The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | Oct 1st

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

Seven central banks (Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank and Swiss National Bank), together with the Bank for International Settlements, have released a report outlining their progress as they work together to explore central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for retail and general purpose.

None of the central banks has yet announced it will proceed with a retail CBDC, but they all declared they believe is important to continue to work on the matter, due to its wide-ranging implications. The report is the second study on CBCDs by the BIS and it updates the foundational principles set in last year’s report, outlining how CBDCs can serve people and businesses in a fast-changing technological landscape.

“CBDCs can foster innovation and preserve the best elements of the current system as it evolves,” Benoît Cœuré, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, commented. “This group is helping central banks to answer difficult and practical questions about how to offer safe and neutral currency with interoperable systems that harness new technology and serve the public.”

Deals of the week

• Cover Genius secures $100 million in Series C round driven by Sompo Holdings
• TransferGo raises $50 million in Series C funding round
• Capital Float raises $50 million to cement leadership in BNPL in India
• Verto raises $10 million in a Series A funding round for cross border payments
• Ripple launches $250 million Creator Fund for NFT projects
• EML acquires Sentenial and enters the Open Banking market in Europe
• everis partners with Temenos to accelerate digital transformation of banks in Europe

Be on the lookout for

UK neobank Starling Bank’s expansion in Europe. The digital bank plans to offer its Banking-as-a-Services across the region in countries like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain by the first half of 2022. The operation will enable businesses to build their financial products on Starling’s offering, including savings or current accounts, integrated digital wallets, kids’ cards and debit cards.

“We have seen a consistent and growing demand for digital financial services, further accelerated by extended lockdowns and a shift in consumer behaviours in key European markets, and it is clear that Starling can power new and exciting opportunities for businesses across Europe,” CEO Anne Boden said. “The thriving technology and fintech scene in European markets makes them a great fit for the culture of innovation at Starling, and therefore a natural space for us to offer and develop our solutions in Europe.”

Events & appointments

• FinTech Connect Asia Hybrid Summit 2021 will be held on 5^th-7^th October, a hybrid event that IBSi is media partnering with. The event will include plenary sessions, panels, workshops and presentations by Fortune 500 companies. You can register for free here.
• Token2049 London kicks off next Thursday with a wide range of meetups, workshops, dinners and parties all about crypto!
• Next week we will be also announcing the IBSi NeoChallenger Bank Awards winners in our October FinTech Journal issue – stay tuned to find out who are the coolest neobanks!