TransferWise co-founders Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus. TransferWise Financial technology firm TransferWise has obtained a license from the U.K. markets watchdog to offer retail investment services to clients. The London-based firm started life as a means of sending money internationally online. In 2018, it made a deeper push into banking by offering a “borderless” multi-currency account tied to a debit card. Users have so far deposited £2 billion ($2.5 billion) with the account. Now,...

The Curve card and app displayed on a smartphone. Curve Thousands of British consumers have been unable to access their cash as some financial technology apps relying on scandal-hit payments processor Wirecard were forced to freeze their accounts. On Friday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered the German firm’s U.K. unit, Wirecard Card Solutions, to stop carrying out regulated activities. It comes after Wirecard filed for insolvency following the revelation that 1.9 billion euros...

Britain’s financial technology industry is racing to fill gaps in the government’s coronavirus business relief measures, by offering loans quickly to those struggling financially as a result of the pandemic. Several of the country’s top fintech firms have been pushing for accreditation from the state-backed British Business Bank (BBB) to be able to provide loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Initially only 40 banks — including the major high street lenders...

Pieter van der Does, chief executive officer of Adyen. Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images Dutch financial technology firm Adyen reported rising revenue and core profits in its first-quarter results Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic boosted online payments but impacted on margins. The company posted total first-quarter revenue of 135.5 million euros ($146.9 million), an increase of 34% from a year earlier. Adyen normally reports half-year and annual numbers, but decided to release an...

Blockchain CEO Peter Smith. Krisztian Bocsi | Bloomberg via Getty Images Blockchain, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency wallet platforms, says it’s launched a digital currency exchange aimed at delivering “lightning-fast” trades. The company’s exchange, called The PIT, is the result of a behind-the-scenes effort led by a team of former executives from the New York Stock Exchange, TD Ameritrade, Google and Goldman Sachs. According to Blockchain CEO Peter Smith, the new exchange’s...