As funding dries up for neo-banks and questions arise over their capacity to secure account balances from the many customers who have opened digital-only accounts in recent years, it looks as though Big Tech players could prove the biggest threat to established banks’ business models. The signs have been there for years, from Amazon launching its own loyalty-enhanced credit card through to Apple’s Savings Account and Credit Card – both in partnership with Goldman Sachs. There have been mistakes, too, notably from Meta/Facebook with its abortive Diem digital currency, and anti-trust suits launc ..read more

The Payments Innovation Jury today releases its 2024 global report “Market meltdown – impacts on infrastructure, regulation and innovation”, which reveals global payment leaders’ views on how tumultuous macroeconomic changes over the past two years have affected their sector – for better and worse. The Payments Innovation Jury With research undertaken in collaboration with World Bank and supported by Interswitch, FIME and HPS, the 2024 Payments Innovation Jury is the most diverse in its 16-year history. Fintech, both as a phenomenon and as a distinct category of entities, has undeniably resh ..read more

New research from Economist Impact finds that European banks are fighting back against competition from platform players, neobanks and payment providers. According to the study, “Challenging the challengers: Europe’s banks face the competition”, almost half (43%) are investing in fintech start-ups and a third (36%) are building their own greenfield digital bank or fintech company. European banks are also migrating core banking systems to public cloud and SaaS in greater numbers than their counterparts in other regions. Over a fifth (21%) of European banks see cloud as a strategic priority, ens ..read more

Have you ever felt lost in the maze of financial technology? You’re not alone. But reimagine the map with apps pointing you straight to your destination – hassle-free transactions and financial control right at your fingertips. Navigating the fintech landscape As digital payments become the norm, these apps are no longer just for tech-savvy users; they’re for everyone looking to make their lives easier. The rise of financial technology for everyday use Long gone are the days when you had to queue up to deposit a check or pay a bill. Today’s financial landscape is populated by apps that trans ..read more

Africa is predicted to become the world’s fastest-growing continent when it comes to fintech revenue, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32%. This means that by 2030, the African fintech market will be worth around $65 billion, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report found that South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt lead the fintech race in Africa. This is partly due to a lack of legacy infrastructure holding these countries back from exploring new financial ecosystems to serve underbanked and unbanked citizens. Just under 500 million people in Af ..read more

After reaching a record $238.9 billion across 7,321 deals in 2021, total global fintech investment across M&A, PE, and VC fell to $164.1 billion across 6,006 deals in 2022. While results were substantially lower compared to 2021’s peak highs, 2022 was not a poor year as a whole. In fact, it was the third best year for fintech investment ever and the second strongest year for deal volume, according to the Pulse of Fintech – a bi-annual report published by KPMG highlighting global fintech investment trends. 2023 was a difficult year 2023 was a difficult year for the fintech market glob ..read more

New research shows that growth opportunities across the payment sector are better than they’ve been in a long time – but traditional “big players”, from banks to processors and retailers, are among the worst-equipped to take advantage, despite holding many of the aces at present. To remedy the situation, major players need to be spending a lot more on digitalising not just their client experience, but also their back-end systems. According to the Capgemini Research Institute’s 2023 World Payments Report, non-cash transaction volumes will reach $1.3 trillion globally by the end of 2023. The rep ..read more

Worldline and Google have announced a strategic partnership designed to leverage cutting-edge cloud-based technologies from Google Cloud to take Worldline’s digital transformation further. Worldline partners with Google As part of the partnership, Google will also work with Worldline to facilitate online payments for Google’s customers in Europe. In addition, both partners will jointly address go-to-market opportunities, and provide new and enhanced digital customer experiences for merchants and financial institutions. Accelerating digital transformation Since 2022, Worldline has initiated a ..read more

After a challenging economic slowdown throughout 2022, global FinTech entered 2023 on cautious footing as economists and investors warned that ongoing macroeconomic tumults including lingering inflation, hawkish monetary policies, supply chain problems, and a potential recession would continue to dampen discretionary spending and dealmaking. Global fintech investment dropped by a steep 48% in 2023 compared to 2022, with $51.2 billion dollars invested into the sector across 3,973 deals from Seed through Series I, according to data from Innovate Finance. The venture market has entered the thick ..read more

In a new white paper Nexi explains why Customer Value Management (CVM) goes far beyond any technique banks have tried before when it comes to deploying new ways to enhance customer engagement. Identifying how and where customers derive value from their banking relationships and how this can be enhanced to drive greater use of banking products, build up long-term loyalty and create value for the bank. An earlier blog sets out the challenging landscape European banks face, including sluggish profitability and revenue growth, dramatically increased competition and growing regulatory burdens ..read more