The FinTech Year in Stories: April

By Louis Thompsett

December 27, 2024

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We look at the articles that made the news in fintech in 2024. Today, it is April…

Mastercard: Powering the Digital Economy With Smarter Tech

Technology is becoming smarter and more intuitive than ever before. In the world of payments, new innovations and greater ease of access to financial technology are supporting many SMEs, supply chains and other services in joining the digital economy.

In his annual letter, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach outlines how the company has helped bring more companies and people into the digital economy in the past year, and its plans to continue to do so in the future.

Mastercard: Steering momentum to a universal digital economy

In collaboration with its many industry partners, Mastercard has delivered many of the payments technologies that may digitisation possible today, from contactless cards to tokenisation and cybersecurity defences.

“People use our global network hundreds of millions of times a day to safely and easily transfer money, make payments and get paid,” says Michael.

“We are pursuing a future that accelerates these changes to deliver more value, stronger relationships and greater efficiency.

“Banking and retail experiences that can be more personalised. Commercial services that simplify processes for businesses of all sizes. AI-powered cybersecurity that allows us all to stay one step ahead of scammers.

“This is how we’re powering economies and empowering people.”

2023: Powering economies and reaching double-digit growth

2023 marked another successful year on Mastercard’s mission to power the digital economy, achieving double-digit growth in net revenue, gross domestic volume and switched transactions year-on-year.

This was fuelled even further in November last year when Mastercard received approval to launch domestic payments processing services in China, something Michael hopes will take Mastercard’s growth rate to new heights.

Nubank Partners With Wise; Enters Global Account Market

One of the world’s leading neobanks, Nubank, is set to enter the global account market after partnering with UK fintech Wise.

The Brazilian neobank has partnered with Wise to build its global account market, which it intends to initially roll out to ultraviolet customer bases (high-income customers).

This comes as part of Nubank’s wider strategy to expand its customer base to include more high-income segments of society.

It also follows a move to extend money transfer capabilities between the US and Mexico via WhatsApp, in partnership with Felix Pago.

Nubank: Expanding services with Wise

Announced on April 8 2024, Nubank’s first dip into the global account market has begun with a pre-registration for customers in the ultraviolet segment, with the service expected to roll out in the coming weeks.

At the time of its launch, Nubank’s global account market offering will firstly be available for travel or allocating reservations in either US Dollars or Euros.

At present, Nubank has not announced plans for further investment abroad in the global account market.