No Apple Pay Later in Germany: Apple Partners with Zinia for BNPL

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

No Apple Pay Later in Germany, instead, Santander's Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform Zinia, has been chosen by Apple to provide installment payment plans for customers in Germany, available for both online and in-store purchases.

With Zinia, Apple customers can now choose to split their payments into installments of 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, or 36 months. Additionally, there's an option to defer the payment for 30 days post-shipment (for online purchases) or after in-store pickup.

As a special promotion, Apple customers who finance their iPhone purchases through Zinia in the upcoming months will be able to do so with interest-free installments over 12 or 24 months.

The transaction process is straightforward: customers simply need to provide their phone number and date of birth, confirm receipt of a security code, and complete a quick validation by logging into their online banking within the Apple Store online.

Zinia, which has been serving German consumers since 2022, aims to leverage its growth in the German market to expand its product offerings across other European countries in the near future.

More Apple Pay news yesterday from Apple’s annual WWDC event. Among the standout announcements, for the FinTech industry, were three major updates to Apple Wallet that promise to enhance user convenience and functionality.

1. Tap to Cash

One of the most exciting new features is "Tap to Cash."

This innovative tool allows users to transfer money to another Apple Pay user nearby without exchanging personal details. Using iOS 18, you simply hold your phone near the recipient’s device, select the send cash option, and Apple Cash handles the rest. It’s like AirDrop, but for money.

2. Rewards and Installments in Apple Pay

Apple Wallet now lets users view and redeem their rewards or points directly through Apple Pay, both online and in apps. Additionally, accessing installment financing options from your bank is now more seamless than ever.

3. Event Tickets and New Event Guides

The redesigned event tickets feature brings a host of new functionalities, including an integrated event guide. This guide combines essential venue information with personalized recommendations from Apple apps.

Apple continues to push the envelope with these enhancements, ensuring that Apple Wallet remains a central hub for users' financial transactions.

What do you think about these updates? Let me know in the comments below👇

Cheers,

Marcel

#FINTECHREPORT

📊 Trends in Regional Payments. This report explores principal payment trends throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It examines the genesis of these, and spotlight success barriers, opportunities, and potential impacts.

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🇮🇪 Capchase expands to Ireland. This move is a natural step forward for the company, driven by the region's burgeoning startup ecosystem, evidenced by a significant surge of nearly 950 new companies registered in 2023.

🇨🇳 Huawei sharpens focus on financial services industry. The corporation announced the launch of the Financial Partner Go Global Program (FPGGP) Acceleration Program during the 2024 HiFS Frontier Forum. More here

🇨🇦 Toronto-based corporate card and expense management technology startup Float has begun rolling out a pair of new offerings: bill pay and reimbursements. With these products, Float aims to make it easier for Canadian businesses to pay bills and ensure their employees are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses. 

🇦🇪 Worldwide Cash Express teams up with TerraPay to broaden global payment services. According to the two entities, this partnership aims to boost customers' cross-border payment experience by making it faster, more secure, and more cost-effective.

🇪🇺 Plum (in partnership with Berlin-based FinTech Upvest) has expanded its investment offering to include ETFs across its EU markets. Customers can now invest in diversified funds by geographical region, sector and asset class, as well as tracking multiple stock market indices from around the world.

PAYMENTS NEWS

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🇺🇸 Dash and Visa team on real-time payments in healthcare. The agreement leverages Visa’s digital payment network, Visa Direct, to allow Dash customers to send real-time payments to billions of eligible cards, bank accounts, and digital wallets.

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🇬🇧 Jaja Finance turns to TrueLayer to smooth credit card repayments. Jaja will leverage TrueLayer’s Payments product to offer instant pay-ins, allowing customers to make one-off credit card repayments directly from their bank account.

🇦🇪 Open Banking and financial innovation company, FinTech Galaxy, has agreed a strategic partnership with Yabx. The collaboration targets initial improvements in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Bahrain with future expansion plans for North Africa.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

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DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

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🇫🇷 Paris-based SaaS Zeliq has raised a further $10M to expand its operations into the US. Currently, 50% of Zeliq's customers are in France, with 25% in the US, and the remaining 25% distributed worldwide. Funds will be put towards scaling in the US and internationally through marketing, product development and hiring.

🇪🇬 Sahl, a Cairo-based FinTech startup has raised $6 million in joint seed and series A funding. The startup plans to leverage these funds to create and develop better offerings as a comprehensive financial services provider.

🇦🇺 Sydney FinTech Bridgit has raised $14.2 million in a Series A as the non-bank lender looks to offer bridging loans to homeowners moving house. The firm provides short-term bridging loans for those seeking to buy a new home before selling their current one, and targets older generations seeking to downsize.

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🇪🇬 HSBC Egypt plans to launch a fund worth EGP 1.5 billion (around $31.5 M) to invest in SMEs operating within the FinTech sector in Egypt, two sources in the know told Asharq Business. EFG Holding will manage the fund, one source said, expecting the fund to be launched in Q3 of this year.

M&A

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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