Finance

London-based crypto payments app Ziglu, launched by Starling Bank co-founder Mark Hipperson, has raised £6 million (about $8 million) on the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform.

First Horizon, TCF and Webster are among the banks eyeing efficiency initiatives that could include more branch closings, layoffs and reduction of office space. Expect others to follow suit as low rates and tepid loan demand tied to the pandemic pressure revenue.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s latest report on the industry’s health had positive news about the earnings recovery last quarter, but it also showed that low interest rates amid continuing economic uncertainty are putting downward pressure on asset yields.

Marketplace payments technology provider ConnexPay has secured additional funding from investors to reach $15 million, and it will use its funding to increase product offerings in the travel industry and expand in other e-commerce sectors.

Stripe Inc. is in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes a day after the Federal Reserve had balked at the Treasury Department's demand that it return funds meant for pandemic relief that have so far gone unused.

Democrats called the decision by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin "misguided," arguing that it's too soon to shutter the Federal Reserve's emergency-lending programs. Republicans say the programs have run their course and should expire a the end of the year.

The pandemic has highlighted massive inequalities in American life but the financial services industry can play a role in reducing these divisions.

Joseph Lebel's promotion follows a third-quarter loss as the New Jersey company company looks to get ahead of credit issues by selling high-risk loans.

E-commerce fraud prevention provider Forter has raised $125 million in a Series E funding round, pushing the New York-based company's valuation to more than $1.3 billion.

Community development financial institutions, which tend to be less digitally savvy than traditional banks and credit unions, are developing online-lending platforms and automating backroom processes with investments and technical assistance from big banks, high-tech firms and other sources.

The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility was brought back to inject $100 billion into the pandemic-battered economy, but only a fraction has been disbursed. Yet experts, pointing to its calming effects on markets, recommend that it be extended into next year.

The Virginia company, which shuttered 14 locations in September, will close another five branches early next year.

Global regulators are preparing to tighten restrictions on companies believed to have threatened the financial system at the height of pandemic-fueled volatility.

Freddie Mac representatives would not comment on the sudden resignation of Brickman. Interim CEO Michael Hutchins has served as Freddie’s executive vice president of investments and capital markets since January 2015.

JPMorgan Chase dropped one rung on the Financial Stability Board’s annual rankings of systemically important banks to sit alongside Citigroup and HSBC Holdings as one of the world’s three most important banks.

The chairman of the National Credit Union Administration said during his limited time in a Senate Banking Committee hearing that he hoped changes to the agency's Central Liquidity Facility would last for the duration of the pandemic.

Many small banks are reactivating repurchase programs, signaling that capital levels remain strong and credit issues are under control.

In a battle between two giants of ride-hailing and payments, Grab beat out Go-Jek to lead a $100 million fundraising round for the Indonesian government-backed e-wallet provider LinkAja.

The industry is calling for lawmakers to extend changes to NCUA's Central Liquidity Facility and more before Congress adjourns.