Kreos Capital injects €5m into Spotcap
Kreos Capital has invested €5m in Berlin-based online credit platform Spotcap’s series-B funding round. The fresh capital will be used to finance the company’s lending activities in Spain and the Netherlands, and to expand its operations globally.
FN Fintech Focus: Disruptors’ $4trn fortune
How much do finance incumbents stand to lose to tech disruptors? A lot, according to Goldman Sachs. Over $4 trillion in addressable revenues and $470 billion in profit at traditional financial services companies is at risk of being disrupted by new technology-enabled entrants, says a recent report by the Wall Street giant.
8 Questions with Jonathan Prince, Co-Founder of Digicash Payments SA
Who are you? I am Jonathan Prince, co-founder with Raoul Mulheims, Georges Berscheid and Mike Sergonne, of Digicash Payments SA which provides a digital payments platform and apps designed for banks & PSPs…Our company provides a white-labelled digital payment authorisation platform and App, fitting neatly into banks’ and PSPs’ infrastructures, using existing underlying payment channels (transfers, cards …) and smartly integrated with retailers’ POS and e-commerce systems.
Cashcloud eWallet Wins FinTech Innovation Award 2015
Success streak continues: Cashcloud wins in the category “Mobile Wallet”. Cashcloud Managing Director Olaf Taupitz: “This cannot be a coincidence!” And the winner is: cashcloud… again! The mobile eWallet of the Luxembourg start-up cashcloud was honored Wednesday in London with the FinTech Innovation Award 2015.
(Congratulations to the Cashcloud team, which presented at the 2nd FinTech Forum in May 2014. Read our 7 Questions with Sven Donhuysen, CEO of Cashcloud)
Celent names Fidor Bank the Model Bank of the Year for 2015.
The vision for Celent’s Model Bank research, now in its eighth year, is to spotlight effective uses of technology in banking. Each year, in addition to case studies highlighting initiatives within a variety of topic areas, Celent awards an overall winner.
http://www.celent.com/reports/fidor-celent-model-bank-year-2015
Europe sets the pace as fintech investment triples in 2014
Global investment in fintech ventures tripled from $4.05 billion in 2013 to $12.2 billion in 2014, with Europe being the fastest growing region in the world, according to a new report by Accenture.
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27169
FinTech visuals
Last week we saw some great visuals of FinTechs in the US, Europe and Germany doing the rounds on social media. Here they are:
Disrupting Banking: The FinTech Startups That Are Unbundling Wells Fargo, Citi and Bank of America
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/disrupting-banking-fintech-startups/
European FinTech RUDEscape
http://markbivens.com/m/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/European-FinTech-RUDEscape1.png
German FinTech Overview: Unbundling Banks
http://paymentandbanking.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Bildschirmfoto-2015-03-26-um-13.01.08.png
The rapid decline of Kapital / Der schnelle Niedergang von Yapital (und mehr)
Lesenswert bietet einen schnellen Überblick über aktuelle, brandheiße und lesenswerte Meldungen, Artikel, Reportagen, Interviews und Hintergrundstorys zu Start-up-, Web- und Gründergeschichten, die andere Medien oder Blogs aus dem In- und Ausland verfasst und veröffentlicht haben.
http://www.deutsche-startups.de/2015/03/24/der-schnelle-niedergang-von-yapital-und-mehr/
VOOLA-Die erste Suchmaschine für Finanzprodukte ist offiziell online
Nach erfolgreich abgeschlossener Testphase startet die voola GmbH ihre gleichnamige Suchmaschine für Finanzprodukte Unter www.voola.de . Mit VOOLA will das junge Unternehmen die Suche nach den passenden Finanzprodukten vereinfachen und das große angebot für Anleger transparenter machen.
https://voola.de/press/VOOLA_Suchmaschine_fuer_Finanzprodukte_2015-03-25.pdf
Kreditech suspects data breach was inside job
Kreditech, a Germany-based lender focused on the unbanked, has suffered a data breach that has resulted in the personal records of thousands of applicants stolen and dumped on the dark web.
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27154
Sixty startups compete for place at Innotribe Startup Challenge finale
Innotribe, the innovation arm of financial messaging network Swift, has shortlisted 60 companies from a record 370 early-stage and growth-stage startup applicants to participate in its 2015 Startup Challenge.
http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=27135
Innovative Lender Fidor Bank Gives U.S. an Upvote
Fidor Bank, a branchless, bitcoin-friendly German lender that adjusts some of its interest rates based on the number of Facebook “likes” it receives, plans to enter the U.S. with the help of an as-yet-unnamed American partner.
Lendico Adds SME Loans
German p2p lending service Lendico today added SME loans to its marketplace which previously focussed on consumer loans. This is in my view a peculiar move as now Lendico poaches in the realm of Zencap, which is already focussed on SME loans, considering that both startups were backed by Rocket Internet.
http://www.p2p-banking.com/countries/germany-lendico-adds-sme-loans/
Bericht zum 1. DVFA FinTech Forum
Insgesamt präsentierten sich acht unterschiedliche FinTechs im Rahmen eines „Beauty Contests“, moderiert von Ralf Frank, Generalsekretär und Geschäftsführer, DVFA. Im Mittelpunkt standen dabei zum einen Ideen, die primär auf den Endkunden abzielen, wie bei Cashboard, Decimo, Fairr.de oder Vaamo Finanz….Aus der Sicht von Samarth Shekhar, Founder Techfluence.eu und Co-Founder FinTechForum DACH, sind Banken aber nicht die einzigen attraktiven Partner für FinTechs.
http://www.dvfa.de/konferenzen-foren/veranstaltungen/fintech-forum/
Wie sich Fintech-Startups gegen Facebooks Bezahldienst positionieren können
Selbst Deutschlands Fintech-Experte André M. Bajorat hat das neue Payment-Update für Facebook Messenger mit einem „PENG!“ angekündigt. Nachdem Facebook bereits im letzten April eine kleine Banklizenz in Irland erworben hat, kommt nun das lang erwartete Update zum Messenger.
FinTech Jobs at FinLeap
CTO/Co-Founder (m/f) for new FinTech Insurance company, Chief Risk Officer/Co-founder (m/f) for BillFront, Chief Sales Officer / Chief of Banking Relations (m/f) for FinLeap and more… http://www.finleap.com/jobs.html
Wanted! Experts on the theme: FinTechs in Germany – A threat to wealth management providers?
In the context of my bachelor thesis at the EBS University I am investigating the potential threat that Fintechs may pose to the wealth management industry. To effectively evaluate the threat, I would like to interview a variety of experts that are working in the wealth management/private banking sector and have an affinity for FinTechs. The interview is based on a 1-hour long conversation that can be done both in person or via telephone. Feel free to contact me at giulia.pescatore@students.ebs.edu. Thank