Capital markets

Financing and payment technology provider Sunbit has received $26 million in a Series B funding round through Zeev Ventures and participants Group 11 and Chicago Ventures.

India’s government has taken drastic steps to encourage and standardize digital transactions, and those moves appear to be paying off.

The Los Angeles company has established a network that is designed to help verify the identities of consumer and small-business borrowers. It says 20 lenders are participating and that it is trying to recruit more.

The Australian API payments and rewards platform provider Verrency has closed on a $7 million (AU$10 million) Series A funding round, bringing the total funds raised to-date to $14 million (AU$20 million).

Payments software provider SpotOn Transact LLC has received $40 million in new funding from Franklin Templeton and participant Dragoneer Investment Group.

Digital payments are creating a wealth of data that can be used to inform other types of financial services for managing debt or promoting financial inclusion — and these services are, in turn, attracting the interest of venture capitalists.

Alkami Technology said it would use its latest round of funding to expand its white-label services for small banks and credit unions.

A trio of big deals in the payments and financial tech area and continued bank and venture capital interest in fintech investments are creating expectations for a banner year.

Highland Associates has $26 billion in assets under management on behalf of not-for-profit medical endowments and foundations. Regions Financial is following the lead of other regionals, which have been scooping up investment firms that specialize in health care.

The online lending marketplace will use the equity financing from WestBridge Capital to diversify the digital products its offers banks trying to compete for small-business borrowers, its CEO says.

Northpointe Bancshares sold stock to an affiliate of Castle Creek Capital.

Cross-border money transfer provider WorldRemit has secured $175 million in new capital in a Series D funding round to challenge legacy money transmitters in the fast growing cross-border payments market.

Password management app and secure digital wallet provider Dashlane completed a $110 million Series D funding round led by Sequoia Capital. It also hired Lyft’s chief marketing officer, Joy Howard, to take the same role at Dashlane.

London-based processor Checkout.com’s recent $230 million Series A investment is an indicator of investors’ huge interest in cross-border e-commerce and payments in emerging markets.

Just two years after it was founded, Brex Inc. is close to securing new funding at a valuation north of $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Prepayments tied to repeated VA loan refinancing activity have had an adverse effect on Ginnie’s mortgage securities that persists despite countermeasures. The government bond issuer is making new plans to address the impact.

Amazon led a Series G funding round worth £475 million (about US$575 million) with three other investors for London-based food delivery company Deliveroo.

Some of the biggest venture capitalists in the field are backing a new digital currency being offered by a leading blockchain academic.

The company offers an operating system for financial applications akin to Apple's iOS, and more than 1,000 applications run on it.

Although the euphoria over blockchain has dissipated recently, many still see it as vital to the future of banks and the economy at large. Following are key issues being hashed out.