PayPal and Venmo users will soon be able to send crypto to each other and to external wallets

PayPal and Venmo users will soon be able to send crypto to each other and to external wallets

PayPal’s head of blockchain and crypto, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, announced that Paypal and Venmo users will be able to send bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to one another and to other apps.

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HSBC says it won’t offer clients bitcoin, citing volatility and a lack of transparency

HSBC says it won’t offer clients bitcoin, citing volatility and a lack of transparency

HSBC, a global bank with nearly $3T in assets, has decided not to offer bitcoin-related products and services to clients, bucking the trend of other large banks and traditional financial companies that are warming to digital assets, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

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Square to roll out checking and savings accounts for business customers

Square to roll out checking and savings accounts for business customers

Square is quickly expanding its territory beyond payments. The firm, which obtained a bank charter in March, is reportedly on the cusp of offering checking and savings accounts for its small-business customers.

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Merrill Lynch Wealth Management nixes cold calls from adviser training

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management nixes cold calls from adviser training

In an apparent nod to digital-centric customer behaviors, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is no longer making cold calls a part of its training program for incoming brokers.

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After entering the US, Australian ‘buy now, pay later’ firm Zip is using a similar playbook in Europe and the UAE

After entering the US, Australian ‘buy now, pay later’ firm Zip is using a similar playbook in Europe and the UAE

Zip Co, an Australia-based ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) company, is in a race against rivals Klarna and Afterpay to capture as much global market share as quickly as possible.

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Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu signals greater oversight on fintech charters

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu signals greater oversight on fintech charters

In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee this week, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu suggested fintech charters may be looked at more closely.

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Personal finance app Eco hedges its bets on crypto’s fortunes

Personal finance app Eco hedges its bets on crypto’s fortunes

Eco, a personal finance app that takes deposits and offers savings accounts paying 2.5-5% interest, appears to undertake a lot of banking activities without positioning itself as a bank or a cryptocurrency firm.

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Bitcoin value drops to lowest price since February, with ripple effect on other coins

Bitcoin value drops to lowest price since February, with ripple effect on other coins

Bitcoin hasn’t been declared dead, but a decline in value is causing some pullback among investors and affecting the value of other digital currencies such as ether, dogecoin, and XRP.

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Recurring revenue trading platform Pipe raises whopping $250M

Recurring revenue trading platform Pipe raises whopping $250M

Pipe, a Miami-based company that lets companies sell their recurring revenue streams on its platform, raised $250M, bringing its valuation to $2B a year after its launch.

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Fidelity launches no-fee teen brokerage accounts

Fidelity launches no-fee teen brokerage accounts

In an effort to lock in teen business before they seek out competitors when they turn 18 (aka Robinhood and apps like it), Fidelity is offering teens aged 13 to 17 debit cards, and investment and savings accounts.

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SoFi to trade on Nasdaq under ticker “SOFI”

SoFi to trade on Nasdaq under ticker “SOFI”

Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V (IPOE), the Chamath Palihapitiya-linked special-purpose acquisition company, has outlined next steps for its merger with SoFi, a deal that will take the 10-year-old fintech public.

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Wells Fargo launches 10-year strategy to reach unbanked consumers

Wells Fargo launches 10-year strategy to reach unbanked consumers

Wells Fargo is launching a 10-year initiative to bring unbanked and underbanked Americans into the financial system.

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ICYMI: Marqeta files to go public

ICYMI: Marqeta files to go public

Card issuing and processing startup Marqeta has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public, after more than doubling its 2020 year-over-year revenue.

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Banks launch pilot to offer credit to consumers who lack history

Banks launch pilot to offer credit to consumers who lack history

In a major shift in underwriting practices, major banks are working together on a pilot program to share consumer account data in an effort to extend credit to thin-credit-file customers.

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Facebook-backed digital currency project scales back ambitions to focus on US

Facebook-backed digital currency project scales back ambitions to focus on US

Facebook, which has been spearheading a global digital currency initiative called Diem – formerly known as Libra – is moving its operations from Switzerland to the U.S. in an effort to focus efforts on a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin.

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