Things to know about Boston Fintech Week this year

Things to know about Boston Fintech Week this year

Boston FinTech Week is coming up soon! It runs from September 27 – 29 this year and is once again an in-person event. We asked Sarah Biller, co-founder of FinTech Sandbox (the organization presenting Boston Fintech Week) and Executive Director of Vantage Ventures, to tell us a little about this year’s event.

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Insurtechs eye, move into nascent markets

Insurtechs eye, move into nascent markets

According to reporting by TechCrunch, a new wave of insurtechs are specializing in niche, burgeoning markets. Boundless Rider, for example, covers motorcycle, e-bike, and power sport vehicle riders; and CoverTree covers manufactured homes.

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What an uptick in home rentals means for proptechs

What an uptick in home rentals means for proptechs

A growing proportion of homeowners are pulling their for-sale homes from the market to rent them instead. The number of delisted homes that never went under contract increased by 58% over the past year.

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Marcus is in the Fed’s crosshairs

Marcus is in the Fed’s crosshairs

Anonymous sources say the Federal Reserve is investigating Marcus, Goldman Sachs’s consumer-banking branch. This follows a probe by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) last month into Marcus’s credit card practices.

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CFPB eyes tighter BNPL regulation in new report

CFPB eyes tighter BNPL regulation in new report

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a new report to expand "interpretive guidance or rules" related to the BNPL space. The CPFB hopes to align the industry with compliance standards introduced in the Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility Act of 2009.

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Inside the minds of growth investors

Inside the minds of growth investors

Beyond SoftBank and its woes, many tech-focused growth investors have seen the value of their portfolios shrink significantly over the past year, raising questions about the soundness of their investment strategies. T Rowe Price’s Global Technology Equity Fund has fallen 45% over the past year; as has Tiger Management by 50%, and Ark Innovation by 55%.

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SoftBank eyes another Vision Fund

SoftBank eyes another Vision Fund

Japan-based tech investor SoftBank is reportedly considering another multibillion-dollar startup fund. SoftBank reported a $23B loss in Q2 2022.

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Making payments solutions a marketplace with PayQuicker

Making payments solutions a marketplace with PayQuicker

In an interview with The Financial Revolutionist, PayQuicker President Charles Rosenblatt explains the company’s newest offering, details the conditions that gave birth to PayQuicker, and outlines the future of payments and payouts.

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Making sense of Starbucks NFTs

Making sense of Starbucks NFTs

Starbucks announced that it will launch Starbucks Odyssey, an NFT-based rewards program and marketplace. Rewards members can buy and sell NFTs to each other and gain access to exclusive rewards, like virtual classes and trips to coffee plantations.

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Will payments tech let Russia overcome SWIFT exclusion?

Will payments tech let Russia overcome SWIFT exclusion?

VTB, a Russia-based state-controlled bank with $280B in assets, began supporting transfers to China in yuan. Purchases of yuan in Russia have increased by 800% this year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions.

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What Wave’s future means for payments challengers

What Wave’s future means for payments challengers

Wave, a payments platform in Senegal, is in a price war with incumbent platform Orange Money. Wave offers a 1% fee on money transfers, while Orange Money has dropped its rates from 5% to 0.8%.

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Through acquisition, JPMorgan competes with Stripe, Block, and itself

Through acquisition, JPMorgan competes with Stripe, Block, and itself

JPMorgan announced that it’s acquiring cloud-native payments startup Renovite. The California-based startup will become part of JPMorgan Payments.

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Why Bank of America is training high schoolers

Why Bank of America is training high schoolers

Bank of America has partnered with the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey, to launch educational programs in local high schools. Students who complete the course will be extended job offers for positions related to emerging technologies by Bank of America.

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With EY’s breakup in sight, will other firms follow suit?

With EY’s breakup in sight, will other firms follow suit?

Partners at accounting giant Ernst & Young are expected to approve a split of the company’s auditing and consulting businesses. The audit-focused company would retain the EY brand.

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Home equity loans are back on the rise

Home equity loans are back on the rise

Lenders originated more than $100B in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) in the first five months of 2022. This represents a 50% increase over the same period in 2021.

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