S&P Global announced today that it will acquire Kensho, a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup that has concentrated on artificial intelligence and analytics for big financial institutions. The total value of the deal is $550 million in a mix of cash and stock. Kensho, which counted S&P Global as a client/partner and an investor, launched in 2013 and has raised $67.5 million, according… Read More
Category: financial services
UK’s Atom Bank raises another $206M led by BBVA for millennial and SMB financial services
Atom Bank, the startup based out of Durham, England that operates a mobile-only bank targeting consumers between the ages of 18 and 34, has raised another big round of funding. The company today announced another £149 million ($206 million) in funding to double down on its existing business — focused currently on savings accounts, mortgages and small business loans — as well as… Read More
FreedomPop moves into financial services, in partnership with Prudential
Ahead of a big fundraising to fuel its mobile ambitions, “free” mobile service startup FreedomPop is taking an unexpected strategic side-road to expand into a completely different area: financial services. The company is licensing its customer conversion platform to Prudential, which plans to use it to up-sell existing customers to more of its products. FreedomPop itself is not… Read More
New credit card skimmer worked in plain sight at Aldi stores
Police in Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania have spotted a group of thieves who are placing completely camouflaged skimmers on top of credit card terminals in Aldi stores. The skimmers, which the gang placed in plain sight of surveillance video cameras, look exactly like the original credit card terminals but would store debit card numbers and PINs of unsuspecting shoppers. “While Aldi… Read More
Equifax launches its credit locking app and extends free credit freezes through June
Today was supposed to be the deadline for Equifax’s free credit freeze offering, but the company has decided to extend the service to consumers for another five months. Now, Equifax customers can request a credit freeze through June 30. Still, January 31 is the last day to cash in on free credit monitoring through Equifax’s TrustedID Premier program. Read More
Financial technology startups emerged as serious challengers to financial services in 2017
While cryptocurrencies stole the spotlight in 2017, a clutch of companies were quietly working behind the scenes to slowly bring the financial services establishment to its knees. It may turn out that these startup entrants of the last several ye…
View More Financial technology startups emerged as serious challengers to financial services in 2017Betting consumers are tired of bad bank behavior, Aspiration raises $47 million for its alternative
A who’s-who of celebrities, investors, and celebrity investors have come together to invest $47 million into Aspiration, the company launched by a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton to challenge the traditional banking industry. For Andrei Cherny, Aspiration’s founder and chief executive, the company’s business is an inversion of the business model of the… Read More
Ex-Uber data chief Kevin Novak joins LA-based startup Tala in big win for LA ecosystem
Kevin Novak, the architect of Uber’s dynamic pricing technology and the head of its data team, has joined the Los Angeles-based financial services startup Tala as its new head of data. Read More
Discover won’t force you to sign for purchases anymore
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Forget signing your name on credit and debit card purchases with Discover.
Starting in April, the credit card company won’t require a signature after buying something in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean.
Chip technology — along with biometrics and multi-factor authentication — has made signing a receipt a redundant security measureMasterCard announced it was ditching signatures back in October.
Discover said the change may require some merchants to change their Discover point-of-sales systems since pens and electronic signature screens won’t be necessary. Read more…
More about Security, Discover, Biometrics, Credit Cards, and Financial Services
Remitly is raising up to $115M led by Naspers’ PayU to double down on remittances
International remittances continues to be one of the biggest financial services in developing countries, with $450 billion getting sent from countries like the U.S. to emerging markets in 2017 alone, according to the World Bank. Now, one of the bigger startups using tech to take on Western Union, MoneyGram and other offline incumbents in the space is announcing a large round of funding to… Read More