Fintech Update
- TransferWise, the British unicorn founded in 2011, has recently been granted multiple new licenses by the Financial Conduct Authority. These licenses will allow the company to deal in retail investments. This is welcomed news after the unicorn revealed that it had £ 2bn in customer deposits worldwide. Learn more about TransferWise at Transferwise
- Entirely providing services on a digital app and online, UK’s Monument is offering savings and property investment lending products to cater to the country’s affluent individuals having a net-worth between £ 250,000 to £ 5 million. The bank now finds itself in the last stages of the regulatory approval process of obtaining a digital bank license. Learn more about Monument at Monument
Funding in the midst of Covid-19?
- Tonik – a digital-only neo-bank in Philippines raised $21 million in Series A equity funding round. Both Sequoia India and Point72 Ventures invested in this round. Tonik provides services such as loans, deposits, payments and card products and was recently granted its own bank license by the Philippines banking regulator. In light of Covid-19, Greg Krasnov, Founder & CEO of Tonik, noted that “in the Philippines, where over 70% of the population remains unbanked, we are observing a rapid jump in consumer demand for digital banking and digital transfers since the start of the year”. Tonikbank
- Penta – a digital platform providing business banking services to small and medium sized companies, in addition to its first Series B funding of about $18.5 million, raised an additional $4 million in the first week of July 2020, thereby finalizing its Series B funding. The investors in the latest round are S7V and Presight Capital, as well as two family offices. In May 2020, Penta expanded its customer base to include sole self-employed people as well. Penta
Collaboration between banks and FinTechs
- Saxo Bank, a challenger bank in Denmark has signed an agreement with 5 Danish banks enabling 500,000 customers of the 5 banks to use Saxo bank’s user-friendly trading and investment solutions. This particular partnership will help Danish banks reduce costs and streamline the otherwise complex process while providing simple state-of-the-art investment solutions. Saxo bank
- A global open banking platform, Railsbank is collaborating with Singapore-based neo-bank Aspire to expand its services for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Aspire is currently focusing in south-east Asia region and with the help of Railsbank Singapore Dollar Account, Aspire can provide seamless digital banking services across the region using Railsbank’s API services. Learn more about the start-ups at Railsbank and Aspire
Sustainable Finance
- DBS Bank in Singapore recently laid out a first-of-its-kind framework called “Sustainable and Transition Finance Framework and Taxonomy” which will guide the bank’s corporate clients who believe in furthering their goal to achieve sustainable economic activities. A section of the framework “outlines the way DBS manages transactions that are classified as “Green”, “Transition” and/or contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)” DBS
- Two of the largest banks in Singapore – DBS Bank and OCBC Bank, have joined forces and lent a sustainability loan of S$ 700 million to a joint venture Keppel Infrastructure Trust and Keppel Energy Pte. Ltd. This loan is the first sustainability linked loan in Singapore’s energy sector and will be used to reduce carbon footprint of the company’s operations. DBS
