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Mexico 🇲🇽 FinTech Stori closed a new funding round worth $𝟮𝟭𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻, in a mix of equity and debt financing that includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., to boost investments and expansion to other markets. The Stori transaction is among the largest venture capital deals in Latin America this year, as dealmaking has hit its slowest pace in six years amid high interest rates that have kept investors waiting on the sidelines. There were only five triple-digit VC deals in region in all of 2023, according to PitchBook data through June. Stori provides payment cards and high-interest deposit accounts in Mexico focusing on the underbanked population. The company plans to use the cash from the equity investment to improve its technology and add to its product suite while funds from the debt portion will be used for lending, according to co-founder and chief governance officer Marlene Garayzar. The investment will allow the company to move forward with a plan to invest 7 billion pesos (about $𝟯𝟲𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻) in Mexico over the next two years to lure in more clients as part of its strategy to increase financial inclusion in a country where a large swath of residents don’t have formal bank accounts. Stori has more than 3 million active users, and for around 80% of its cardholders, the company was the first to provide them with a credit card. More info: https://lnkd.in/dcRTx9Kz Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ]

This is absolutely insane! In less than 24 hours: 👇😳 - $2 trillion was wiped out from stocks this morning due to fears of a global recession. Emergency Fed meeting expected. - The volatility index aka $VIX is now trading above 65, a level only seen 2 previous times in history. The only 2 times the $VIX has traded above 65 were the 2020 Pandemic and the 2008 Financial Crisis. - Taiwan's 🇹🇼 stock market crashes to worst day in 57 years. - Japan's 🇯🇵 stock market suffers worst losses since 1987. - NVIDIA is trading like a meme stock. The stock has now seen a $2.2 trillion swing in market cap since July 23rd - Polymarket's prediction markets are now showing that recession odds in the US have nearly doubled overnight, to 26%. Probably nothing. P.S. for more interesting stuff, check out 🔔linas.substack.com🔔, it's the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Technology. For founders, builders, and leaders.

The "Digital Wallets Beyond Financial Transactions: Germany Edition" report: Official Link: https://lnkd.in/gKkEYX2k The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report explores the evolving use of digital wallets in Germany beyond just payments and transactions. Key findings: - Nearly 50% of German customers used digital wallets for online shopping in the past year, showing their developing mainstream adoption. - Over 20% of #GenZ clients used digital wallets for travel and transportation like boarding passes, indicating more youthful users are embracing extended wallet capabilities. - 65% of Germans who saved non-financial credentials like #IDs and tickets in their wallets have been extraordinarily glad, suggesting greater adoption of those use instances. The report highlights how digital wallets are shifting past simple payments in Germany, specifically among younger #demographics. Businesses should take note of this trend and not forget how to leverage the entire talents of digital wallets to decorate the patron revel in. Maximilian Salomon Igor Babych Zvonimir Filjak Arthur Bedel 💳 ♻️ Nicolas Pinto #digitalpayments #digitalwallet #consumertrends #germany

Blue Sky Thinking Tuesday is here and we're pushing the boundaries again. How could our industry look like in +20 years? From quantum computing and #AI to #AugmentedReality, multisensory customer interactions and emotional-driven customer support. No boundaries - only innovation, curiosity and thinking outside the box. You can see PART 1 here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eQcsdzaF —————————— 👍 Found value in this post? Hit the like button 🔔 Hit the bell icon on my profile for more content like this ♻️ Repost if useful Martin Moeller Tony Moroney Igor Babych Sally Eaves Husa Alangari, PhD Victor Yaromin Katarina Prozorova, MD,MBA Deddy H. Pakpahan Darius Grigaliunas Prof. Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld Aminul Islam Elitsa Krumova RAKTIM SINGH Balazs Sebok JOY CASE Sam Boboev Hank Barker #AI #GenAI #FutureFinance #FinancialInnovation #FinancialServicesFuture #DidYouKnowAboutAI Mark Hinkle #AIKnowledge #AIUseCases #AIFinancialServices Evgeny Krapivin Daniel Lardi Niko Kluyver Yulia Myronova 🇺🇦 #BlueSkyThinkingTuesday #BlueSkyThinking Andreas Neidhart-Lau 

Genius #design! 👌 Even in a world full of AI, human creativity is irreplaceable—it's what truly brings our biggest ideas to life. What do you think? Join the IRREPLACEABLE community and read the Book: www.irreplaceable.ai

Revolutionize your #businesscommunication #technology #Smartphone #Evolution #telecommunication #5G #mobile #isapnetwork #isapphone #esim #isapesim #iphone #samsung #apple #huawei #voip #voipbusiness #voipbusinessphonesystem #voipservices #voipbusinessphoneprovider #voippbx www.isap.network www.esim.isap.network iSAP Network cloud based Telecommunication StartHub.Agency Tino Herold

As we move from Open Banking to Open #Finance, Variable Recurring #Payments (#VRPs) represent one of the most promising use cases. But are they really in a position to replace direct debit? Let’s take a look.   VRPs are based on the concept of payment initiation (PIS) introduced by open banking and allow account-holders to give permission to authorised payments providers (PISPs) to make payments on their behalf on a recurring basis and not just once.   VRPs have a mechanism similar to the one of direct debit but built on open banking rails: -  Like direct debit they require a mandate, but their huge benefit is that this is done only once, meaning that authentication (SCA) for every transaction is not necessary (one of open banking’s main UX pain points) -   Consumers have complete control, as they can cancel them at any time and get to define in detail the parameters of the transactions upfront (i.e. start and end date, amount per transaction, max amount, frequency, etc)   The big game changer is that VRPs offer a very reliable or even better alternative to direct debit or card-on-file payments since they: -   offer a high level of security -   are real-time (instant for consumers and instant processing and settlement for merchants) -   are irrevocable -   render overcharging practically impossible (given that the customer’s consent is needed) -   minimize fraud since there are no card details to be stolen -   do not require any information update (vs expired credit or debit card details that need to be updated)   If you think about it, many of our daily life payments are, in fact, recurring payments: from streaming services (i.e. Netflix, Spoitfy) to all kinds of memberships (gym, athletic clubs, etc) to bill payments. To pay such services today we use a combination of methods, mainly direct debit, standing orders or card payments. The big opportunity for VRPs is to replace all of the above with a more reliable and flexible set-up that can save us time and money while giving us more control. Avoiding subscription traps by limiting test duration or fees by sweeping funds to my overdraft are good examples.   VRPs are not yet available in Europe, but they have been live in the UK since July 2022 via the so-called sweeping, which is the automated transfer between accounts of the same person. Going forward a few conclusions stand out: 1) we are still in very early stages 2) the biggest opportunity is still in front of us and is connected to e-commerce payments and subscription management 3) many of the existing players – from banks, to merchants, to payment providers, to FinTechs and to card schemes – may find themselves in need of re-defining their roles and #business model 4) adoption will be a rather slow growth curve that will depend on educating both consumers and merchants and on pricing.   Opinions: my own, Graphic sources: Baringa, Danske Bank

The "As instant payments go global, banks must control risk" white paper: White paper Link: https://lnkd.in/gkjMQ7Cf Interesting white paper from RS2 Software on the explosive growth of instant payments globally and the risks it poses for banks. Key takeaways: - Instant payments are set to account for 1 in 3 transactions globally through 2030, pushed by speedy adoption in #Asia and the upcoming #EU mandate - Cards stay the dominant fee technique in advanced markets like #NorthAmerica and #Europe, creating fraud risks for banks with instant payments - New fraud kinds like Automated Push Payment fraud are on the upward thrust, with banks' legacy structures not able to handle real-time fraud assessments - Challenges span transactions, FX, settlement, and guidelines - requiring #banks to improve legacy technologies to a single global payments platform The white paper highlights the urgency for banks to get ahead of the instant #payments revolution and put into effect the right infrastructure and controls to manage the associated risks. Sam Boboev Maximilian Salomon Igor Babych Saleh ALhammad David Jimenez Maireles #instantpayments #paymentsrisk #bankingInfrastructure #paymentstransformation #globalpayments #digitalpayments #bankingtechnology

Building A Winning AI Neobank 💡 Players interested in launching a neobank today should adopt an AI-first mindset and build a holistic set of capabilities in four interconnected layers: 📱 Engagement layer Neobanks need to create experiences and build accompanying capabilities that fulfill a range of customer expectations. First, the engagement layer needs to deliver experiences that are not only easy, intuitive, fast, and responsive but also delightful. Second, these experiences need to be available where customers need them the most. One way to do this would be to build their products and interfaces in a way that they can be seamlessly integrated with various ecosystem partners. Third, neobanks need to set up a product innovation engine that allows for the discovery of unarticulated customer needs and the flexibility to introduce innovative new products. 🤖 AI-and-analytics-led decisioning layer Hyper-personalization requires granular AI-driven decisions across the entire customer life cycle, spanning acquisition, onboarding, servicing, retention, and cross-sell. This requires many machine-learning models across domains including credit analytics, product and channel propensity, fatigue, and risk to identify the next-best action for customers. Some essential capabilities are required to build and effectively deploy these models. The first relates to data gathering. Since ML models are built on data, neobanks need to create data ingestion pipelines (traditional banking customer information, transaction data, and less-traditional data streams). Neobanks also need to be able to rapidly deploy, test, and iterate on their models in live production environments. This requires technical capabilities such as machine-learning operations and close coordination among data, product, technology, and business teams. 👨💻 Core technology and data layer Developing experiences in the engagement layer and personalizing the decisioning layer require a modern technology and data core. The goal should be to develop a cloud-based, flexible, and highly configurable banking core that will help engineering teams launch new product variants rapidly through easy configurations. 🚀 Operating-model layer The final layer pertains to how it attracts and organizes talent across its teams in a way that breaks traditional organizational silos. First, a successful neobank should be able to set and embody an aspirational vision and culture for the organization. Second, these neobanks should have full-stack platform-based teams with all the skill sets required for their end objective.Finally, the neobanks should calibrate the organizational rhythms and processes that promote innovation and rapid experimentation while adhering to regulation and compliance norms. Source: McKinsey & Company - https://mck.co/3KANZym #Innovation #Fintech #Banking #Neobanks #EmbeddedFinance #API #FinancialServices #CoreBanking #AI #MachineLearning #BigData #Cloud #GenAI