Fintech Focus Roundup For August 15, 2020

American Express In Talks With Kabbage Over Acquisition

What Is Happening? American Express is in talks with Kabbage, an online fintech lender backed by Softbank, over an $850 million acquisition.
What Does It Mean? "From the customer’s standpoint, this is likely to lead to better fees on the table and ultimately a return to increased spending, helping the economy stabilize and grow," said Eden Amirav, CEO and co-founder of small business loan marketplace and Kabbage partner, Become.

CME Group, Nasdaq Introduce Futures On The Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index

What Is Happening? CME Group Inc, alongside Nasdaq Inc, formally announced the introduction of futures contracts on the Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index (VOLQ).
What Does It Mean? The development will increase access to liquid instruments that help participants better manage portfolio volatility.

Square's Cash App Tests Borrowing Feature

What Is Happening? Cash App, a payments service developed by Square, formally gave a select number of users the ability to take out short-term loans.
What Does It Mean? As part of a vision to meet the needs of its tech-savvy user base, Cash App introduced a short-term loan feature to about 1,000 users. The feature allows users to take out loans for any amount between $20 and $200. Within 4 weeks, users are to pay off the loan at a 60% APR.

Beaxy Pushes Innovation, Releases Trender, Technical Analysis Signals

What Is Happening? Beaxy, a next-generation digital asset exchange, released Trender, a Tinder-like technical insights tool, for both iOS and Android, within the Beaxy app.
What Does It Mean? The development means traders have access to high-probability, actionable trade ideas; Trender reduces research, learning, and technical analysis of traditional finance into easy-to-digest pieces of content.

Robinhood Reports More Trades Than Rivals Schwab, E-Trade Combined

What Is Happening? The company, said that daily average revenue trades -- known as DARTs -- were 4.31 million in June. That’s about four times the number of fee-generating trades at E*Trade Financial Corp. for the same period, and higher than all of its publicly traded rivals.
What Does It Mean? The data shows that daily trades at Robinhood more than doubled in the second quarter from the prior period. The top three days in terms of trading volumes occurred in June. Robinhood had said in May that 3 million new funded accounts were added in 2020, with half of the new customers being first-time investors.

Mastercard Fuels Disruptive Innovation, Expands Fintech Portfolio

What Is Happening? As part of a vision to support emerging brands in the rapid digital transformation, Mastercard is building on its core competency by adding entrepreneurs to its award-winning startup engagement program, Start Path, and more technology partners to its Engage network.
What Does It Mean? Participants will have access to expert engineers and specialists that can help deploy new services that meet evolving consumer standards; overall, the development serves to strengthen Mastercard’s presence in the fintech space while cementing and building the future of finance for all.