- According to a recent MIT Sloan report, 81 % of all enterprises do not understand what data is required for Artificial Intelligence (AI) or how to access it. But, 83 percent agree that driving AI is a strategic opportunity. Say what? Danielle Fava, Director of Innovation, TD Ameritrade Institutional, explains ahead of Wealth/Stack 2019 how we got to this situation and what you can do to improve it. Kinect365
- Payments technology company Stripe is set to expand its services into eight new countries, with the growth driven from its Dublin office. The company, which was founded by Limerick brothers Patrick and John Collison, is expanding into Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece and Portugal. Irish Times
- The firm has also announced Stripe Corporate Card, which is a Visa credit card that offers 2% back on a business’ top two spending categories each month, no fees, and the ability to access a virtual card immediately after getting approved.
- Tech investment major Vista Equity Partners has reportedly raised $16bn for the close its latest flagship technology fund, Vista Equity Partners Fund VII. PEI
According to Business Insider, Open banking is set to bring in $2 billion in new business opportunities by 2024. Fintechs are encroaching on incumbents’ share in the banking game, forcing them to explore new business models — but tech-savvy legacy banks can treat this as an opportunity rather than a threat by moving into the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space.
- BaaS platforms enable fintechs and other third parties to connect with banks’ systems via APIs to build banking offerings on top of the providers’ regulated infrastructure.
- This means banks that launch BaaS platforms can actually benefit from fintechs entering the finance space, as it turns fintechs into customers rather than just competitors.
- Other benefits from launching a BaaS platform include being able to monetize such platforms, establishing strong relationships with fintechs, getting ahead of the curve in terms of open banking, and accumulating additional data from third parties.
In The Rise of Banking-as-a-Service, Business Insider Intelligence
For example, JPMorgan Chase is introducing free same-day deposits to its business banking clients that use WePay, a fintech that connects payments solutions with bank networks, which Chase acquired in late 2017 for $400 million. The feature is already available to some clients and will be fully rolled out by the end of the year.
The trend holds true in Europe as well
In 2019 YTD, US banks have participated in 24 equity deals to fintech companies. This follows a record 2018, where US banks backed 45 equity deals to fintech startups — a 180% increase from 2017. CBInsights
And today, obviously Banks are major investors in Fintech because they are trying to get ahead of the way Millenials are changing Personal FInance.
CBInsights see the trend occurring in 4 major ways:
How millennials are approaching personal finance across:
- Banking: Brick-and-mortar is out; digital and mobile-first are in
- Budgeting & Saving: Millennials go mobile and embrace automation
- Investing: Robo-advisors and micro-investing lower barriers to entry
- Payments: Mobile is replacing cash
- Borrowing: Credit-shy millennials embrace PoS lending
The US-based digital wealth manager, which debuted its online financial advisor in 2011, now holds $20 billion in assets under management (AUM), according to Business Insider. This is nearly double the amount the company was holding at the beginning of the year.
- Wealthfront offers users access to a variety of investment options, including Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, and 401(k) Rollover. It allows users to select what they want to save money for, such as retirement, travel, or homeownership, and also offers advice on savings targets and investment strategies. Business Insider Intelligence
- Digital micro-savings startup Pluang raises US$3M, becomes the latest Go-Ventures’ portfolio. The Indonesia-based fintech, formerly known as EmasDigi, said that its goal is to democratize access to financial products. e27.co
- Fintech startup SuperAtom raises US$24M funding led by Gobi Partners, eyeing expansion to the Philippines. Gobi Partners reportedly led the investment with NYSE-listed Cheetah Mobile as a co-investor. “SuperAtom is a TechFin startup; they are a technology company providing financial services,” said Kay Mok Ku, Managing Partner of Gobi. “These services are especially relevant in markets such as Southeast Asia, where traditional banking penetration is low and the proliferation of smartphones is high. Tech companies can reach out to underserved consumers in this region with their innovative services, and essentially win the day.” They have collaborated with local banks and financial institutions to launch “UangMe”, a P2P consumer lending platform. e27.co
- Realized, an Austin, Texas-based provider of wealth management solutions for investment properties, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Calibrate Ventures led, and was joined by Rice Park Capital.
Founded in 2016, the company’s platform allows investors to redeploy equity from legacy investment properties into diversified passive income portfolios. The startup wants to grow its marketplace for so-called 1031 exchanges, which allow investors to defer capital gains taxes when selling property. The company says it has facilitated $350 million in transactions Statesman - Numerated, a Boston-based bank sales platform, raised $15 million in Series B funding. Patriot Financial Partners led, and was joined by Venrock, FinTop Capital, and Hyperplane. Finextra
- Kuda, a 1.5-year-old, Lagos, Nigeria-based digital-only retail bank with a presence in London, has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding from numerous angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.
77% of financial professionals expect their organizations to implement a use case for RTP in the next two years.
Have you ever thought about the typical user experience involved with trading on the stock market? Does the poor design of your banking app often leave you scratching your head? What if you could make it better? We’re in the business of making the financial world friendlier and we’re looking for energetic designers who can geek out about data and ways to present it to regular humans. Markit is recruiting a UX designer to build sleek trading app..
Credit: BecomingHuman By: Melvin Manchau
