​

Hi all, Julie here.

Happy Summer Friday all! Jordan and I close on our new home IN ONE WEEK! Ahhh! Keep us in your prayers as we hope that all goes well with that as well as the move itself.

In the meantime, congrats to all of the founders from our FTT Community that made it on to Business Insiders’ most promising B2B fintech list!

Today's Partner, InsideTracker

As an ex-professional athlete and an endurance sport junkie, I strive to live a healthy life and that requires doing everything I can to give myself more energy, better sleep and a healthy immune system (especially in the middle of a pandemic). The market is flooded with companies that claim to do just this, but InsideTracker in my opinion has been the most helpful. After taking their Ultimate test, I got a clear picture of what my body looks like on the inside, the areas that need improvement and the ways in which I can improve them. Since using the program, I’ve started to get much better sleep, have been able to increase my athletic endurance and require less coffee to get through the days. For a limited time, you can get 25% off the entire InsideTracker store. Just click here!​

Company News

Venmo Privacy

I remember hearing that Venmo was debating this move years ago, and tbh, I’m surprised it took this long for it to happen. In a blog post, Venmo/PayPal announced that the public feed will no longer be available. You can still see what your friends are doing if they have their transactions public, but having a massive feed of randos or being able to stalk people you’re not friends with just got harder. Maybe President Joe Biden’s feed being found was the last straw...

Vodafone Might Spin Off M-Pesa

Big things could be coming in African money movement. Vodafone’s CEO hinted the company could spin off M-Pesa after its popularity soared through the Coronavirus pandemic. The platform offers peer-to-peer transactions in countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo and is pushing into new financial services like small loans, payroll and savings. Transactions on M-Pesa soared by 45% in the first quarter from a year earlier. On its earnings call, Vodafone’s Nick Read said it’s logical to keep M-Pesa within the telecommunications group for now, but might not in the future.

Funding and Deals

Visa Makes Another Purchase

Visa said it’s buying British payments start-up Currencycloud, a company which it has invested in before. This comes just weeks after it announced another acquisition across the pond, Tink. Fourteen-year-old Currencycloud sells cross-border payments software. Clients include Monzo, Starling and Revolut.

Klarna Buys Stocard

Buy Now Pay Later behemoth Klarna is reportedly buying a German discount shopping app. With a user base north of 60M, Stocard allows customers to bundle cards and receive discount deals from a network of merchants, who in return receive location-based data on app purchases and in-store visits.

Crypto Watch

CBDC Watch

While FTT Expert John Collins wrote about all the stuff happening in crypto in the US, India and Nigeria are ramping up their plans to launch Central Bank Digital Currencies. In India, Reserve Bank deputy governor Shri T Rabi Sanker said that the time for CBDCs might be now, and that CBDCs have several advantages over other forms of digital payments (no interbank settlement was one that he sighted). In Nigeria, the Central Bank’s information technology director revealed that the country is launching a CBDC pilot on October 1.

Paying For Prime With Crypto?

I remember combing through job postings while I was a reporter. Fun times…Anyways, based on a certain role that is currently being advertised on the Payments Acceptance & Experience team, Amazon is looking for someone to "develop Amazon's Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap.” An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider:

"We're inspired by the innovation happening in the cryptocurrency space and are exploring what this could look like on Amazon," the spokesperson said. "We believe the future will be built on new technologies that enable modern, fast, and inexpensive payments, and hope to bring that future to Amazon customers as soon as possible."

Together With LendIt Fintech Nexus

Nexus is a high-end partnering event for fintech decisionmakers to pitch, partner and get deals done. High quality networking designed specifically for senior executives is at the center of the Nexus experience. We've built 24 VIP meeting blocks and three social events into two days at the luxurious oceanfront Loews Miami Beach. At Nexus you can expect high-quality, double-opt-in, one-on-one meetings with our curated audience. There are no panels or keynotes. Just business.

If you are:

• A Bank or Credit Union executive seeking technology solutions and partners to upgrade or replace existing tech stacks;
• An equity investor looking to meet fintechs;
• A fixed income investor looking to meet lending platforms; or
• A fintech executive seeking partnerships with or capital from established financial institutions and/or investors,

Then you need to be there. Learn more and apply to join here!​

​Content Marketing Manager (Finance) at Ramp​

Since launching in early 2020, our friends at Ramp have experienced exponential organic growth. It’s now looking for a writer/editor with a strong background in finance to help it execute its strategy and grow its brand. As an early member of Ramp’s Marketing team, you will contribute to content across the buyer journey from thought leadership pieces to customer evidence that helps its sales team close deals. Ramp is building out the Content Marketing team and has some exciting projects it wants to execute on in the coming year as it continues to grow Ramp’s brand.

Share Fintech Today, get exclusive rewards! Have friends who'd love our newsletter too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get an awesome reward when they subscribe. https://sparklp.co/d848d352 PS: You have referred 0 people so far ⚡️ Powered by SparkLoop

Julie VerHage-Greenberg is the co-founder of Fintech Today, where she focuses on editorial content and brand. Prior to joining, she was Bloomberg’s first fintech reporter, covering Robinhood from before it was a billion dollar company, breaking the news that Plaid was acquiring Quovo, and interviewing executives on Bloomberg TV and at several large conferences.

Thanks for reading! If you loved it, tell your friends to subscribe ;)

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205