As I write this, it’s Earth Day 2024. It’s very early in the morning, but LinkedIn has already started filling up with posts to mark the occasion. We must ensure that banking technology follows a more planet-friendly path than plastic This year’s theme is ‘planet vs plastics’, with Earthday.org, the NGO behind Earth Day, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040 and advocating for widespread awareness of the health risks they pose. I am a strong supporter of this movement. When I was a child, I lived in Fiji, which was a beautiful place for a ten-year-old. It felt l ..read more

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. Marco raises $12m Series A Miami-headquartered fintech Marco has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by IDC Ventures. In addition, the round saw participation from Arcadia Funds, Barn Invest, IDB Lab (the venture lab of the Inter-American Development Bank Group), Florida Funders, Kayyak Ventures, Neer Ventures, Sq ..read more

San Francisco-based digital banking platform Oxygen says it has “temporarily suspended” its banking services as it looks to redirect its focus towards health insurance solutions. Oxygen temporarily suspends its banking services In a statement on the company’s website, Oxygen says it officially commenced the “account closure process” on 8 March, with both consumers and business users being informed that their accounts will be closed on 29 March. The firm adds that customers will have continued access to their accounts until 29 March and that any remaining balance left in their accounts after ..read more

UK-based pension and investment mutual Royal London has appointed Peter Josse as its new group COO, effective 4 March 2024. Royal London appoints Peter Josse as new group COO Royal London claims to be the UK’s largest mutual life, investment and pensions company – managing £153 billion in assets, as of 30 June 2023. Barry O’Dwyer, Royal London group CEO, believes the firm’s new COO brings a “passion for using technology to provide outstanding digital experiences and a vision for delivering great customer outcomes”. Before Josse joined Royal London, he worked at Barclays for over 15 years, mo ..read more

Seccl Technology, a UK-based embedded investment tech firm, has announced that its parent company Octopus is set to expand its shareholding in the business. Octopus to expand its stake in Seccl The fintech start-up adds that its co-founders, David Harvey and Hugo Thorman, will also depart the company next month. Ruth Handcock, CEO of Octopus Money and chair of Seccl, says that the firm was impressed by Seccl’s potential upon acquiring the company in 2019 and remains “even more convinced today”. Seccl offers an API-powered embedded investment platform that it claims provides improved customer ..read more

Miami, Florida-headquartered insurtech Lula has closed its Series B funding round at $35.5 million as it seeks to expand into new areas of the market. Lula raises $35.5m in Series B funding round Led by NextView Ventures and Khosla Ventures, the round saw additional participation from Founders Fund, Plug and Play Ventures, Financial Technology Partners’ founder and managing partner, Steve McLaughlin and Steve Pagliuca, co-chair of Bain Capital and co-owner of the Boston Celtics. Founded in 2020, Lula currently supports the trucking and auto industries with API-based tools for risk, clai ..read more

On Thursday 6 July, FinTech Futures celebrated its momentous 40th anniversary with a dazzling summer party held on the top floor of our office at 240 Blackfriars Road with fabulous views across London. The event brought together over 120 senior-level professionals from banks and fintechs who enjoyed an evening of invaluable networking, drinks and food. There was also a short panel discussion featuring Saira Khan of First Direct, Thea Loch of Lloyds Bank, Vijay Mitra of Nationwide, and Philip Benton of Omdia, moderated by FinTech Futures’ editor Paul Hindle. Julie Ashmore, COO at Muse Finance a ..read more

Berlin-based insurtech Wefox has raised $55 million in debt financing from Deutsche Bank and UniCredit at an unchanged valuation of $4.5 billion. Wefox raises $55 million in debt financing The deal was structured as a convertible debt agreement, reports CNBC, which first broke the news. The latest financing follows the insurtech securing a $55 million credit facility from JP Morgan and Barclays and an additional $55 million in equity funding in May this year in an extension of its $400 million Series D funding round from 2022. The fresh debt financing will be used to fuel Wefox’s global ..read more

Speakers of the “Beyond the hype – exploring the real-world use cases for AI in financial services” webinar: Edward J. Achtner Head of the Office of Applied Artificial Intelligence at HSBC EJ leads HSBC’s Office of Applied Artificial Intelligence (OAAI). The OAAI focuses on the development and commercialisation of cutting-edge, responsible, and ethical AI capabilities and products for the Global Commercial Bank (CMB), Global Bank and Markets (GBM), and other businesses and functions. This includes emerging technologies related to Generative AI and Large Language Models (GAI/LLM). In addition ..read more

FinTech Futures is excited to announce its win at the recent FinTech B2B Marketing Global Awards – triumphing in the Best Innovative Integrated Digital Media Platform category. FinTech Futures wins the Best Innovative Integrated Digital Media Platform Award Judged by a panel of independent industry experts, this category honours a B2B media company focused on financial services and technology that provides a blend of world-class market insights, news, research, and thought leadership content, with a fresh approach to engaging with their audience. “The competition was fierce and it’s harder f ..read more