Gig economy

BBVA has formed a partnership with Uber enabling the ride-hailing company’s drivers and delivery workers in Mexico to establish a digital BBVA debit account through Uber’s app.

AI-focused venture fund Radical Ventures is the lead investor in a $31.5 million Series B round in Sensibill, which boosts it overall financing to $46.5 million. National Bank of Canada is also part of the investment round.

As the global gig economy expands, more workers moving between the U.S. and other countries for jobs or school need ways to handle funds in different currencies.

Singapore ride-hailing giant Grab held talks to acquire payments provider 2C2P Pte and was turned down, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign of the ambitions Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup has in financial services.

The ride-sharing heavyweights Uber and Grab built their markets by making payments seamless, and their expansion plans are similarly hooked into improving payments and other financial services.

Uber Technologies Inc. is going nationwide with a program that helps those without a car — or the financial means to get one — drive for the ride-hailing giant.

Ahrendts, 58, joins the home-sharing startup after a five-year stint overhauling Apple Inc.’s retail operations.

As fintechs race to reinvent transit payments, Uber's laying the groundwork in Denver to make sure it takes a leading position.

Visa and Mastercard are driving digital transactions by financially empowering women in emerging markets who are unbanked but manage their families’ spending. The card networks are particularly targeting women in gig economy jobs and women-owned businesses.

Digital payments can make payroll for workers in industries like cruise ships less costly, and less dangerous than traditional cash-based methods, writes Hal Ramakers, vice president of global solutions for Brightwell.