European financial institutions are now facing challenging times. With new game-changing regulations like PSD2 and MiFID II entering into force, open banking is no longer a utopia. New rules are going to cause a shock for financial incumbents that are not prepared to embrace innovation, adding up some considerable competition from fintech startups and more established firms that will definitely take advantage of new geographies and lower barriers to enter the market. Continue reading Which European Banks are Leading the Investment Flow in Fintech?
Month: April 2018
Digital Payments Innovation Heats Up
Posted onCross-border payments startup Ripple and Spanish bank Santander made headlines for a recently inked partnership in which the pair have developed a new blockchain-fueled payments app. It’s already been rolled out across Spain, the UK, Brazil, and Poland to start and will be expanded further in the coming months. They have their sights set on Portugal next. Continue reading Digital Payments Innovation Heats Up
Planning personal finances: how Europeans manage their money
Posted onEuropean countries have always shown meaningful differences in their savings and investment habits, with significant changes observed in the past decade, especially during the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2011 euro area sovereign debt crisis. Here we take a brief look at what are habits of Europeans regarding planning their cash flow, as well as explain few personal finance management solutions that have emerged in recent years along with the development of fintech. Continue reading Planning personal finances: how Europeans manage their money
Amazon, FedEx and GM Explore P2P Offerings
Posted onPeer-to-peer (P2P) lending has already made its mark on fintech. It’s taken market share from banks and inspired companies like KeyCorp, which has USD 138 billion in assets, to overhaul its consumer lending platform to stay relevant. In fact, Ron Suber, who is known as the Godfather of Fintech, told American Banker that Key needs this upgrade to go head-to-head with the likes of fintech and Amazon.
Now the P2P model is spilling over into other industries, from e-commerce and payments, to the auto sector and transportation. Let’s explore some of the latest developments. Continue reading Amazon, FedEx and GM Explore P2P Offerings
Loans originated in Poland: the untapped reservoir of profit on VIAINVEST
Posted onVIAINVEST stands out in the P2P crowd with its unique loan portfolio – consumer loans listed on the platform are issued by the alternative financial services provider VIA SMS Group in four European countries and available for investments only on VIAINVEST. The interest rate for listed loans is set between 10% and 12%. If you have been around for a while or checking platform features for the first time, you may have also noticed that there is another feature that distinguishes VIAINVEST from other platforms – in order to be compliant with the legislation in both VIAINVEST home country and loan origin countries, VIAINVEST applies taxes to your income generated on the platform and helps you to manage your taxation procedure. This approach may seem unusual, as the majority of platforms choose to interpret existing legislation in such ways that would allow skipping this uncomfortable issue and leaving tax liabilities to investors. Yes, taxation on the platform may seem uncomfortable and frightening at first, but luckily Tax/Residence Certificate may exempt investors from paying the tax on the platform. Unfortunately, there are several special cases, where legislation obliges us to withhold the tax even if the investor has provided Tax/Residence Certificate. What does it mean for investors and is the taxed amount as big as it seems? Continue reading Loans originated in Poland: the untapped reservoir of profit on VIAINVEST