MVO BLOG
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Bank of America will roll all of its product lines into one app that is slated to roll out in December. The bank’s main app will incorporate retail banking, investing, and mortgage services, giving users a single location for all of their financial needs.
BofA’s head of digital, David Tyrie, told Insider Intelligence that digital engagement is the “centerpiece” of building relationships with customers. “The future of interacting with Bank of America is that you download an app,” he said. BofA’s current app tied for third place in our “US Mobile Banking Emerging Features Benchmark,” which ranks the mobile apps of the largest US FIs by customer satisfaction.
👉Read more here
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📰 ARTICLE
TabaPay, a Mountain View, CA-based instant money movement platform, received an investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
The company intends to use the funds to further accelerate the development of its Fintech payment platform, commit to new industry verticals, and allow for faster global expansion.
The company offers direct access to 15 banking partners, 14 networks, multiple geographies, innovative products, and features in one unified API. It is used by >2,000 Fintechs and Financial Institutions.
👉 Read the full Finsmes article through here.
🎤 PODCAST
Podcast Conversation: Rebuilding banking starting with Teens, with Current CTO Trevor Marshall.
In this conversation, we chat with Trevor Marshall, The Chief Technology Officer at Current, a leading U.S. financial technology company serving Americans working to create a better future for themselves. A graduate of Columbia University with degrees in math and computer science, Trevor worked on automating trading strategies at Morgan Stanley and built applications on distributed ledger technology before creating the foundation for Current.
👉 Check out the full podcast here
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NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Klarna’s Volumes Jump 42% to $80 Billion as U.S. Business Grows. Link here
⭐️ Anrok raised $20M in funding, with a valuation north of $100M. Link here
⭐️Atomic has raised $40 million in Series B funding just five months after announcing its Series A financing. Link here.
DIGITAL BANKING
US challenger Finch is set to launch this year, billing itself as a banking and investing platform that enables customers to earn investment returns directly on their account balance. Link here
Varo Bank, N.A., the first all-digital nationally chartered bank in the US, announced the appointment of Corey Carlisle to Head of Public Policy. In his new role, Mr. Carlisle will champion banking innovation impacting financial inclusion with industry regulators and other important stakeholders. Link here
SoFi users may now take a look at the new savings and checking account with an APY of up to 1%. In addition, there are no overdrafts, maintenance, or transaction fees associated with this account. Link here
PAYMENTS
Mastercard and Visa have blocked multiple financial institutions from their payment networks in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The actions by the card schemes comes just days after Western allies agreed measures to exclude Russian banks from the Swift messaging network amid a slew of new financial sanctions. In a statement, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach says: "As a result of sanction orders, we have blocked multiple financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network. We will continue to work with regulators in the days ahead to abide fully by our compliance obligations as they evolve."Link here
Paceline launched the first credit card powered by movement – rewarding cardmembers not only for spending, but for staying active by hitting their weekly "streak" of 150-minutes of exercise. Link here
Visa, a leading global payments technology company, announced the launch of Visa Minority Depository Institutions Accelerate, a new program to help reduce economic disparities and expand access and opportunity in communities of color across the United States. Link here
Block Inc., the digital-payments firm run by Jack Dorsey, surged as much as 30% in late trading after it reported fourth-quarter revenue that topped projections and gave an unexpectedly positive outlook for 2022. Link here
TabaPay, a Mountain View, CA-based instant money movement platform, received an investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Link here
BNPL
Australian buy-now pay-later company Zip Co has today entered into a merger agreement with US-based rival Sezzle, valuing the target at approximately $491 million. Link here
INVESTMENT
Investment platform Betterment has launched a student loan management solution and acquired the partner and customer relations of Gradvisor, a college savings plan service. Link here
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.