QI Tech (the “Company”), a leading financial services infrastructure provider in Brazil, today announced it has extended its Series B round, raising additional equity with current investor General Atlantic, a leading global growth investor, as well as Across Capital.
This week in Amazon vs. Walmart, Walmart ramps up its digital transformation by offering exclusive access to online shoppers.
Liz Oakes has been appointed and Carolyn Wilkins has been reappointed as external members of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has announced today (25 April 2024).
Fidel API Holdings Limited (“Fidel Limited”), the holding company of Fidel API, a fintech transaction infrastructure platform, has completed an asset sale of its loyalty business to Enigmatic Smile (“ES”), a global reward technology facilitator.
With eCommerce often proving the most convenient option for the practical elements of shopping, consumers are demanding brick-and-mortar retailers provide them with an experience they cannot get online. Foot Locker on Wednesday (April 24) announced its new “store of the future” in Wayne, New Jersey, a retail format that will provide learnings to be incorporated into new stores as part of the footwear and apparel retailer’s global refresh. The store’s layout that is meant to drive discovery and to allow for easier navigation, with new releases and trending products highlighted in designated sections near the entrance. It aims to provide better brand storytelling. On the back end, the company aims to integrate the store with new digital capabilities that enable employees to work more efficiently. “Our new store concept cements Foot Locker’s position as the leader in sneaker culture by offering an engaging, cutting-edge shopping experience for the sneaker passionate,” Mary Dillon, the retailer’s president and CEO, said in a statement. Physical stores are no longer standalone entities but integral parts of a larger omnichannel retail strategy. They serve as touchpoints where customers can experience products firsthand, make purchases, or engage with the brand physically. As eCommerce grows, physical stores are adapting their layouts and designs to accommodate changing consumer behaviors. Some retailers are reducing store sizes or redesigning spaces to focus more on experiential elements rather than product display. For instance, on Best Buy’s last earnings call, CEO Corie Barry explained that with consumers no longer solely dependent on stores to become familiar with a given location’s inventory, the company can offer a more streamlined in-person experience. “We plan to touch every single store in the chain in some fashion, improving both our merchandising and ease of shopping for customers,” Barry said. “This includes improving and livening the merchandising presentation, given the shift to digital shopping and corresponding lower need to hold as much inventory on the sales floor.” Plus, Walmart has its Store of the Future concept, which incorporates interactive technology that blends online and in-person shopping. At their best, physical stores can serve as community hubs where customers can engage with the brand on a local level, with retailers hosting events, workshops, or demonstrations to foster a sense of community and encourage repeat visits. “We’re … leaning in pretty heavily with store events,” Raina Khumush, director of marketing and digital at Buybuy Baby, told PYMNTS in an interview last month. “So, we are trying to create a cadence of very regular store events, so that our customers that do happen to live within driving distance of a store can come in on a regular basis and interact with us and our vendors and have some really interesting and cool in-person experiences with us.” Khumush added that these experiences have included store openings and registry-building events and that all have included a giveaway component. Foot Locker’s new store, for its part, includes a communal try-on spot for shoppers to “connect and experience the inclusivity of sneaker culture.” These updates come as the rise of digital transforms consumers’ expectations, with many shoppers now interacting with retailers both via online and physical channels, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence study “2024 Global Digital Shopping Index: U.S. Edition,” created in collaboration with Visa Acceptance Solutions. The report, which draws from a survey of more than 2,400 U.S. consumers, found that close to 1 in 3 are Click-and-Mortar shoppers, opting for a purchasing journey that involves both digital tools and physical locations. Specifically, the study noted, 1 in 5 consumers are digitally assisted in-store shoppers, preferring to use digital tools to improve their brick-and-mortar journey, and 11% are pickup shoppers, preferring to place orders online to collect at the store. Still, a significant share of consumers continue to shop the old-fashioned way, with 44% preferring to simply make purchases in stores without digital assistance. The post Shoppers Demand More Experiential Brick-and-Mortar Stores appeared first on PYMNTS.com.
“The SEC argues that nearly every token should be registered under U.S. securities laws,” commented a16z crypto’s general counsel Miles Jennings.
Co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill are charged with money laundering related to the privacy-protecting wallet.
The banking sector has often overlooked the financial needs of those with irregular incomes, poor credit histories or migrant backgrounds, creating a gap in the market for companies to provide accessible and transparent financial solutions. Virraj Jatania, founder and CEO of a UK-based challenger bank Pockit, outlines its dedication to providing vital financial services to underserved communities in the UK, as well as plans to expand it offerings and customer base in the future. Tell us more about your company and its offering Virraj Jatania, founder and CEO, Pockit Pockit provides vital financial services to more than 900,000 customers in the UK – those whose needs aren’t met by the traditional banking system. Our customers include people with irregular incomes, poor credit profiles and migrants with no address history. Pockit’s current offering is a digital account with all the services you would expect from a traditional banking service and more, such as direct debits, faster payments, our Income Advance credit product, ‘Fast Track to Credit’ credit builder product, overseas payments, a pre-payment debit card, and a programme of cashback rewards on spending with selected retailers and offers on broadband, phone and TV contracts. What problem was your company set up to solve? Over one million adults in the UK are unbanked, and almost eight million people in the UK rely on the limited functionality of basic bank accounts. Worldwide, three to four billion people are financially underserved, including up to 130 million in Europe. There are too many banks and providers of traditional finance that prefer people with steady incomes and higher deposits. Pockit fills the gap left by these mainstream institutions, who would rather stay where they are comfortable, which inevitably drives financial exclusion amongst the most vulnerable. We feel especially compelled by the fact that there are many millions more facing financial stress in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis and inflation. Since launch, how has your company evolved? We’ve spent the past nine years building a robust and truly useful service for our customers. Over the last three years, we have really focused on making our business model more sustainable and commercially viable through a combination of improvements to revenue and reductions in cost to serve. These efforts have put us on a solid footing so that with our growing user base and continued support from investors, we can continue our growth and drive towards profitability. The solid footing that we are now on means that we can launch new and exciting products that we hope will greatly impact the consumer finance market. For instance, last month, we released our innovative Income Advance product, allowing customers to borrow money without the high interest rates and risks of loan sharks and payday lenders. The service costs a flat £4.99 fee per advance, with no additional interest charged, offering a financially responsible and regulated option for consumers. We are looking to launch other new products in the future that will continue to both meet and exceed our customers’ needs. What has been the biggest challenge or most ‘tricky moment’ to overcome? Unfortunately, we were caught up in the collapse of Wirecard back in 2020. They were highly credible and trusted across the sector by the likes of not only us but also Revolut, Monzo, Curve and more. As a result, we were one of a large group that identified their offering as fit-for-purpose for a growing fintech business and the debacle took us all by surprise. That said, Pockit has learned a lot since Wirecard, specifically the due diligence we carry out on key supply chain partners. This includes us better understanding their financial stability and key policies and, if appropriate, probing about any potential issues with the regulator. What are your biggest achievements or ‘proudest moment’ so far? Our biggest achievement has to be the impact that we have made in reshaping the consumer finance market by offering vital services to individuals who are left behind by high-street banks because they have irregular income flows, are on low wages, have poor credit histories or lack housing history because they have recently arrived in the UK. This was demonstrated in the launch of our Income Advance product. Amid the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis and reduced availability of credit, we have launched a product that has consistently delivered take-up rates of approximately 50 per cent among our existing customers, strong repayment rates and low default rates. This felt like a vindication of our entire ethos of providing key services responsibly, affordably and sustainably to an underserved market. We do not want to rest on our laurels; having 900,00 customers is a huge achievement, but we want to continue to grow our customer base and launch innovative new products on our mission of supporting the financially underserved. How would you describe the culture of your company? We have a team that are unwaveringly committed to democratising financial inclusion. Empowering the millions of people who have been left behind by traditional financial services is core to our mission. Pockit champions a hard-working culture, which is important to deliver our audacious goals. At the same time there has to be an environment people enjoy being in, so we ensure the hard work is offset by doing things our team members enjoy and having an open door policy across the business. What’s in store for the future? One of Pockit’s key plans is to continue to grow its customer base. In the UK alone, 20.2 million people are financially underserved who could really benefit from Pockit’s services, not to mention the benefits Pockit can bring to the many millions more facing financial stress in the wake of the cost-of-living crisis and inflation. So we know the market demand is there. In addition to growing our customer base, we are broadening our product offering. As well as the recent launch of our Income Advance product, we have an ongoing trial and plan to fully roll out our ‘Fast Track to Credit’ credit builder product, which will help people locked out of the financial system improve their credit scores. The product involves creating a virtual loan, held in savings, against which the customer pays a monthly sum of £9.99, mirroring a repayment scheme. These repayments are reported to the three major UK credit agencies, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, in order to assist customers in building their credit profiles. Our credit builder product will build on Pockit’s success in creating a safe, regulated and sustainable route to access a wider range of financial services for our customers. Beyond this, we are exploring additional products within the lending vertical to help customers manage the cashflow volatility they face in the month and this will be complemented with helping customers to save more through budgeting features, savings accounts, insurance products and more partners on our perks and rewards programme. The post Behind the Idea: Pockit appeared first on The Fintech Times.