Venture funding

While senders prefer mobile devices, recipients remain stubbornly attached to receiving cash.

The new funding comes as the challenger bank inches closer to gaining regulatory approval for a national bank charter.

Just a few months after leading a funding round for Berlin-based fintech company Elinvar, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is backing another startup in the German capital.

Finix, a startup offering tools for businesses to develop their own payments technology, has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding from investors that include Bain Capital and Visa.

Fintech startups have been a natural fit for the gig economy, leading Visa and Mastercard to seek them out as partners to maintain relevance.

Raisin, an online marketplace that aggregates high-yield savings accounts in Europe, aims to launch in the U.S. in the next nine to 12 months.

Seattle-based digital remittance provider Remitly has raised $220 million in new investments and financing to accelerate its growth in more global markets.

Vehicle payment technology startup Car IQ raised $5 million in a Series A funding round that included Citi Ventures as an investor.

In a downturn, some fintechs, such as independent lenders, will be more vulnerable to economic forces than those working to service banks' regulatory needs.

The fast-growing data company, which says its mission is to help banks be better consumer advocates, will use its cash infusion for hiring, software development and new partnerships.

The Dutch company is no longer a bank in some countries, but more of a digital matchmaker between consumers and financial products provided by third parties, explains innovation chief Benoit LeGrand.

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 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.

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.

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.