Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to deliver transformative benefits for capital markets, helping deliver billions of dollars in cost savings through improved operational efficiency, broader market access and opportunities for value creation, a new report by the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) together with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Clifford Chance and Cravath, Swaine and Moore, says. The paper, titled The Impact of Distributed Ledger Technology in Global Capital Markets, looks at the opportunities and risks of DLT and DLT-based securities, sharing estimates on the potential cost savings and value creation opportunities brought about the technology in the sector.…

Digital Asset and leading market participants announce their plans to launch the Canton Network, the industry’s first privacy-enabled interoperable blockchain network designed for institutional assets and built to responsibly unlock the potential of synchronized financial markets. Canton Network participants include 3Homes, ASX, BNP Paribas, Broadridge, Capgemini, Cboe Global Markets, Cumberland, Deloitte, Deutsche Börse Group, Digital Asset, DRW, Eleox, EquiLend, FinClear, Gambyl, Goldman Sachs, IntellectEU, Liberty City Ventures, Microsoft, Moody’s, Paxos, Right Pedal LendOS, S&P Global, SBI Digital Asset Holdings, The Digital Dollar Project, Umbrage, Versana, VERT Capital, Xpansiv, and Zinnia. The Canton Network will provide a decentralized infrastructure that connects…

Latin America, one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets globally, has become a preferred destination for European companies looking to expand globally, an appeal that’s owed to the region’s booming smartphone penetration, rapidly digitizing population and improving payment infrastructure, a new report by Canadian payment processor Nuvei says. The paper, titled Insights and Opportunities for Regional Expansion Success: Interconnecting Europe and Latin America, provides insights into the connections between European and LatAm markets and explores e-commerce payment trends, growth drivers and opportunities. According to the paper, LatAm has emerged into a compelling market for European brands and is oftentimes the first…

QED Investors, a global venture capital firm investing exclusively in fintech companies, announced the close of two new funds totaling US$925 million. With the close of these two new funds, QED will have more than US$4.0 billion under management. The Fund VIII is an oversubscribed US$650 million early stage fund while the Growth II is a US$275 million early growth-stage fund. These funds will allow QED to continue to invest in disruptive fintech companies in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe, Latin America, India and Southeast Asia and Africa. Founded in 2007 by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman, QED has…

The New York Federal Reserve and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published the report on the findings of their cross-border payments study. The Project Cedar Phase II x Ubin+ (Cedar x Ubin+) experiment found that distributed ledger technology (DLT) could be used to improve the efficiency of cross-border wholesale payments and settlements involving multiple currencies. The experiment was conducted in a test environment and the hypothetical payments were settled using simulated wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The findings addressed three key pain points which included interoperability and autonomy. The Cedar x Ubin + experiment interlinked the distinct…

ServiceNow and Nvidia announced a partnership to develop powerful, enterprise‑grade generative AI capabilities that can transform business processes with faster, more intelligent workflow automation. Using Nvidia software, services, and accelerated infrastructure, ServiceNow is developing custom large language models trained on data specifically for its ServiceNow Platform, the intelligent platform for end‑to‑end digital transformation. This will expand ServiceNow’s already extensive AI functionality with new uses for generative AI across the enterprise — including for IT departments, customer service teams, employees, and developers — to strengthen workflow automation and rapidly increase productivity. ServiceNow is also helping Nvidia streamline its IT operations with…

Bank of America launched its impact accelerator program named Bank of America Breakthrough Lab with the call for applications for the September 2023 cohort. The six-month program provides tailored mentorship, digital expertise, networking with industry experts and access to potential investors to Black, Hispanic-Latino, Native American and other entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities so that they can scale-up their technology-related businesses. Founders of early-stage startups from underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply to the program that promotes financial inclusion and financial technology development with the goal of increasing the number and growth of small businesses. The deadline for applications is June…

The USA is dominant in the cryptocurrency venture capital (VC) game, representing more than 71% of the total amount of capital under management from the top 50 crypto-focused VC funds, a new report by Coinstack Partners, a boutique investment bank for crypto and Web 3.0 companies, shows. The report, which looks at VC funding activity in the crypto space, reveals that US crypto funds are now managing more than US$42.4 billion worth of assets of the total US$59.6 billion under management from the top 50 crypto-focused VC funds. The figure makes the US the biggest VC investor in the crypto…

During a recent action-packed 3 days, Fintech Meetup mobilized the entire fintech industry by delivering an incredible 30,000+ tech-enabled meetings and sparking an unprecedented wave of collaborations and partnerships which the fintech industry has never experienced before. Attendees and sponsors were blown away by Fintech Meetup, describing it as “an absolute game-changer for the fintech industry” and “the industry’s newest and coolest event”. Jon Lear, President and Co-Founder of Fintech Meetup, said, “We are absolutely thrilled with the success of Fintech Meetup 2023 and the incredible feedback we’ve received from our attendees and sponsors. Fintech Meetup has firmly established itself…

U.S.-based procurement fintech Zip announced that it has raised a US$100 million Series C funding round from Y Combinator, CRV and Tiger Global at a US$1.5 billion post-money valuation. This brings Zip’s total funding to US$181 million with its prior seed, US$25 million Series A and US$43 million Series B rounds. Zip will use the latest funding to accelerate product and user experience innovations which includes new applications of generative AI that maximize efficiency and synthesise insights across the intake-to-pay process. In the last year, Zip has grown from 60 to 250 employees to support its extensive customer and product…

Investing.com, a platform for financial data, tools & news accessed by more than 60 million retail investors monthly, announced it recently completed the acquisition and integration of Streetinsider.com, a premium source for market moving breaking news on equities. According to Axios, Investing.com pays 10 million USD for Streetinsider. Since 1999, StreetInsider has given Wall Street’s elite investors a real-time, inside-look at the markets, providing access to information that’s only available to a select group of market players. The outlet separates itself from other news services in its commitment to producing the quickest commentary of market-moving events around the world. Investing.com…

Fintech firm 8fig announced that it has secured a US$140 million Series B funding round in April 2023 led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT). This brings 8fig’s total funds raised to US$196.5 million. The funding round was also joined by existing investors Battery Ventures, Localglobe, Hetz Ventures, the Jesselson family, and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. Founded in 2020, 8fig provides flexible funding and supply chain planning tools to e-commerce businesses and has a presence in the U.S. and Israel. 8fig had recently introduced a mobile app that allows customers to manage their funding plan on…

ServiceNow, an USA based digital workflow company, announced it has signed an agreement to acquire artificial intelligence powered platform G2K to transform retail and other industries. G2K’s technology allows organizations to connect real‑time data across storefronts and other physical spaces for a complete view of operational data. ServiceNow plans to add G2K’s smart IoT technology to the Now Platform, enabling businesses to intelligently action digital and in‑store data with enterprise‑grade workflows. Many organizations still struggle to turn vast amounts of data into actions that have business impact. This is especially true for retailers that have the unique challenge of managing…

Innovations in finance and payments are unlocking new experiences for consumers and fintechs alike. As of 2022, 78 percent of adults in the U.S. prefer to bank via a mobile app or website. As more people open accounts and manage their finances online, digital transaction volumes are projected to reach nearly $15 trillion by 2027. With that growth comes more sophisticated fraud, such as account takeover and synthetic identity fraud, impacting consumers and businesses. To further its vision of providing safe, simple, and smart choices in payments and financial services, Mastercard is launching an enhanced Open Banking for Account Opening…

Apple’s new high-yield savings account is making a splash, drawing in nearly US$400 million worth of deposits on launch day. By the end of the first week, roughly 240,000 accounts had been opened, bringing in as much as US$990 million in deposits, sources familiar with the matter told Forbes earlier this month. Launched on April 17, Apple’s Savings account is attracting customers for its high annual return of 4.15%. An analysis by AppleInsider shows that the Apple Savings account is highly competitive and a strong contender among savings account products available in the US. It offers a higher return than…

Stripe announced a new partnership with Microsoft that enables North American businesses to accept payments directly in Microsoft Teams. The Microsoft Teams collaboration platform offers video conferencing, voice, messaging, and other embedded tools to more than 300 million global businesses. Stripe will power Teams Payments, allowing meeting hosts to accept real-time card payments during virtual appointments, classes, events, and more. Businesses can now set advance payment through Stripe as a requirement to join a Teams session. “We’re thrilled to partner with Stripe to help unlock new revenue streams for companies on Teams Payments,” said Brenna Robinson, general manager, SMB, at…

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and QED Investors have released a report projecting a sixfold increase in financial technology revenues from US$245 billion to US$1.5 trillion by 2030. The fintech sector, which currently holds a two percent share of the US$12.5 trillion global financial services revenue, is estimated to grow to seven percent. Despite a tough 2022, with fintechs losing more than half of their market value on average, the report suggests that this was merely a short-term correction in an otherwise positive long-term trajectory. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to become the world’s top fintech market by 2030, with a…

The US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently concluded a cross-border cybersecurity exercise, which took place between 25 and 27 April. The exercise aimed to assess and fortify existing information exchange and incident response coordination protocols in the event of cyber incidents impacting banks operating in both countries. In light of increasing cyber threats to financial services and the interdependence of the United States and Singapore’s financial ecosystems, prompt and effective collaboration during a cross-border cyber incident is crucial for a swift response and successful recovery of affected operations. The exercise was conducted…

North America, and the USA in particular, has historically been the dominant force in fintech innovation, adoption and investment globally. The region is home to some of the world’s biggest and most successful fintech companies, and has continuously attracted the most funding for companies in the sector. As fintech continues to witness increased innovation and growth in North America, we’ve decided to curate a list of the top fintech events and conferences taking place in the USA and Canada in the second quarter of the year. These large-scale events are set to bring together large crowds of experts and industry…

Payments giant Mastercard has selected six fintech companies from across the globe for its accelerator programme – Start Path Digital Assets. Mastercard said that the companies handpicked for Start Path have a demonstrated product-market fit focused on digital assets, cryptocurrencies, blockchain value-added services and the metaverse, and have already raised seed or Series A capital. Through the Start Path Digital Assets programme, startups will receive bespoke training, access to Mastercard’s channels and customers as well as subject matter expertise, and an opportunity for technical collaboration. These six startups will join the more than 350 companies from 42 countries that have…