Mastercard Lets You Control Your Bank Data Like Never Before!

What we’ll cover today:

🚀 Control Your Bank Data Like Never Before.

🤯 Vitalik Hates DeFi?!

🏦 The US Banking System is Built on The Expectation.

🔗 The Event Roundup.

Control Your Bank Data Like Never Before.

Mastercard’s got your back.

Introducing Connect Plus—a simple, powerful tool that puts you in control.

Here’s how it works:

• See exactly who has access to your financial info.

• Grant or block permissions with just a tap.

• Get real-time updates to stay informed.

And that’s just the start.

Mastercard also upgrades its security game with the enhanced Account Owner Verification tool.

Think of it as your digital bouncer:

• Keeps your accounts safe from unauthorised access.

• Confirms identities quickly and securely.

• Provides real-time insights through a single API.

With these new features, Mastercard is raising the bar.

Here’s the whole article

1. Vitalik Hates DeFi?!

The tweet discusses confusion over claims that Vitalik Buterin dislikes DeFi. 

It highlights the contradiction of supporting USDC, which undermines Ethereum's neutrality, while allegedly opposing DeFi, which drives ETH's value. 

It speculates that Vitalik might be advocating for more "pure" DeFi without dependencies but urges direct clarification to address the concerns within the community.

Here’s The Whole Tweet.

2. The US Banking System is Built on The Expectation.

This is a thread from Bob Elliott. 

He is an investor and entrepreneur known for his extensive background in finance and economics. He co-founded Unlimited Funds, an asset management firm that creates index replication strategies for alternative investments.

He adds:  

“The US banking system is built on the expectation that equity and bond holders accept the bank economic risk and depositors, particularly the small folks, do not.

While that is not legally the structure, its important to keep in mind that's functionally how it works.  Thread.”

Here’s The Whole Thread.

1. One Zero, the AI fintech started by the founder of Mobileye, is raising $100M, say sources.

TechCrunch has learned that One Zero, a fintech company that aims to use AI in retail banking services, is in the process of raising at least $100 million. 

Despite being co-founded by one of Israel's most high-profile and successful founders, One Zero has had surprisingly little attention to date outside of its home market. However, the company has raised around $242 million so far, and in 2023, it was valued at $320 million, per data in PitchBook.

2. Standard Chartered unveils sustainable finance variants to boost trade loan flexibility.

Standard Chartered has unveiled the sustainable finance variants of BBTL, marking a significant expansion of its finance solutions.

The initiative has been launched in the United States, UK, UAE, South Africa, Singapore, and Hong Kong, with plans for further expansion into additional markets soon.

3. Concourse is building AI to automate financial tasks.

Matthieu Hafemeister, an ex-fintech investor at Andreessen Horowitz, says he’s seen many finance orgs struggle to scale up as a result of all the work they’re doing by hand.

“​The status quo for finance is countless point solutions that are cobbled together within the finance department,” Hafemeister told TechCrunch.