Fintech firms in Latin America are having a moment with the equity investing titans of the world, and debt investors are taking note.
Venture capital heavyweights including Softbank, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital have boosted their equity investments in the region over the past six to 12 months, according to multiple industry sources.
News via Forbes.
The mobile banking units of e-commerce giant Alibaba and internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings are changing the landscape of financial services in China, lending to more than 100 million people so far, including those in rural areas and microbusiness owners.
Raiffeisen Bank International has joined a funding round in business verification and KYC RegTech kompany. RBI is investing in kompany via its corporate venture capital unit Elevator Ventures.
Kompany was one of the first participants in Elevator Lab;s fintech partnership programme. The programme helps scale-ups collaborate with leading bank experts across RBI Group and resulted in a multi-year commercial agreement for kompany in 2018.
Washington, D.C., August 6th, 2019 – Alpha Bank Romania became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institu
With the purchase of the Denmark-based payments platform, Mastercard is picking up an electronic billing platform that offers clearing and instant payment services, according to a statement on August 6. Mastercard also confirmed that the purchase will take a bite out of its profits for up to two years after the deal closes, which is expected to happen sometime in the first half of 2020.
Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is said to have issued it virtual banking licences to three consortiums, according to a report by Reuters. The licenses were granted to Line Financial Taiwan, Next Commercial Banking (led by local telco Chunghwa Telecom) and Rakuten International Commercial Bank.
IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, and Banistmo, a subsidiary of the Bancolombia Group, announce the issuance of the first social gender bond in Latin America, totaling $50 million with a five-year term. Banistmo issues the bond and IDB Invest structures it and buys 100 percent of it.
Barclays Bank Ghana says it has lined up plans to become the country's number one lead financial enabler for business activities of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana when it transitions fully to Absa in 2020.
Dana, the fintech startup backed by Ant Financial in Indonesia, is scouting for another strategic investor to help it snag more of the nation’s 150 million smartphone users. Dana is one of several digital wallets outside of China that Ant’s backed, as the funds-to-finance titan tries to forge a global payments network.
Ecobank Nigeria said it has successfully removed over two million plastic bottles in exchange for cash from the streets of Lagos.
The campaign which started in May targeted to remove at least four million PET bottles from the environment was part of the bank’s environmental sustainability campaign.
