This week many of us were glued to our TVs (or TikTok videos) as we watched in horror as Russia invaded Ukraine. Fintech, particularly crypto, will come under the spotlight here as sanctions start to bite so we have a couple of stories on that. We also share the thoughts of the former Chief Innovation Officer at the FDIC, SoFi’s latest acquisition, Citi’s move on overdrafts and more. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Why I Quit as FDIC Innovation Chief: Technophobia from Bloomberg Opinion – The former Chief Innovation Officer of the FDIC, Sultan Meghji, wrote a scathing op-ed on the systemic problems inside the FDIC. There is resistance, even hostility, to any new innovation and there is a distinct lack of expertise in the workforce there.
SoFi to Buy Banking-Infrastructure Firm Technisys for About $1.1 Billion from The Wall Street Journal – SoFi is making its second billion-dollar acquisition (after acquiring Galileo in 2020), Technisys SA, the Miami-based banking software provider that focused much of its attention in Latin America. SoFi will use the core banking software to overhaul it is own systems now that it is a bank.
Citi becomes largest US bank to eliminate overdraft fees – The third-largest US bank by assets has decided it is eliminating all overdraft fees by this summer. Citi will become the largest bank to eliminate these fees although this is a much smaller percentage of revenue than at Chase, B of A or Wells.
Russia’s Ukraine invasion and the fintech industry from Axios – This is a good breakdown of the impact of the Russian invasion on the fintech industry and how crypto could be a way to avoid sanctions.
ECB Urges Haste on Crypto Regulation in Wake of Russian Sanctions from Bloomberg – Speaking of crypto, the European Central Bank president, Christine Lagarde, said that it is critically important for crypto legislation to be passed soon to help prevent Russia from evading economic sanctions.
Warren Buffett dumps Visa and Mastercard stock, buys Nubank from Finextra – Berkshire Hathaway has sold a combined $3.1 billion worth of Visa and Mastercard shares recently while adding $1 billion to its stake in Nubank. Last summer Hathaway invested $500 million in Nubank’s Series G funding round, its last as a private company.
LendIt’s Brustkern brings you to ETHDenver from LendIt Fintech News – LendIt Fintech CEO, Bo Brustkern, spent some quality time at one of the world’s biggest crypto events, ETHDenver, last week and came away more committed to embracing web3 innovation.
How fintech consolidation could alter the banking landscape from American Banker – Miriam Cross looks at many of the recent M&A deals in fintech and considers what might be next as cash-rich fintech companies look to expand their capabilities.
Clearco co-founder Andrew D’Souza steps back as Michele Romanow assumes CEO role from TechCrunch – In the seven years since launch, Clearco has become a real fintech success story. Worth $2 billion in their last funding round, the alternative capital provider has made some changes in its leadership with Michele Romanow now CEO, and her co-founder (and former romantic partner) Andrew D’Souza moving to an executive chairman role.
Spring Labs partners with TransUnion for DeFi credit checks from LendIt Fintech News – We provide a deep dive into the recent announcement from Spring Labs and TransUnion on their partnership to bring KYC and credit scoring to DeFi.
Peter Renton is the chairman and co-founder of LendIt Fintech, the world’s first and largest digital media and events company focused on fintech. Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010 and he is the author and creator of the Fintech One-on-One Podcast, the first and longest-running fintech interview series. Peter has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The New York Times, CNBC, CNN, Fortune, NPR, Fox Business News, the Financial Times, and dozens of other publications.
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