article thumbnail

Square’s bank arm launches as fintech aims ‘to operate more nimbly’

TechCrunch

Known for its innovations in the payments sector, Square is now officially a bank. Nearly one year after receiving conditional approval , Square said Monday afternoon that its industrial bank, Square Financial Services, has begun operations. Lewis Goodwin had been tapped to serve as the bank’s CEO, and Brandon Soto its CFO.

Banking 352
article thumbnail

Nigerian fintech of the unbanked Bankly raises $2M led by Vault and Flutterwave

TechCrunch

In the absence of a banking system nearby or a disregard for one, the unbanked resort to these traditional systems because they work completely offline. The third is the lack of customer data since most don’t have an online banking presence. Slowly , an online banking presence is built for them. Image Credits: Bankly.

Fintech 363
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

With open banking on the horizon, the fintech-SME love story is just beginning

TechCrunch

Long before the pandemic, the way in which banks were regulated was changing. Initiatives like Open Banking and the Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) were being proposed as a way to promote competition in the banking industry — allowing smaller challenger firms to break into a market that has long been dominated by corporate titans.

Fintech 340
article thumbnail

Most fintechs partner with banks; Varo became one, and says it’s paying off

TechCrunch

Last month, Varo Bank celebrated the two-year anniversary of obtaining its national bank charter. consumer bank. The startup launched its banking services in 2017, aimed at making younger consumers comfortable doing all their banking online. Our largest reduction in spend is coming from marketing.

Banking 307
article thumbnail

Nigerian digital bank Kuda is the latest African startup to lay off employees

TechCrunch

Kuda , the challenger bank based in Nigeria and the U.K., Kuda, the African challenger bank, raises $55M at a $500M valuation. Per sources, this includes growth, marketing and product departments. has joined the ranks of tech companies in Africa that are pruning their workforce. billion, cut 15% of its staff in June.

Banking 343
article thumbnail

Banks bet on AI to deliver digital efficiencies

CIO

In the face of shrinking budgets and rising customer expectations, banks are increasingly relying on AI, according to a recent study by consulting firm Publicis Sapiens. Around 42% percent of banks rely on personalized customer journeys to improve the customer experience.

Banking 212
article thumbnail

Paystand banks $50M to make B2B payments cashless and with no fees

TechCrunch

The Scotts Valley, California-based company is using cloud technology and the Ethereum blockchain as the engine for its Paystand Bank Network that enables business-to-business payments with zero fees. On the commercial side, however, one business trying to send $100,000 the same way is not as easy. Paystand wants to change that.

B2B 362