Join us in London on Thursday, 11 July 2024 for an exclusive half-day event in which FinTech Futures and a host of industry experts will discuss how to build a modern tech stack at a financial institution. We’ll explore crucial components such as back-office core banking systems, the importance of composability, and the evolving landscape of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and embedded finance, with practitioners, analysts, and industry leaders sharing their expertise and insights. For more information, please visit the event website here. If you would like to attend, please register your interest ..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. Toku lands $9.3m investment Toku, a Chilean paytech, has bagged $9.3 million in its latest fundraising round led by Californian VC Gradient Ventures. The round also featured participation from existing backers Clocktower, F-Prime Capital, Funders Club, Y Combinator, and Wollef. The recent financing adds to the $7.15 million raised by the ..read more

Luxembourg-based fund administrator Alter Domus has selected Swiss core banking vendor Temenos and its Multifonds platform to support the expansion of alternative investments to retail investors. Alter Domus picks Temenos’ Multifonds platform With the European Commission’s European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF 2.0) regulations coming into play earlier this year, the investment firm says it wanted to quickly implement a platform “that could manage a significant increase in transaction volumes” and automate and streamline its investment operations. Having come into force at the start of th ..read more

Coventry Building Society has agreed “non-binding heads of terms” over the potential acquisition of The Co-operative Bank in a deal worth around £780 million. Coventry Building Society agrees £780m deal for The Co-operative Bank The news comes off the back of reports circulating last December that the building society was in talks with the bank about a possible takeover. The prospective transaction, which the two firms say is “well advanced” in a joint statement, will be financed through Coventry Building Society’s current cash reserves. Alongside the cash sum offered, Coventry Building Soci ..read more

EverBank has struck two new deals with industry vendors in a move set to instigate widespread digital transformation across its commercial banking and payment processing systems. EverBank partners with Backbase and Finzly The first of these deals pertain to the Engagement Banking platform of Dutch digital banking solutions provider Backbase, which the US-based digital bank is to utilise to launch a new online platform for its commercial and treasury banking sectors. The platform is to service EverBank’s commercial clients with a range of digital payment and treasury functions, including dome ..read more

Pliant, a B2B credit card fintech based in Berlin, Germany, has raised over €18 million in a Series A extension, bringing the round’s total sum to more than €50 million. Pliant raises €18m Series A extension The latest round of funding was led by PayPal Ventures, with additional participation from existing investors Alstin Capital, SBI Investment and Motive Ventures. Pliant previously raised €28 million via its initial Series A funding round in February this year, and will now seek to expand its cards-as-a-service (CaaS) product to markets beyond the European Union, starting with the UK. To ..read more

US “Big Four” bank Wells Fargo has opted to leverage the TradeSun AI platform to digitise and optimise its trade finance and compliance processes. Wells Fargo taps TradeSun for AI tech With approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, the San Francisco-based bank will utilise the fintech’s TradeSun Intelligence V4 solution to mitigate risks in its trade finance operations, while also applying its AI technology to harvest, verify and classify unstructured data to the benefit of its compliance and document validation requirements. Cesar Gonzalez, head of commercial banking operations at Wells Fargo ..read more

In theory, economies of scale mean lower cost. This is the theory behind cloud adoption, too. Simply moving old software to the cloud will not necessarily save you much money However, lower costs in the cloud are not realised by simply moving existing software to the cloud, as too many banks are finding out. Some are now even looking to move back on premise. As I have mentioned in previous articles, you have to design your products for the cloud. Simply putting your old software in a container and deploying to the cloud will not yield huge savings unless you are closing down data centres at ..read more

UK fintech Wagestream has landed a fresh £17.5 million investment as it looks to build out its financial benefits platform for low and middle-income earners. Wagestream lands new £17.5m investment The round includes funding from the fintech’s existing investor Northzone – which also contributed to its $175 million Series C in 2022 – as well as new investors Lombard Odier Investment Managers and British Business Bank subsidiary British Patient Capital. Wagestream’s platform allows employers to offer their workforce access to an interactive payslip, enabling employees to “choose when they get ..read more

Mercury, a US-based neobank claiming to serve over 100,000 start-ups, has unveiled the launch of its consumer-focused product, Mercury Personal, a self-service banking solution tailored for entrepreneurs and investors. Mercury to launch consumer banking solution Mercury Personal Founded in 2017, Mercury states customers of its new solution will have access to features such as customisable debit card limits, worldwide ATM fee reimbursements, no-fee domestic wires and ACH transfers, alongside no minimum balances. In addition, at the time of its launch, Mercury Personal offers potential custome ..read more