Fintech Weekly | Issue 52

Indian healthcare insurance technology startup Onsurity received $24 million in financing, led by IFC

On October 9, 2023, Indian insurance technology startup Onsurity announced the acquisition of $24 million in B-round financing. This financing is led by International Finance Corporation (IFC), with existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Quona Capital participating. Onsurity mainly focuses on providing monthly subscription based employee health insurance services for small and medium-sized enterprise users.

 

Information link:

https://entrackr.com/2023/10/onsurity-raises-24-mn-in-series-b-led-by-ifc/

Comment: In the future, the company hopes to use this financing to increase cooperation with insurance partners, and promote a seamless and transparent journey by jointly creating technical solutions, thereby providing its members with a smooth claims experience.

 

Swedish A2A payment startup Brite Payments received $60 million in financing

According to data from the Global Payments Report, digital wallets have become the main payment method for global e-commerce, accounting for up to 49%. This week, A2A payment startup Brite Payments from Stockholm announced a $60 million financing, led by Dawn Capital and participated by institutions such as Headline and Incore.

 

Information link:

https://fintech.global/2023/10/04/brite-payments-secures-60m-to-drive-global-expansion/

Comment: Brite Payment was launched in 2019 and founded by former Klarna executive Lena Hackel ö er. It currently serves 25 European countries and has achieved profitability

 

Payment giant Visa announces the creation of $100 million artificial intelligence venture capital fund

On October 2, 2023, Visa announced the launch of a $100 million generative artificial intelligence venture capital program, targeting next-generation companies focused on developing generative artificial intelligence technologies and applications that affect the future of business and payments.

 

Information link:

https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.19986.html

Comment: This program will be led by Visa Ventures, Visa's global corporate investment department. Since 2007, Visa Ventures has been investing in and collaborating with companies that drive payment and business innovation.

 

Financial welfare application Wagestream acquires credit card startup Keebo

Recently, the financial welfare application Wagestream announced that it will acquire credit card service startup Keebo, but the specific transaction amount has not been disclosed to the public. Wagestream was established in 2018 and has established partnerships with multiple institutions including Asda, Next, Pazza Express, and NHS to provide budget management, payment cycle planning, and emergency fund construction services for its employees.

 

Information link:

https://www.fintechfutures.com/2023/10/wagestream-taps-financial-inclusion-for-frontline-workers-with-acquisition-of-credit-card-challenger-keebo/

Comment: After the completion of this acquisition, Keebo's products, technology, and employees will all be merged into the Wagestream Group.

Digital Insurance Technology Sure and Real Estate Technology Company Latchel Collaborate to Launch Lease Insurance Project

Digital Insurance Technology Sure announced that it will collaborate with real estate technology company Latchel to lease insurance projects, providing tenants with a one-stop platform to optimize rental insurance products. Sure's seamless embedded insurance experience and intuitive user experience can help Latchel empower property management companies, manage tenants' rental insurance status, reduce operating costs, and optimize residents' coverage.

 

Information link:

https://latchel.com/

Comment: Sure's rental insurance products can streamline the insurance consumption process and provide a seamless consumption experience for property managers and tenants.

 

Singlife, a Singaporean insurance company, launches discounted long-term care insurance

Singlife, a Singaporean insurance company, announced a strategic partnership with AIC, a comprehensive care institution, and Homage, a health technology startup, aimed at expanding the long-term care services market.

 

Information link:

https://singlife.com/en/carecollab

Comment: According to the collaboration content, AIC and Singlife will collaborate to provide nursing education to financial advisors, raise consumer awareness, and strengthen community activities. Singlife will also collaborate with health technology startup Homage to provide on-demand home and community care services for the elderly.

 

Yian Launches High end Insurance Solutions for Financial Institutions

Aon has partnered with renowned insurance companies in London to launch a high-end insurance solution, FI Protect 360, for financial institutions. This product solves the multiple operational risks encountered by modern financial institutions and ushers in a new era of comprehensive risk management strategies within the industry.

 

Information link:

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2023/09/27/741935.htm

Comment: FI Protect 360 provides up to $100 million in coverage for each customer, covering a variety of traditional insurance product lines, providing comprehensive insurance coverage, fully meeting the constantly changing protection needs of financial institutions, and improving the challenges posed by technological risks, cyber attacks, and complex fraud patterns to tradition.

 

Flash Weather AI, a lightning prediction company, collaborates with SmartSky to launch lightning prediction capabilities

SmartSky collaborates with artificial intelligence lightning prediction company FLASH Weather AI to introduce FLASH lightning prediction data software into the aviation industry.

 

Information link:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flash-weather-ai-and-smartsky-team-up-to-bring-predictive-lightning-capabilities-to-aviation-301918150.html

Comment: FLASH products will be part of the SmartSky Predictive Weather suite, providing lightning prediction functionality for airlines, operational bases, airports, and ground operations departments.

Deutsche Bank's investment in big language model developer Kodex AI

Recently, Deutsche Bank's corporate venture capital (CVC) group invested in start-up Kodex AI, but the exact amount was not disclosed to the public. Kodex AI is headquartered in Berlin and is dedicated to developing Large Language Model (LLM) applications for the financial services industry.

 

Information link:

https://www.db.com/news/detail/20231011-deutsche-bank-invests-in-kodex-ai?language_id=1

 

Qatar Central Bank issues loan related crowdfunding regulations

Recently, the Central Bank of Qatar issued regulatory directives for loan related crowdfunding activities. The so-called "loan based crowdfunding" is an innovative financial service that enables borrowers who need financing but find it difficult to obtain traditional banks (such as small and medium-sized enterprises) to communicate with various investors and obtain short-term financing for business growth.

 

Information link:

https://www.cebnet.com.cn/20231013/102913973.html

 

The Bank of Korea plans to collaborate with BIS to test wholesale central bank digital currencies

The Bank of Korea plans to collaborate with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and other institutions to begin testing wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The focus of this experiment is to explore the feasibility of establishing a currency system on wholesale CBDCs in the future.

 

Information link:

 

https://www.bis.org/publ/othp77.htm

 

The IMF lowered its global economic growth forecast for next year to 2.9%

On the 10th local time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the latest issue of the World Economic Outlook report, which predicts that the global economy will grow by 3.0% in 2023 and 2.9% in 2024. The growth rate in 2024 is 0.1 percentage points lower than the forecast in July this year.

 

Information link:

https://www.imf.org/en/home

EU approves the world's first green bond standard

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have passed a new voluntary standard for the use of the "European Green Bond" label, which is the world's first such standard. The regulation was passed with 418 votes in favor, 79 votes against, and 72 abstentions, setting a unified standard for issuers who wish to use the title "European Green Bond" or "EuGB" for bond marketing.

 

Information link:

https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/tools-and-standards/european-green-bond-standard_en

 

Japan Pensions to Sign ESG Agreement

The Japanese pension fund announced its intention to participate in a global initiative for responsible investment. Prime Minister Kishida made this important announcement in his speech at the "PRI in Person" forum, which gathered leading investors committed to promoting global responsible investment.

 

Information link:

Esgnews. com/zh CN/% E6% 97% A5% E6% 9C% AC% E9% A6% 96% E7% 9B% B8% E5% B2% B8% E7

 

Blackstone Group Launches Private Debt Fund with a Focus on Climate Transition

Investment giant BlackRock has announced the launch of a new climate transition oriented private equity fund aimed at providing investors with investment opportunities in mid market enterprises, with a focus on low-carbon transition investment opportunities.

 

Information link:

https://www.blackrock.com.cn/

 

 

Release of the "the Belt and Road" ESG Action Report

On September 25, the Financial Program Center of China Central Radio and Television Station officially released the "the Belt and Road" ESG Action Report (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). This report focuses on the ESG concept to enable the joint construction of high-quality "the Belt and Road" construction, and help countries and regions to achieve coordinated economic, social and environmental development.

 

Information link:

https://news.cctv.com/2023/09/26/ARTI2F1ifBnmECzxt5Ek7cKe230926.shtml

The UK officially released the disclosure framework for the transition plan working group

With the continuous acceleration of low-carbon economic transformation, financial markets are increasingly seeking information on how companies plan to adjust their business models, operations, products, and services. The TPT Disclosure Framework provides a set of good practice recommendations to help companies in the entire economy achieve high-quality, consistent, and comparable transition plan disclosures.

 

Information link:

https://transitiontaskforce.net/disclosure-framework/

 

Hong Kong Monetary Authority Holds Green Financial Technology Challenge

On September 21, 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the holding of a Green Finance Technology Competition to promote the adoption of green finance technology solutions in the Hong Kong banking industry. The competition plan involves multiple themes such as net zero transformation or transformation planning, climate risk management, green and sustainable finance, and disclosure and reporting related to sustainable development or climate.

 

Information link:

https://www.hkma.gov.hk/gb_chi/key-functions/banking/banking-regulatory-and-supervisory-regime/green-and-sustainable-banking/

 

Kazakhstan will build a data center dedicated to researching artificial intelligence within two years

On October 12, 2023 local time, Kazakh President Kassym Jomart Tokayev ordered the construction of a data center dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) research in the country within two years, with technology and financial giants such as Google, Amazon, Mastercard, and Citigroup participating.

 

Information link:

https://baiterek.gov.kz/en/pr/news/president-addresses-key-ai-and-digital

 

US election results may affect the Inflation Reduction Act, causing a red light in the electric vehicle market

On the eve of the November 2024 US election, the most competitive candidates, President Biden and former President Trump, showed significant differences in whether to continue supporting the development of the electric vehicle industry. The biggest focus of debate is the environmental policy led by the Inflation Reduction Act.

 

Information link:

https://newenergy.in-en.com/html/newenergy-2427520.shtml

French LVMH President Arnault is suspected of engaging in transactions with Russian businessmen under anti money laundering investigation

On September 29th local time, a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office stated that the financial transaction between Bernard Arnault, the president of French luxury goods giant LVMH, and renowned Russian oligarch Nikolai Sarkisov is under preliminary investigation due to their alleged involvement in "transactions that may constitute money laundering crimes".

 

Information link:

https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2023-10-01/doc-imzpqnmk9925088.shtml

 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore issues its fourth enforcement report

On September 19, 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued its fourth law enforcement report, which covers law enforcement actions taken for violations of MAS regulatory requirements between January 2022 and June 2023, including fines of $7.1 million for AML related violations. This indicates that MAS will continue to focus on asset and wealth management companies complying with applicable laws and regulations.

 

Information link:

https://www.medanswering.com/login.taf

 

Release of a survey report on domestic high net worth individuals

The renowned British consulting firm 11K Consulting released a high net worth special report in September 2023 titled "INSIDE THE MIND OF A CHINESE HNWI: What do They Want in the New Normal.

 

Information link:

https://www.readkong.com/page/inside-the-mind-of-a-chinese-hnwi-11k-consulting-and-8362482

 

One of the largest money laundering cases: freezing assets to S $2.8 billion or involving family office operations

Singapore revealed in August this year that it had cracked the largest money laundering case in recent years, involving all individuals with mainland Chinese backgrounds. Singapore's Second Minister of the Interior, Yang Liming, stated in parliament on October 3rd that assets of over 2.8 billion Singapore dollars have been frozen, an increase from the previously disclosed 2.4 billion Singapore dollars.

 

Information link:

https://www.readkong.com/page/inside-the-mind-of-a-chinese-hnwi-11k-consulting-and-8362482

19 institutions nominated for the final of the Singapore Monetary Authority Global Artificial Intelligence Challenge

On October 10, 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that a total of 19 institutions had been nominated for the final of the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Financial Global Challenge" under the Global FinTech Hackcelerator in 2023.

 

Information link:

https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/events/2023/jun/ai-in-finance-global-challenge-2023.html

 

American economist Claudia Golding won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics

On October 9th local time, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced in Stockholm that the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics would be awarded to American economist Claudia Golding in recognition of her outstanding contributions in the field of female labor research.

 

Information link:

https://news.cctv.com/2023/10/10/ARTINa8dBYj97mpiPbih9D67231010.shtml

 

OpenAI or in the process of establishing an OpenAI college, expected to be launched by the end of 2023

Recently, it was reported that OpenAI is preparing to build an OpenAI college, which is expected to start by the end of 2023. This may be a free online teaching system accessible to everyone, where teachers can interact with GPT-5 and receive feedback and guidance during the course.

 

Information link:

https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20231009A07HYR00

 

Financing for fintech startups in the United States decreased by over 50% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023

Recently, market intelligence agency Tracxn released the US fintech financing report for the third quarter of 2023. The report indicates that in the third quarter of 2023, the US fintech industry raised a total of $2.7 billion, a 74% decrease from the previous quarter's $10.2 billion and a 51% decrease from the $5.5 billion in the third quarter of 2022.

 

Information link:

https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2023/10/214057-funding-into-fintech-us-startups-declines-over-50-in-q3-2023-report/

 

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