Issue #402 - Do We Need To Prepare For The Worst? February 9th, 2023

While the Congress argues about raising the debt ceiling of the US, there is still the possibility for a default. Brian Moynihan, CEO of the Bank of America, told CNN that he hopes that this issue will be solved, because the economy needs stability. The CEO added that, in any case, we need to be prepared for the default – the worst scenario.

CDAO Financial Services brings together your data & analytics community from the Financial Services industry for two days of learning, networking, and collaboration. New this year, there will be two specialized tracks for those who work for organizations with assets under management of below $500 million and assets under management $500 million and above. Join data & analytics leaders from TD, Morningstar, Barclays, Citi and more on March 1-2, 2023 in New York City. Free passes (subject to team approval) are available for a limited time.

BharatPe, the Indian fintech that facilitates payments and money lending for merchants, has already received $650 million in funding rounds. Dhanraj Bahl, who manages the lending vertical of the fintech company, specified that BharatPe has about 10 million clients and around 40% of them are active on a monthly basis. This fintech is an example of how financial technology can leverage data to help business owners – and that fintech is a thriving sector in India.

The collapse of FTX stopped the process that was bringing closer banks and cryptocurrencies. Regulators became more severe, but some clarifications are needed – especially for fintech firms and partners that want to leverage the innovative financial system brought by blockchain technology: banks can still provide safekeeping services for cryptocurrencies; cryptos can’t still hold cryptocurrencies as the largest part of their capitals; banks can benefit from blockchain technology and there is a path to produce tokens. So, banks are limited when it comes to cryptocurrencies, since they can partner with crypto-focused businesses that are in line with security measures and guidelines provided by regulators.

NFTs, after the downturn that followed the initial hype, are recovering the major role they play for developers, creators and blockchain enthusiasts. But they’re also showing that their success can be used – as it happens with different forms of art – for political purposes. The NFT collection of Donald Trump is an example of this.

In this article by Surbhi Arora, published by FinTech Weekly, the focus is BaaS – Banking as a Service. To understand BaaS, there are some key aspects to evaluate: APIs, open banking, an improved user experience when BaaS is leveraged. Read to discover also how BaaS can benefit stakeholders.

The German fintech Mondu announces MonduSell. This fintech firm, focused on B2B payments, will now focus also on B2C payments. Some of the strengths of this fintech are the intuitiveness – there is no need for technical integration, the lack of setup costs for customers, and the fact that it supports many payment methods.

The digital investment platform Stackwell is focused on eliminating the racial wealth gap. The company announced its Redefining Black Wealth, aimed at showing the meaning of wealth considered through the spirit of the Black community.

Even the most successful fintech companies are going ahead with layoffs – and it’s really likely that we will witness new layoffs in the near future. PayPal, SoFi Technologies, the insurtech Decent are only some examples of big fintech companies that reduced – or are about to reduce – their headcount. The main reason behind this might be over hiring when the global economy wasn’t facing a downturn.

During an exclusive interview with Alex Konrad, the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, talks about his interest in AI (artificial intelligence), the reasons why it’s one of the main topics of 2023, and the multibillion partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, the AI unicorn that developed ChatGPT.

Valentina Drofa, founder of the fintech PR consultancy Drofa Comms, reflects on the current state of fintech: fintech startups, in Q3 2022, raised 40% less than Q2 2022. But fintech companies and startups can still focus on their strengths – and reputation capital can be a weapon.