BANKING.UPDATE JUNE/JULY 2018
> How is this relevant to the Qatari market? While digital-only bank features will be increasingly common also in Qatar, it's obvious that customers' trust in full-fledged banks is still prevailing.
> How is this relevant to the Qatari market? With its large expatriate population, money transfers to global destinations play a major role in Qatar. As the example shows, innovations may come not just from the banks themselves, but also from fintech partners.
> How is this relevant to the Qatari market? The startup scene in Qatar is emerging, and presents local banks with an opportunity to establish strong links that they will benefit from during later stages, once innovative solutions have been developed.
Monzo's Losses Quadruple Despite Customer Numbers Surging Ahead The UK's 'bank of the future' reports surging customer numbers but also widens losses amid increased investments. The digital bank has acquired 750,000 customers with their numbers expected to reach 'millions' by 2019. One of the challenges affecting results is the fact that 80% of customers don't use it to deposit their salaries. https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2018/07/02/di gital-bank-monzo-s-losses-more-than-quadruple/
Fintech Unicorn TransferWise Partners with a Major Bank The company specialising in money transfers around the world and challenging traditional banks with lower fees and more advantageous exchange rates has announced that it would partner with the French Groupe BPCE. The aim is to offer money transfer services to the group's customers by integrating these in its mobile apps. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/04/transferwisestrikes-partnership-with-first-major-bank-bpce.html
Canadian Companies CDPQ and Sun Life Launch a Fintech Venture Capital Fund The newly established fund is backed by a number of financial institutions and has the aim to provide capital to innovative fintech companies in their early stages. Starting with a volume of $75m that could be raised to $100m in the coming months, it will provide seed financing of up to $2m in order to develop innovative solutions that could be of benefit to financial companies. https://business.financialpost.com/news/fpstreet/caisse-sun-life-backing-new-75-million-fintechventure-capital-fund