Number crunching is a key component of the payment industry, with digits scattered across the sector’s key stories.
Each week, Payment Expert digests these digits and brings an overview of the past payments week in numbers. This edition’s main focus is the UK Treasury’s efforts to provide free cash access for the disadvantaged
UK Treasury mandates for a three-mile free cash access
Cash prevalence in the UK has been given a nudge by the government as the Treasury pushes for a mandate that will see banks being sanctioned if they fail to provide free cash access within three miles from populated areas.
The latest decision has been fueled by a continuous discourse both in parliament and in public on whether the gradual transition from cash to cashless will have undesired consequences for some social groups.
UK Treasury to guarantee free cash withdrawals within three-mile radius
Klarna underlines BNPL focus fueled by EU’s GMV 14% rise
Klarna has revealed that it’s ‘doubling down’ on European BNPL ambitions as the region’s Gross Market Value (GMV) increased by 14% YoY in Q223, managing to outpace the growth of ecommerce for the same period.
Despite the surge of smaller firms departing from Europe to focus on other avenues, as Klarna points out, the company has instead gone through a rapid expansion into 11 new European markets.
CEO of Klarna, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said: “While other, smaller players dial back their commitment or leave the region altogether, we’re doubling down, further strengthening our position in Europe, as well as the US.”
Morgan Stanley hit with £5.4m sanction over unfair trading
UK energy regulator Ofgem has given investment bank Morgan Stanley a £5.4m fine for unfair trading practices over a WhatsApp private messenger group.
According to the watchdog, insider trading on WhatsApp is in breach of the market transparency regulations in the country as there is a high probability that it could lead to market manipulation.
Simon Francis, Coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, had this to say about the events: “Action on this particular case should remind us about wider concerns about the role of energy market trading. Every act of trading energy on the markets usually results in profit for the traders and ultimately adds to our bills.”
Morgan Stanley hit with £5.4M energy trading fine
Blockchain firm ZetaChain secures $27m in funding
ZetaChain has secured $27m in investor funding to achieve its ambitions of disrupting the blockchain space with its single assets platform that functions as a one-stop management hub for crypto held on different blockchains.
Some of the names behind the financial backing include Sky9 Capital, CMT Digital, Foundation Capital, Lingfeng Capital, GSR, and more.
Ex-Coinbase Ankur Nandwan, also a contributor, commented: “ZetaChain’s purpose is to simplify managing assets and data across multiple blockchains, which remains a complicated and fragmented process that’s hindering hundreds of millions of new users joining the web3 ecosystem.”
ZetaChain raises $27m in funding for blockchain project
Adyen reports EBITDA down by 10% after North American push
European fintech Adyen has reported that its share value fell short of analyst expectations following its venture to tackle the North American market.
Despite the company putting NA profits at 25% from its overall profit, revenue was still half of last year’s, with EBITDA being down by 10%.
Adyen highlighted the competitiveness of the North American market as the main reason for its financial slowdown.
A shareholder letter by the firm stated: “While we see the changing industry tides reflected in this period’s results, we remain focused on building Adyen for the long term.”
