Issue 317 · Jun 16, 2021 Weekly edition · 5 min read

Issue #317

Mixed sentiment this week in the alternative finance sector. While some question NFTs and the culture at Coinbase others are more positive about innovation. We will wait and see if retail investors really adopt hedge

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i2c Becomes First Company to be a Visa Fintech Fast Track Member in Four Regions

Extension of program membership to Asia-Pacific follows USA, Canada, and Middle East-North Africa

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In this issue · 11 items

The Ultimate FinTech & InsurTech LIVE Event FinTech Magazine — Fintech and Insurtech magazines bring you the virtual conference that can’t be missed, streaming live from London Open story ↗ Bitcoin: Which countries could follow El Salvador in making cryptocurrency legal tender? euronews.next — Lawmakers in El Salvador made history on Tuesday when they voted to make Bitcoin legal tender, the first country in the world to recognise a cryptocurrency on such terms. Open story ↗ The Future of Banking Innovation is Collaborative BTF: Banking Technology Forum — Pierre Quemard, Senior Manager, Innovation Principal, Finastra New technologies, competitors and regulations mean that to remain relevant, banks must innovate faster than ever. Today, open collaboration is essential. In fact, 91% of banks want to collaborate with fintechs and 75% of fintechs want to collaborate with banks according to Capgemini reports. Companies we use every day – such as Google and Facebook – are already using open APIs to create a larger ecosystem that drives innovation on top of their platform. Now is the time for financial institutions to do the same. Learn what it means to innovate and collaborate in financial services through an open platform. Open story ↗ UK fintech BankiFi opens in Australia to support small business clients mybusiness — The UK-based BankiFi is ready to disrupt the traditional banking institution to better support small business clients in Australia by expanding into the country’s emerging open banking industry. Open story ↗ Fintech firm Layer embarks on new round of funding for expansion into Europe and North America Independent.ie — Dublin-based fintech Layer is embarking on a new round of funding to help it expand into Europe and North America, and double its worldwide staff. The firm’s technology can effectively help you set up your own bank or upgrade existing banks’ IT systems. Open story ↗ Getting Leverage from Reviews: What Matters to Mobile Banking Customers BTF: Banking Technology Forum — Alyona Medelyan, CEO, Thematic In 2020, consumers shifted to mobile banking and, within weeks, banking apps had to serve millions more consumers. They left hundreds of thousands of app reviews on Google Play and Apple App Stores, which represents substantial first party data about user experience. When turned into meaningful data, these reviews reveal where banks are delivering well and where there are barriers to usage. Open story ↗ Is Coinbase an apolitical workplace? Corporate social activism is likely to backfire by dividing employees, and distracting enterprises from their true purpose. His post said Coinbase should not be expected to represent employees’ personal beliefs externally, or to take on any activism outside of its core mission. The company later offered an exit package to workers who disagreed with the policy. Briain Armstrong: "He’s had a ton of coaching - (..) Andreessen Horowitz paid a ton to basically humanize him. Open story ↗ BTF CX Video Portal BTF: Banking Technology Forum — Welcome to the BTF 2021 CX video portal. Explore the talks from the conference below. Feel free to share these with your friends and colleagues. All sessions are organized by track for easy browsing. Enjoy! Open story ↗ The NFT boom has gone bust — for now QUARZ — The NFT market saw about $35 million in sales, according to the data tracking firm DappRadar, down significantly from its February peak. During the same period, the number of people using NFT marketplaces fell 80% from a peak of 650,000 people to a more modest 128,000. Lindsay Howard, head of community for the NFT art market Foundation, said that although the company definitely saw an initial boom around February when it first launched, she is starting to see a “promising” secondary market and works averaging 200% increases from their original sale price. Open story ↗ Personalize Customer Engagement with the AI Marketing Canvas BTF: Banking Technology Forum — AI and machine learning have evolved from being technologies limited to a few major tech companies and hardcore academic researchers to something every business can and should be implementing as a key growth strategy. In this session, Professor Raj Venkatesan will provide insights featured in his new book, The AI Marketing Canvas. It’s a hands-on guide that shows marketing leaders how to go from “zero to hero” with AI in marketing, and discuss important implications for your team, talent, training, people and culture. Open story ↗ Democratizing Alternatives: Industry Veterans Launch New Hedge-Fund Style ETF Institutional Investor — Despite the demand, only about five percent of retail capital in the U.S. was allocated to alternative investments, according to a May 2020 report by BCG. But the market is ripe for opportunities. Global financial wealth reached a record $250 trillion last year, in spite of economic uncertainties arising from the pandemic, according to a BCG report published this week. The report also argued that a key opportunity for asset managers will be offering investment funds and alternatives such as private equity and hedge funds to retail investors, including what it calls the simple-needs segment, or the mass affluent. These investments have long been out of reach of individuals. Open story ↗

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i2c Becomes First Company to be a Visa Fintech Fast Track Member in Four Regions

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