Retail Banking

In-memory Computing Platform Hazelcast Raises $28.5m

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

Hazelcast, the leading in-memory computing platform that delivers radically fast application performance at scale, today announced the expansion of its Series D round due to over-subscribed interest from global investment entities.

Monzo and Starling Among Account Switching Winners

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

Just five UK banks, two of them challengers, managed a net gain of customers in the third quarter of 2019, according to figures from the Current Account Switch Service. Nationwide Building Society continues to have the largest net switching gain among the Current Account Switch Service’s 49 participant, putting on 25,355 customers in the quarter. Digital challenger Monzo gained 21,576, HSBC 17,204, Starling 7,075 and tiny ethical player Triodos... more

New Digital Bank Vive Receives Banking Licence

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

New UK digital bank Vive has received a banking licence with restriction from the Bank of England. The new bank will be offering personal loans and a fixed-rate savings account and launching with with an Open Banking-based money management app. Vive is aiming to capture the underserved market of customers who struggle to access affordable credit.

Rabobank Invests in Digital Mortgage Broker Trussle

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

Rabo Frontier Ventures (RFV), the strategic investment fund of Rabobank, has contributed to a £7.5 million funding round in online UK mortgage broker Trussle The Dutch bank was joined by existing investors Goldman Sachs Growth, Finch Capital and BBVA-backed Propel Venture in backing the firm, which last raised £13.6 million in Series B financing in May 2018. Trussle is one of a new breed of fintech startups that uses proprietary automation and a... more

Revolut Raise Set to Value Business at $5 Billion

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

UK-based Revolut is on course to achieve a $5 billion valuation during an upcoming funding round, according to documents from lead investor Technology Crossover ventures (TCV) Financial News, which has viewed the prospectus, says the round is expected to close later this month. Silicon Valley TCV, an early investor in the likes of Spotify, Airbnb and Netflix, closed a $3 billion fund in January 2019 to back fast-growing new economy companies.

Australian Lender Wisr Raises $35 Million

5 years 5 months ago
Retail Banking

ASX-listed marketplace lender Wisr has raised $35 million via a placement of approximately 181 million ordinary shares. Wisr offers small to medium loans to help consumers pay down debt at rates based on borrowers’ individual risk profile. The five-year old company also operates a credit score comparison service. The firm says it will use the proceeds of the placement to grow its credit product offerings and strengthen the balance sheet.

Metro Bank Launches Cash Delivery Services for SMEs

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

Metro Bank has begun accepting registrations for its on-demand cash collection and delivery service for SMEs across the UK. ‘MCash’ will operate through the bank’s mobile app, where business customers can log on and select a pick-up/drop-off time from 24 hours to a week in advance.

Starling Adds Legal Services to Its Digital Offering

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

Starling Bank has announced a partnership with legal services provider Sparqa, the latest addition to their Marketplace. Providing Starling’s 88,000 small business customers with customisable and affordable legal services, the lawtech partnership will allow the Starling customer base to access a wealth of legal information tailored to their specific commercial needs.

UniCredit to Axe 8000 Jobs

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

Italy's UniCredit says it will cut 8000 jobs and close 500 branches over the next three years as part of a programme to boost shareholder value. The bank's 'Team 23' programme aims to increase net profit to EUR5 billion by 2023 and enable it to return EUR8 billion to shareholders through buybacks. To help achieve this, there will be major job cuts and branch closures in Italy, as well as some in Germany and Austria. Meanwhile UniCredit has set a... more

Deloitte Predicts 'Japanification' of Banking in 2020s

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

Leaders of banks need to look beyond banking in anticipation of disruption to their industry in the next decade, according to Deloitte. In its '2020 banking and capital markets outlook' report, the Big Four firm highlights its forecasts for financial services in the next year and beyond. Deloitte's broad prediction for the next decade is that of a consolidated industry with fewer banks existing in ten years' time. Fintechs will become... more

Zopa Closes in on £130m Capital Injection for Bank Push

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

UK peer-to-peer lending outfit Zopa is set to secure £130 million in funding, enabling it to meet regulatory capital requirements for its foray into banking. As first reported by Sky News, an entity linked to IAG Capital Partners, a US-based fund, and its UK investment vehicle Silverstripe is on the verge of taking a majority stake in Zopa. The expected funding comes just days before Zopa's banking license-with-restrictions expires a year after... more

NatWest's Bó Forced to Fend off Fraudsters in Early Days

5 years 7 months ago
Retail Banking

Bó, NatWest's new app-based bank has been actively targeted by fraudsters within weeks of its public launch. The Times reports that around 30% of applications since the product went live two weeks ago have been fraudulent.

Equiduct Launches First Commission-free, on-exchange Trading Service for Retail Brokers in Europe

5 years 7 months ago
Trading Systems, Retail Banking

The service, named Apex, was developed to ensure that private investors can benefit from guaranteed best execution on a European regulated market.   Apex will be available for the most liquid and fragmented equities and ETFs across the major European markets and guarantees a multilateral and MiFID II compliant trading environment. The new service is backed by Equiduct's pool of liquidity providers and active brokers.  