Who Are European Fintech Unicorns of 2018?

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The unicorn club, which once was just part of the Silicon Valley myth, is now a reality also in Europe, where the number of unicorns (a term used for private technology companies valued at $1 billion or more) is now growing constantly. This is something that has to be taken as great news for the growth of the market. Here we take a look at those unicorns that are operating within the industry in Europe. Continue reading Who Are European Fintech Unicorns of 2018?

Blockchain for Business: A Brief Intro to Hyperledger

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The past few decades of technology development show some noticeable trends like centralization with the creation of tech giants like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook, as well as decentralization that fostered the development of cloud computing, the rapid growth of peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, and and the most recent hype – the outbreak of the distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, that enables cryptocurrencies and promises complete decentralization. Continue reading Blockchain for Business: A Brief Intro to Hyperledger

Which European Banks are Leading the Investment Flow in Fintech?

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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?

Digital Payments Innovation Heats Up

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Cross-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

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European 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

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Peer-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

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VIAINVEST 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

EU’s Fintech Action Plan for More Innovative Financial Market

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The Fintech Action Plan published by the European Commission earlier this March with an aim to ensure more competitive and innovative financial sector will bring positive changes for everyone in fintech. This action plan indicates that the EC considers digital innovation as a key driver for the development of financial services in Europe. Continue reading EU’s Fintech Action Plan for More Innovative Financial Market

A Glimpse of the Equity, Debt and Crypto Market Landscape

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There are different ways how investors can access the debt markets for steady returns. The bond market is a traditional way to access this asset class, including buying bonds that are issued by government agencies or companies. The higher the credit risk, the higher the interest that is paid on loan. As of Q4 2017, a 10-year US government bond was paying approximately 2.3% in yearly interest. Continue reading A Glimpse of the Equity, Debt and Crypto Market Landscape