Category Archives: Sales Management

TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin adds payments app

Douyin, the Chinese version of popular short form video app, TikTok, just added online payments to the app.

Reuters reports that the company is busy expanding into e-commerce, as Douyin Pay (Douyin Zhifu) has been added to the app’s options.

Other payment tools on Douyin include WeChat Pay and Alipay.

Users can, for instance, receive a cash-filled electronic red packet from a Douyin campaign and deposit that cash to their bank accounts.

“The set-up of Douyin Pay is to supplement the existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience on Douyin,” a Douyin spokesperson tells Reuters.

Brands and retailers can already redirect users to a product page by including a link in a video. Now, users of the app can checkout and pay for goods using Douyin Pay instead of other options.

Douyin’s parent, ByteDance, the Chinese … Read the rest

What the Fintech? | S.2 Episode 1 | Innovation in commercial lending

Happy New Year! Welcome to a brand-new season of the What the Fintech? podcast. Dean Snyder, executive vice president and head of business solutions at Automated Financial Systems (AFS), joins us to usher in the new year and new season.

We discuss the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) warnings about bitcoin and how its survey results found 4,000 financial security firms being at risk of failing due to the pandemic. We also unpack BBVA shutting down Simple after paying $117 million for it in 2014 and explore its other shuttered ventures.

Snyder tells us about the firm’s award-winning “Best COVID-19 Response by Fintechs” technology for its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) commercial lending offering. The head of business solutions also shares his thoughts on the biggest challenges to banks in commercial lending over the next few years.

Tune in to find out his head-scratching banished buzzword in another exciting rendition of ‘Fintech … Read the rest

UK fintech Just lands court backing to undercut bailiff industry

Jamie Waller, a British businessman who founded the debt collection company, JBW Group, a fintech solutions company, Hito, and later the private equity firm, Firestarters, has founded a fintech.

Called Just, the start-up is taking aim at the – until now largely undisrupted – debt collection industry in the UK.

Elsewhere in the world, fintechs have already begun tapping the space. Silicon Valley-based TrueAccord cropped up back in 2013, inDebted has been focusing on Australia since 2016, and CollectAI set up shop in Germany the same year.

Waller, known for his appearance in BBC TV show “Bailiffs”, has now decided to turn his hand to open banking.

Whilst venture capitalists (VCs) aren’t eyeing up this space, Waller – Just’s chairman – also happens to be the start-up’s VC investor.

The court ruling

The High Court ruled earlier this month that debt collection agencies can … Read the rest

US banks must lose “legacy anchor” to meet customer needs in 2021

Banking in the US is experiencing a fundamental shift, spurred by changes that have been in the works for some time now.

COVID-19 has become a catalyst for an acceleration amongst the everyday banking customer. ValuePenguin data shows 71% of US banking customers now regularly use online banking.

What’s more, footfall in the branch has dipped, as customers stay away from personal contact with others. Novantis reported branch traffic falling 30% month-on-month across the US in 2020.

This shift can be seen as a win for fintechs and banks trying to push their users online and mobile. US Bancorp CEO, Andy Cecere, says his firm intends to close up to 15% of its branches as a result.

What is the best method for grasping this opportunity? Through a revamped, seamless, and intuitive experience for customer migrating online.

Frictionless future

Customer service … Read the rest

Affirm IPO sees shares surge 98%

Affirm, a San-Francisco buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech, has almost doubled its value following a successful initial public offering (IPO) on 13 January.

The fintech, led by PayPal co-founder, Max Levchin, priced its shares at $49 a piece, above its target range of $41 to $44 each.

Shares then surged to $97.24 at the market close. That’s a 98% gain jump from the IPO price.

Affirm closed its IPO with a market value of more than $23 billion. The company has a fully diluted valuation of almost $30 billion, including options and restricted stock units, according to Bloomberg calculations.’

The fintech filed for its IPO back in October, but kept all the financials private.

For Levchin, it marks almost two decades since PayPal went public. He owned a stake in Affirm worth almost $1.4 billion at its IPO … Read the rest