325. News: Apple has my face

Hello from New York! This week, David and parts of his team are over in New York, and what an opportunity to have Sam Maule co-host this episode! This week we have some great stories for you, and of course some brilliant guests:

• Anna Irrera: Fintech Correspondent and Financial Companies Team Leader at Reuters
• Ian Kar: Product Consultant

We kick off the episode by taking a look at JPMorgan Chase & Co will invest $125 million in programs to encourage people to save money! The goal in this is to aid the expansion of nonprofits that help people become more financially secure. The panel discusses if this should be the banks' perogative, not to enable third parties to do it on their behalf?

Other stories include:

• Plaid (kinda) takes on Zelle
• Transferwise hits $3.5bn
• Venmo trials a rewards programme again
• Venture Funding In Brazil Soars To $1.3B In 2018
• Morehouse College Graduates’ Student Loans to Be Paid Off by Billionaire
• New startup Earnin taking on Payday loans:
  
• A Biometric Backlash Is Underway — And A Backlash To The Backlash
• Monzo rockets to 2 million customers

All this and so much more on today's show.

Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode, leave a review on iTunes and let us know your thoughts on the stories @FintechInsiders on Twitter where you can also ask the hosts questions, or email [email protected]

This week's episode was produced by Laura Watkins and edited by Alex Woodhouse.

Special Guests: Anna Irrera and Ian Kar.

Links:

• JPMorgan Chase will invest $125 million in programs to encourage people to save money - Reuters
• Plaid gives digital banks and fintech a new tool to bypass traditional finance
• TransferWise now valued at $3.5B following a new $292M secondary round | TechCrunch
• Tencent posted record quarterly profits thanks to a fintech surge - Business Insider
• Venture Funding In Brazil Soars To $1.3B In 2018
• Morehouse College Graduates’ Student Loans to Be Paid Off by Billionaire - The New York Times
• The fintech app Earnin claims to be a no-fee alternative to payday loans - Vox
• A Backlash To The Biometric Backlash Underway | PYMNTS.com
• Monzo hits two million customer milestone