Raisin A German fintech started a service in 2013 that helps Europeans shuffle their money around the continent to the highest-yielding savings account. Now, the company plans to bring its technology to the US within the next six to 12 months, which could provide a boost to community banks by connecting them to a bigger pool of savers around the country. A few years back, a key market for Raisin was the German saver stuck with a 1% or lower interest rate on savings, but who could grab a...

Zack Rosebrugh for Quartz China loves it. Wall Street fears it. Washington wants it to go away. Meet Ant Financial, the fintech company that’s worth about twice as much as Goldman Sachs. It’s hard to overstate how big Ant has become since its payment service was started some 15 years ago. It runs the world’s biggest digital wallet and offers the biggest money market fund. And unlike most other Chinese financial companies, Hangzhou-based Ant has ambitions far beyond its home market, having...

As part of Japan’s drive to embrace electronic payments, Mizuho and about 60 other banks have launched a new digital wallet called J-Coin Pay. But contrary to what you may have read about it, it doesn’t use crypto. Mizuho’s new service uses QR codes to process smartphone payments, resembling Alipay and WeChat Pay, the dominant platforms in China. Japan has one of the most cash-intensive economies in the world, and its government is pushing for an electronic overhaul in time for the 2020...

Even by lofty fintech standards, OakNorth is soaring. The London-based startup bank’s $440 million funding round, led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, was the biggest ever for a European firm of its kind. Less than four years since it launched, the company is profitable and valued at $2.8 billion. OakNorth says not one of its customers has ever defaulted, or even had a late payment. OakNorth’s founders, who sold their analytics startup to Moody’s in 2014, say the company is designed for...

Back before Elon Musk was building rockets and electric cars, one of his ideas was to create an internet bank. The year was 1999, and the plan was to build a 21st century financial service called X.com (he has always loved Xs), with bank accounts, person-to-person online payments, insurance, and investment options. X.com merged with PayPal and became one of the most successful companies to spring from the dot.com boom. As successful as PayPal’s payment service has become, Musk’s ambition to...