The arrival of a platform like Revolut, which may take lessons from Robinhood’s embattled reputation during its expansion into US trading, could be a significant test of investor loyalty. For Revolut, Robinhood may be its key rival in the US markets, but the company has laid down a solid PFOF-oriented blueprint for success. It’s also delivered a valuable lesson in how not to operate in terms of its well-documented PR blunders. Now, Revolut needs to learn from Robinhood’s mistakes to successfully crack America.
Finance
Crezco Raises £3M for its B2B Payment Platform for Invoice Payments Without Onerous Fees
Open banking is changing the landscape of finance, making services more accessible and efficient. The advent of open banking is also challenging the stronghold that legacy financial institutions have had on the market. While much of the attention has been focused on consumer applications, open banking also streamlines the banking experience for businesses. Crezco is an open banking payment platform that offers free payment solutions for domestic B2B transactions. Users can make payments across Europe using a simple link or QR code, bringing much-needed convenience to small businesses without any hidden fees or surcharges. The company, founded in 2020, works with all the major UK banks and is integrated with popular financial applications like Quickbooks, Xero, and other payment invoicing platforms. London TechWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Crezco Ralph Rogge to learn more about bringing open payments to the B2B market, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding from investors that include Charles Delingpole, Chris Adelsbach, and UFP Fintech.
The Falling Giant: What the Evergrande Crisis Could Mean for Retail Investors
Evergrande has rarely strayed from newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons throughout 2021. At the beginning of the year, investor panic was sparked by the container ship Ever Given as the vessel became stuck in the Suez Canal – causing jitters across global energy markets and international trade. Today, markets have been rocked by the prospect of a default by the Chinese real estate giants. But what could the collapse of Evergrande mean for the wider stock market and retail investors?
PassFort Raises £11.7M for its Platform that Automates Compliance for Financial Institutions
KYC and AML requirements typically require financial institutions to rely on numerous third-party data providers for both onboarding and ongoing monitoring. PassFort streamlines this process into a single robust dashboard that integrates 25+ different data providers, mitigating the chance of fraud and security vulnerabilities. Digitally-focused financial institutions (neo-banks, fintech startups, global banks, and platform banks) can now deliver real-time, risk-based decisioning combined with fast, customer-friendly experiences. PassFort consolidates and streamlines both the onboarding process and ongoing customer management to meet ever-changing regulatory requirements, leaving institutions protected with detailed audit trails. London TechWatch caught up with PassFort CEO and Founder Donald Gillies to learn more about the genesis of the business, strategic plans, latest round of funding Level Equity, OpenOcean, Episode 1, and Entrepreneur First.
Dear President Joe Biden: Regulations Won’t Solve Tech Monopolies, But Decentralization Will
By a very wide margin, the most effective thing the federal government can do to address FAMGA’s impact is to provide a friendly regulatory environment for crypto and let capitalism do its thing.
Alternative Investments to Look Into: Know This
The truth is, when it comes to investing, the world is in a very different place today than it was for your parents or even your older siblings. For older generations, investing sat in the context of three main things: stocks, real estate, and just sitting on your actual cash.
Have Retail Investors Been Treated Fairly in the World of Stocks and Shares?
As we’ve already seen with the cases of the GameStop and AMC short squeezes, retail investors have the ability to make their presence felt in the modern stock market, so why does it feel like they’re still the little guys on Wall Street? Let’s take a look at the uneven playing field of retail investing…
GameStop, Dogecoin, and The Rise of Meme Investing: Why Robinhood’s IPO Could Send Retail Investing Social
A look at Robinhood’s role in the rise of meme investing.
Urban Jungle Adds Another $11.4M to Expand its Home Insurance Offering
Millennials are more apprehensive about getting any type of insurance than previous generations. As more and more millennials forgo homeownership, they are exposing themselves to financial risk when they choose not to secure renters’ insurance for their possessions while renting. Urban Jungle is a digital-first rental insurance platform that offers fast, flexible and affordable insurance options that start at just £5/mo. Targeted towards younger consumers interested in preparing for their financial future, the company was able to double its customer base to 40,000 during the pandemic with plans to expand its offering. AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Jimmy Williams to learn more about Urban’s Jungle experience building traction during the pandemic, strategic growth plans, and latest round of funding from investors that include Mundi Ventures and Eka Ventures.
A CEO’s 5-Step Guide on How to Manage Online Retail Finances: The Startup Edition
Synder is a personal financial assistant for small to medium-sized businesses in the eCommerce sphere. Synder carries out all bookkeeping and accounting tasks for your business. It doesn’t matter which sales channels or payment processors you use, whether it is Stripe, Square, Shopify, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, Etsy, or WooCommerce.