This year, several SMB-focused fintechs expanded their product suites to delight customers with all-in-one propositions.
Overdraft and NSF charges accounted for nearly two-thirds of banks’ fee revenue in 2019. A “range of regulatory interventions” will protect consumers from the heaviest purveyors of the practice.
Funding Circle enters the emerging embedded finance space: The business-lending platform’s API will let partners offer loans to small and medium-sized businesses—helping it distribute loans more broadly than it could all by itself.
Bunq’s first outside haul gives it firepower to redouble in Europe: The Netherlands-based neobank said the €193 million ($220.1 million) raise will help it compete with other newly enriched European players.
A green fintech taxonomy offers building blocks for more consistent assessments of business’ ESG disclosures.
It joins a string of banking players that have ended or deemphasized the charges—and has several options for replacing the revenue it forgoes.
Nubank’s slashed IPO price range suggests softer investor interest: The Brazil-based neobank cited changing market conditions for its markdown. But the drop also shows it’s less confident in its sought-after valuation.
HSBC’s addition of investing to its app could attract and keep users: The new feature, which includes 10 selected portfolios and a £50 ($64.12) minimum to start, targets the underpenetrated investing audience of UK young adults.
Despite app satisfaction growth, wealth managers trail banks’ and insurers’ satisfaction scores—but access to advisors and education could help them make up ground.
UK banks can capitalize on removal of open-banking friction: The Financial Conduct Authority’s repeal of the 90-day re-authentication mandate for users—plus an upcoming rollout of convenient repeat payments—will help banks enhance the customer experience.
Southeast Asian neobank could gain traction with SMBs: Singapore-based YouTrip is expanding to businesses, with a corporate card as its inaugural product, and is well-positioned to benefit from the region’s abundance of smaller businesses.
TSB opts to focus on digital banking first, branches not so much: In the wake of falling usage, the bank’s shuttering of 70 UK branches in 2022, or almost one-quarter of its footprint, turns digital into its main channel.
Commission-free trading is no longer enough for an investment platform to stand out in the crowded UK market.
JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered helped turn the cloud-based core banking provider into a unicorn and a credible challenger to the big core banking players.
Banks will also benefit from UK SMBs’ recovery: A Starling survey shows that many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have returned to pre-pandemic performance, making them better prospects for paid services and shouldering new debt.
Government plans inform Flinks’ entry into Canadian open banking: The National Bank-owned company proactively designed its product to meet standards outlined in a federal government report, positioning itself for an early mover advantage.
Is healthcare the next industry primed for fintech disruption? Health tech company TailorMed is acquiring competitor Vivor, which have both been using tech to reduce financial barriers to healthcare—a growing trend in digital health.