Digital debt collector braced for ‘uncomfortable’ growth amid soaring cost of living June 29, 2022 The boss of fintech debt collector Ophelos said the cost of living crunch would lead to a surge in demand for its services this year as it revealed a fresh £5m funding round today to double down on growth.
Wise profit leaps as news of fintech chief’s FCA tax probe settles June 28, 2022 Fintech giant Wise today revealed profits hit £371.9m last year on the back of a surge in revenues and customer growth. The London-listed fintech said gross profit rose 43 per cent on 2021 levels while revenues topped £559.9m, up a third on last year. Customer numbers meanwhile hit 4.6m in the last quarter of 2022 [...]
Withdrawing investor tax breaks could choke off start-up investment, VC bodies warn MPs June 27, 2022 Venture capital bodies have today warned MPs that the withdrawal of tax incentives for investors could choke off the flow of capital into UK start-ups and restrict the growth of the country's tech sector.
Newly minted: Challenger bank Kroo is just second to be granted BoE licence since August 2016 June 27, 2022 There’s a new bank on the block with digital company Kroo receiving the first licence issued by the Bank of England since early 2021. The FinTech firm becomes just the second to get a green light since 2016, after completing a number of tasks to prove its robustness, compliance, risk management and leadership. Kroo was [...]
Lethal mix of inflation and interest rates cause value of IPOs to nosedive by staggering 90 per cent June 27, 2022 Businesses have endured challenging times recently, largely caused by external world events. Because of this, investor appetite has decreased for IPOs. In fact, rising inflation and interest rates have caused the value of initial public offerings in the US and Europe to fall by a staggering 90 per cent this year. Despite these obstacles 157 [...]
Shock in fintech sector: City watchdog FCA launches tax evasion probe into billionaire founder of Wise June 27, 2022 The money transfer giant Wise revealed this morning that the FCA has launched a probe into its billionaire co-founder and chief executive over his status as a so-called deliberate tax defaulter. Wise said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an inquiry into Kristo Kaarmann’s “regulatory obligations and standards”. It comes after Kaarmann was named [...]
Cybersecurity is not just the IT team’s responsibility: ‘This mistaken belief will cost you dearly’, warns industry insider June 23, 2022 Globally, SMEs have proven themselves to be easy and profitable targets for cybercriminals. Alarming statistics seem to be commonplace these days, but a few released recently still hold enough power to pack a punch. Morning Wire spoke to David Steele, founder of SecuriCentrix, about the risks he sees companies take in their approach to cybersecurity, [...]
KPMG opens virtual office in the metaverse for staff in US and Canada June 23, 2022 KPMG has set up an office in the “metaverse” for staff in the US and Canada to facilitate cross-border collaboration. The Big Four firm yesterday opened its first ever “metaverse collaboration hub,” with a view to letting staff work in an “immersive” virtual world. KPMG said its new virtual office will facilitate collaboration between its [...]
Payments firm SumUp hits €8bn valuation after fresh funding round June 23, 2022 London payments firm SumUp revealed it had bagged a $590m funding injection today as it looks to fuel a growth push and rollout new products this year.
Klarna boss slams Barclays for ‘mind boggling’ and ‘irresponsible’ BNPL research June 23, 2022 Klarna’s UK boss has hit out at Barclays today for publishing what he called “mind-boggling” and “irresponsible” research exploring mounting buy-now pay-later debt levels in the UK. Barclays Partner Finance – a division of the bank which offers its own regulated buy-now pay-later-style financing product – issued research today alongside debt charity StepChange warning that [...]