Skandiabanken allows Norwegians to handle Bitcoin through Internet Banking
Norwegian Skandiabanken now enables customers to handle cryptocurrencies over its internet banking application.Increasing demand for Bitcoin and other altcoins can no longer be ignored. The cryptocurrencies have already made inroads to the conventional financial system, both directly as well as indirectly. As banking institutions continue to adopt blockchain technology, a Norwegian online bank — Skandiabanken has gone a step further to recognize Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies as an investment class. In order to facilitate the use of cryptocurrency among its customers, Skandiabanken has recently announced a new feature that enables users to buy and store Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ether on its online banking platform. The bank is offering the […]
Fintech’s coming to trounce India’s Banks
In the match for India’s financial services future, fintech just scored twice while banks are still struggling to retrieve the ball they scuffed into their own net. It’s just the start of what looks like a bruising battle for traditional lenders. India’s banks, which still dominate the country’s financial landscape, appear to have hardly a kick left in them. Stressed assets without any loan-loss cover now exceed $96 billion, McKinsey & Co. said last week. An overwhelming 91 percent, or $87 billion, of the provisioning gap is at state-run lenders, whose net worth would be wiped out if they took the hit on their capital. Capital Punishment Fully providing for […]
Silicon Valley coins a new means of fundraising
When tech start-up Gnosis raised about $US12.5 million in April, the company didn’t tap the typical Silicon Valley funding network of venture capital firms or wealthy investors. Instead, it auctioned tokens online in a process called an “initial coin offering”. They sold out in 12 minutes. These digital coins are essentially clones of the virtual currency bitcoin, which has come under scrutiny for its use in last week’s global hacking attack. The newer coins are the proverbial next big thing in the world of cryptocurrencies, but also pose big risks to buyers. The digital coins theoretically can be used to one day purchase services from issuers such as Gnosis, which […]
Indian fintech company Paytm raises $1.4 billion from Japan’s SoftBank
India’s Paytm said on Thursday it has raised $1.4 billion (£1.07 billion) from Japan’s SoftBank Group in a deal that will help the digital payments startup expand its user base and maintain its lead in Asia’s third-largest economy. SoftBank will also get a board seat in Paytm after the investment, which was made into Paytm parent One97 Communications, according to a statement from the Indian digital payments provider. Paytm announced in February that it has now has over 200 million users of its mobile wallet, which is a popular payment method in India. China’s Alibaba, which counts SoftBank as its biggest investor, already holds a stake in Paytm. To […]
Singapore fintech firm launches ‘first digital platform’ for trade finance assets
An MAS-backed fintech firm, CCRManager Pte Ltd, on Tuesday launched what it says is the first digital platform for the distribution of international trade financing, transactions now handled mainly by phone and email. CCRManager Pte Ltd, which received a grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Sector Development Fund, is supported by 16 financial institutions, including Bank of China, DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Spain’s BBVA and the commercial insurance arm of Swiss Re. “We believe that in year one, we will have approximately 30 institutions signing up. Our end goal is about 400 institutions by year five,” Tan Kah Chye, CCRManager’s chairman, a former […]
Fintech startup Telr raises $3 mn
Mumbai-based fintech startup Telr has bagged Series-B funding of $3 million from Innovations East, a fund managed by people with experience in marketplaces and online payments. Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment gateway aggregator of multiple payment methods like cards and online banking, offering a set of unified APIs and tools that enable businesses to accept and manage online payments via web, mobile and social media. With growth of over $500 million worth transactions annually, Telr anticipates reaching transactions worth $1 billion transactions per year by the end of 2017. Telr has raised funds from investors in Singapore and the Middle East, including Hatcher and iMena Holdings earlier. Sirish […]
Fintech unicorn Transferwise achieves first profit
U.K. financial technology (fintech) firm Transferwise claimed it has achieved its first operational profit six years after it was founded in London by Chief Executive Taavet Hinrikus and his fellow Estonian Kristo Kaarmann. The global fintech unicorn, which means it is a start-up valued at more than a billion dollars, is a currency exchange that offers a simple user interface and peer-to-peer network that it says matches customers wanting to swap money with each other. This means foreign exchange (FX) rates can be drastically reduced in comparison with bank charges where money is actually moved overseas. Transferwise says it is currently amassing £8 million a month in revenue and is […]
Online lending startup Earnest said to look for a buyer
Earnest Inc., the financial-technology startup backed by venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz, is looking for a buyer as the market for peer-to-peer lending matures, and it struggles to raise new funds. The San Francisco-based company, which offers student loan refinancing as well as personal loans, is shopping itself for about $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Earnest last raised $75 million in equity and $200 million in debt in 2015, bringing the total to just over $300 million since it was founded in 2013, according to research firm CB Insights. The most recent equity financing was led by Battery Ventures, and the debt was led by […]
