Payment habits changed because of the pandemic: the BNPL scheme is spreading, and PayPal is leading the way. The One Vision group chats with Greg Lisiewski - VP and GM, Global Pay Later Products at PayPal.

The Kenyan fintech company IMFact collected about $4 million from FSD Africa Investment: the fintech company, which found an innovative solution to solve liquidity problems of microbusinesses and SMBs, demonstrated that its new business model is worth the attention of investment companies.

Even if 2021 came to an end, we retrace the most important fintech events of the past year with The Fintech Times: the magazine shares the most important funding success stories month by month.

Among the innovative solutions found by fintech firms there is the frictionless checkout technology, which allows customers to just walk out of a store after purchasing. Zippin is becoming one of the best providers of this technology, and it could even rival Amazon.

Fintech adoption is becoming a must for every company, no matter the industry sector. Digitalization, APIs and financial services are becoming one of the main sources of income of many firms, and also the smallest ones can now access and explore these new solutions very easily - and they should, since it seems that customers trust more those firms that also provide hassle-free payment solutions.

Qonto is a well-known fintech startup in Europe: its focus on small and medium companies and freelancers rewarded the company, so that it raised $552 million in the last funding round, reaching a valuation of $5 billion.

Alex Johnson and Jason Mikula discuss fintech topics and make predictions about what 2022 has in store for us. The focus of this episode of Fintech Takes is on new payment methods and institutions - especially for what concerns BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later).

Another partnership for Coinbase: Mastercard announced that people will be able to buy NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) with their Mastercard cards. Mastercard will simplify and secure the process by also putting into practice its expertise in cybersecurity.

BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) is the hottest topic now, and this requires a careful analysis: the Sifted team discusses the topic with Anthony Drury (Zip), Olga Shikhantsova (Speedinvest) and Sandrine Zhang Ferron (Vinterior), coming up with six interesting insights.

Alternative payment methods are rising and they are showing all the weaknesses of the tools we are used to. Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) represent a better alternative to direct debit - they work via API, they are easier to set up, they better fit the needs of customers and merchants, but they’re not widely adopted (not yet).

While we’re on the subject, Tesco Bank is launching its Tesco Clubcard Pay+: this Visa card is a debit card you can top up with any UK bank account. The card not only allows purchases, but it also has a “Round Up” feature that holders can use to save money and earn interest.

Xrent opened the waitlist for its new debit card. The fintech firm wants to provide users with a debit card that serves their “rent-to-mortgage” program: the fintech wants to help users to shorten their path towards homeownership, and each rent paid with the card will boost users’ credit scores and give them the chance to win a house or a year of mortgage.

Klarna, the BNPL firm, launches a physical card that will allow UK users to delay payments - on both online and in-store purchases. It will be a Visa card, and it will include more payment options in the future, but at the beginning it will allow only the “Pay in 30” feature - that is, users can pay for their purchases within 30 days.

Ron Shevlin provides another excellent point on one of today’s hot topics: BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later). Will this system really kill credit cards, or is it just another overstated prediction?

JPMorgan Chase continues with its strategy to stay competitive in the financial space: the last acquisition of the company is Viva Wallet, a Greek fintech. JPMorgan Chase acquired 49% of the payments firm.

This article considers an interesting point: do you exactly know what fintech-related terms mean? The Financial Brand takes into account 9 popular terms and explain them in more detail: Banking as a Service (BaaS); Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL); cryptocurrency; decentralized finance (DeFi); digital transformation; embedded finance; embedded fintech; financial health and platform banking.

The BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) system, today’s hot topic, can be one of the best moves for fintech. This system actually increases the number of sales for merchants and of purchases for people, but it’s important to avoid huge debts!

MoonPay launched new payment gateways. The NFT clients of the company will be able to offer end users the capability to pay with several payment methods for digital art. This means that users won’t need to buy cryptocurrencies first, and the company thinks that this will increase the sale of NFTs.

The Egyptian fintech Kashat and Mastercars signed a five-year agreement that will allow the fintech to better provide financial services to Egyptian people - especially the unbanked. The goal? Creating a more financial inclusive country.

Later this year the new Apple's feature will be available for users in the US: Tap to Pay will allow users and retailers to make safe contactless payments.

American Express launches Amex Rewards: US customers will be able to enjoy no-fee, no minimum balance account, and each user will be rewarded with 1 point for every $2 spent and a 0.5% yield on balance.

Portugal is becoming one of the countries that are introducing more improvements for crypto investors. One of the most interesting aspects is the fiscal system, extremely favourable to crypto holders and investors.

Finally, Klarna announced the launch of its physical card: the card will be launched in the UK as part of Klarna's “Pay in 30” program, so consumers will be able to delay payments also for purchases in physical stores.

Following sanctions, the UK fintech Wise blocked money transfers to Russia. On the other hand, and even if it’s always harder, the company is still allowing transfers to Ukraine and wants to remove the Ukraine cap as soon as possible.

Penny Crosman, host of the American Banker podcast, welcomes Yasaman Hadjibashi and Keith Armstrong to discuss their innovative fintech company: these two entrepreneurs founded a fintech firm to help people with a conviction history.

Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, discussed why the Fed should support fintech firms as it does with traditional banks - this will benefit customers and the entire country, allowing for lower fees and frictionless financial activity.

The “challenger bank” Rocker introduces a new card in partnership with two other firms: IDEX Biometrics and Idemia. Instead of needing a PIN code, this card - certified by Visa and Mastercard - allows users to confirm payments via their fingerprints.

Israel registered a surge in fintech investments in 2021. Fintech startups got 17% of the tech investments of the country. The segments that are growing faster are insurtech, trading, lending and payments services.

Toshiba developed an innovative system that will allow 7-Eleven stores customers in Japan to pay by using a holographic screen. The technology makes it possible to interact with the display to scan products and pay.

American Express wants to invest in the metaverse: the company announced that it’s working on a virtual marketplace for Non-Fungible Tokens and cryptos. The goal of the company is to make its services available also in the metaverse.

Gwera Kiwana and Sam Rai are joined by Roger De’Ath (Truelayer) and Jimmy Fong (SEON) to discuss the most relevant developments in financial technology: the partnership between Klarna and eBay, HSBC that buys land in the metaverse, Revolut’s support to Ukrainian refugees, and much more.

Request to Pay looks like an easy and flexible solution to improve payment systems and transactions between payers and billers. Despite customers and merchants are favorable to this system, there are still few companies and banks that offer Request to Pay services.

Gas prices are rising – it’s not something new. But the real news is that Klarna is allowing users to use BNPL schemes also to buy gasoline. This service will be available in the United States thanks to the partnership among Klarna, Chevron and Texaco.

i2c, the fintech company focused on offering innovative payment solutions, announced a new partnership with Visa: business owners in the MENA region will be able, thanks to this partnership, to provide customers with advanced payment technologies and digital solutions.

Nordic Fintech announced a €132 million offer to acquire Instabank. Instabank was founded in 2016, and so far managed to reach over 60,000 clients with its secured and unsecured loans and savings solutions.

Santander launches new payment solutions that will allow SMEs in Spain to make immediate payments to Brazilian recipients. This solution – One Trade – makes it possible to complete these international transactions in minutes.

Tiffany Kary talks about the interesting developments in the cannabis industry, and the role of fintech players: “cannabis fintech” is what the industry needs to avoid compliance concerns, thanks to the use of alternative payment methods.

Fintech companies are replacing traditional banks and payment methods in India: some of the reasons that led to this new system can be found in the high cost of the pieces of hardware needed to read traditional cards – hard to afford, especially for small businesses in emerging countries; the knowledge needed to manage these kinds of tools; the lack of viable options for smartphones.

CarbonPay launches CarbonPay Business Ctrl: with this prepaid card – available in the U.S. and the U.K. – the green fintech company allows its users to offset 1kg of CO2 for every dollar spent.

The fintech firm Zelle – backed by some giants like JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo – experienced an impressive growth due to the pandemic. That’s why traditional banks might want to use it to compete with Mastercard and Visa.

TrueLayer, an open banking platform, wants to expand its offer to address the main issues of traditional payment methods: no more long waiting times, uncertainty and risks, but a system based on open-banking that will allow instant operations and the reduction of costs – also for merchants.

Also Stripe joins the crypto space: the firm announced that it will give its users the possibility to pay with cryptos. The company focuses on a stablecoin, USDC.

Buy now, Pay later (BNPL) systems can be a powerful tool for those who want to buy without spending their whole budgets, but it can be extremely harmful for those who aren’t able to manage them properly: TikTokers often use them the wrong way, by “glamorizing” debt.

Benjamin Ensor and Kate Moody are joined by Nilixa Devlukia (Payments Solved) and Karen Kerrigan (Moneybox) to discuss Stripe’s latest launches, the new crowdfunding campaign of Moneybox and more.

After El Salvador, the Central African Republic (CAR) is the second country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. In El Salvador, this is causing issues like an increased national debt. In CAR, this decision might lead to more serious problems – especially because it can’t be so inclusive in a country where only 10% people have access to the internet.

Zilch, the fintech company focused on BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later), is about to launch its business also in the US. Philip Belamant, co-founder of the company that is already partnering with Mastercard, said that Zilch wants to create BNPL 2.0 to further innovate the industry and cooperate directly with users.

The Metaverse is not only about fun and games: always more businesses are launched in the Metaverse – both new businesses or digital branches of big companies – but the space still needs new payment methods to attract even more people.

The tech giant Google launches its Google Wallet and new virtual cards. The goal is not only to provide more easy-to-use payment methods, but also more secure tools that will also allow users to store credentials, digital tokens, payment methods and much more.

Klarna plans to cut 10% of its workforce. This is the announcement of Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) Swedish firm.

As reported by the World Economic Forum, Brazil is a leading country in the adoption of digital payments. As David Vélez – founder of Nubank – points out, digital payments favor financial inclusion. The Brazilian Central Bank has a major role in this, thanks to its initiatives focused on allowing more people to have access to bank accounts.

Tred, a UK fintech company, successfully reached – and exceeded – the goal of its crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. The company produces a green debit card able to track the carbon costs of users’ spendings.

TrueLayer, the European open banking platform, and the digital bank Zopa are partnering to create new products: Zopa’s Smart Saver, launched in February, will now be improved by allowing users to make account-to-account payments.

The mobile money service provider, M-Pesa, and the giant Visa, partnered to expand the number of countries where users can pay by using the service managed by Safaricom. With this partnership, Visa is further entering the African markets.

Also a banking provider like Yobota joins the BNPL market: the London-based company is partnering with Tranch – a Buy Now, Pay Later startup – to provide clients with more flexible payment methods.

Apple announced its new BNPL product – Apple Pay Later: it can be used where Apple Pay is available, and will allow people to split payments into four equal payments with no interest.

Gazmend Selmani, renowned technology solutions architect, talks about the new solutions brought by fintech firms in the payment industry. These solutions not only favor those who have so far been a part of the unbanked people category, but also take into account environment-friendly solutions to alleviate major global issues. How can business owners stay competitive with fintech solutions?

The fintech firm Tribal, a credit company that focuses on emerging markets, has joined the Blockchain Association, a lobbying group, to contribute to the industry with its expertise.

The fintech company Banking Circle, focused on offering B2B payment services, launches a new feature: its Dynamic Sender Name will further increase payments flexibility and represent a new solution that simplifies transactions.

By analyzing venture capital firms’ choices, Ryan Browne identifies some hot fintech investments and projects that currently don’t attract investors. The focus is on businesses and the facilitation of payments.

Teller, the DeFi lender, launches a new buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, but for NFTs.

Analysts expect the blockchain technology market to grow by a staggering ​​62.73% CAGR over the next few years. But how can banks turn blockchain adoption into revenue?