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Grab and go public
Grab, Asia's ride-sharing giant that offers a range of financial services, plans to go public by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company.
The deal gives Grab a valuation of $39.6 billion, which more than doubles the Singapore-based company's valuation from 18 months ago,
Grab will merge with Altimeter Growth Corp., a SPAC sponsored by Altimeter Capital of Menlo Park, Calif., the Journal said.
Carbon dating
Mastercard and Swedish fintech Doconomy are building a calculator for banks to determine the environmental impact of purchases.
The two companies have been measuring carbon emissions generated by spending in different categories for about two years, and have added an API to allow banks to connect, according to
The
Bit of the board
Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy will compensate all non-employee board members in bitcoin, which the firm uses as its main treasury reserve.
The firm cites the move as part of its commitment to bitcoin, and is removing cash as an option for board members, reports
The
A new car
Emirates NBD is running a marketing campaign to incentivise people to use contactless payments, with prizes ranging from smartphones to luxury cars.
The bank, which covers Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, will give away four BMWs, 50 75-inch televisions and 200 iPhone 12s, with an entry registered each time a Visa cardholder with an account at the bank makes a contactless transaction.
There's also a mobile element, as the promotion covers Emirates NBD bank accounts linked to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as well as wearables including Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay.
Pizza bot
Domino's and Silicon Valley startup Nuro are launching autonomous pizza delivery, hoping to address fast-growing demand for online orders.
The two companies will launch the service in Houston, then expand to other markets, reports
For its part,
From the web
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Stripe has turned a humdrum business—helping companies accept credit-card payments—into a blockbuster valuation.
REUTERS | Tuesday, April 13, 2021
China's regulatory-imposed revamp of Jack Ma's Ant Group, transforming the hot fintech into a financial holding company, appears to have dented some investor appetite for any plans to revive what would have been the world's biggest IPO.
TECHCRUNCH | April 13, 2021
Small businesses in Africa need digital banking services including plenty of credit. Although these businesses drive economic growth and contribute up to one-third of the continent’s GDP, they are often financially excluded from credit and other financial services due to their size and informality.
More from PaymentsSource
Call center data security and compliance provider Semafone has entered a global reseller partnership with cloud-based communications company Avaya to help secure \work-from-anywhere call center models.
Invoiced is working with with the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, the open-loop network that supports a vast network and business directory of buyers and suppliers.
While U.S. regulators pressure Visa and Mastercard, there's ample choice, particularly when compared to the national debit rails that exist in most of the world, says Intrepid Ventures' Eric Grover.
The stricter fraud controls card issuers put in place during the pandemic are triggering a higher number of false declines.
The scandal over the collapse of Wirecard AG expanded as German financial regulator BaFin faces a criminal probe into how it oversaw the payment processor and whether some of the agency’s staff illegally traded the stock.
Trustly Group AB’s plan to raise almost $1 billion through an initial public offering in Stockholm may be followed by a second listing in New York, according to its chief executive.
Circle Internet Financial Inc., a developer of the USD Coin digital token, has hired an executive from the Facebook Inc.-backed Diem Association to spearhead strategy and policy efforts.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is involved in a large-scale research and development project on the digital dollar, and that questions of whether adopting such a currency would provide a public benefit have yet to be resolved.
Renowned investors and corporate titans such as Paul Tudor Jones and Elon Musk have been allocating significant capital to cryptocurrency, attracted by the underlying characteristics of the asset class such as its immutability, decentralization, and transferability.
User experience and efficiency matter. Consumers aren't going to do something more difficult just for the technology, says Computop's Jed Danbury.
Walmart, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google are just a few of the non-financial companies that are using scale and innovation to compete in financial services.
Lending options at the physical point of sale are going to play a significant role in how consumers take part in a post-pandemic economic recovery. But as with many payment methods, they risk leaving out the underbanked.
Incumbent banks must focus on combining a clear, executable strategy with flexible technology solutions and expert partners to improve data-driven propositions, promote trust, reduce costs, realize scale advantages, drive innovation and support alternative payment methods.
The industry’s most effective relationships come when providers serve as collaborators and an extension of their clients to serve customers and work in tandem to address a range of challenges and grow their businesses together, says Paya's Chris Scappa.
The Silicon Valley payments giant collaborates with incumbent banks. But its plan to launch a single mobile app where consumers will shop, make payments and manage their money is reinforcing long-held industry fears about the threat from Big Tech.
Top executives from the 49 companies that earned a spot in this year's ranking of the Best Fintechs to Work For cite the need for nimble shifts in business strategy, leadership style and recruiting tactics among the lessons they took away from the challenges of the coronavirus crisis.
