FinTech Weekly - Fintech News Issue #346

Fintech Insider’s hosts, Benjamin Ensor and Deepa Anikhindi, discuss fintech news with Wiza Jalakasi (Chipper Cash) and Abba Newbery (Habito): from the accusations against Anne Boden to the impressive mortgages offered by Habito, the four experts are ready to share their opinions with us.

Blockchain technology still surprises. The cooperation between the Republic of Palau and Cryptic Labs will provide people with a blockchain-based legal ID: thanks to their Digital Residency Program, anyone from everywhere can get a digital residency - in the form of an NFT - and access global business opportunities.

After the findings of Steve Moser, Bloomberg asked PayPal to confirm if the company is really working on its own stablecoin. As PC Mag reported, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal senior vice president, confirmed that the company is evaluating this option.

Fintech adoption is becoming a must for every company, no matter the industry sector. Digitalization, APIs and financial services are becoming one of the main sources of income of many firms, and also the smallest ones can now access and explore these new solutions very easily - and they should, since it seems that customers trust more those firms that also provide hassle-free payment solutions.

Fintech is booming in Latin America, and governments try to adapt to the needs of businesses by adjusting regulatory frameworks. Mexico is no exception: with 450 fintech startups it is now the largest fintech hub in Latin America, but the Mexican “Fintech Law” - passed in 2018 - seems to address just a few fintech firms.

Qonto is a well-known fintech startup in Europe: its focus on small and medium companies and freelancers rewarded the company, so that it raised $552 million in the last funding round, reaching a valuation of $5 billion.

Ron Shevlin reflects on the digital transformation in banking. What many banks are doing is using new tools for an old industry, without really dealing with new technologies available, without really meeting the needs of their customers. Where will this attitude lead them?

CBANC announced the launch of a new marketplace: the fintech platform will be free for all employees of U.S. financial institutions, as well as the CBANC community, so far used by institutions and professionals to connect and gather useful and reliable information related to the financial sector.