Top 10 Fintech News for the Week Ending May 20, 2023

Some interesting stories from Washington this week where we saw two very different Senate hearings, one with the former CEO of SVB and the other with the current CEO of OpenAI. We also noticed the launch of a new financial blockchain network, Q1 earnings from Nubank, and Truist launching a gamified savings app. Here are what I consider to be the top 10 fintech news of the week.

SVB’s CEO ‘deeply sorry’ but assures he did nothing wrong Fintech Nexus – The former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank testified before the Senate Banking Committee this week, where he apologized for what happened but gave social media and rapid interest rate increases blamed for the demise of the bank. Interestingly, when asked what mistakes he made, he couldn’t identify anything.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman Urges AI Regulation in Senate Hearing From The New York Times – Staying on Capitol Hill, there was also a hearing this week on AI with the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. He urged lawmakers to regulate AI because “if this technology goes wrong, it could go pretty wrong.”

Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Other Big Firms Relaunch Financial Blockchain from Decrypt – While the financial blockchain space has been quiet lately, there was some big news from some big companies recently. Canton Network is designed to streamline financial markets with web3 technology and includes the likes of Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and nearly 30 other big name companies.

Nubank splits 10% as neobank reports record Q1 earnings from Fintech Nexus – Leading Brazilian digital bank Nubank reported earnings this week and it was another solid quarter. Revenue increased 87% year-over-year to $1.6 billion, and it was their third consecutive quarter of net profit.

Truist launches its standalone gamified financial app from American Banker – Truist acquired Long Game last year and the gamified savings app is now available to Truist customers. It is separate from the main Truist app, but to use Long Game you must be connected to a Truist account. The new app is aimed at millennial and Gen-Z customers and is an attempt to change saving behaviour.

Jack Henry adds FedNow to PYMNTS real-time payment offering – While FedNow is still a couple of months away from launch, leading core banking provider Jack Henry is “operationally ready” to support the new instant payment service. More than 20 Jack Henry clients will participate in the early adopter program.

As payment systems go digital, they are changing global finance from The Economist – In a special report titled, Cashless Talk, The Economist writers take a deep dive into digital payments. With eight separate stories covering the strength of the US dollar, India’s UPI, crypto, CBDC and more.

Petal’s Prism Data partners with Plaid from Fintech Nexus – Prism Data, recently spun out of Petal, has announced a partnership with Plaid. The partnership will allow lenders using Plaid to access Prism Data’s analytics to provide a more in-depth picture of a borrower’s financial situation.

Fintech Ramp Launches AI-Enhanced Tools to Help Businesses Streamline Operations From Crowdfund Insider – Ramp announced new AI-enhanced tools this week to help business customers save time and money. Powered by GPT-4, Ramp Intelligence “unlocks the value of unstructured data previously embedded in card transaction data, documents and receipts for the very first time.”

Ripple buys crypto custodian Metaco for $250 million CoinDesk – The crypto space continues to move forward with Ripple buying Swiss custodian Metaco for $250 million. The technology developed by Metaco will allow Ripple to expand its offerings for the custody, issuance and settlement of tokenized assets.