In today’s top Europe, the center East and Africa (EMEA) news, U.S. and EU officials met in Pittsburgh to debate technology regulation, while U.K. full service bank OakNorth is now valued at $5 billion. Plus, U.K.-based digital bank Starling expands into Europe, 6 million merchants march to cashless in South Africa , and U.K. B2B lead generation agency bant.io begins to simply accept cryptocurrency as payment.
US, EU Officials Talk Tech Regs at Inaugural Trade Summit in Pittsburgh
U.S. and European Union officials met Wednesday (Sept. 29) to forge a unified stance regarding new technologies, trade expansion and investment ties between the 2 zones.
“We renewed our engagement with the ecu Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the complete range of serious issues facing our world today,” President Joe Biden said.
Inside Revolut: 5 Banking and Payments Products Linked to UK’s most precious FinTech
Six years after its launch, London-based Revolut is now a billion-dollar challenger bank worth quite 53-year-old NatWest, one among the U.K.’s Big Four retail banks.
In July, the firm raised $800 million in funding at a $33 billion valuation, becoming the U.K.’s most precious private tech company in history. during this piece, PYMNTS delves deeper and appears at the various products and services linked to the “financial super app” that’s taking over traditional service providers with a more personalized and innovative service.
UK Commercial FinTech Bank OakNorth Valued at $5B
India’s Indiabulls Housing Finance sold some of its 40% stake in U.K. commercial FinTech OakNorth, after which the startup bank was valued at $5 billion. Goldman Sachs acted as an advisor on the deal.
Haryana-headquartered mortgage lender Indiabulls is that the country’s second-largest housing nondepository financial institution . It sold 251 crores (about $34 million) of its stake within the full service bank , which it acquired in 2015.
Starling Expands Digital Banking to Europe
The U.K.-based digital bank Starling plans to supply its Banking-as-a-Service across Europe, including France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain, within the half of 2022.
“Starling-as-a-Service” will allow companies or businesses access to a myriad of services, including savings or current accounts, integrated digital wallets, kids’ cards, debit cards and other financial products on Starling’s platform.
Close to 6M Merchants in South Africa Still Transact Only in Cash, Says Yoco’s Carl Wazen
With its high checking account penetration rates for consumers, South Africa has always been a singular case when it involves the financial inclusion of local small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
In an interview with PYMNTS, Yoco Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer Carl Wazen said the startup is tackling that massive problem, helping the country’s 6 million-plus merchants who still transact only in cash to form the shift to digital payments.
bant.io Becomes First B2B Lead Generator to simply accept Crypto
U.K.-based B2B lead generation agency bant.io said it’ll begin accepting cryptocurrency as payment, making it the primary company of its kind to try to to so.
The firm said the change will make the corporate more “flexible and responsive” when helping marketing agencies, Software-as-a-Service firms and technology companies find and have interaction with customers.
“Over the last five years, we’ve innovated B2B lead generation while offering one among the foremost flexible payment plans within the industry,” said Founder Andrei Breaz.
