#374
There’s No “Fin” Without “Tech”

Mastercard to allow some crypto in digital asset boom - Mastercard will begin allowing cardholders to transact in certain cryptocurrencies on its network, becoming the latest company to embrace digital assets. The firm is also “actively engaging” with central banks around the world on their plans to launch new digital currencies. The company will prioritize consumer protections and compliance in its own plans, Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset and blockchain products and partnerships, said in the post. Read more

Amsterdam ousts London as Europe’s top share trading hub - Amsterdam surpassed London as Europe’s largest share trading centre last month as the Netherlands scooped up business lost by the UK since Brexit. Read more

The ‘stonks’ market caught the A.I. algorithms off guard, too - It seems savvy traders weren't the only ones surprised by the market's wild moves. It turns out the machine brains didn't see it coming either. Hedge funds that depend on artificial intelligence to make their trading decisions were also seemingly unable to figure out how to play the stonk market, contributing to a dismal start of the year for these investors. Read more

Josh Kushner’s Oscar Health files for U.S. IPO - Founded in 2012, Oscar earlier focused on selling insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The company, most recently valued at $3.2b in a 2018 funding round, now has 529,000 members and serves 291 counties in 18 states, according to the filing. The company’s plans follow the public markets success of Lemonade Inc., another New York-based, venture-backed insurer. Read more

Tesla bets big on Bitcoin, plans to accept cryptocurrency - Tesla Inc. invested $1.5b in Bitcoin and signaled its intent to begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment, sending prices to a new record after the vote of confidence from the electric-car market leader. Read more

TikTok takes on Facebook with US e-commerce push - TikTok has plans to roll out several new features, including a tool that lets its most popular users share links to products and automatically earn commission on any sales, and the ability for brands to showcase catalogues of their products on the platform. The app is also said to be rolling out “livestreamed” shopping, a mobile phone version of television shopping channels, where users can buy goods with a few taps after seeing them showcased by TikTok stars. Read more

Amazon preparing to launch a ‘digital currency’ project in Mexico - Amazon’s grip on the internet economy appears to be coming for currency next, with the e-commerce giant preparing to launch a “digital currency” project in Mexico. Read more

Biggest U.S. banks keep lending less and less of their money - Total loans at the 25 biggest U.S. banks comprise less than 46% of their combined assets, down from 54% this time last year. The figures provide a fresh reality check for an industry that’s been playing up its support for businesses and households as the Covid-19 pandemic ravages the economy. While the total amount that banks have loaned out has stagnated, the nation’s biggest lenders have rapidly expanded other parts of their businesses, such as their holdings of Treasuries and government-backed mortgage securities. Read more

Ethereum futures are now trading on CME - The world’s first regulated ether futures product may draw more institutional demand for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, boosting the recent price rally. Ether (ETH) has more than tripled in value since the CME announced plans to list futures contracts on Dec. 16, mimicking bitcoin’s surge from $6,000 to $19,783 seen in the weeks leading up to Dec. 17, 2017, when the exchange began trading bitcoin futures. Read more

Shopify expands its checkout and payment processing system, Shop Pay, to Facebook and Instagram - Consumers will be able to use Shop Pay to complete purchases, expanding on existing options to use PayPal or manually enter credit or debit card information. All these methods are offered via the Facebook Pay payment system. Read more

Open banking in Colombia is getting ready to take off - Colombia is working on an open banking regulation expected to be ready in 2022. Regulators hope the API structure will encourage large scale incorporation of savings and credit products. Read more

Bitcoin to come to America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon - The custody bank said it will hold, transfer and issue bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on behalf of its asset-management clients. In time, BNY Mellon will allow those digital assets to pass through the same plumbing used by managers’ other, more traditional holdings—from Treasurys to technology stocks—using a platform that is now in prototype. Read more

Hippo in talks to merge with Mark Pincus, Reid Hoffman SPAC - The transaction with Reinvent Technology Partners, a special purpose acquisition company that counts Zynga founder Mark Pincus and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman as its lead directors, is set to value the combined entity at more than $5b. Reinvent raised $690m in a September initial public offering. In anticipation of a transaction, its shares had rallied about 11% this year, giving it a market value of $1.1b. Read more

Credit Karma announces integration with TurboTax - An integration between two of Intuit’s top acquisitions will help put Credit Karma’s new U.S. checking account – Credit Karma Money Spend – in the hands of more consumers and will also provide a seamless process for getting refunds to eligible taxpayers when they file their taxes with TurboTax – and then turn those taxpayers into Credit Karma checking account holders. Read more

Goldman Sachs re-opens Marcus in UK paying 0.5% on deposits – one of the country’s highest rates at present - In June last year, Goldman had to close Marcus’ easy access savings account to new UK customers. Regulated deposit limits during the country’s first coronavirus lockdown climbed to £21b. UK banking rules stipulate retail deposits totaling more than £25b must be ring-fenced. That means the bank would have to separate these assets from the rest. Read more

Klarna launches bank accounts in Germany - Fintech startup Klarna appears to be turning its mobile app into a banking app in Germany. Customers living there can now open a consumer bank account and get a Visa debit card. Read more

Spreedly partners with Visa to accelerate network tokenization in Latin America - The organizations have launched a program to foster and grow the adoption of network tokenization via Spreedly’s Payments Orchestration solution throughout Latin America. The joint work will kick off in various countries including a project in Argentina, and soon expand across the region. Read more