Welcome to another episode of our Daily Fintech Podcast.
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THE NEWS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY IS
American Express says it is suspending its operations in Russia and Belarus, becoming the latest credit card giant to respond with measures denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
PayPal is suspending its services in Russia, adding to the number of firms retreating from the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
JUST IN:
Several Russian banks announced they would soon start issuing cards using the Chinese UnionPaycard operator's system coupled with Russia's own Mir network, after Visa and MasterCard said they were suspending operations in Russia.
ALSO:
Fintechs For Ukraine aims to encourage tech firms to raise as much money as possible to help support victims of the crisis, with donations going directly to Save the Children’s Ukraine Appeal.
FURTHERMORE,
Paystack announced that it has received a Payment Services Provider (PSP) Enhanced License from the Bank of Ghana.
WHAT ABOUT CRYPTO?
Binance has announced the launch of Bifinity, a payments technology company and its official fiat-to-crypto payments provider.
WHAT ARE THE LATEST INSIGHTS?
Nearly all of Afterpay's customers repaid their installments in 2021, Block CFO Amrita Ahuja told CNBCwhen questioned about the Cash App parent's acquisition of the buy-now, pay-later service.
AS FOR PARTNERSHIPS
Paysafe Group announced the appointment of J.P. Morgan as its core banking provider.
WHAT ABOUT FUNDING ROUNDS AND INVESTMENTS?
After seven years since its last financing round, AngelList Venture announced in a blog post that it has raised a $100 million Series C at a $4 billion valuation.
Dash, an Accra, Ghana-based payments app provider, raised $32.8M in Seed funding.
London-based fintech startup Kolleno has attracted £4 million ($5.4 million) funding.
NOW, LET’S COVER NEW LAUNCHES AND FEATURES.
Pillar, a new fintech offering business accounts designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is gearing up for launch in Canada.