Author: Fintechnews Switzerland

In H1 2024, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the tech-enabled media and marketing sectors continued to rise, with a 7% year-on-year (YoY) increase in volume, according to data from Ciesco, a London-based M&A advisory firm specializing in the tech, media, healthcare and sustainability sectors. This trend is expected to accelerate in the second half of the year, a sentiment that’s echoed by Collingwood, a consulting and advisory firm specializing in the media sector. Collingwood anticipates a surge in demand for live events and an increasing need for access to trusted information, fueling M&A activity in the sector. In H1…

Summa Equity, a Stockholm-based private equity firm, has acquired NetGuardians, a Swiss-based provider in AI-driven fraud prevention and anti-money laundering solutions. This opens an opportunity for a collaboration between NetGuardians and Intix, another Summa portfolio company specializing in Know Your Transaction (KYT) data management. The new group is poised to advance the financial security landscape by driving the development of next generation financial crime solutions. NetGuardians has earned widespread recognition for its pioneering approach, underpinned by its proprietary 3D AI technology. Building on this foundation, the synergy between NetGuardians fraud detection technology and Intix’s financial data management make sense. Speaking…

Falling interest rates are posing challenges for digital banks, particularly in regions like Europe, the US, and Latin America. These digital banks, which previously thrived on high margins from savings and loans, now face pressure on their profitability models as central banks worldwide begin lowering rates. In Europe, digital banks are responding to this shift by prioritizing product diversification and innovation to sustain growth, according to a new analysis by C-Innovation, a French fintech-focused research firm. The report, released on September 23, explores how digital banks around the world have benefited from high interest rates and what the future holds…

Selma Finance hat eine Crowdinvesting-Kampagne gestarted, mit der Möglichkeit Teil vom Schweizer Fintech-Unternehmen zu werden. Seit letzter Woche Mittwoch läuft Selmas Crowdinvesting-Kampagne. Schon nach 25 Minuten war bereits die 500 000 Euro Marke erreicht. Nach nur einer Stunde hatte die Kampagne 608’810 Euro eingesammelt. Über Nacht hat sich diese Summe dann nochmals verdoppelt, teilt das Unternehmen mit. Knapp 24h nach Start der Kampagne waren 1.2 Millionen Euro zusammengekommen. Stand 14:30 Uhr am 30.09.2024 hat die Kampagne über 1.42 Millionen Euro eingesammelt. Aufgrund der weiterhin hohen Nachfrage hat Selma sich dazu entschlossen, nun das ursprüngliche Kampagnenziel anzupassen und die 1.5 Millionen…

More than 40 private sector financial firms, convened by the Institute of International Finance, will join the Bank for International Settlements and a group of leading central banks in Project Agorá to explore how tokenisation can enhance wholesale cross-border payments. The BIS and the IIF selected a diverse set of firms from applicants that met the eligibility requirements and other criteria laid out in the public call for participation. Participating firms must be regulated in a participating jurisdiction as a commercial bank, payment services provider, or financial market infrastructure company; be significantly involved in cross-border payments; and have innovation expertise. These…

By 2029, account-to-account (A2A) payments are projected to reach 186 billion transactions, marking a staggering 209% from 60 billion in 2024, new estimates by Juniper Research show. This growth is expected to be driven by advances in instant payment rails and open banking technologies, which are reshaping the payment landscape. A2A payments refer to the direct transfer of funds from one bank account to another, without the need for intermediaries such as card networks or third-party payment processors. These transactions typically rely on traditional bank payment systems such as ACH (Automated Clearing House) in the US or SEPA (Single Euro…

Pelt8, a Switzerland based sustainability reporting solution provider, has entered into a strategic partnership with the consulting firm EBP. Additionally, Tenity and SICTIC investors have joined the round as follow-on investors. This collaboration aims to significantly strengthen the reporting and sustainability efforts of medium and large companies in Switzerland and internationally. To reinforce this commitment, EBP has acquired a minority stake in Pelt8. The partnership comes at a critical time, with increasing market-driven and regulatory pressure on corporate sustainability. Pelt8’s comprehensive solution supports all sustainability reporting standards. Currently, the Swiss Federal Council is consulting on extending reporting requirements that are…

Swiss equity token specialist Aktionariat AG and securities firm Taurus SA announced a new partnership. Aktionariat’s tokenization tools and Taurus Digital Exchange (TDX) organized trading facility are natural complements. Under the newly announced partnership, Taurus will support selected shares tokenized with Aktionariat on the Ethereum blockchain and Aktionariat will offer client companies a smooth path towards being admitted to trading on TDX as they grow in market capitalization and match admission criteria. This collaboration brings together Aktionariat’s expertise in tokenizing Swiss companies’ equity with Taurus’ institutional-grade trading technology. It aims to increase liquidity and unlock value for tokenized SMEs and…

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €220 million in financing to Nexi Group, an Italy based PayTech company, to support innovation in the digital payments sector. The agreement was announced in Milano by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Nexi Group CFO Bernardo Mingrone. Nexi will use the EIB funds to develop and manage projects aimed at modernising digital payments in Europe, and to finance specific initiatives that leverage the expertise of Nexi Digital, a European technological innovation hub created in collaboration with Reply, an Italian company and European leader in digital transformation. The identified projects are fully aligned with…

Visa announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Featurespace, a developer of real-time artificial intelligence (AI) payments protection technology that prevents and mitigates payments fraud and financial crime risks. The acquisition of London based Featurespace will complement and strengthen Visa’s portfolio of fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions used by clients around the world to grow and protect their businesses. Although Visa did not disclose the acquisition’s value, a recent report from SkyNews, citing sources, estimated it to be around $935 million. Since its inception out of Cambridge University’s engineering department, Featurespace has developed innovative algorithmic-based solutions to analyze…

Between 2015 and 2023, more than US$350 billion of venture capital (VC) funding was invested in the fintech sector globally, with the US and Canada alone accounting for 39% of total fintech funding. North America also has much higher funding per capita than other regions, highlighting the concentration of fintech funding activity. But in recent years, fintech funding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has experienced significant growth on the back of booming fintech innovation and soaring adoption of digital financial services. Despite this growth, there is still a mismatch between…

Die Luzerner Kantonalbank (LUKB) bietet ab dem 1. Oktober 2024 ihren Kunden die Ein- und Auslieferung für die Kryptowährungen Bitcoin und Ethereum an. Bereits im Juni 2024 hat die LUKB einen Kryptoanlageplan auf den Markt gebracht und ergänzend zu Bitcoin, Ethereum und USD Coin neu auch Investitionen in die Kryptowährungen Chainlink und Polygon ermöglicht. Ab dem 1. Oktober 2024 können Kunden der LUKB ihre Kryptowährungen Bitcoin und Ethereum aus anderen Wallets in ihr Wertschriftendepot bei der LUKB übertragen. Die LUKB wird diese Dienstleistung schrittweise einführen. Sie ergänzt damit das bestehende Angebot im Bereich des Handels und der Verwahrung von Kryptowährungen.…

In 2023, cryptocurrency fraud continued to surge globally as rising adoption of digital currencies attracted scammers seeking to exploit the hype and target credulous users. Last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received a record of 69,468 crypto-related complaints, a 33.6% increase from 2022’s ~52,000, new data released by the division show. Losses soared by a whopping 45% year-over-year (YoY) to an all-time high of US$5.6 billion. Though crypto fraud represented only 10% of total financial fraud complains in 2023, it accounted for nearly 50% of total fraud losses, highlighting the disproportionately severe financial…

SmartStream, a financial transaction management solution provider, has launched version 9 of its Air platform, offering enhanced data automation and intelligence capabilities. The new release aims to enhance data management across front-to-back office operations in financial institutions. Key features of version 9 include the Air Data and Air Cash modules, both utilising AI and machine learning technologies. Air Data automates various tasks such as data cross-checking, error detection, and trade record comparison. It also enhances internal data quality by identifying inconsistencies. The Air Cash module focuses on simplifying cash reconciliations, even handling complex scenarios. The platform prioritises security, adhering to…

IN Groupe, a French identity solutions provider, has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire IDEMIA Smart Identity, a key division of IDEMIA Group. The acquisition would create a new entity with over €1 billion in sales, bolstering IN Groupe’s presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The combined capabilities would provide enhanced access to critical segments of the identity value chain, including chip design and advanced software, crucial for secure identity documents. This acquisition aligns with IN Groupe’s growth strategy, addressing the increasing demand for secure identity solutions, the trend towards digitalization, and the rise of European…

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has announced the launch of DataScope Warehouse. This is a cloud-based solution designed to provide enterprise clients with easy access to its extensive fixed income and equity data. The platform supports Structured Query Language (SQL), allowing users to query LSEG’s Pricing and Reference database. It also enables collaboration by offering access to LSEG’s data through various cloud partners. The service offers immediate access to a comprehensive range of data, including global equities, derivatives, bank loans, and funds, sourced from more than 180 exchanges worldwide, including emerging markets. LSEG’s Pricing Data Service covers over 2.8 million…

Ualá, Brubank and Naranja X dominate the Argentinian digital banking sector, collectively serving 16.44 million customers and holding an 88% share of the market, a new analysis by C-Innovation, a French fintech-focused research firm, reveals. These digital banks have managed to establish themselves as key pillars of the digital banking ecosystem, carving out substantial user bases by focusing on innovation, financial inclusion, and customer-centric services, the report says. Their growth has been driven by strategic product offerings, user-friendly platforms, and the ability to meet the evolving needs of Argentine consumers. Ualá, one of Argentina’s leading fintech players, offers a comprehensive…

Boerse Stuttgart Digital is the crypto infrastructure partner of DZ BANK, representing the German cooperative banking group – one of the largest banking groups in Europe and the second largest one in Germany. Leveraging Boerse Stuttgart Digital’s regulated institutional crypto infrastructure solutions, DZ BANK will enable 700 cooperative banks to offer their retail customers to trade cryptocurrencies and to securely store them in licensed fiduciary custody. The implementation of the technical and operational set-up has already started. The first banks are to be connected as early as this year, with a phased roll-out and a first testing phase for selected…

Commerzbank and Crypto Finance, a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, are now offering Commerzbank’s corporate clients in Germany crypto assets. The joint service will initially focus on bitcoin and ether, targeting selected existing Commerzbank corporate clients in Germany. Under this strategic partnership, Commerzbank will manage the custody of digital assets, while Crypto Finance will ensure their secure trading. Combined Expertise for New Digital Markets In November 2023, Commerzbank became the first German universal bank to obtain a crypto custody licence under §1 Abs. 1a Satz 1 Nr. 6 of the German Banking Act (KWG). This licence enables the Bank to offer…

Das ETF-Anlage-Startup findependent hat nun über 15’000 Kundinnen und Kunden für die Geldanlage App begeistern können. Das verwaltete Vermögen stieg gar um 140% auf 150 Millionen Franken. findependent wächst in allen Teilen der Schweiz schnell und in den letzten 12 Monaten besonders rasant in der Romandie und beim weiblichen Teil (+140%) der Anlegergemeinde. Das Durchschnittsalter aller Nutzerinnen und Nutzer der findependent Anlage-App liegt bei 39 Jahren. Starke prozentuale Zuwächse zeigen auch die 18 bis 25jährigen (+160%) und die Altersgruppe der “Neupensionäre” (+224%) rund um das offizielle Rentenalter. Die Summe der verwalteten Vermögen hat per Anfang September erstmals die Marke von…