to the global economic meltdown in 2008. Since that disaster struck, the industry has evolved through three discrete phases, says Jason Brown, CEO and cofounder of Tally, a fintech startup, on Balancing The Ledger, Fortune’s show covering the intersection of finance and tech. The first wave met demands resulting from the aftermath of the financial crisis: A need for credit fueled alternative lenders. Online and peer-to-peer...

November 14, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...
04Nov

These are the hottest fintech startups and companies in the world

It's a fascinating time for fintech. What was once a disruptive force in the financial world has become standard practice for many industry leaders. Fintech industry funding has already reached new highs globally in 2018, with overall funding hitting $32.6 billion at the end of Q3. Some new regions, including South America and Africa, are emerging on the scene. And some fintech companies, including a number of insurtechs, have dipped into new markets to escape heightened competition. Now...

November 4, 2019
News, Slider,
Read more...