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.
OTT Financial Group arranges WeChat Pay partnership with Tourism Toronto(BETAKIT)
Tourism Toronto is introducing the payment platform to “boost travel and shopping consumption by Chinese travellers.”
STACK RECOMMENDS: As countries develop strategies, we need a FinTech champion(THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
“With most of the elements required to be a global leader in the industry, what Canada needs now is a FinTech champion.”
– Miro Pavletic, CEO and co-founder of STACK
FinTech unicorn TransferWise reaches profitability, planning ‘new financial services’(TECHCRUNCH)
What’s more mythical than a unicorn? A unicorn that is profitable. TransferWise, an international money transfer startup, says it’s currently seeing £8 million per month in revenue, and is growing 150 percent YoY.
FinTech lender MarketInvoice gets a boost as Portuguese bank puts £45 million on its platform(BUSINESS INSIDER)
MarketInvoice announced on Monday that BNI had committed the capital following a trial last year with £28.3 million.
7 things to consider before launching a FinTech startup(ENTREPRENEUR)
New businesses, especially in an emerging industry such as FinTech, require careful planning and thought.
Chase joins $50M LevelUp funding round(FINEXTRA)
US Boston and CentroCredit Bank also joined the round. LevelUp, a mobile payments service, will use the funding for a hiring blitz, product development and national expansion.
Android Pay confirmed to launch in Canada ‘in the coming months’(MOBILESYRUP)
Android Pay will also launch in Brazil, Russia, Spain, and Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s Qupital raises $2M led by Alibaba to finance invoice loans for SMES(TECHCRUNCH)
The financing was led by Hong Kong-London firm MindWorks Ventures and the $130 million Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund.
IoT supply chain management firm Akua raises $3M(FINEXTRA)
This funding round was backed by London-based Talis Capital, San-Francisco-based Crosslink Capital as well as the San-Francisco Enterprise Security Syndicate.
Trump and Brexit? Corporate treasurers’ main concerns are bitcoin, blockchain, and FinTech(CCN)
At the two-day ACT Annual Conference in Manchester, U.K., European corporate treasurers expressed concern about finding technical solutions for centralized currency hedging and automated risk management.
CFTC sets up FinTech office(FINEXTRA)
Located in New York, LabCFTC will explore the application of new innovations in FinTech and RegTech to guide policy and aid market stability.
Toronto Financial Services Alliance says strengthening FinTech ecosystem must be a priority(CROWD FUND INSIDER)
In its latest report, the TFSA said Canada’s financial service relevance is at risk unless the FinTech ecosystem is improved.
FinTech startup Telr raises $3M in Series B round(VCCIRCLE)
Telr, an aggregator of multiple payment methods, raised the round from Innovations East fund.
Flexiti Financial appoints COO and CRO to its executive team(BETAKIT)
Jerome Peeters will be responsible for the overall operations of Flexiti Financial as COO, while Colin Franks will develop a firm-wide vision, strategy, and governance framework as CRO.
PaySense raises $5.3 Mn from Jungle Ventures, Nexus, Naspers(INC42)
The startup will use the funds for team expansion and to improve its technology and for pan-India expansion.
To get ahead in FinTech, you need to be in touch with everybody’s go-to guy: Ron Suber(SFBT)
Suber has invested in 16 FinTechs, including high-profile players like DocuSign and SoFi, and serves as an official adviser to a half dozen of them, at last count.