At FinTech Futures, we know that it can be easy to let funding announcements slip you by in this fast-paced industry. That’s why we put together our weekly In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) funding round-up for you to get the latest funding news. Backflip raises $15m Series A funding round US-based proptech Backflip has bagged $15 million through a Series A funding round spearheaded by New York-headquartered venture capital firm FirstMark Capital. The round saw participation from previous backers such as Crow Holdings, LiveOak Venture Partners, Revel Partners, ECMC and Vertical Ve ..read more

Bank of Ireland is investing €34 million into its telephony and customer relationship management (CRM) systems in a bid to enhance its customer service operations. The funds will furnish the bank’s 2,800 workforce with access to “quick ‘single view of customer’ data”, and power the implementation of voice biometric technology to “improve customer authentication for better fraud protection and reduce call waiting times”. Bank of Ireland invests €34m into customer service The initiative seeks to strike improvements to the bank’s self-service functions, such as requesting a new card, changing a ..read more

Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week, featuring Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Franklin Templeton, Barclays, Microsoft and more. Republic First Bank closed and sold to Fulton Bank by US regulators Republic First Bank sold to Fulton Bank The Philadelphia-based commercial bank was closed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities this week, with appointed receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), entering into an agreement with Fulton Bank to “assume substantially all of the deposits and purchase substantially all of ..read more

Cover story: PLASTIC MEASURES – Banking must follow a more sustainable path. Click on the image to read the full issue Welcome to the May issue of Banking Technology. With plenty of ups and downs in the fintech space over the last month, our editorial team has been busy. In the US, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) continues to find itself in the hot seat. BaaS platform Synapse has been sold to payment processor TabaPay. The deal follows a turbulent year for Synapse that included client departures, vast layoffs and filing a Chapter 11 voluntary bankruptcy petition. Ten-year-old Synapse is among th ..read more

Continuing our focus on fintech partnerships, this latest instalment of our FinTech Founders series takes a look at the emerging technologies that are powering partnerships across the fintech industry and how these technologies are facilitating better collaboration between businesses. Returning to share their thoughts are Matt Ong, founder and CEO of alternative investment management platform Ctrl Alt; Victor Bastor, founder and CEO of investment bank DAI Magister; and Jacob Ayres-Thomson, founder of machine learning company 3AI. View more videos from our FinTech Founders series here ..read more

Securitize, a US-based firm that tokenises assets and traditional securities, has successfully completed a $47 million funding round spearheaded by global asset manager BlackRock. Securitize completes $47 million funding round The round also saw participation from ParaFi Capital, Tradeweb Markets and Hamilton Lane, alongside backers including Aptos Labs, Circle and Paxos. The fintech says the cash injection – which adds to the $48 million raised through its Series B funding round in 2021 – will be used to fund product development, extend its global footprint and strengthen its “partnerships ..read more

Anti-fraud and financial crime software firm Feedzai has appointed former Thomson Reuters exec David Larson as its new CFO. Feedzai’s new CFO David Larson (Image: LinkedIn) In the role, Larson will oversee the firm’s global financial actions and is to report directly to CEO and founder, Nuno Sebastião. Feedzai states that Larson’s “track record and deep understanding of operational dynamics” within larger corporations will culminate in a “valuable advantage as the business continues to scale”. Moreover, Larson’s expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is cited as pivotal to his appoi ..read more

Antananarivo-headquartered banking and financial services corporation BNI Madagascar has tasked Orion Innovation with leading its implementation of Temenos’ cloud-based core banking platform. BNI Madagascar taps Orion Innovation for Temenos implementation The bank, which provides a range of retail, business and institutional services across all 23 regions in Madagascar, says it is currently engaged in a “digital modernisation journey” for its SME clients and retail customers. To support this initiative, the bank is to leverage Temenos’ platform throughout its operations, product portfol ..read more

UK-based SME fintech SumUp has raised €1.5 billion through a private credit debt deal led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. UK fintech SumUp raises €1.5bn Other lenders involved in the raise include BlackRock, Crestline Investors, Liquidity Capital, Oaktree Capital Management, Sentinel Dome and Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek. AllianceBernstein, Apollo Global Management, Arini, Deutsche Bank AG, Fortress Investment Group, SilverRock Financial Services and Vista Credit Partners also participated as new investors. This development builds on the €285 million bagged by the fintech ..read more

As we step into our 25th year, we are thrilled to announce that the nominations for the Banking Tech Awards 2024 are now officially open to companies worldwide. For the past 25 years, the Banking Tech Awards have been at the forefront of celebrating the marriage of banking and technology, recognising excellence and innovation in the use of IT in financial services worldwide and the people who make it happen. This year, we are delighted to offer 50 categories to choose from, including Banking Tech Project awards, Excellence in Tech awards, and Leadership awards. View the full list of categories ..read more