FinTech Wire #2: Impact Investing, Biometric Cards and Shoppable Emails

Code & Pepper is calling all FinTech buffs hungry for the latest industry insights! FinTech Wire comes back with a juicy selection of fresh news, hand-picked from top headlines and press releases. This week, we’ll be hearing from major movers and shakers in sustainable investing, biometric authentication, instant purchasing, cryptocurrency, and blockchain…

Weekly FinTech news digest: 20—26 October 2020

This edition of FinTech Wire offers a truly global outlook on such universal issues as climate-conscious investment, adoption of biometrics in card payments or regulations for open banking services. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency goes mainstream, leaders in blockchain see record turnovers and e-commerce gets a power boost through instant purchasing within email. Read on to learn more!

Tickr introduces carbon offset subscriptions in UK

Balancing the carbon footprint might not seem a priority when considering prospects for an investment portfolio. An impact investment app Tickr wants to change that. This UK-based company has just launched carbon subscription in a move to automate and encourage investment in sustainable projects. Tickr offers its users a selection of accredited projects dedicated to such global issues as developing renewable energy sources, protecting wildlife or building sustainable rural communities. Depending on their custom plan for monthly carbon offsetting, private investors using Tickr can become carbon neutral, carbon positive or even gain the title of climate heroes!

Read more about innovations in FinTech customer experience

Cards with built-in fingerprint scanners, used instead of PIN to authenticate in-store payments, went through first trials in South Africa already in 2017. Now, Mastercard is getting ready for the next step in global biometrics adoption. The company has recently announced that the trials of biometric cards in Asia would be conducted in cooperation with a Singapore-based FinTech MatchMove and an augmented identity firm Idemia. Among the main benefits of the new biometric card under the product name F.CODE Easy, Mastercard points to improved detection and prevention of fraud, reduced operational costs, better approval rates and a boost in customer loyalty. Moreover, biometric cards are compatible with the existing card terminal infrastructure and do not require any hardware or software upgrades.

Read more about using biometrics for KYC and AML processes

CFPB to revisit banking data access regulations in US

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a US federal agency making sure all companies play by the same consumer protection rules and compete fairly in the financial marketplace. In its recent advance notice for proposed rulemaking, CFPB calls for public consultations regarding rights to access consumers’ baking data. It’s a welcome initiative from the perspective of many FinTechs leveraging open banking services. They have been increasingly concerned about the current regulations, which make it possible for banks to block consumers from sharing their data with other service providers. With the growing adoption of financial apps, the issue of removing ambiguity from the regulatory landscape could be seen as “the legal underpinning of all FinTech”.

Read more about digital transformation in banking and financial services

Ethereum’s road to glory on the crypto market

According to the latest estimates by Messari (a crypto market data aggregator), Ethereum (ETH) is likely to become the first public blockchain to settle more than $1 trillion during a single year. 2020 has seen intensified efforts from both Ethereum and Bitcoin to reach the 1 trillion market cap, but it looks like stablecoins and DeFi protocols are finally swinging the balance in favour of Ethereum. However, not all is lost for other players on the crypto field. Although in 3Q 2020, the ETH network has been processing over twice the daily transaction volume of Bitcoin, its high fees might soon become a serious obstacle to further growth (or a chance for rival blockchains to steal the spotlight).

Read more success stories from FinTech market leaders

Skipify partners with Google to offer shoppable emails

Skipify, a San Francisco-based company providing AI payments and solutions for e-commerce, has announced ongoing efforts to offer instant purchasing within Gmail. Partnership with Google could be seen as another step towards fulfilling the company’s mission to “unlock commerce and payments within and across channels”. So what does a frictionless commerce experience look like according to Skipify? With its 1-Touch Purchasing, users can buy products directly from blog posts, reviews, product pages, pop-ups or even texts. Now, customers will be also able to view real-time product data and make instant purchases without leaving the email inbox. What’s interesting, merchants can participate in the Shoppable Emails programme without any additional coding or the need to change email providers.

Read more about painless payments and leaders in reducing purchase friction

More news from FinTech Wire coming soon…

Another eventful week in FinTech leaves us with a promise of a greener, more interconnected and tech-driven future. Curious to see what’s next in finance and beyond? Subscribe to the #FinTechWire hashtag on our LinkedIn and Twitter to receive updates straight to your news feed!