The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | August 7th
By Puja Sharma
The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.
Cash saving market
Since the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reviewed the cash savings market earlier this month, banks and building societies are being penalised for offering disproportionate interest rate rises.
In tandem with its Consumer Duty deadline, the UK financial watchdog introduced a 14-point action plan to make sure banks and building societies offer the most appropriate savings rates. Its recent analysis of the market, which included a roundtable with the UK’s largest banks and building societies, uncovered that while there has been a promising rise on the interest incurred by savings accounts, the rise has not been proportionate for easy access accounts.
Its latest announcement suggests that nine of the UK’s biggest savings providers only passed through 28% of the base rate rise to their easy access deposits between January 2022 to May 2023. However, this was not the same for notice and fixed term deposits, with the same nine providers passing through 51% of the base rate during the same period.
This imbalance has also been observed between firms of different sizes, with larger firms offering lower interest rates than their smaller competitors. With the FCA on the warpath against unfair deals and firms failing to act appropriately, its latest plan cements that it’s more than ready to take action. Firms will have until the end of August this year to justify how their savings rates represent fair value, especially for those offering the lowest rates.
e& money, a FinTech arm and financial super-app of e& life has partnered with Mastercard to transform how customers make payments via prepaid cards. The prepaid card enables payments anywhere worldwide, offering the flexibility and convenience of using virtual and physical cards.
Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO e& life, said, “In recent years, the payments landscape has undergone a massive transformation, with innovations in products and customer experience. Our partnership with Mastercard will reinforce our goal of becoming the region’s leading financial super app. The card will enable e& money to drive financial inclusion in the UAE and make digital payments accessible to all segments of our society.’’
Mastercard is actively driving digital inclusion and accessibility for people across the region. The new payment solution will support financial inclusion and digital payments across all customer segments, including the banked, underbanked, and unbanked.
Digital first bank
HSBC and B2B FinTech Tradeshift have launched a new, jointly-owned business focused on the development of embedded finance solutions and financial services apps.
As part of the agreement, HSBC will make a $35 million investment into Tradeshift in two stages and will join its board. The agreement is part of a funding round that is expected to raise a minimum of $70 million from HSBC and other investors.
The new joint venture will allow the bank and the FinTech to deploy a range of digital solutions across Tradeshift and other platforms. It will also help enable Tradeshift to scale its business commerce proposition across the globe. More details about the joint venture will be announced ahead of its planned launch in early 2024.
Barry O’Byrne, CEO of Global Commercial Banking at HSBC, said: “Enabling and growing global trade has been in HSBC’s DNA for almost 160 years. We are very excited to partner with Tradeshift to help businesses and their suppliers trade more smoothly using world-class technology and solutions that the joint venture will deliver. This agreement supports our strategy of being a digital-first bank, which includes our commitment to partnering with FinTechs and embedding our solutions into the platforms of others.”
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has partnered with talabat, a food delivery platform in UAE, to launch ‘talabat ADCB Credit Card’. The new card maximises rewards for day-to-day talabat orders and purchases, allowing its holders to access various benefits and valuable discounts on culinary experiences through a fully digital journey.
Mohammed Al Jayyash, Group Chief Operations Officer at ADCB, said, “The new strategic partnership between ADCB and talabat builds on shared values that elevate service excellence and provides customer-centric solutions.
“This partnership aligns with the Bank’s ongoing efforts to foster innovation and spearhead the digital transformation of banking services to continuously meet customer needs. The ‘talabat ADCB Credit Card’ represents a significant addition to the Bank’s diverse credit card portfolio, as it underscores our commitment to provide state-of-the art financial solutions and banking services that align with customer expectations.”
What is the buzz
Savings, a high-yield account service offered through the tech giant’s partnership with US bank Goldman Sachs, has celebrated a new milestone with $10 billion being deposited within the first four months of operation. Over $10bn deposited into Apple Card’s savings account in first four months of going live
Integrated into the Apple digital wallet and available to Apple Card users, the account enables users to automatically deposit rewards from Apple’s Daily Cash scheme. Within the first week of going live in April, the offering had already accumulated $1 billion in deposits. This latest announcement confirms the rising popularity of Apple’s financial services, which most recently extended to credit cards and the launch of Tap to Pay in the UK.
“With each of the financial products we’ve introduced, we’ve sought to reinvent the category with our users’ financial health in mind,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
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