visa Visa and Safaricom Partner to Connect M-Pesa to Global Card Network Visa and Safaricom forge a new partnership to link Africa's leading mobile money platform, M-Pesa, with Visa's worldwide merchant network. The collaboration aims to boost digital payments and e-commerce capabilities for millions of unbanked and underbanked users across East Africa.
venture capital Venture Capitalists Spot Six New Investment Trends During COVID-19 Downturn Despite a significant drop in dealmaking, venture capitalists see a major opportunity to invest during the economic nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic. Massive reserves of dry powder remain ready for deployment into resilient early-stage startups.
fintech Fintech Apps See Massive User Growth As Saving Replaces Spending Savings and investing apps like Robinhood and M1 Finance experience a huge surge in new accounts as consumers shift away from spending during the economic downturn.
covid-19 U.K. Fintech Volunteers Build Open Banking App for Self-Employed COVID Relief A coalition of U.K. fintech developers creates a rapid prototype called Covid Credit that uses Open Banking to verify lost income for self-employed workers seeking government aid.
paystand Paystand Secures $20 Million to Overhaul B2B Payments With Blockchain Paystand raises $20 million in a new funding round to accelerate the expansion of its blockchain-based B2B payment platform. The company aims to make corporate billing as simple as consumer apps while significantly reducing transaction fees.
advent international Private Equity Firm Advent Takes Majority Stake in Argentine Payments Leader Prisma Advent International acquires a 51% stake in Prisma Medios de Pago, valuing the top Argentine payment processor at $1.42 billion. The deal marks Advent's sixth investment in Argentina and aims to drive the company's product innovation and international expansion.
ripple Ripple Secures $200 Million Series C, Reaches $10 Billion Valuation Blockchain startup Ripple raises $200 million in a Series C round led by Tetragon to expand its cross-border payment network. The funding brings the company's valuation to $10 billion as it continues to onboard financial institutions to RippleNet.
ripple Cryptocurrency Firm Ripple Reaches $10 Billion Valuation After $200 Million Raise San Francisco-based Ripple secures a $200 million Series C funding round led by Tetragon, pushing its valuation to $10 billion. The new capital aims to validate XRP as a legitimate bridge currency for global financial institutions.
figure technologies Figure Technologies Secures $103 Million to Challenge SoFi in Student Loans Mike Cagney's blockchain-based fintech startup Figure Technologies raises $103 million in a Series C round to expand its lending products. The company looks to directly compete with Cagney's former company, SoFi, by targeting younger borrowers with student debt.
libra Libra Shows Off Technical Progress While Ignoring Mounting Regulatory Hurdles The Libra Association highlights growing developer activity and testnet milestones but completely avoids discussing the fierce global regulatory backlash threatening its 2020 launch.
facebook pay Facebook Launches Cross-App Payment System to Rival Existing Services Facebook introduces Facebook Pay, a unified payment system that works across Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the main Facebook app. The feature launches first in the US on Facebook and Messenger.
alpaca Alpaca Raises $6 Million to Let Developers Build Their Own Stock Trading Apps Fintech startup Alpaca provides a free API that handles banking and regulatory hurdles so developers can easily build their own stock trading platforms. The company earns revenue through payment for order flow and interest, surpassing $1 billion in transactions within its first year.
robinhood Robinhood Glitch Gives Traders Unrestricted Access to Borrowed Funds A major glitch in the Robinhood app allows users to trade with massively inflated borrowed funds, with one user turning a $4,000 deposit into a $1 million position. The trading platform acknowledges the isolated incidents but does not confirm a fix.
uber Uber Launches Uber Money Team Amid Fintech Investment Boom Uber introduces its new Uber Money team to develop financial products for drivers, signaling larger fintech ambitions as venture capital pours billions into the sector.
paidy Japanese Fintech Paidy Secures $143 Million to Expand Instant Credit Services Paidy raises $143 million in equity and debt financing, marking the largest investment in Japan's fintech sector to date. The funds will help the startup grow its user base and partner with more large-scale merchants.