EMEA Daily: Lloyds Looks to Buy More FinTechs; Helu.io Raises $10M

Lloyds Looks to Buy More FinTechs, CEO Says

Lloyds Banking Group is considering acquiring more FinTechs to boost its digital capabilities. CEO Charlie Nunn said the company — which recently purchased wealth platform Embark Group and protection firm Cavendish Online — will “definitely continue to look” at future acquisitions.

SMB Budgeting Platform Helu.io Raises $10M in Series A

Helu.io, a budgeting and financial reporting platform for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), has closed its Series A funding round, which raised over 9.8 million euros (about $10 million). The round was led by CommerzVentures, IRIS and Speedinvest. Founded in 2020 by unicorn investor Franz Salzmann, the Vienna-based FinTech helps chief financial officers (CFOs) and financial managers of SMBs automate financial controlling and reporting processes.

European Banking Authority Chair Needs Staff to Govern Crypto

European Banking Authority (EBA) Chair José Manuel Campa is worried about being able to find enough talent to govern and enforce the mandates around cryptocurrency and digital assets coming into effect in 2025. By its very nature, the crypto sector “tends to go behind the curve” Campa said, adding that in three years, the space may have “moved and transformed into other uses that I cannot anticipate.”

Customers Prefer Simple, Not Super App, Experience When Sending Money Cross Border, Says Atlantic Money Co-Founder

In an interview with PYMNTS, Neeraj Baid, co-founder of U.K.-based money transfer startup Atlantic Money, said that many super apps are too complex and are geared toward solving problems for companies and not customers. He said “customers do not want four additional [substandard] products to get in the way of the original service, [which then] ends up getting muddied over time and [becomes] less attractive to the core customer base that really valued it at the beginning.”

Santander CIB, SAP Team to Digitize Transaction Banking

Santander Corporate and Investment Banking (Santander CIB) has announced a new strategic partnership with SAP Spain intended to boost digitization across global transaction banking services by stimulating co-innovation. The partnership will focus on solutions around the concept of invisible banking, improving client-to-bank connectivity, and providing financial tools to help each firm’s clients navigate supply chain disruptions and accelerate the decarbonization of their industrial activities.