Step 1: Pay Rent, Step 2: Build Credit (TWIF 2/9)

Hello Fintech Friends,

This week in fintech's been as busy as ever. Don't have time to read all the news? Check out Helen's weekly news briefing below.

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below. (👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know!)

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Mexican bank Banorte launched its own neobank, bineo, which it claims is the first digital-only bank in Mexico, though I think Nubank, Klar, Albo, Hey Banco, Fondeadora, and others would have something to say about that.

Citibank partnered with ChargeAfter to launch a product to let merchants offer credit and instalment loans at the point of sale.

UBS launched Hong Kong’s first investment-grade tokenized warrant on Ethereum.

Delinquency rates on US credit cards and auto loans have reached their highest point since the global financial crisis.

The European Parliament adopted new rules to specify that all bank transfers should arrive within ten seconds into consumers' and businesses' bank accounts in the EU.

New York Community Bancorp's stock has been plunging after it was revealed that the bank's earnings swung to a loss following its acquisition of troubled Signature Bank last year:

The Central Bank of Nigeria will... will no longer allow banks to carry out international money transfer operations (?) in an attempt to shore up Naira liquidity.

Mastercard is getting into the generative AI game with a new model to allow banks to better assess suspicious transactions on its network, which it claims boosts detection rates by 300%.

India's Tata Consultancy Services has emerged as the leading contender to take over running the UK's Faster Payments Service.

HSBC is installing Cash Pods (ie: ATMs?) in UK towns with no bank branches as its Wise competitor app, Zing, struggles to attract users. Meanwhile, as other banks close branches down, JP Morgan Chase plans to open 500 new branches across the US this year. Is banking becoming more of a winner-take-all industry?

British bank TSB will close branches and lay off workers as it seeks to cut costs, while French bank Société Generale cuts 900 jobs.

The OCC fined City National Bank $65 million for systemic deficiencies in the bank’s risk management and internal controls.

Block is now offering customers 4.5% interest rates on their savings held in Square or Cash App (1.5% without direct deposit added).

Carta launched Conclusions, a new product to help startup businesses shut down and unwind.

Sydecar and MDSV partnered to launch their Capital Extension Program to provide syndicates and fund managers with follow-on capital for their investments.

Chinese fintech giant Ant is partnering with European open banking platform Yapily to launch commercial variable recurring payments for e-commerce.

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TikTok is testing a new feature that would make all videos shoppable, so that users can buy items featured in any posts, not just those of influencers.

Fintechs, credit bureaus, and online rental and mortgage platforms like Zillow are all making it easier to build your credit score by paying your rent.

Bankrupt crypto exchange Celsius, which previously incinerated $4.7 billion of user funds, will successfully restructure, exit bankruptcy, pay claimholders back $3 billion, and create a new bitcoin mining company, Ionic Digital, which will be owned by its creditors.

A UK court ruled that Revolut can close down user accounts for adverse media flags without running afoul of de-banking legislation.

Atlantic Money is bringing its money transfer business to the US, Canada, and Australia.

Fiserv landed Uber, Ebay, and a dozen other large e-commerce clients to its debit network following new Fed rules on debit transaction routing.

Adyen's half-year revenues are up 23%.

LeaseQuery rebranded as FinQuery.

Ant Group partnered with the city of Shanghai to help the latter build blockchain and AI products.

Cross River partnered with Aeropay and UBank on gaming and gambling payouts.

Kenyan lending fintech Branch partnered with Standard Chartered bank to enable small business loans.

Fyle partnered with American Express to give small businesses access to transaction and expense data.

Twig, a UK 'circular economy' fintech, will shut down after failing to raise funding, with £15.4 million in debt.

French payments giant Worldline will cut around 1,400 jobs, 8% of its workforce.

Dutch neobank Bunq withdrew its application for a US bank charter.

Paytm shares fell another 20%, knocking $2 billion off its market cab, after India’s central bank curbed its banking business.