Your Daily FinTech Podcast - June 22nd, 2022

Sign up for my Daily Fintech or Daily Digital Banking Newsletters here. Check out my latest podcast episode below: Welcome to another episode of our Daily Fintech Podcast. THE NEWS HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY IS FROST has launched to the general public after initially opening its app to its first wave of users. More than 16,000 people signed up to receive early access to the new e-money offering, which aims to give users greater control over several typically time-consuming financial tasks. Now, everyone in the UK can download the app and sign up for Frost. JUST IN: Revolut is axing its free trading for its most premium monthly subscription plan. Users of its Metal subscription package pay £12.99 per month for a number of benefits including unlimited trading at zero commission but, according to the company, this will end next month. WHAT ABOUT FUNDING ROUNDS AND INVESTMENTS? PayGlocal Technologies has raised $12 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Sequoia Capital India and BEENEXT. mewt has raised $4.6 million in a seed funding round led by global fintech investor Quona Capital. WHAT’S THE LATEST ON VENTURE FUNDS? True Global Ventures 4 Plus announced the closure of a $146 million funding round earmarked for a wide range of Web3 projects — highlighting investors’ continued interest in crypto despite an ongoing bear market. LET’S HEAR ALL ABOUT MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: The SPAC merger between Israeli fintech unicorn Pagaya and EJF Acquisition Corp. is set to be completed this week despite the many question marks surrounding the combination. EJF announced on Friday afternoon that its shareholders have voted to approve its combination with Pagaya at a valuation of $8.5 billion. Australia-based Latitude Financial Services has terminated its deal to acquire humm group’s buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) unit. AS FOR PARTNERSHIPS MoneyGram International has partnered the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) with to initiate the rollout of its crypto-to-cash service that is now available in key remittance markets, including Kenya, the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines for the first wave of users.