“Challenger bank Chime has reached 5 million customers in the U.S. The San Francisco-based startup is creating an FDIC-insured mobile bank without any physical branch. The company also promises less fees. Back in March, Chime said it had 3 million customers when it announced its $200 million Series D round . So that’s 2 million additional customers in roughly 5 months. Chime says that it is the fastest growing challenger bank in the world. In other words, the company is throwing shade at European challenger banks, such as Monzo and N26, that have been doing really well too. N26 just entered the U.S. market.”

“European challenger bank Bunq is announcing a handful of updates today. You now get a better overview of your account with more insights on how you spend money. If you’re going on vacation with someone else, you can now choose to automatically add transactions to a Slice Group. There are also improvements to VAT management for business users. Slice Groups are shared accounts for owners of the Bunq Travel Card . You can create a group with multiple Bunq users and then add expenses to the group. You can’t add money to a Slice Group directly. It is essentially a group accounting feature that lets you keep track of who paid for what, who has a positive balance and who has a negative balance.”

“Challenger bank N26 is announcing two things this week. First, the company lets you share sub-accounts with other N26 users in just a few taps. Second, after a limited beta test, the company is officially launching in the U.S. with open registration.”

“Co-founder and chief executive, Valentin Stalf, has told the Financial Times that the fintech – which has amassed 3.5 million clients since its 2015 launch – plans to eventually apply for an IPO, as part of its aim of building a global brand. “We want to provide the app that you turn to every day to deal with your financial issues,” he says. “Our goal is ultimately to do for finance what Spotify did for music and Uber did for mobility.””

“Fintech startup Revolut is launching its stock trading feature today. It’s a Robinhood-like feature that lets you buy and sell shares without any commission. For now, the feature is limited to some Revolut customers with a Metal card. While Robinhood has completely changed the stock trading retail market in the U.S., buying shares hasn’t changed much in Europe. Revolut wants to make it easier to invest on the stock market. After topping up your Revolut account, you can buy and hold shares directly from the Revolut app. For now, the feature is limited to 300 U.S.-listed stocks on NASDAQ and NYSE. The company says that it plans to expand to U.K. and European stocks as well as Exchange Traded Funds.”

“Betterment LLC, an early provider of digital-investing services, is trying its hand at traditional banking. To vie for customer cash and expand beyond its robo-advising roots, the firm is introducing new banking products at a time when anxiety over slowing economic growth has led some investors to reduce market exposure and stockpile cash.  Betterment is offering a 2.69% promotional annual rate on cash in savings accounts—one of the highest around—in hopes of standing out in a field where banks have paid peanuts on client cash for years. The aim is to woo new customers while retaining its core investing clients looking to pull money from investment portfolios.”

“European fintech startup N26 is now accepting customers in the U.S. The company is launching a bank account with a debit card that should provide a better experience compared to traditional retail banks. If you’re familiar with N26, the product that is going live today won’t surprise you much. Customers in the U.S. can download a mobile app and create a bank account from their phone in just a few minutes. It’s a true bank account with ACH payments, routing and account numbers.”

“As Monzo doesn’t have its own US banking license, the features will be a little different. “The main thing that will be removed is lending,” says Blomfield. “We’re not a bank [in the US], so we won’t be lending customers money.” The majority of existing Monzo features will be available in the US, including things like notifications for payments and tap-to-pay (contactless) payments. “

“Airfox today announced banQi , its free and flexible digital challenger bank designed specifically for the Brazilian market and its 50 million people who are not served by traditional banking establishments. Developed by Airfox with strategic partner Via Varejo , a leading Brazilian retailer, the banQi platform evolved from the Airfox digital wallet that launched in Brazil in 2018 — continuing an evolution that is emblematic of the Boston fintech startup’s rapid growth.”

“A group of investors has bet more than $100 million on a new digital bank that is looking to tap into the growth of technology startups and the venture-capital firms that fund them. New York-based Grasshopper Bancorp Inc. opened for business in May with plans to challenge Silicon Valley Bank as a go-to financier for startups. It recently raised $116 million from investors including T. Rowe Price TROW 0.26% Group Inc. funds, Patriot Financial Partners LP, Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. and FJ Capital Management LLC, the company said. Hamilton Lane Inc., HLNE 1.20% the alternative investment manager, also invested on behalf of the New York State Common Retirement Fund.”

“Meet French startup Kard , a challenger bank that works a lot like N26 or Revolut. But Kard is all about convincing teens that their first bank account is going to be a Kard account — a bit like Step in the U.S.”

“Two new banks are coming to the US: Piermont Bank in New York and Nexos National Bank, based in Stamford, Connecticut. “We appreciate, respect and honour family legacy” Piermont Bank is a “new generation” of commercial banking with a focus on helping clients build and grow business. The Piermont Bank’s team says that it aims to support privately-owned business, especially multi-generation family-owned enterprises….Nexos National Bank, however, would be the first nationally chartered bank to open in Connecticut since the 2008 financial crisis. The bank was founded by Gordon Baird, CEO and has Kathleen Romagnano as president and COO. It would serve individual customers and small- and medium-size businesses throughout Fairfield and Westchester counties, with brick-and-mortar branches and online offerings.”

“Paylater is looking to deploy new products while transitioning to a digital bank. Since launching in 2016, the Paylater mobile app was downloaded by over 1 million users and disbursed loans of over 13 billion naira ($36 million). But now, the company is looking to get into the unbanked population of Nigeria and provide banking services for them. The startup will be announcing a name change to fit its new business in the first week in April.”

“N26  has already announced that its next market would be the U.S. at some point during the first half of 2019. Brazil should launch after that. Right now, N26 is available in 24 European countries, including all of the Eurozone, the U.K., Denmark, Norway, Poland, and Sweden, Liechtenstein and Iceland.”

“Revolut, the London-based financial technology startup, has obtained a European banking license as Brexit looms, with plans to launch checking and savings accounts as well as retail and business lending. The Bank of Lithuania, the eastern European country’s central bank, granted Revolut the regulatory approval that gives it permission to operate throughout the European Union.”

“The challenger bank founded by Ricky Knox has launched its second credit card today, this time targeting people in the U.K. who have yet to build up a credit history at all. Credit cards are already one of the most effective ways of improving your credit score (presuming you are approved for one and always repay on time, of course) and it seems that Tandem  wants a piece of that action.”

“With the growth in cross-border payment services and ‘challenger’ bank cards for consumers, you’d be forgiven for wondering where the options are for small business — where cash is particularly precious. They do exist. One of the newer options is Neat, which is nested in Hong Kong but open for business worldwide.”