#297
Know When To Fold 'Em

"Car, how is my portfolio doing today?" - TD Ameritrade announced that drivers will now have the ability to check their stock portfolios and get financial news through the company's integration with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Echo Auto. For now customers can't trade through the in-car integration, so hopefully prices don't move too much before the next red light. Read more

China's new Nasdaq-style exchange had crazy first day - Stocks listed on China's new "Star Market," which is part of China's broader initiative to entice local wealth away from New York and Hong Kong-based exchanges, surged 140% on average at the end of the exchange's first day of trading. The 25 companies raised more than $5.4b, with some stocks closing as high as 400% on the day. Read more

Decade after the Great Recession, rates are still low – Continuously low rates since the Great Recession have reshaped a generation of investors, traders, savers, and policymakers. This global phenomenon has sent investors searching in every nook and cranny for more returns. Read more

Japan remains obsessed with cash - Japan's aging population, low crime rate, and a mistrust of financial systems have led to Japan being one of the world’s most cash-obsessed societies. As the country works towards a cashless society, it has a long way to go, and it is currently costing the country ~$15b every year to handle its cash.Read more

Profitability metrics take a back seat - Maximilian Tayenthal, co-founder of Europe’s most valuable fintech, N26 (valued at $3.5b), was recently quoted as saying “profitability isn’t a ‘core metric’” for today’s innovative companies. Read more

Coinbase's internal conflicts have led to recent executive departures -Over the past few months Coinbase has lost a number of senior executives, including its Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Head of International, and Director of Institutional Sales. Recent reports have indicated that these departures may be related to the company's internal struggle of whether to become more like a traditional financial services firm or to "lean into the industry’s wild side." Read more

Betterment announces new cash management offerings - New York City based smart money manager announced a new no-fee checking account and savings account offering 2.69% annual percentage yield (APY), both of which are insured. Read more

Beware the activity metrics of lesser-known cryptocurrencies - In order to attempt to gain more legitimacy, people with stakes in obscure cryptocurrencies have begun hiring firms to inflate trading volumes in order to get listed on CoinMarketCap. The manipulation occurs by programming bots to trade a token back and forth with each other until the cryptocurrency has enough “volume.” Read more

Big banks get more leeway to expand under Trump - Policies being encouraged by the Trump administration have led to a more favorable regulatory environment for large banks. The U.S.'s primary regulators have given banks more leeway to expand and introduce new products, and in the first five months of 2019 banks have announced more mergers and acquisitions than during any full-year period in the past decade. Read more

Circle is moving its crypto exchange offshore - Boston based provider of peer-to-peer payments technology announced that it is moving operations of its crypto exchange, Poloniex (which it acquired in February 2018 for $400m), amid mounting regulatory pressures in the U.S. Read more

"Safe" deposit boxes - A recent case of Wells Fargo mishandling the contents of a customer's safe deposit box, resulting in an estimated $10m of lost items, highlights the risks of not-so-safe safe deposit boxes. A combination of mismanagement and the 10% decrease in the number of bank branches of the U.S. has resulted in many safe deposit boxes being relocated, removed, and misplaced, but without proper regulation and oversight in place most banks are unlikely to pay more attention to this problem. Read more

Lendable strikes deal with Goldman - UK based provider of machine-learning technology to automate credit underwriting and offer personal loans has struck a £200m deal with Goldman Sachs in which Goldman has agreed to buy loans originated by Lendable. Read more

Ideanomics to create fintech innovation hub - New York City based provider of "smart" financial services through the application of AI, blockchain, and more, announced its plans for a $400m fintech innovation hub and fintech village at the site of a former UConn campus in West Hartford, CT. Read more

Africell announces $100m to spend on mobile infrastructure and fintech - African telecom firm Africell announced its plans to spend $100m to expand its infrastructure and fintech services, such as mobile payments, micro-insurance, and micro-finance. Read more

Interswitch renews IPO plans - Nigeria based payments firm has renewed plans for an IPO, hiring JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Standard Bank to IPO later in 2019 valuing the firm at an estimated $1.3 - 1.5b. Interswitch, which is owned by private equity firm Helios Investment Partners, had previously contemplated an IPO two years ago. Read more

Electric toothbrush startup Quip launches dental insurance in NYC -Quip's insurance service, "Quipcare," is built on the system designed by Afora, which Quip acquired in May 2019, and leverages Afora's pre-existing provider network. Quipcare is initially being offered in New York before launching in other markets next year. Read more