Today in FinTech: Korea gets crypto bank

by James · July 7, 2022

In today’s FinTech news, Korea gets its first crypto bank while Singapore grants a license for a major payment institution. In addition, B2B purchases now, pay later (BNPL) options can help close the working capital gap in Africa.

Delio launches Korea’s first crypto bank

Delio, the first provider of virtual asset services (VASP) in Korea, has launched the country’s first cryptocurrency bank.

As a crypto bank, Delio will offer money market deposit accounts that enable crypto deposits and withdrawals at any time, plus loans and asset transactions. A number of cryptocurrency services are also offered, including savings, lending, asset management, payment and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Sleek Secures Payments License in Singapore

Sleek, an all-in-one digital platform for small businesses, was awarded a license for large payment institutions (MPI) by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

With the license, the company will continue to support the underserved market segment of entrepreneurs at an early stage by offering incorporation, accounting, taxation, corporate secretarial services and CFO-as-a-Service, in addition to issuing business accounts and debit cards. The start-up also offers local and cross-border payments and debt collection.

BNPL is the working capital bridge for African SMEs

Yele Oyekola, co-founder and CEO of the Africa-focused B2B payment platform Duplo, told PYMNTS that a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) program for businesses can help close the gap in working capital financing for SMEs in emerging markets markets across Africa.

The start-up helps sellers, aggregators and distributors operating in cash-intensive markets to streamline and digitize their payment flows and generate or pay invoices.

AML software company Lucinity raises $ 17 million

Software maker Lucinity Anti-Money Laundering (AML) raised $ 17 million in a Series B round, which it will use to expand its customer base, product offering, partner network and employees.

The Reykjavik, Iceland-based company develops user-centric compliance systems enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI). Lucinity aims to help banks and FinTechs increase compliance productivity by more than 50%.

Griffin Bags $ 15.5M Investment to Grow BaaS

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup Griffin raised $ 15.5 million in new financing led by Notion Capital. The fresh funds will be earmarked for talent expansion and the development of new products.

Notion Capital co-founder and CEO Stephen Chandler was also appointed to Griffin’s board.

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NEW PYMNTS DATA: HOW TOOLS AND CONSUMER FINANCING COMPANIES CAN IMPROVE THE BILL PAYING EXPERIENCE

About: More than half of energy and consumer finance companies have the ability to process all monthly bill payments digitally. The kicker? Only 12% of them do. Digital Payments Edge, a PYMNTS and ACI Worldwide partnership, examined 207 billing and debt collection experts at these companies to find out why it is still elusive to go completely digital.