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.
Wealthsimple takes service to another FinTech hub with UK expansion(BETAKIT)
Toby Triebel, who previously co-founded online lending platform Spotcap, will lead Wealthsimple’s UK business.
STACK RECOMMENDS: Ottawa unveils ‘supercluster’ innovation plan(THE STAR)
“A Federal backed plan shows Canada’s commitment to driving and leading global innovation.”
– Miro Pavletic, CEO and co-founder of
What Wealthbar’s Tea Nicola learned from the company’s first 1,000 customers(BETAKIT)
“Talking to your customers is totally worth it. That’s how we learned.”
PayPal adds instant bank transfers — and not a minute too soon(VENTUREBEAT)
PayPal said the new “instant transfers” service will be available at a rate of $0.25 per transaction, and will deliver funds in a matter of minutes
Australia and Japan unite on FinTech(CCN)
The securities regulators of Australia and Japan have inked a FinTech pact to better facilitate industry startups and companies to enter each other’s markets.
Payfirma launches white label payments platform for financial institutions(BETAKIT)
The Toronto-based firm is also establishing a Montreal presence with the addition of financial industry veteran Maor Amar.
Visa launches $100,000 fintech challenge for Middle East and North Africa(FINEXTRA)
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, an innovation program designed to encourage the development of the “next big thing” in payments, will expand into the Middle East and North Africa region.
Will Amazon become a force in FinTech?(TECHCRUNCH)
Amazon is the tech giant most likely to become a dominant player in FinTech, according to James Lloyd, Ernst & Young’s FinTech lead.
SWIFT offers €200,000 to FinTechs(CROWDFUNDINSIDER)
SWIFT provided the funding to FinTechs around the world to develop new overlay services that utilize SWIFT’s new global payments innovation (GPI) platform.
Simply Wall St. raises $1.8 million from its own customers to build out investment advisory services(TECHCRUNCH)
The financing came not from traditional venture investors, but from the firm’s own clientele of high net worth individuals who have been pushing for a more robust set of services from the automated financial advisory app.
Finn.ai wins Capgemini’s $50,000 entrepreneurship and innovation award(BETAKIT)
Finn.ai was selected as a top 10 finalist from a pool of 1,000 entrants from across 37 countries.
API TrueLayer raises $3M for platform, giving FinTech companies access to banks APIs(PYMNTS)
The funding, which comes from Anthemis Group and Connect Ventures, will be used to expand the TrueLayer team and increase coverage of supported banks before it expands beyond beta testing later this year.
Soldo, a London FinTech startup that offers a multi-user spending account, raises $11M led by Accel(TECHCRUNCH)
Venture Capital firm Accel led the round, with participation from Connect Ventures, InReach Ventures, U-Start, and R204 Partners.
Mylo acquires Tactex Asset Management, including asset book of $110 million(BETAKIT)
The company said that the acquisition will also help it save on operational costs.