In today’s top payments news around the world, SoftBank’s Vision Fund II now reportedly has the ability to invest in food delivery platform Swiggy, while TikTok has now exceeded 3 billion global downloads. Plus, The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking to invest 120 million pounds (about $166 million) in “data and technological capabilities.”
India’s Anti-Monopoly Watchdog OKs SoftBank Investment In Food Delivery App Swiggy
SoftBank’s Vision Fund II can now reportedly invest in food delivery platform Swiggy, upon receiving the green light from the Indian anti-monopoly regulator. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced on social media that it had provided the go-ahead for SoftBank’s acquisition of “a certain stake” in Bundl Technologies, or Swiggy. The news comes on the heels of Swiggy seeing an $800 million funding round, which had the participation of backers such as Goldman Sachs, Carmignac, Think Investments, Amansa Capital and Falcon Edge.
TikTok Mobile App Reaches 3B Global Downloads
TikTok has now surpassed 3 billion global downloads from Google Play and Apple’s App Store, per data from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence, making it the fifth non-gaming app to attain that achievement since 2014, joining Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp. Nearly 383 million individuals globally downloaded the social media app for the first time in the first half of this calendar year.
UK’s FCA To Bolster Data, Tech Capabilities With $166M Investment
The U.K.’s FCA plans to invest 120 million pounds (about $166 million) in “data and technological capabilities” over the next three years. “Better capacity and tools to collect, triage and store data will allow our people to have the right information at the right time,” FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi said during an online event, according to a draft of his speech. “What will ultimately transform our ability to act is how we [analyze] it. Using techniques from data science and social science — especially [behavioral] science and economics — is already enabling us to make more robust, evidence-based decisions.”
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