Happy Wednesday!
Today's news:
VCs flood into banking-as-a-service
CRR II – Regulatory challenges for the next three years
Number of FinTechs in Australia passes the 700 mark
51% of Consumers Ready to Switch Banks for Biometric Payment Cards
Mastercard Fees to Rise by 5% for Brits Buying From EU
COVID-19: Making the case for robust digital financial infrastructure
VCs flood into banking-as-a-service
Andreessen Horowitz once predicted that “every company will be a fintech company”. Venture capitalists may be known for making slightly grandiose predictions, but recently it seems like many of the firm’s peers are starting to agree.
The result has been a flood of money into start-ups that provide the tools for any company to begin offering financial services.
Instead of building consumer-facing apps, these start-ups largely trade in so-called application programming interfaces — APIs — which plug into a company’s code and give it the ability to accept payments or perform any number of financial transactions. A growing number of the companies embrace the moniker of “banking as a service”, a play on the concept of “software as a service”.
CRR II – Regulatory challenges for the next three years
After more than two years of intensive discussions and deliberations, the EU’s “Banking Package” was finalised on 14 February 2019 and passed the EU parliament on 16 April 2019. The final drafts entered into force on 27 June 2019. The general date of application for CRR II is 28 June 2021.
The implementation of the Banking Package, consisting of significant amendments to the Capital Requirements Regulation (“CRR II”), the Capital Requirements Directive (“CRD V”), the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD II) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (“SRMR II”), is expected to be a major and challenging task. With such enormous changes, banks may banks may find themselves needing help quickly.
Number of FinTechs in Australia passes the 700 mark
The latest roundup of Australia’s FinTech landscape shows more than 100 new FinTechs entered the in-demand segment over the course of the past twelve months, with lending apps and blockchain technology dominating the market entry list.
Professional services firm KPMG last examined Australia's FinTech market back in September 2019, when there were just short of 630 active FinTechs in the country. Per the latest study published, this number stands over 730 – signalling rapid growth in a year that posed unprecedented economic challenges.
51% of Consumers Ready to Switch Banks for Biometric Payment Cards
