FinTech Weekly - Fintech News Issue #349

Fintech Insider hosts, Gwera Kiwana and Ross Gallagher, are joined by Lotanna Ezeike (XPO) and Kyla Scanlon to discuss how fintech and banking services are related to the so-called “creator economy”, an economy that consists of those who influence other people and create according to their passions.

After becoming the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, El Salvador is now supporting Bitcoin users trying to face the main challenges brought by this revolutionary decision. For this reason, El Salvador is cooperating with AlphaPoint to relaunch the Chivo wallet and improve stability and scalability.

The Canadian fintech firm, Koho Financial, has raised $210 million in the last funding round. The company focused on the creation of a new financial tool that allows users to save their money and earn interest, but without fees. Moreover, a partnership with ADP allows users to access up to 50% of their paychecks whenever they wish, and no interest is charged.

Good news for fintech: F-Prime Capital announced the launch of the F-Prime Fintech Index, which will track major fintech companies and their performances, allowing investors to better choose where to put their money.

Jason Wenk discusses the main problems of fintech founders: even if their main goal is solving people’s financial issues, their intentions may be destroyed by the difficulties of the market. How can they handle challenges?

Ron Shevlin provides another excellent point on one of today’s hot topics: BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later). Will this system really kill credit cards, or is it just another overstated prediction?

Xrent opened the waitlist for its new debit card. The fintech firm wants to provide users with a debit card that serves their “rent-to-mortgage” program: the fintech wants to help users to shorten their path towards homeownership, and each rent paid with the card will boost users’ credit scores and give them the chance to win a house or a year of mortgage.

Visa announced the VEI, the Visa Everywhere Initiative opened to UAE fintech firms and startups. Winners will have the opportunity to cooperate with Visa, monetary prizes and the opportunity to gain exposure to major fintech stakeholders.

MoonPay launched new payment gateways. The NFT clients of the company will be able to offer end users the capability to pay with several payment methods for digital art. This means that users won’t need to buy cryptocurrencies first, and the company thinks that this will increase the sale of NFTs.