Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The EU announced last week that it would suspend the Growth and Stability Pact....
European digital bank N26 has increased its customer base by 200,000 users in just 14 months as digital bank solutions become increasingly more popular in Europe; the company has also reported a new transactions milestone of 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion); the Berlin-based company is targeting tech savvy millennials and has introduced a number of competitive features to attract new customers including a lending product that allows for mobile loans up to 25,000 euros ($26,556); the business has raised over $55 million in capital and is planning to expand to Britain in 2017. Source
Germany's central bank is testing the use of blockchain technology in securities settlement; the central bank has partnered with Deutsche Börse to build a prototype; the prototype system is expected to be able to transfer electronic securities and digital coins also performing functions for coupon payments and redemptions of securities. Source
Germany's central bank is hosting a blockchain workshop as an increasing number of central banks are exploring the use of blockchain; the event is titled, "Blockchain Technology - Opportunities and Challenges"; discussions will be focused primarily for central bankers and regulators; topics will include the success of blockchain, business cases for the technology and the use of bitcoin; workshop participants include European central bankers, European Union Parliament members, financial institution executives, individuals from academia and representatives from blockchain-based companies. Source
P2P-Banking reports that the bank ING Diba has acquired the marketplace lender Lendico; the company had challenges in Germany where it is based and also had shifted from consumer to SME Lending. Source
N26 is a smartphone only bank that was originally launched in Germany and has big backers like Peter Thiel behind it; Vincent Haupert, a PhD student at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, told the Chaos Communications Congress in Hamburg how he and two colleagues found N26 security defenses riddled with holes that could have been used to defraud thousands of users; Haupert presented his findings to the bank and they have since stated that the issues found have been addressed. Source
German-based marketplace lender Bitbond has partnered with African payments provider BitPesa to improve the lending experience for small and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers; Bitbond will enhance the blockchain lending services of its platform by incorporating cross-border payments through BitPesa; the BitPesa payments platform can make payments in 20 minutes and is now live in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Source
German fintech Deposit Solutions has acquired Savedo; Savedo is also a startup in the fintech space and the two firms offer similar services; Deposit Solutions provides a deposit marketplace for savers allowing them to move funds among 15 European banks in order to achieve the highest rate of return; Savedo will help Deposit Solutions expand its offering by adding 13 new banking partners and integrating 18,000 new customers. Source
Target Global, based in Berlin has closed a new fund; the fund will focus on Seed and Series A rounds and expects to fund 20 companies primarily in Germany and Israel; Shmuel Chafets, General Partner at Target Global stated, “Target Global’s Early Stage Fund will serve as a bridge connecting Tel Aviv and Berlin. Germany in general and Berlin more specifically have been able to produce great companies, but if Berlin truly hopes to become a global tech hub it must open itself up to real innovations and groundbreaking technologies. On the other hand, If Israel wants to continue to be the “start up nation” , it has to create sustainable, long-term companies and efficient business processes. We already see some early signs of collaboration taking place, but we believe we can help expand it to other industries.” Source
Marketplace lender, Bitbond, has been an industry leader, providing the first global P2P lending platform for small businesses and now known as the world's first P2P lender allowing transactions with digital currency; Radoslav Albrecht, Bitbond's founder, sees digital currency, and specifically Bitcoin, as an opportunity to expand lending availability to borrowers and help returns for investors; Bitbond is able to offer digital currency transactions through its licensing from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority which took three years and required in-depth investigation of the company's operations including their know your customer and anti-money laundering procedures. Source