EMEA Daily: Revolut CRO Leaves to Start Crypto Platform; FCA Pulls Plug on UK Crypto ATMs

In today’s top Europe, Middle East and Africa news, Revolut’s chief revenue officer is planning on leaving the U.K.-based financial company to launch a cryptocurrency platform, and luxury resale platform Yoox Net-A-Porter debuted a menswear resale line.

Plus, Lunar, the Scandinavian digital bank, closed a $76 million funding round, the ad agreement between Google and Facebook is under investigation by the EU’s European Commission and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority, and operators of cryptocurrency ATMs in the U.K. have been warned by the Financial Conduct Authority to cease operations immediately.

Revolut CRO Alan Chang Leaving to Start Crypto Platform

Revolut Ltd. Chief Revenue Officer Alan Chang will leave the U.K. financial super app company to launch a cryptocurrency platform after launching an effort to rake in $100 million in financing, Bloomberg reported.

Chang’s fundraising effort will give investors future access to tokens, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg. He has invested millions of his own dollars in the effort so far, one of the people said.

Yoox Net-A-Porter Launches Menswear Luxury Resale Line, Expands Beyond UK

Luxury resale platform Yoox Net-A-Porter on Friday (March 11) debuted a menswear resale line, Mr Porter, which joins womenswear line, Net-A-Porter and The Outnet.

Yoox Net-A-Porter also partnered with resale technology provider Reflaunt to sell previously owned designer clothing and has expanded its Net-A-Porter line beyond the U.K. into the U.S., Germany, and Hong Kong.

Digital Bank Lunar Raises $76M

Digital bank Lunar has closed a $76 million (70 million euros) Series D-2 funding round, the Scandinavian company announced.

Lunar said the latest round brings its Series D funding to $307 million (280 million euros) and will help it continue to expand across the region.

EU Data Strategy May Facilitate Open Finance in Europe

Since 2016, the European Commission has crafted a data strategy to facilitate companies’ access to data they couldn’t access on their own. Nicolo Zingales, professor of information law and regulation, told PYMNTS about how the EU Data Act and other legislative proposals are facilitating this process.

UK Watchdog Orders Crypto ATM Agents to Pull Plugs

All of the cryptocurrency ATMs currently available in the U.K. are operating illegally and are being warned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cease operations immediately or face further action, the watchdog said in a statement on Friday (March 11).

Of the cryptocurrency firms that are fully registered with the FCA, none have been approved to offer ATM services. There are 76 crypto ATMs in the U.K., according to Coin ATM Radar.

Denmark’s FinTech Cardlay Closes $6M Financing Deal

The Danish FinTech B2B company Cardlay has received a $6 million cash infusion and hired a chief technical officer, the company announced.

Cardlay’s CEO Jørgen Christian Juul said the latest capital addition will allow the company to take the next step on its ambitious growth journey to be the world’s preferred payment partner for business customers. It will also help to more than double the number of employees this year and next.

UK, EU Launch Parallel Antitrust Probes Into Google-Meta Ad Deal

The advertising agreement between Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s Facebook is under investigation in probes launched by the EU’s European Commission and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority.

At the center of the inquiries is the agreement between the two tech giants and whether it curtailed market competition for online display advertising services. Code-named Jedi Blue, the once-secret 2018 deal surfaced during a 2020 U.S. lawsuit brought by 10 state attorneys general.

The gist of the agreement gives Facebook advantages and guarantees for Google ad space auctions and positions if Facebook agreed to spend a certain amount on display ads.

UK Banks, FinTechs Team up to Bring Belated Tech Boost to Loyalty Industry

Loyalty programs and reward schemes are very popular in the U.K., with a recent PYMNTS report revealing that about 40% of the U.K.’s 67 million population belong to grocers’ loyalty programs, while 63% of U.K. shoppers use at least one grocer’s loyalty program.

But the abundance of these programs and schemes have left customers with the cumbersome task of having to juggle between multiple plastic loyalty cards and apps to claim their points and rewards.