Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group; & more!

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Welcome to your daily FinTech news!

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group, the fintech powerhouse closely affiliated with Alibaba, the e-commerce giant he founded. If realized, the move will mark another important turn in Ant's restructuring and power shuffling since China called off its $35 billion initial public offering nearly two years ago. Link here.

FINTECH NEWS

#mergersandaquisitions

• Lemonade buys Metromile at 70% below original valuation. Nine months after it was announced, the share-based merger between Israeli insurtech company Lemonade and US insurance company Metromile has closed at 70% below its original value, after a slide in the share prices of both companies. Link here.


• Equifax is set to acquire Midigator. The terms of the deal, which are undisclosed, will expand Equifax’s global footprint in digital identity and fraud prevention. Link here.

#payments

• Viber launches Payments, a new digital wallet for paying bills, money transfers, and buying goods. Payments wallets can be used to make bill payments, buy goods, and transfer money to other individuals. Link here.


• Kushki received approval from national authorities to become Ecuador’s first payment aggregator. This means that Kushki has achieved a new status in facilitating electronic payments. Link here.