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ING's fintech bet: ING has formed

A fine solution: PayNearMe has partnered with the New York Department of Finance to allow people to pay for parking tickets in cash at more than 100 7-Eleven locations in all five boroughs, many of which are open at all hours. The move is designed to address a glut of parking fine transactions that are processed directly through the city—more than 230,000 in 2016 alone. Similar to
Patreon courts techie creators: Artist crowdfunding site Patreon is adding ways to connect content creators to the consumers who use Patreon to fund the artists' ongoing work. An app directory has integrations that allow content creators to build a WordPress website, automatically connect apps to Patreon with Zapier, give patrons (funders) unique access on Discourse, offer patron-only chat rooms on Discord and a pending feature that allows content creators to add patrons to Slack. The developer portal will offer APIs that allow users to move data from Patreon to their own tools; and power web experiences that content creators can build for their patrons.
Another tough break for Monzo: Monzo's prepaid customers have again had troubles making payments due to a
From the Web
CNBC | Wed Oct 25, 2017 - Hong Kong and Singapore have agreed to cooperate on a cross-border trade project based on blockchain technology as part of a broader joint strategy on financial technology. The two Asian powerhouses' central banks signed a fintech deal Wednesday to collaborate on a number of projects including business innovation, data sharing and exchange of expertise. "Hong Kong and Singapore are the two leading international financial centers in the region and are actively deploying fintech," Norman Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), said in an announcement Wednesday. "Collaboration between the HKMA and MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) will create significant synergy for the development of fintech and more efficient fund flows between the two markets."
CNBC | Wed Oct 25, 2017 - Bitcoin is not as attractive as the distributed ledger technology that underpins it, a Chinese investment banker has said. Fan Bao, CEO of investment bank China Renaissance, told CNBC Wednesday that the world's biggest cryptocurrency was "getting a little bit bubblish." "I think we have to separate bitcoin from the blockchain," Bao said. "I think blockchain is very exciting technology, probably the most disruptive technology in our industry, the financial services industry." Blockchain is a decentralized database of transactions maintained across a network of computers around the world, rather than in one single location. Bao joked that if someone has invested in bitcoin, they would be "getting some good returns," but he expressed doubt about the virtual coin. The price of the cryptocurrency surpassed $6,100 over the weekend, reaching a fresh all-time high. It has been faced with much volatility over the last few months, falling as low as $3,766, before recovering significantly.
TechCrunch | Wed Oct 25, 2017 - Current announced today it has raised $5 million in Series A funding for its debit card aimed at kids that parents can control with an app. The company first introduced its Visa debit to the market in May. Kids can use the card to shop in stores or online using funds from their own bank account linked to the card, after receiving a digital allowance from mom or dad. The new round was led by QED Investors and included participation from Cota Capital. In addition, QED’s Founding Partner Frank Rotman will join Current’s Board of Directors. The company, incubated out of Expa Studio, had previously raised $3.6 million from Expa and Human Ventures in March, 2017. The idea behind Current is to help shift tweens and teens from cash to digital funds at an earlier age. This is reflective of the larger transition to a more cashless society – at least here in the U.S., where you can use a debit card to pay for almost anything these days.
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