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Why A Grab GoTo Merger might be too little too late
The Southeast Asian super apps Grab and GoTo, long archrivals in some of the world’s most competitive digital services markets, are once again considering a Grab GoTo merger. In contrast to previous merger talks earlier in the decade, this time the discussions include a proposal to give the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara a minority…
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Why has Chime’s market cap fallen 50% since its IPO?
The June 2025 IPO of Chime, the biggest American digital bank, was a big deal. The San Francisco-based company priced its market debut at US$27 per share above the expected range, raising US$700 million at a valuation of US$11.6 billion. Chime’s arrival in public markets was long anticipated and helped thaw an erstwhile frozen fintech IPO pipeline. …
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How did Nubank conquer the Brazilian banking market?
Brazil’s Nubank posted a record profit of US$783 million in the third quarter, an increase of 39% from a year earlier and ahead of the US$723 million estimate from analysts surveyed by Valor. The total loan portfolio reached $30.4 billion in the third quarter, up 42% year-on-year. Nubank revenues reached $4.2 billion in the July…
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Kakao Bank Hits New Record In First 9 Months of 2025
Kakao Bank, South Korea’s largest and most successful digital lender, posted a record cumulative profit in the first 9 months of the year of 375.1 billion won (US$259.1 million), up 5.5% over the same period in 2024. A diversified revenue base offset narrowing margins in interest income and was a key factor in its strong…
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Why did GCash delay its IPO until H2 2026?
Ant Group-backed GCash, the most successful Philippine payments platform, has been eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) for several years. It achieved profitability in 2021, three years ahead of target. Having hit that milestone four years ago and boasting 94 million users, the company seems like it should be primed to go public. In fact,…
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Revolut’s Nordic expansion is about more than challenging Klarna
UK fintech giant Revolut, riding high on a new and improved valuation of US$75 billion, is set to challenge buy now, pay later (BNPL) juggernaut Klarna on the Swedish company’s home turf—and immediate environs. Revolut announced on November 6 that it would open a branch in Stockholm in 2026. The Swedish capital is home to…
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Section 1071 whiplash: compliance timelines, stays, and what community banks should do next
How we got here (fast) In March 2023, the CFPB finalized its small-business data collection rule under ECOA/Reg B (Dodd-Frank §1071), requiring covered lenders to collect and report application-level data including demographics on small-business credit. The Bureau’s landing page remains the single source of truth on rule scope and resources. Litigation started almost immediately. In…
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Community Banks Cash-in on Instant Payments
Walk into a community bank boardroom today and you’ll hear a familiar refrain: deposits are harder to hold, small-business clients want their money faster, and fraud feels like it’s evolving by the week. None of those pressures is new. What is new is that the United States finally has two always-on instant rails, The Clearing…
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Monzo’s Second Shot at a U.S. Bank License: What’s Different This Time
Four years after withdrawing its application, Monzo is gearing up to try again for a U.S. banking licence. If successful, the UK neobank would shift from a sponsor-bank model to a fully chartered presence controlling deposits, credit, and economics end-to-end rather than renting access through a partner. The timing isn’t accidental. Monzo is financially stronger…
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UPI International: Can India’s Rail Outcompete Card Networks Overseas?
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) through UPI International is expanding from a domestic phenomenon into a cross‑border contender. The question now is whether it can pry tourist spend and remittance flows away from the global card duopoly, and on what economics. Why now At home, UPI has become the operating system of everyday money. In…
