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Payments firm Transferwise has notched up a $5bn valuation following a share sale, making it one of the most valuable tech start-ups in Europe. The London-based fintech said on Wednesday it had completed a $319m secondary share sale led by new investor D1 Capital Partners and existing shareholder Lone Pine Capital. It added that existing…
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Analysts are bullish on digital payment processing firms such as Square and Discover Financial Services. But at the same time, some are bearish on established payment companies. UBS has downgraded American Express to a sell as it sees a slow recovery for the company. Oppenheimer has downgraded Mastercard to market perform. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway…
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London-based digital payments startup Checkout.com has become one of Europe’s most valuable financial technology firms after hitting a $5.5bn valuation, almost tripling its value in under 18 months. The company, founded in 2012, said on Monday it achieved this valuation after completing a $150m Series B funding round, intended to push the business towards a…
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The Wirecard accounting scandal has hit the value of the investment fund managed by UK top stock picker Alexander Darwall (pictured), as the digital payment provider accounted for nearly 10% of the fund’s portfolio at the time the news broke in. Shares of the European Opportunities Trust (JEO) managed by Darwall, one of the two…
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UK digital bank Monzo has applied for a US banking license in a bid to launch a full range of services to American customers. The bank, which has 4 million customers in Britain, applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for the licence on 20 April. Monzo, led by cofounder and…
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Millions of Britain’s small businesses are desperate for cash to cover wages a month into the coronavirus lockdown – but the alternative finance industry feels the government has left them with their noses pressed against the window while high street banks dither over approvals. That is certainly the view of Funding Options chief executive Simon…
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The British Business Bank has added five new lenders to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) task force – The Co-operative Bank, Cynergy Bank, OakNorth Bank, Funding Circle and Starling Bank. This is the latest step taken by UK chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) is part of its £330bn package to contain the havoc wreaked…
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Small business lender Funding Options said it received thousands of applications worth over £1bn in March from crisis-strapped businesses, a huge spike compared to previous months. Small business owners said the government’s emergency coroanavirus loans are being denied to them as major banks such as HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds seek punishing rates of interest….
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Investment for global fintech startups in 2019 was “just shy” of record levels 12 months before, despite trade tensions between China and the US and ongoing Brexit negotiations. Worldwide investors poured a total of $135.7bn into the sector across 2,693 deals last year, which “fell just shy of 2018’s record” of $141bn, according to the…
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LendingClub has bought online bank Radius Bancorp in a $185m deal in cash and stock. The fintech company who pioneered online personal loans is buying the Boston-based bank to expand its operations and have access to a cheaper and stable source of funding. LendingClub has been involved in the new wave of peer-to-peer lending which…
