Aven, a technology company offering consumer credit cards backed by home equity, today announced a $142 million series D round of funding led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors including Caffeinated Capital, Electric Capital, Founders Fund, and The General Partnership.

PEXX, an innovative fintech startup specialising in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, has successfully launched following a $4.5 million seed funding round. This funding will drive the development of PEXX’s stablecoin-to-fiat payment platform, aimed at transforming global currency transfers.

The past year has proven to be transformative for financial technology. Global venture funding into the fintech sector has declined sharply from the industry’s heyday in 2020 and 2021, and experts say the market is in a new normal, with valuations correcting from unsustainable highs.

Information Security (incl. Cyber), Third Party, Technology, Data Management, and External Fraud remain as the Top 5 ranked risks, with a continued increase in materiality scores in the last six months. The findings were published in the Top Risk Review report from ORX, the world’s largest operational risk association which works with over 125 banks and insurers globally. 

Steve Bishop, ORX's Director of Research and Information explains:

ZA Bank today announced the launch of StockBack, an innovative stock rebate programme that allows users to get a free lucky draw of big-name US stocks after each successful stock purchase transaction. The move sets a precedent in the local banking industry where users can get “stockback” from every stock purchase for the first time in Hong Kong.

SkySparc, a leading corporate and financial institutions solutions provider, has appointed industry stalwart Jeff Struzenski as its new Managing Director, SkySparc Americas, to help augment enterprise liquidity management processes across the financial operations of the region’s corporates and banks. Positioned at the nexus of treasury consulting, optimization, platform integration, and AI, SkySparc aims to empower finance leaders by implementing agile, data-driven financial decision-making.

Advancements in technology and the finance system present a key moment where financial institutions can reshape resilience, reshape agility, and reshape intelligence. These three factors are key to facing future uncertainties and facilitating the transformation of the financial industry.

Leading payment provider and carrier billing specialist, DIMOCO Payments, strengthens its partnership with Telekom, a leading Mobile Network Operator in Germany, by providing carrier billing services to their online shop in collaboration with Brodos. 

With the DIMOCO Payments Agent Model, Telekom and Brodos can accept carrier billing payments for physical goods. This next step will allow customers to make friction-free purchases on a wide range of white goods and other products. 

JCB, with the support of Worldline, a global leader in payment services, has launched a new whitepaper aimed at empowering European merchants to explore the opportunities and tackle challenges surrounding frictionless payments. Merchants will be able to benefit from improved customer loyalty and, ultimately, revenue by applying some of the practical steps listed, within this guide.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore today announced that it will commit an additional S$100 million under the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Grant Scheme to support financial institutions in building capabilities in quantum and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, as well as enable the advancement of quantum and AI related innovation and adoption in financial services.

Catalysing the development of quantum capabilities in the financial industry