Today in FinTech: UK FinTechs Feel the Love; Digital Desires Drive Aussie Banking Giant

In today’s FinTech news, acquisitions were in full bloom as the biggest bank in Australia picked up a stake in FinTech Paypa Plane to help advance digital payments down under.

On the other side of the Indian Ocean, African mobility startup Transtura closed an acquisition deal for FinTech payments startup WazoMoney to further drive payment and marketplace solutions in the region’s emerging economies.

Aussie Bank Acquires Stake in Paypa to Drive Digital Payments

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest bank, revved up its drive to advance digital payments by teaming with FinTech Paypa Plane and acquiring a 20% stake in the firm.

The move is intended to help Aussie businesses transition to PayTo, a new digital tool from the country’s New Payments Platform (NPP), an open-access infrastructure for fast payments that launched in 2018.

UK Alternative Lender ThinCats Secures $135M

Alternative U.K. lender ThinCats raised £100 million pounds ($135 million) from Insight Investments to help small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Insight Investments has backed ThinCats since 2018.

The new capital will help support U.K. SMBs as they develop innovative growth strategies following the global pandemic.

Transtura Acquires FinTech Startup WazoMoney

Nigeria’s ride-hailing and shared mobility startup Transtura announced Monday (Feb. 7) that it closed a deal to acquire FinTech payments startup WazoMoney as part of a strategy to develop payment and marketplace solutions for the mobility sector across Africa.

Transtura launched its service in October in Lagos and with the addition of a marketplace solution, the company is aiming to be an all-in-one solution for mobility needs.

British FinTechs Felt the Love in 2021 with $37.3B in Funding

British FinTechs reaped big financial backing last year, raising $37.3 billion in funding — a 617% increase over 2020, according to KPMG’s biannual report.

Mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital in FinTechs increased roughly 70% worldwide, with a record 5,684 deals in 2021 that topped $210 billion. Part of the increase was buoyed by investor enthusiasm for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) were backed with $77 billion of that total funding, with the Nordic region capturing $18.5 billion and Germany receiving $5.4 billion.

Additionally, the Asia-Pacific region also reaped an increase in investor funding, with $27.5 billion in 2021 — almost double the $14.7 billion in 2020.