Fintech Weekly | Issue XVI

UK fintech investment fund Augmentum invests in German insurtech platform Baobab

On January 30, 2023, the British financial technology investment fund Augmentum announced that it invested 3 million euros in Baobab, a German insurance technology platform. Germany's first investment target is consumer technology subscription platform Grover). Baobab uses novel underwriting, pricing and risk control models to provide cyber insurance services for European SMEs.

 

Information link:

https://augmentum.vc/our-portfolio/baobab/

Comments: It is reported that there are 25 start-ups in Augmentum's investment portfolio, including well-known brands such as Zopa, Tide and Anyfin, which have achieved diversification in subdivided tracks, geographical distribution and mature stages.

 

Innovative card-issuing platform Marqeta acquires rival Power Finance for $223 million

Recently, Marqeta, an innovative card-issuing platform, announced the acquisition of rival financial technology company Power Finance for US$223 million. It is reported that the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. Founded in early 2021 by CEO Randy Fernando and CFO Andrew Dust, Power Finance provides credit card program management services to user companies through its cloud-native platform.

 

Information link:

https://accesspath.com/invest/usa/5813905/

Comment: Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) is a modern card issuance platform and provides innovative electronic payment services. Marqeta allows customers to use open source API, Just-in-time fund delivery (used to authorize real-time transactions and lending, etc.), tokenization and other technologies through the Marqeta platform to meet their needs without having to deal with banks and credit card networks. credit card program and process payment transactions.

 

 

UK insurtech Superscript secures £45m Series B funding

British insurtech Superscript has just completed a £45 million Series B round led by existing investor BHL UK, with participation from new investor The Hartford. Superscript provides digital insurance products for small businesses and high-tech companies. Through personalized purchase experience and in-depth customer engagement model, it can protect multiple different complex risks at the same time. Since its Series A round, Superscript has quintupled the number of customers and has won several large clients such as Amazon Business and Virgin Money Bank.

 

Information link:

https://coverager.com/superscript-raises-45-million/#:~:text=Superscript%2C%20the%20UK-based%20insurance%20startup%20offering%20commercial%20insurance%2C,UK%2C%20with% 20participation%20from%20The%20Hartford%2C%20and%20Concentric

Comment: In 2020, they became the first insurtech company in the UK to obtain a Lloyd's insurance brokerage license, and launched a digital asset insurance business underwritten by Lloyd's last year.

 

 

Cebaichuang received more than 100 million yuan in Pre-A round of financing, aiming at the 5G future market to provide differentiated products and solutions for RF filtering

Recently, the domestically-made RF front-end acoustic filter company "Sibaichuang" announced that it has completed the Pre-A round of financing of over 100 million yuan, led by SDIC Venture Capital, followed by Qingsong Fund, and Xinyi Capital as the exclusive financial advisor. This round of financing will be mainly used for product research and development, expanding market coverage, and at the same time investing in product development and technical reserves for potential application scenarios in the future 5G market, and improving the differentiation of high-end filter products.

 

Information link:

https://www.sohu.com/a/635756071_114778

Comments: Cebaichuang was established in March 2020. By building an international team, it focuses on technology research and development, product design and device manufacturing in a strongly coupled supply chain, providing the industry with 5G RF front-end filters and cost-effective RF one-stop The solution has comprehensive advanced packaging technologies, including Baredie, CSP, TCSP, WLP, etc., as well as acoustic filter device technologies that completely cover SAW, TC-SAW, LAW and single-core multi-frequency Multiplexer. At present, the company is headquartered in Shenzhen, has set up sales and technical support centers in South China and East China, and has a wholly-owned subsidiary in Europe as a product design center.

Insurtech bolttech partners with Thai mobile network company AIS

Travel insurance full-stack insurance technology battleface launched a new technology platform Robin Assist. This insurtech platform is designed for insurance companies, insurance brokers, managed general agents, and self-insurers. In addition to providing consumers with travel insurance products, it also supports 24/7 customer service, emergency medical rescue services, and claims processing.

 

Information link:

https://bolttech.io

Comments: The services of this Robin Assist platform include 24/7 multilingual customer support, claims processing, emergency medical assistance and travel assistance, policy administration and claims management services embedded in partners.

 

 

Toggle Auto Insurance Company Enters California Market

Toggle auto insurance company, which received investment from Farmers Insurance Company, now provides auto insurance products to California consumers, underwritten by 21st Century Casualty Company. Toggle was founded in 2018, and its auto insurance products have previously been launched in Arizona and South Carolina.

 

Information link:

https://toggl.com/

Comments: Additionally, they offer rental insurance products in 25 states, including Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Minnesota.

 

 

Quotey Canada launches multi-insurer commercial insurance quotation tool

Canadian insurtech company Quotey has launched what it calls “Canada’s first multi-insurer commercial insurance quote and product comparison tool” for brokerage firms. Since its inception 3 years ago, Quotey has been looking to revolutionize the way the commercial insurance market works. Their platform simplifies the workflow of brokers, adds more value, and provides more support.

 

Information link:

https://quotey.io/

Comment: Quotey said that in the past, commercial insurance brokers had to choose between speed and completeness, either using a certain insurance company's port to conduct a fast and limited search, or sending quotation requests to multiple insurance companies, so the insurance application process changed. very time consuming. The Quotey platform can apply for real-time quotations of more than 700 types of products from multiple insurance companies at one time, compare products, and notify customers.

 

 

SIA Group reached cooperation with InsuraGuest

SIA Group, an American full-service insurance agency, announced a partnership with InsuraGuest Technologies to provide SIA Group with hotel liability insurance products. InsuraGuest's insurance product solution requires customers to pay a fee per night, while InsuraGuest is responsible for claims settlement, transferring high-frequency small property insurance claims and medical insurance claims cases for hotels, thereby reducing business risks and insurance premiums for hotel operators , Generate income.

 

Information link:

https://www.accesswire.com/732298/SIA-Group-Aligns-with-Insuraguest-to-Help-Lower-Insurance-Premiums-and-Tranfer-Risks-for-Hotel-Clients

Comments: InsuraGuest's exclusive platform embeds 82 different property management systems to provide hotels with customized hotel liability insurance products. In addition, InsuraGuest also provides short-term rental insurance products for resorts and tourist attractions.

JPMorgan Chase plans to launch a digital bank in Germany in the next two years

Recently, Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that JPMorgan Chase plans to launch a digital bank in Germany at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. It is reported that JPMorgan Chase has been recruiting employees in Berlin, or plans to build Berlin into the institution's consumer banking business base in the EU, and then promote the digital retail business to other countries in the EU. At present, JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the news. JPMorgan Chase launched its British digital bank Chase in September 2021, after which it carried out a three-year development work code-named Dynamo.

Information link:

https://www.mpaypass.com.cn/news/202302/02102023.html

The UK Treasury recruited the head of the central bank's digital currency business

Recently, the UK Ministry of Finance announced the recruitment of a full-time staff to be responsible for the central bank's digital currency related work. The job lasts for two years and is based in London or Darlington, with an annual salary of 612600 to 66500 pounds. Currently, 17 applications have been attracted. The successful candidate will be responsible for formulating strategic plans within the UK Treasury in the future, and assisting the UK Treasury and the Bank of England to promote the work related to digital sterling.

Information link:

https://www.163.com/dy/article/HRTMTMBH0539NUQ8.html

JPMorgan Chase and other US banking giants plan to jointly launch digital wallets to compete with PayPal

According to the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other banks are planning to jointly launch digital wallets so that shoppers can use the digital wallets for online payment to compete with PayPal and Apple Wallet. It is reported that this digital wallet will be operated by EWS, the operator of Zelle, the largest digital transfer tool in the United States, and is expected to be promoted in the second half of 2023.

Information link:

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1755819373499116564

Saudi Arabia's central bank continues to carry out the central bank's digital currency experiment

On January 23, 2023, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced that it would continue to carry out the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) experiment. It is reported that the current test is the last stage of a project carried out by the Saudi Central Bank in cooperation with local banks and financial technology enterprises. It is planned to explore the economic impact of wholesale CBDC use cases, market readiness and the potential robust and rapid application of CBDC-based payment solutions. In addition, SAMA seeks to review policy, legal and regulatory considerations before entering the next stage of the CBDC journey to promote the realization of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030".

Information link:

https://www.sama.gov.sa/en-us/news/pages/news-812.aspx

UK prohibits the use of disposable plastic plates and tableware

On the 14th local time, the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the use of disposable plastic tableware would be banned in England from October this year. According to the announcement, disposable plastic plates, bowls and trays, as well as cups and boxes made of certain types of polystyrene, will be banned from being used and sold in shops, restaurants and hotels. Violators will face the risk of being fined, and repeated violations of the ban may face criminal charges. These measures were decided after public consultation. According to the announcement on the British government website, the new ban will take effect in October this year.

Information link:

https://www.nerdata.com/fa/ok18808.html  

ISSB: Global sustainable development and climate reporting guidelines will be released in June

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2023, the International Sustainable Development Standards Board (ISSB) under the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) revealed that the final version of global sustainable development and climate-related reporting standards would be released in June this year. After the release of the initial standards this year, ISSB will carry out a series of consultation activities around biodiversity, human capital and the connectivity between financial reports and sustainable development reports.

Information link:

https://www.ifrs.org/groups/international-sustainability-standards-board/

Deloitte: The latest survey shows that almost all senior executives in the world expect that climate change will affect the company's strategy and operation

According to a new survey released by Deloitte today, senior executives of almost all major companies in the world expect that climate change will affect the strategy and operation of their organizations in the next three years. Among them, the most important is the impact on resource scarcity, consumption patterns and carbon tax. The survey shows that paying attention to climate change has become the top priority of senior managers. First, climate change ranked second in the high-profile survey by senior executives, with 42%, second only to the economic outlook (44%). Secondly, almost all executives believe that climate issues have had an impact on the company in the past year. 46% of senior executives believe that the main impact is resource scarcity or resource cost, followed by changing customer consumption patterns or preferences, and the third is the impact on emission control (carbon emission tax, emission cap). Finally, senior executives have taken effective measures to solve various problems caused by climate change. For example, 75% of senior executives said that their organization had increased investment in sustainable development in the past year to solve the problem of resource allocation.

Information link:

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/about-deloitte.html

Federal Reserve: Launch the pilot of climate risk scenario analysis for big banks

In January, the Federal Reserve released detailed information and instructions on the first climate scenario analysis pilot for the six largest banks in the United States. Banks participating in the climate scenario analysis pilot include Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. These six banks will analyze the physical risk and transition risk related to climate change, and the impact of these two risks on specific assets in their portfolios under different scenarios. In order to deepen the understanding of climate risk management practices and establish the ability to identify, measure, monitor and manage climate-related financial risks, the Federal Reserve will collect a series of qualitative and quantitative information during the pilot process.

Information link:

https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/usstock/c/2023-01-18/doc-imyarfye8929419.shtml?finpagefr=p_108

The US Internal Revenue Service issued a list of tax filing requirements for digital assets in 2022

As the deadline for filing the 2022 federal income tax return approaches, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a list of requirements for processing cryptocurrency income tax returns. The term "virtual currencies" in the previous report table has been updated to "digital assets". It is reported that the list provides nine examples that must be checked "Yes", such as receiving, earning, transferring or selling cryptocurrency to obtain any monetary benefits, including mining and mortgage. The only case that you can check "No" in the document is whether the taxpayer holds crypto assets purely, transfers assets between their wallets or purchases cryptocurrency in legal tender.

Information link:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2022

The UK Treasury recruited the head of the central bank's digital currency business

Recently, the UK Ministry of Finance announced the recruitment of a full-time staff to be responsible for the central bank's digital currency related work. The job lasts for two years and is based in London or Darlington, with an annual salary of 612600 to 66500 pounds. Currently, 17 applications have been attracted. The successful candidate will be responsible for formulating strategic plans within the UK Treasury in the future, and assisting the UK Treasury and the Bank of England to promote the work related to digital sterling.

Information link:

https://www.coinonpro.com/kuaixun/248542.html

Moody's plans to develop stable currency rating system

According to Bloomberg, Moody's is developing a rating system for 20 stable currencies. It is reported that the system will analyze the stability currency based on the quality of its supporting reserve certificate, but this result does not represent the official credit rating. Stable currencies are less volatile than Bitcoin because they are linked to another asset, usually the US dollar. To ensure this, the issuer usually holds the asset reserve matching the token. However, some people questioned the authenticity of this operation. In 2021, Tether, a stable currency linked to the US dollar, was fined by the US authorities for misrepresenting its reserves.

Information link:

https://www.finacerun.com/home/news/detail/article_id/114375.html

Shenzhen accelerates to build an international wealth management center city

According to the data from the Shenzhen Local Financial Supervision Bureau, in recent years, the wealth management industry has become one of the fastest growing areas of Shenzhen's financial industry. By the end of 2022, the asset management scale of Shenzhen Bank, securities, insurance, funds (including private placement), futures and other wealth management institutions has exceeded 26.6 trillion yuan, accounting for about 1/5 of the country; Eight institutions entered the list of "2022 Global Asset Management 500".

Information link:

https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2023-02-01/doc-imyeeraq6752214.shtml

The technology empowerment of Shanghai Branch of People's Investment Consulting injected new vitality into the wealth management market

New wealth management customer groups are emerging day by day. The intergenerational transmission of wealth and the rise of new rich people have injected young power into the wealth management market. It is urgent for the wealth management industry to constantly innovate and change its products, and for the market to accelerate the construction of a diversified product structure that comprehensively covers all levels of wealth management needs. Therefore, financial institutions should accurately grasp customers' personalized wealth management demands, not only to achieve the upgrading and transformation of sales methods and business models, but also to complete the migration of thinking patterns and values.

Information link:

https://www.ithome.com/0/670/484.htm

2023 CICC Fortune Forum was held in Shanghai

Recently, the 2023 CICC Fortune Forum was successfully held in Shanghai. Several industry experts from listed banks, financial management subsidiaries, public funds, platform institutions, overseas asset management companies and other major wealth business participating institutions were invited to participate in the forum. Chen Liyu, senior vice president of Bairong Yunchuang, delivered a keynote speech of "the last mile of digital intelligence of wealth management".

Information link:

https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20230131A04GNJ00

The UK Ministry of Finance announced the consultation document, which plans to include encrypted assets in the regulatory framework

In April 2022, the British government promised to update the regulatory system of encrypted assets to faithfully reflect the risks and opportunities brought by this emerging industry. On February 1, 2023, the British Ministry of Finance issued a new public consultation document based on the previous regulatory proposal, focusing on the stable currency and the crypto asset marketing, and the deadline for consultation was April 30, 2023. The proposal aims to achieve the goal of placing the UK financial services industry at the forefront of crypto asset technology and innovation, create conditions for the operation and development of crypto asset service providers in the UK, and manage potential consumer and stability risks.

Information link:

https://www.163.com/dy/article/HSLSGGKM05198086.html

Reliance Retail, India's largest retailer, will accept payment in digital rupees

On February 2, 2023, Reliance Retail, the largest retailer in India, announced that its Freshpik food store in Mumbai would begin to accept digital rupiah payment and planned to gradually extend this payment model to all its stores. The digital rupee, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, is a digital form of legal tender. On December 1, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India began to carry out a digital rupee payment pilot, covering Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Bubaneswar at first, and then gradually expanded to other nine cities. In the pilot phase, eight banks, including ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, participated. Users of these banks can complete digital rupee payment through special digital wallets.

Information link:

https://relianceretail.com/

Tesla CFO: The growth rate of insurance business exceeded that of automobile business in the fourth quarter of 2022

On January 25, 2023, Tesla held a teleconference on the fourth quarter of 2022 financial report, and conducted a webcast Q&A. Zach Kirkhorn, the company's chief financial officer, said that Tesla Insurance's annual premium income reached $300 million, with a quarterly growth of 20%, even exceeding the sales growth rate of Tesla vehicles. In the United States, where operations have been carried out, an average of 17% of users use Tesla insurance products. Zach Kirkhorn predicted that this number is expected to continue to rise as Tesla's insurance market coverage continues to expand. This actually has a very important impact on total cost of ownership and customer satisfaction.

Information link:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-increases-mileage-rate-for-remainder-of-2022

Meta MetaUniverse VR social application Horizon Worlds began to test the exclusive space of members

On January 30, 2023, Meta began to test the member's exclusive space in its virtual flagship Meta Universe virtual world social application Horizon Worlds. Meta said that the new exclusive space for members is suitable for small groups such as book clubs and game teams. It can provide VIP services and also facilitate gathering of friends. At present, this service is only tested for "a small number of trusted creators" at the initial stage.

Information link:

https://www.xrtoday.com/virtual-reality/what-is-meta-horizon-worlds/#: ~:text=Meta%20Horizon%20Worlds%20is%20the%20company%E2%80%99s%20latest%20social,Meta%20Horizon%20Worlds%20and%20How%20Does%20it%20Work%3F

Disclaimer: The content is from the Internet, WeChat official account and other public channels. We are neutral about the points in the article. This article is only for reference and exchange.