The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | Feb 25th

By Gaia Lamperti

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements. For Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Kalifa Review, the report published on February 26th 2021 after the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Chairman of Network International Ron Kalifa to conduct an independent review to identify ways to support the UK’s FinTech sector. One year on, industry experts say the government needs to do more to ensure the sector follow the recommendation included in the document.

Among the suggestions included in the review, figure amendments to the UK’s listing rules that would make the country a more attractive location for IPOs, more accessible tech visas to attract global talent that would boost the FinTech workforce, improvements in regulations, and more extensive support to growth-stage FinTech companies.

“The recommendations put forward in the Kalifa report were progressive, further elevating UK Financial Services on the global stage,” comments Ryan Joyce, Head of FinTech UK&I at CRM SaaS firm Salesforce. “However, there is more work to be done. With more than 1 billion people unbanked globally and one in four UK adults experiencing financial exclusion at least once in their lives, there remains a need to address inequality and promote financial inclusion through more innovative products.”

The UK has cemented its position as a major European hub for FinTech and financial innovation, with London becoming home to major unicorns in the space such as Wise, Revolut and Monzo. In 2021, venture capital investments into the country’s FinTech industry hit the record $11.6 billion benchmark, but there is more work to be done.

“Many in the industry – myself included –  believe that the Kalifa Review’s initial recommendations did not go far enough,” Mike Laven, CEO of FinTech company Currencycloud, says. “Implementing the report’s noble but modest proposals alone will not win the day; if the British government doesn’t start thinking bigger, it will start losing opportunities and growth to those who do.”

“Policymakers cannot afford to be complacent and must be more assertive if they want the country to remain globally competitive within the FinTech sector. What the UK fintech industry needs more than anything else is easy access to talent and global markets, and policymakers are yet to make satisfactory progress on either of these points,” he adds.

Deals of the week

• Scalapay, now a unicorn, announced $497 million Series B round
• Niyo raises $100 million in Series C round led by Accel and Lightrock
• Beyond Identity raises $100 million to accelerate adoption of invisible, un-phishable MFA
• Digital banking challenger Alif receives $100 million valuation
• Weavr closes $40 million Series A funding to accelerate expansion of Plug-and-Play Finance
• Flutterwave close $250 million in Series D funding
• NayaPay raises $13 million to roll out digital payments service in Pakistan

Be on the lookout for

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces, companies in the financial services industry have responded halting their activities in Russia, in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. Baltic FinTech Paysera closed accounts of Russian clients and is stopping transfers to and from the country. Russia could be soon banned from the SWIFT correspondent banking network too, as Western nations are disputing over at this very moment. In Ukraine itself, the central bank has banned the issuance of electronic money and the replenishment of electronic wallets following the invasion by Russia.

Events & Appointments

• FinTech Festival India aims to unleash the potential of FinTech in India and showcase the opportunities for investors and the global FinTech fraternity to venture across the Indian market. It’s on March 1st-3rd in a virtual format.
• In London, on March 2nd, 11:FS is throwing an Open Mic Night for an “anything goes” chat about all things FinTech and network opportunities.