Welcome to the FinTech Times, a weekly newsletter covering the biggest FinTech news from around the globe. If you want to read F|T before anyone else, make sure to subscribe using the form at the bottom of this page.
Coinsquare lays off 40 employees, including key executives (COINSQUARE)
Coinsquare confirmed that its COO and CFO were among the employees terminated.
Partech closes $143 million fund for African startups (VENTUREBEAT)
Partech has previously invested in FinTech startups including South Africa’s Yoco.
QuadrigaCX owes its clients $250 million CAD that the company cannot access (BETAKIT)
Troubled Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX owes its customers $190 million and cannot access most of the funds, according to a court filing obtained by CoinDesk.
Toronto-based Vouchr joins Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator (BETAKIT)
“Joining the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator is an opportunity to help us scale our technology globally,” said Suresh Bhat, chief operating officer at Vouchr.
Monzo teams up with Flux to add itemised receipts and loyalty points
(TECHCRUNCH)
“Monzo shares our vision of the future and as Flux continues to scale across bigger and bigger merchants we can’t wait to make Flux available everywhere,” said Matty Cudsen-Ross, CEO and founder at Flux.
Moregidge secures $500,000 pre-seed round to bridge gap between brokers and realtors
(BETAKIT)
“For brokers who don’t know where to start in converting to digital, we’re that turnkey operation to be able to do that for them,” said Muhammad Rashid, CEO and co-founder of Moregidge.
Stripe rides the online payments boom to a $22.5 billion valuation (CNBC)
The funding was led by Tiger Global Management.
Line partners with Visa to launch credit card (TECHINASIA)
The Line Pay-Visa credit card is slated for release later this year, significantly expanding payment options for Line Pay users in Japan and accelerating the country’s shift to becoming a cashless society.
Wealthsimple launches premium service for $500k+ clients (BETAKIT)
Wealthsimple has launched ‘Wealthsimple Generation’, a service specifically for clients who deposit $500,000 or more in their portfolio.
TrueLayer’s Payments API lets companies accept payments through Open Banking (TECHCRUNCH)
By using the payment initiation process created by PSD2, TrueLayer says its new API offers a number of benefits over other payments options.
FinTech companies raised a record $39.6 billion in 2018 (CNBC)
Funding was raised through 1,707 deals, up from 1,480 in 2017, according to research by data provider CB Insights.
Mobeewave taps to add Samsung Venture Investment as company searches for user growth
(BETAKIT)
This new investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corp. brings Mobeewave’s total Series B funding to more than $26 million CAD ($20 million USD).
Amex blocks Curve as the FinTech startup vows to fight ‘anti-competitive’ decision (TECHCRUNCH)
Just 36 hours after Curve, the London FinTech that lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card, re-instated support for Amex, the feature has once again been unceremoniously blocked by American Express.