Financial Services

Railsbank seeks unicorn status with next round: The UK-based fintech is reportedly looking to cross the $1B valuation mark and raise around $100M to add to its embedded finance and white-label BNPL offerings.

Fiserv’s Finxact tie-up brings it ‘core as a service’: A cloud-based solution can help the core-banking incumbent stay competitive while offering banks an upgrade for older systems.

Bunq ventures into green investing: The Netherlands-based neobank’s product, rolled out in partnership with Birdee, lets customers invest in environmentally and socially conscious companies.

Available to fintechs and consumer brands, the solution lets Q2 tap into a market with great potential and add to its breadth in banking-as-as-service (BaaS).

Boston Fed, MIT hit a digital-dollar research milestone: Their paper on Phase 1 of Project Hamilton explores technical challenges for a US central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Global climate-related fintech funding surged in 2021 to hit $1.2 billion, according to a CommerzVentures report.

Monzo needs more features to be a stateside standout: The UK-based neobank just emerged from beta, but it’s playing in a crowded market with undifferentiated offerings.

US bill outlines survival strategy for non-bank stablecoin issuers: The legislation limits issuance to depository institutions and non-banking entities that comply with criteria for collateral.

Britain becomes global epicenter of bank scam pandemic, and lawmakers want Big Tech to reimburse victims: Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter could require financial services to be authorized by regulatory bodies.

CFPB is wary of unchecked AI usage in underwriting: Bureau officials have warned about potential abuse of the technology and are previewing a crackdown. Regulatory clarity will help banks to better navigate a growing market.