Samsung Electronics America, unveiled Samsung Money by SoFi, a new mobile-first money management experience that brings a cash management account and accompanying Mastercard debit card along with exclusive benefits to Samsung Pay, in partnership with innovative fintech company SoFi. The service will be available to U.S. consumers later this summer, but users can register for the waiting list already. The account is secure, with no account fees and rewards users for saving—earning higher interest relative to the national average of transactional accounts.1 At a time when people are turning to their technology to take care of essential tasks without leaving…

Meniga, a provider of digital banking technology for banks, has closed a €8.5m strategic investment led by customers Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France and lead investor in this round, Portugal’s Grupo Crédito Agrícola and long-standing strategic partner UniCredit. Other participants in the round include current institutional investors Velocity Capital, Industrifonden & Frumtak Ventures. The funding will be used for continued investment in Meniga’s R&D activities, as well as for strengthening the sales & service teams to meet growing demand. “We are very pleased to welcome Groupe BPCE and Crédito Agrícola to our growing group of strategic investors.…

Das Schweizer TrustTech-Start-up Skribble schliesst seine zweite Finanzierungsrunde ab. Der Anbieter für elektronische Signaturen hat Kapital im siebenstelligen Bereich mobilisiert. Angeführt wird die Runde vom Helvetia Venture Fund als Lead-Investor, auch die Mobiliar ist beteiligt. Verträge müssen nicht mehr den Umweg über Drucker und Papier nehmen, um rechtsgültig unterschrieben zu werden: Das geht schneller und sicherer auf digitalem Weg. Davon konnte das TrustTech-Startup Skribble ein weiteres Mal namhafte Investoren überzeugen: Skribble schliesst seine zweite Finanzierungsrunde ab und sammelt Kapital im siebenstelligen Franken-Bereich. Lead-Investor ist der Helvetia Venture Fund. Auch die Mobiliar beteiligt sich. Das Geld fliesst in die Marktexpansion nach…

At the beginning of May 2020, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA granted BX Swiss AG approval as a Swiss Prospectus Review Office pursuant to Art. 52 of the Financial Services Act (FinSA). Admission will take effect on 1st June 2020, from this date on, registered applicants will be able to submit applications for the examination and/or deposit of prospectuses via the BX Swiss online platform. The Prospectus Review Office performs important public-law tasks for the Swiss financial market. Such tasks are usually performed by financial supervisory authorities in the EU and elsewhere. In addition to the examination of…

Die Digitalisierung ist auch in der Optiker-Branche auf dem Vormarsch. Mit der Lancierung von Elvi bietet sich der Schweizer Optiker-Branche eine innovative und schnell umsetzbare Möglichkeit, dem digitalen Wandel zu folgen. Mit Elvi kann jedes Optikergeschäft ab sofort online Kontaktlinsen verkaufen. Elvi ist schnell und einfach eingerichtet! Optiker können für ihre Kunden innerhalb von fünf Minuten einen Kontaktlinsen-Webshop in ihrem Design lancieren. Alle im Markt verfügbaren Kontaktlinsen, Pflegemittel und Benetzungstropfen stehen bereits im Webshop für den Optiker zur Verfügung. Zusätzlich steht für die Kunden des Optikers eine Web App für‘s Handy bereit, die den direkten Zugang zum Webshop ermöglicht. Für…

Mehrwert für KMU – auch im Devisenhandel: Die WIR Bank Genossenschaft lanciert in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Schweizer Fintech AMNIS Treasury Service AG eine Online-Plattform, auf der KMU Devisengeschäfte professionell und unkompliziert abwickeln können – und das rein digital. Die Devisen können – Spot oder auf Termin – rund um die Uhr online gehandelt werden. «Besonders interessant ist bei uns, dass die zur Anwendung kommende Devisenmarge nicht abhängig von der Transaktionshöhe ist», erklärt Matthias Pfeifer, Leiter Privat- und Firmenkunden bei der WIR Bank, «bereits bei kleinen Transaktionen handeln unsere Kundinnen und Kunden zu Kursen, wie sie bei anderen Anbietern erst bei…

VIAC ist vor gut zweieinhalb Jahren mit der Mission für eine bessere Vorsorge gestartet. Das schnelle Wachstum hat eindrücklich gezeigt, dass hier ein echtes Problem gelöst wurde. Mit der Lancierung der Freizügigkeitslösung nimmt VIAC nun das nächste Feld in Angriff. Mit zuletzt mehr als 27‘000 aktiven Kunden und mehr als 450 Millionen Franken an verwaltetem Vorsorgevermögen dominiert VIAC mittlerweile den Markt der digitalen Anlagelösungen in der Schweiz. Auch im Vergleich mit den grossen amerikanischen und europäischen Vorbildern muss man sich nicht verstecken. Dies wohlgemerkt bei einem Angebot, das sich aktuell auf eine Vorsorgelösung für die Säule 3a in der Schweiz…

After TWINT enjoyed growth that was much faster than envisaged over recent months and in doing so surpassed the set targets, the Board of Directors has approved an adapted strategy that should lay the foundations for a further pick-up in growth. A key component of this strategy is the consistent focus on customers. As a result, the Executive Board will be reorganised. All customer- and product-related functions will now be grouped under a Chief Customer Officer (CCO), while all technical operations and the further development of production will be headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). TWINT hopes that the…

ETH spin-off PXL Vision has developed an AI-based software platform to deliver secure, automated identity verification. The company has now received CHF 4.6 million in a seed financing round to expand its technology and grow internationally. The financing round was led by SIX Fintech Ventures. Other investors include ZKB, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Arab Bank and the experienced business angels Beat Schillig and David Studer. Billions of personal datasets are stolen every year and are frequently used for fraudulent purposes. Trust in digital interactions is therefore crucial. More and more companies are now moving towards verifying their customers’ identities beyond any doubt.…

Mit Peter Schnellmann stösst ein erfahrener Banker und Vertriebsexperte zur Sparbatze AG. Er wird beim Zürcher Fintech-Startup die Distribution und das Partnergeschäft aufbauen. Die neue unabhängige digitale Vorsorgeplattform, die von Oliver Steeg und Ivan Sosio gegründet wurde, geht im Juli 2020 an den Markt. Der neue Sparbatze-Partner Peter Schnellmann war bis 2019 Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung der Bank Cler und der Konzernleitung der Basler Kantonalbank. Nach Stationen bei UBS und Holcim leitete er ab 2005 bei der Cembra Money Bank (vormals GE Money Bank) verschiedene Abteilungen. Parallel amtete er als Stiftungsrat und Leiter Anlagekommission der Pensionskasse GE Schweiz/Cembra. Während mehrerer Jahre…

Baloise is extending its ‘Home’ ecosystem with an investment in Batmaid, a digital platform for domestic cleaning services. Batmaid.ch is a solution that enables its customers to find hand-picked and insured cleaners online within the space of a minute. As part of its Simply Safe strategic phase, Baloise is purchasing a minority stake in Swiss company Batmaid, a platform that supplies domestic cleaners on demand. Baloise sees the strategic partnership as an opportunity to further strengthen its position as a provider of home and living services. “Cleaning is a core pillar of the ‘Home’ ecosystem that Baloise is seeking to…

Paypal rolled out the ability to use QR Codes to buy and sell goods in 28 markets around the globe. From farmers markets to selling secondhand goods – the rollout of the QR code functionality in the PayPal app allows customers to buy or sell in-person, safely and securely, and touch free. “We know that in the current environment, buying and selling goods in a health-conscious, safe and secure way is front of mind for many people around the world. As the coronavirus pandemic has evolved, we have seen a surge in demand for digital payments to transition to include…

Lykke is funding 4 initiatives which aim at addressing the consequences of the current pandemic. The initiative aims to provide financial means for innovative individuals, teams and companies to deliver transformative solutions addressing the crisis. It also empowers governments and institutions to directly support, access and benefit from these solutions. Today more than ever, governments and industries are challenged by the impact of the current crisis and need to be prepared for any future occurrences. It is both a necessity and a unique opportunity to utilize technology and decentralization to build resilient infrastructures and mechanisms for our economy. To help…

Together with the Dutch technology provider Quantoz, Bank Frick is launching a StableCoin as a Service (SCaaS) solution. Audit partner is BDO a leading auditor in Switzerland. The service is fully PSD2-compliant and enables its issuers to issue their own stablecoin and to integrate it easily into their existing systems. As a result, the issuer’s merchants and end customers benefit from a secure and stable token-based payment ecosystem. Bank Frick is now offering intermediaries and enterprises an innovative SCaaS solution, which was developed with the help of the expertise of the Dutch Quantoz N.V. The offer is a Software as…

Digital business banking for everyone – as of today, Penta also offers its product and services to solo self-employed people. The digital platform for business banking is thus expanding its target group and taking a broader positioning in the market . Up until now, Penta’s 20,000 customers have mainly been small and medium-sized enterprises with 2 to 50 employees, as well as founders. As a first step in December 2019, Penta also started onboarding freelancers with at least one employee such as doctors, notaries, lawyers and sole proprietors such as craft businesses in its range of services for the first…

Die Kommissionen für Wirtschaft und Abgaben (WAK) genehmigt die Blokchain Vorlage und bringt das Schweizer Blockchain Gesetz nun diesen Sommer vor den Nationlrat. Nachdem sie an ihrer Sitzung vom 24. Februar 2020 auf die Vorlage 19.074, mit der die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen für die Technik verteilter elektronischer Register (Distributed-Ledger-Technologie, DLT) verbessert werden sollen, eingetreten war, hat die Kommission nun die Detailberatung dieses Geschäfts vorgenommen. In ihren Augen ist es – namentlich angesichts der aktuellen Wirtschaftskrise – für die Schweizer Start-ups sehr wichtig, dass die Rechtssicherheit im Bereich der DLT-Anwendungen erhöht wird. Die Kommission hat an der Vorlage des Bundesrates nur wenig geändert. Die beiden…

Blockchain Valley Ventures, a blockchain technology-focused venture capital firm, in collaboration with Delio, a provider of private markets investment technology, has launched the BVV Dealroom – a virtual deal marketplace for blockchain startups and investors. The new platform – one of the first of its kind in the blockchain space – will offer a solution to the current funding bottleneck that has beset many startups, owing to the COVID-19 related restrictions imposed across the world. Heinrich Zetlmayer, Founder and General Partner of BVV, said, “We are on a mission to provide the essential support that startups require during these uncertain…

A recent survey among 66 central banks by the Bank for International Settlements shows that more than 80% are working on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). *Speech by Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the Consensus 2020 virtual conference, 11 May 2020* The European Central Bank is one of them. Not because we want to keep up with fashionable trends, but because we have to be ready. Ready to embrace financial technological innovation which has the potential to transform payments and money faster, and in more…

Bank Frick’s online banking now allows trading with cryptocurrencies. In addition, with Bank Frick’s online banking, financial intermediaries benefit from mass subscription for all their customer bases and the execution of block orders when trading securities. Bank Frick is the first financial institution from Liechtenstein to enable trading in nine leading cryptocurrencies conveniently via its online banking. Trading takes place within the fully regulated framework of the bank. The bank’s offering is aimed specifically at financial intermediaries such as fiduciaries, asset managers and institutional clients. For these clients, crypto trading in Bank Frick’s online banking offers the opportunity to make the new…

Bitcoin Suisse announced its Series A and first-ever capital raise. A total of 20% of shares in BTCS Holding AG, the holding company owning and controlling all Bitcoin Suisse subsidiaries, with full voting and dividend rights, are offered for sale at a CHF 275m pre-money valuation, to qualified, accredited and professional investors. The funds raised will bolster the company’s current equity capital of CHF 54m, further accelerating the potential for profitable growth of the company and its cross-border licensing efforts. In the Series A, “friends & family” subscribed and committed around CHF 20m to date. Series A subscription will continue…